Noise complaint

Had my first noise complaint last night do to loud music.
I was in the garage about 6:00 pm, a couple friends stopped over after work for a drink then left. I was finishing a drink and getting ready to go into the house for supper, I turned up the volume for the last couple songs when there was a knock at the door. It was DeWayne, his house sits only a few yards away from my garage west wall. He was very nice about it and said he wouldn't mind if it was once in a while but he was hearing heavy bass every night.

The garage speakers are 2 way bookshelf, no sub, thought that would not be a problem.
Not to be able to play music at the level I want is a real problem for me.
So what to do, do I move, do I try and remedy the problem by further insulating the walls ( would be a lot of work and may not help ), do I ignore an otherwise good neighbor, do I change my ways at 60 years old and turn down the music for ever ?

Let me know what you think.

 

When I was very young I use to get noise complaints because I was renter. I own my own house now and I have a huge, very loud, system. No more complaints.

 

I think that HiFi addicts like us have a responsibility not to broadcast our music.
The fact that he heard you is proof he didn't make it up---it was loud enough to cause him distress.
I lived in an apartment and gave up having a big system.
I moved to a house and put two sheets of plywood with foam insulation between my windows (in the "music room") and my neighbor.
THEN I did a sound check at full blast to see how bad it leaked.
Only then did I feel OK with playing at loud levels any darn time I wanted.
I believe in "responsible freedom" where my rights end at YOUR nose.
Nobody is perfect and this is not a game of "gotcha" so if I am just a silly old dude with weird ideas I am OK living with that.
Life is weird.
But taking away other people's happiness is not something that grooves me.
My two cents.

 

If you don't want to change your listening habits, you may want to consider some sound insulation, maybe to the wall that is between you and your neighbor(s).
Maybe moving speaker locations. If you make the effort to do this, may be a good idea to let "DeWayne" know that you are trying to mitigate the sound problem.
Perhaps find the "acceptable volume level" at which you know will not bother anybody. Work together on this, and everybody will be happier.

 

Plywood/foam insulation, that's good.

 

Insulation is probably the best option here but considering the room/garage it may not help. In a garage the sound he's hearing may also being coming from the wall to ceiling junction, windows, overhead door etc.

Also, the main wall in question is the back stop of my bar, so cupboards, shelves, built in counter tops etc would all have to be removed before any work could be done. Not saying I won't try, but it would be a big project with unsure results.

 

My neighbouring wall is ok, I can sometimes hear their kids at full scream but I have had no issues touch wood. My outside wall is opposite side of my speakers. I have a dB app on my phone and I make sure it never goes above 70dB.. I have never had a complaint in 10 years and I have seen 3 neighbours come and go

 

Ya, sounds like a project. But if you do it right, you may end up with a better listening space also.
Maybe do as much as you can, and see how that works (crank it to where you "like", and go over to "DeWayne's" place and see if it's acceptable...)

 

70 db, that wouldn't work for this old Rocker. LOL

Your right, it may improve the sound of the room and I needed a new project, I'm almost done the other three I'm working on now. One project is refurbishing some very old violins.

 

I always assume that no one wants to hear my music. And I certainly don't want to hear theirs. I'd rather have a harmonious relationship with people living only a few yards from me than have overly loud music playing. If you decide to insulate the walls, make sure you really research it first. Just stuffing the walls with insulation or covering them with foam may help with heat, but not necessarily sound transmission.

 

Just be thankful he didn't call the cops. Agree about insulation or something else to deaden the sound a bit.

 

Ask if you could go into his place and have a listen to get a point of reference and when he is usually home. Depending on how much you value the relationship, what the local noise restrictions are and how motivated you might be to alter your environment and listening style is your call.

 

Is the garage door closed while you play? If so, noise complaints at 6 pm seem a bit on the ridiculous side. I can see your neighbor's point if it's after 8 or so.

Download a free db measuring app on your phone and measure the noise level outside your garage with no music playing versus playing at your desired level and see what the difference is.

Otherwise to truly insulate you might have to replace the garage door if it's just the cheap hollow metal kind like what I have.

 

As others have said and I agree, we as music listeners have to respect our community. I use headphones for a loud session as its the most sensible approach for our building.

We are in a daily war with our neighbor who feels his rights to slam doors, scream and shout all night, entertain at stupid hours, wake people up as he decides, smoke pot, drink and then when certain friends come around be 'religious'. It is no fun to have a noisy inconsiderate neighbor so mitigate the problem and work with together as much as possible.

 

The doors are always closed in December in Canada, the overhead door is thick and insulated. I have a sound level meter so I can take a reading, but if it's bothering a neighbor it does really matter what the level is, I'm guessing it gets to around 95db.

 

95 dB is very loud for a hifi. I don’t blame your neighbor. Save your hearing and turn it down.

 

stop listening to music in your garage

 

I agree with 31155 that the first step is to turn your system on and volume to what you enjoy and then go into the neighbors house to hear first hand what you are up against. It might be that it is just some bass that is getting through or the whole frequency range. There could be a simple solution or one that will require a lot more work. At least this way you will have first hand knowledge of what you are up against.

Just curious what room is it that the noise is penetrating into? It sounds like your system is in what used to be your garage, is the room your neighbor is complaining about hearing the music in his garage also? Is his garage converted into a family room?

My music room abuts my neighbors living room. I go over frequently to verify that my music isn't interfering with their lives. I believe they appreciate this, however they are into music also and a little noise bleed doesn't seem to upset them as they realize that they aren't totally noise free also. I only was asked to turn the music down once because it was getting so loud it was preventing their daughter from going to sleep. I have very nice neighbors luckily. I also have 6 inch thick sound absorbing panels on the party wall which I believe helps a lot not too mention the wall is about two feet of solid brick.

 

We recently had to get a new garage door and ended up with one that was insulated. There's also that in-wall foam that you can have pumped into wall between joists. Don't know what the situation is, but something along these lines might help and also allow you to tell your neighbor you have taken steps.

 

I have the Signature S2 v2 and it can get loud with bass punch....

Not sure I have better ideas other than actually working with your neighbor and check for sound in his house and adjust accordingly....

 

If it's loud enough for your neighbor to hear it inside his house it's probably loud enough to damage your hearing. He may be doing you a favor.

 

I'd suggest talking to your neighbor to let him know you're taking his complaint to heart and would like to work with him. You could try some stuff and then go over to his house to see how loud/bassy it is to gauge the results.

Since I'm the one making noise (guitar, music listening) and really dislike it when others impose their loud noises on me, I opted to soundproof my listening room within reason. You could easily spend 6 figures on that but some reasonable upgrades can make a significant difference. For instance, I changed the windows, added insulation specifically for noise and got dual drywall sheets to keep the sound indoors.

It all made a significant difference to the point where I can crank up however loud I want at 2am if I want to and nobody will hear it in their own homes. Of course, there was a cost to all of this but it can be accomplished.

Meanwhile, I'll just state that a garage is not by definition a sealed environment so probably the absolute worst place to have a listening room if you're looking into containing the sound.

 

Personally, I can't understand the levels to which most here seem to play music. Seems uncomfortably loud to me and I bet permanent damage is done to your hearing over time.

Since I'm paranoid about losing any of my hearing, I've taken great care of my ears and my definition of loud is pretty tame compared to most. Unless I'm predisposed to losing my hearing no matter what, I should be good for decades to come if I keep at it. Losing reception of my hearing or frequencies in my range of hearing would be devastating to me.

If one loves to crank it to such a level that it can be heard that far away at an uncomfortable level indoors, my guess is that at 60, his hearing is already quite affected anyway... and therefore, his definition of "loud" would be different than, say, his neighbor's.

 

For those interested, I'm guessing this is the culprit.



Having said that, I don't see why you'd listen in the garage when you have this great system set up indoors. Would seem like a much more rewarding listening experience to me.

 

I agree with the poster above who wrote that a garage can be worst case in terms of sound leakage.

To really prevent bass sounds from getting outside a listening room, you need MASS, airtight seals at openings, and double windows. Mass can be one or more layers of thick drywall, plywood, etc. Concrete or cinder block is excellent but is obviously impractical for most people.

Even slight air gaps around a door etc. can leak a surprising amount of sound.

Form and other deadening materials might improve acoustics inside a room, but will do almost nothing to keep sound from leaking out.