Soundproofing the Workshop

[Steve W]

First, I don't think these run-ins really ever get resolved to the point where you become buddies with the neighbor. I had a run-in with one of mine over their dogs barking 25 feet from my living room for hours at a time. When I first mentioned it, I was dismissed with "well, that's what they do." Several nights later, after three hours of barking, at around 945 PM, I knocked on their door and asked them to bring their dogs in. A half an hour later, he came to my door, told me to never knock on their door again and told me "I should have known" when I moved in. (My neighbor on the other side has two dogs that she lets out for exercise and is quite considerate). I told him, as diplomatically as I could, that I didn't want this to be the source of bad blood but I already could see that it had. They never even acknowledge my existence anymore, but they have controlled their dogs better up to now. A little barking once in a while is to be expected -- three/four hours straight is not reasonable and I think it may have got through to them. My take is that if they're going to hate me over such a minor thing, they weren't worth making friends with in the first place.

As far as your issues go, as a woodworker and a ham radio operator, I have had heard of friction but haven't had too much myself. Mowing your lawn and other yard maintenance, as well as running your tools in your garage are considered normal accessory uses of your property. After all, the city will probably fine you if you don't cut your grass, right? Placing speakers in the doorway, cranking up the volume to max and sitting inside is so obviously done for the purpose of annoying you that I think you'd have a case to take to the HOA and I would almost CERTAINLY think you would have a case to bring to the city for violation of its noise/nuisance ordinances.

I'd try talking with HOA directors first, then calling the police if the HOA doesn't work out. Keep it verbal at this point.

HTH

Steve

[cptully]

On the subject of dogs barking, I've usually been on the other side (i.e. the dog's owner). Although I must admit that I agree that barking is "what they do", I have worked hard to train my do not to bark incessantly. In my neighborhood in Maryland, my dog's barking did cause a little bit of friction, mostly due to lack of communication between neighbors. The first I heard of a problem was a visit from Animal Control. After that I noticed a strange device hanging from a tree in my neighbor's yard and asked about it. It turned out to be an electronic box that was supposed to discourage barking (worked great - Shadow just kept on barking ). However, by then based on the Animal Control visit, I had made it a standard practice to call him in at the first bark, so a simple apology was enough to smooth the incident and develop a cordial relationship with that neighbor.

Although most sound ordinances do not go into affect until 10 or 11 at night I suspect that unattended loud music like Danny described is probably enough to get a gentle reminder from a friendly police man, if it continues for much longer.

Good Luck!

Chris

[Tarhead]

May be best to try to turn lemons into lemonade as Bas' suggested and make them a peace offering. You may need them to call 911 if your house is on fire. If that fails I wouldn't worry about noise as you won't win with them no matter what you do. Put your money into a good tall fence. I'm not a lawyer or an HOA expert but hobby woodworking is a reasonable thing to do in your garage as is mowing grass as long as they are done at reasonable times. Playing music in a garage or anywhere in a close neighborhood at full volume is not a reasonable thing to do any time.

We had a noisy downstairs neighbor in an apartment complex when I was in school and working nights. She loved disco music at full volume during my prime sleep time. Tried a few times to get her to understand how precious my sleep was including getting the manager involved. She finally got the message when I started pulling the main breaker to her apartment during her disco sessions and then played Bill Monroe and Stanley Bros. records with the speakers facing the floor. She moved...guess she didn't like the high and lonesome sound

[Steve W]

Mark, your description is reminding me of that scene near the end of Clockwork Orange where the guy's blasting Beethoven up at the ceiling where Alex was held captive

Yes, Chris, the operative term here was "normal" versus "incessant." I tried talking with them and got the brush-off. I also tried using the ultrasonic box and it had exactly the effect you described, so I brought it back (nobody else knew it was there or they didn't let on).

BTW, many towns/cities/counties are now adopting 24/7 nuisance ordinances -- presumably for these very sorts of things where a small number of folks can't discern the difference between "reasonable" and "unreasonable," rather than adopting hours of the day. If you're working in your shop for a few hours a week, I could not envision that this would be a "nuisance."

I'd put some foam on the inside of the door(s) (cheap and shows an effort to accommodate) and would still deal with their "retaliation" as I described.

[Sandy Rose]

I have learned that some people are just plain inconsiderate. We had a neighbor that let her two small dogs bark outside at 2am just about every night until she moved. After about 3 months of peace and quiet, some other neighbors behind us got 3 dogs that bark most of the day - not very pleasant since I work from home. They didn't seem to understand what I was saying when I said something to them, so now I light off a small firecracker in my back yard when they get too bad. It's actually pretty effective.

[skeeter]

I live in a community where the houses are built pretty close together. It was a new develoment when I moved in, so all the neighbors sort of moved in at the same time. When I met each of the neighbors, I told them about my woodworking and said that I would not operate any equipment till after 9:00 AM to give them time to wake up if they were late sleepers. I also said that if I was bothering them, like when they had company, just let me know and I'd stop for a while. I have made and given them all pens and have repaired some small wooden stuff for a couple of them for nothing, but that's a small price to pay for getting along as good as we all do.

Maybe making and giving your neighbors some small token gift, or the cookout/party idea may work. I know its hard to do when they won't even talk. Hey, it's their loss!!!

[Keye]

If cutting your grass is a problem with these folks they must really be off the deep end.

Have you tried to talk with your other neighbors to find out if there is any history with these folks? What about the folks accross the street, on the other side of them or behind them. If they have never seen this kind of behavior out of them you may have done something, without realizing it, that has set them off.

Talk with the officials of the HOA and find out if these folks have a history having problems with everyone.

I think you need to find out a little more history on things before you can plot a course of action. There is no need for you to jump through hoops if these folks are just wackos and nothing is going to make them happy.

Take copious notes of all that happens so you have the facts.

[cubicdissection]

Heh, when I lived in california I was working in my shop and had the music cranked up pretty loud. Cops show up and write me a ticket for having a "loud party" (I was alone in the shop). I thought it was kind of funny, but wondered out loud why whatever neighbor reported me didn't just walk over and ask me to turn it down...I would have been glad to oblige. They said "maybe they didn't know where the noise was coming from", to which I replied "well, you found me didn't you?".

Anyway, I agree that unattended speakers facing your house is over the top. Next time they do it, don't go over, call the cops. They will asses the situation, realize it's harassment, and won't go easy on them.