Woodwork, noise and neighbours

[Sheffield Tony]

It seems to me that a certain amount of noise is inevitable when working wood. I work mostly with hand tools, which means no power planer or router screeching, but there is still the noise of hand chopping joints, which I guess takes longer by hand.

It also seems to me that few of use these days live in a location free from near neighbours to annoy. I was wondering how others deal with this; particularly hobby woodworkers like myself who only have evenings and weekends for working - understandably the times others least want to hear your hammering.

I have a workshop which is a poor quality lean-to brick/wood/polycarbonate roof structure on the side of the house (built by the previous owner, I should say). I had assumed my neighbours better built, double glazed extension would not admit too much noise, but I am assured this isn't the case

My long term vague plan was to replace my workshop, and the the adjoining kitchen, with a new properly built extension having the same functions, in the same place, but built to better standards which should hopefully contain a greater proportion of the noise.

What I'd like opinions on are firstly, any places to look for tips on planning the new building to isolate sound better, but also any comments on any interim measures, and an idea of what other woodworkers take on this is. Is woodworking in a residential location just considered unreasonable these days ? I have seen talk of woodworking in basements and even flats, so I can't be the only annoying woodworking neighbour in the land. I can try to adjust working hours a bit, I already try to use quieter methods where available. Is there any way of somewhat deadening the sound made by chopping joints ? Heavier bench top ? any sort of floor matting under the bench feet ? Any ideas however outlandish considered. Except taking up knitting instead :lol:

Or should I just develop a thicker skin ?

 

[skippy75]

Probably best to start by talking to your neighbours and asking if they are ever bothered by it. Maybe make them something as a piece offering too? A bit of bribery induced good will goes a long way!

 

[doorframe]

In both of the houses I've lived in my neighbors have never considered me when making a noise so I don't consider them.

One of my current neighbors is a primary school teacher. He couldn't understand my concerns regarding his TV being so loud it kept my 10yr old son awake. Being a school teacher he is used to talking down to people and getting his own way, so there was no reasoning with him. That was 13 yrs ago, and I've not considered him since.

Previous neighbors have included non working council tenants with stereo speakers the size of wardrobes, and after I got them evicted the replacements were just druggies who enjoyed all-night parties. I got them evicted too, then moved to a council-free zone, and got the dopey school teacher.

The question for me would be...."do I want to get on with my neighbors or not?"

 

[John15]

Hi Tony,

I have neighbours and I'm always a bit worried about the noise I make. I'm retired so can be a bit more flexible than someone working. In order to reduce the nuisance noise I only use my noisy machines between 9 and 5 during the week and Saturday mornings, but not possible for you. Also I have a second layer of cladding (barn standard feather board) to my shed which helps - so I have a cross section of 2 layers of cladding, 45mm of insulation and 9mm ply for a lining. One of my noisiest machines, the P/T, is in my intrigal garage as there's no room in the shed. I've blocked up the window with a ply and insulation sandwich which is about all I can do there.

Regarding noise from the neighbours, on one side they have barking dogs and on the other there are noisy children during school holidays, also cockerels . Also I get their cats cra@@ing everywhere so I think all our nuisances cancel each other out.

Also I have learnt through life that the noise made by someone you get on with is easier to bear than noise from someone you dislike.

I hope you solve your problem.

John

 

[Racers]

I hear lots of pressure washers being used.

My woodworking is mostly hand tools so I don't make to much noise, apart for the garage HiFi :roll:

Pete

 

[Hitch]

Probably best to start by talking to your neighbours and asking if they are ever bothered by it. Maybe make them something as a piece offering too? A bit of bribery induced good will goes a long way!

Something I regularly mention or ask the neighbours.
The guy opposite reckons he can only hear the odd bit of noise now and then if hes in his garden, thats about it.
Next door says theyve never heard me.
Few of the others say they only hear anything if they walk right past the garage door.
Another has 2 teenage lads that are in a band...so no bother there.

And another look at me like i'm dirt on their shoe, so i dont worry about them in the slightest. :roll:

I keep any noisy activities like routing for early on Saturday afternoon mostly, unless its only going to be for a couple of minuites
Quieter things like small turnings, i tend not to worry about as i can barely hear it outside of the garage.
The thicknesser is a bit different, I tend to take that to work and use it there when possible.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

My neighbour came over one day to ask me to stop painting my house as his wife was working nights. I said I wasn't aware that the noise of paintbrush carried very far, but he said the problem was that I MIGHT make a noise when I moved the ladder. Three days later he seemed to have forgotten that I worked nights as well when he spent three hours trying to tune his son in law's car outside my bedroom window. Some people are just rrrsoles - you'll never please them.

 

[thedman]

I've thought about my neighbours, but I get so little opportunity to do any woodwork if I make noise so be it. Its all during 9 to 5 hours at weekends because I have kids that sleep, and besides noise outside this time I consider anti social and wouldn't expect anyone else to make noise so I don't. My nearest neighbours (5 yards away) are retired and have never mentioned it. (I do all my woodwork on the drive, so I'm limited to good weather)

 

[mouppe]

My workshop is in an old light industrial building which over time has transitioned to a artsy and small retail building. So all the woodworking shops, machine shops etc. are gone and it's full of photographers, graphic artists, interior decorators etc.

They asked me to leave a few years ago because of the noise but I said I could rearrange my workflow and they said "fine."

I use mostly hand tools anyway now, much more than before. If I need to use a router, tracksaw or thickness planer I pop in at the weekend or in the evenings. I haven't had a complaint since so things seem to be ok with everyone. It means I usually do my measuring and machine setup at the end of the day and pop back in the evening to make a little noise. It makes my time there much more pleasant. Also there is a gym down the corridor so I don't worry about coming at night.

My suggestion is to agree some parameters with the neighbours which you're ok with. For example, before 9pm noise is fine. This way if you have some disagreeable people who keep on moving the goalposts, you can stand firm.

 

[lurker]

I try to restrict the machines to between 9-7.. With planning its easy to still be out in the shop until 9 or 10.
Sharpening, clearing up, glueing, marking up, setting the machines and so on.
I find the slowing down means better planning and less error.
Both sides are miserable sods but I still try to avoid annoying then.
Next door but one up has a key to my shop as we are mates.
Others I do occasional jobs for so they are not going to moan.

 

[Penny]

I'm very lucky I guess. Being medically retired (in my 40's) I have as much time as I like during the day. My neighbours are also really friendly and I get on well with them all - to the point of helping each other out, drinks together etc.

My upstairs neighbour is Prison Officer and works shifts. Luckily his bedroom is at the front, and my workshop is in the back garden. I have all day and into the evening to play with power tools and bang around with hammers!

 

[Baldhead]

I live in a detached house, the end house in the close, my next door neighbour has 3 boxer dogs, he doesn't walk them, they s#$t on his patio which is approx 5-6 feet from my kitchen door, I MAKE AS MUCH NOISE AS POSSIBLE, I put up with the smells and the foul language from him and his partner (she is actually worse then him), one other chap across the road works shifts, I never use any machines when he's nightshift, but the common sense, isn't it?

Stew
Edit - I'm a retired hobby woodworker

 

[Graham Orm]

I just start my steam hammer going first, never had a complaint about the router yet.

Seriously, I try to be fair and only make noise at social hours. Lawn mowers and jet washers drive me mad at weekend. We live back to back with a child minder and often have noises similar to a primary school playground to contend with, plus an endless quantity of soft balls coming over the fence. I throw them back without complaint in the hope I'm scoring brownie points for any noise as they are the closest to my workshop.

Noise travels through air so the first step is to plug up any open voids to the outside. This also includes draft proofing loosely fitting doors and windows. One of my business premises years ago had a uPVC door opening onto an extremely busy main road. When you closed the door the noise reduced, but when you lifted the handle and all the locks pulled the door tight onto the seals the noise virtually went away.

Sound insulation is very expensive and not very effective. Maybe soft linings on the walls to soak up the sound ?

 

[Matt@]

I think its luck of the draw with neighbours. More working class areas (if I can say that!) tend to be more tolerant. Prim and proper housing estates are territorial. Rural I think is mostly ok unless you have someone with too much time of their hands.

I know of a few people that do this kind of work in their garden buildings and I am AMAZED at how they get away with it. I know one guy with full blown hobby workshop down the bottom of his garden on a modern estate whereby his neighbours garden butts up to his workshop and he uses all the machines. Another I know again stuffed full of machines on an estate mainly bungalows whose garage workshop abuts a neighbours garden.

My own personal view is bend over backwards to accomodate the neighbours and go out of your way not to upset them. Neighbour disputes grow from nothing and it just means one of them has to be the bigger person.

All that said, if I had a neighbour who used woodworking machinery evenings and weekends that I could hear constantly, I would be extremely peeved. The point is I think, no one minds the odd noise but constant banging, woodturning, planing, sanding that goes on for ages is no joke.

I think the hobbyist that does their noisy hobby when everyone else is relaxing is onto a loser straight away sadly...better when others are out at work....

 

[Paul200]

Move next door to a retired person who's deaf as a post.......

That's what we (unintentionally) did 18 years ago - she was a darling and we got on so well. And she promised me faithfully that my woodbashing didn't disturb her. Mind you - we had to put up with The Archers Omnibus at volume zillion at weekends! And we lived on the Costa Geriatrica in Somerset, so I guess no-one else could hear either.

Seriously (that's all true, by the way) it's about compromise isn't it? You can only do so much to reduce the noise and be careful of the hour. The rest is down to whether or not you get on with your neighbours.

 

[woodyfxr]

Interested to see this topic as i had a run in with my neighbour about a year ago, it was 8.45 in the morning on a weekday.
I work on the principle that 8.30 on a weekday and Saturday and not on a Sunday.
If your neighbour had work being done in his house by a builder he would expect to start work at 8.30, that is not an unreasonable time. If he wanted them to start later he would be charged extra for the longer time it takes to do the job.
Weekend are something else so a later start is on the books. Sunday.......layin.

Oh and i had words with my neighbour. he said it was a Sunday to which i pointed out my wife wouls have had me by the g****es if it was a Sunday. Anyway she works in the week and that's where she was so i know i was right.

 

[DiscoStu]

I personally do not make noise until after 9 unless I have to. I certainly wouldn't be making noise for my hobby until after 9. You never know who works nights etc. At weekends I don't make any noise until after 9am on sat and probably more like 10am on a Sunday. Whilst a builder may start earlier they would normally be doing a one off rather than a regular hobby.

 

[whiskywill]

I share a boundary with eleven different neighbours but the closest to my garage/workshop is about 30 metres away so no complaints so far. Maybe it's because I never use a noisy machine after 11.00 p.m :---) .

 

[Sheffield Tony]

Thanks for the comments.

I think I mentioned that I use almost exclusively hand tools, so I'm not talking about router/planer type noise. Hand planing and sawing doesn't appear to be the problem, it is the noise of chisel work that carries. I did wonder if a weightier bench might reduce it a bit.

A part of the problem arose because I had assumed my neighbour's relatively modern kitchen extension would be fairly soundproof. When I close our double glazed windows, there is a pretty good attenuation of sound. Unfortunately her extension has windows and a single glazed door (with a cat flap*) facing my direction, and she seems not to like soft furnishings, floor coverings etc, so it is a very echoing house.

I think the hobbyist that does their noisy hobby when everyone else is relaxing is onto a loser straight away sadly...better when others are out at work....

Does that mean you can't have a hobby until you're retired ? I can't work when everyone is out. Woodwork is my way of relaxing. I think we do all have to tolerate some irritation from neighbours, whether it be from hobbies, the noisiest petrol mower I've ever heard, or (*) cr***ing cats. Having said that I have been on a push to get a job finished, and have probably been guilty of working on a bit later than I should. I take on board the comments about scheduling work to leave quieter activities till later; I shall think harder about that. I'll also have a chat with the architect and see if there aren't measures we can take to make the new workshop better.

 

[mseries]

I don't do any wood butchering after about 1830 anyway. I don't worry about the noise I make at other times, the neighbours don't seem to care about me when they are using their quad bike in the street or their cars or letting their offspring run around shouting all evening