Do your neighbors complain about noise from your woodshop?

[Greg Magone]

For those who live in a city subdivision, do you find your woodworking irritates your neighbors? How loud is it from, say, 50 feet outside your shop?

Is there anything that you do to try to minimize the noise?

Mine haven't complained - yet. We'll see if they complain eventually.

(For those of you who do not have neighbors or close neighbors - lucky you!)

[scott vroom]

For those who live in a city subdivision, do you find your woodworking irritates your neighbors? How loud is it from, say, 50 feet outside your shop?

Is there anything that you do to try to minimize the noise?

Mine haven't complained - yet. We'll see if they complain eventually.

(For those of you who do not have neighbors or close neighbors - lucky you!)

My shop is a 2 car attached garage on a 50' x 102' residential subdivision lot. When we set up the shop 5 years ago we fully sound insulated and drywalled the walls and ceiling. We also constructed an interior 2x4 framed wall, floor to roof and fully insulated/plywood sheathed, just inside the barn style garage doors, effectively sealing off the entire shop. When standing outside the shop I can hear the power tools, but as i walk toward the neighboring houses the sound diminishes to the point of being barely noticeable. I've had no complaints and have asked my neighbors to let me know of any problems. I generally limit my power tool usage to daytime hours, mostly during the weekdays, and rarely after 5:00 PM on any day.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

My shop is a stand alone 24'x30' and it's well insulated. Before I awoke deaf the only noise you would hear outside was subtle noise when my 3 HP Oneida dust collector was running. My shop is offset to one side of my lot and closer to that neighbor. I asked her if my woodworking tools made an objectionable noise. She said she rarely hears anything and when she does it doesn't bother her as it's barely noticeable.

[John Spitters]

I have a separate dedicated shop 22' x 23' on a city lot and am constantly concerned that one day the neighbours will complain. When I built the shop I was concerned of this potential problem so did my best to properly insulate and soundproof. When I have my 3hp cyclone running there is only a low humm that can be heard, but when I fire up the loudest of my tools my 15" grizzly planer it's a real screamer and can be heard blocks away so I've been carefull to only fire it up during the daytime hours and never in the evenings. So far all has been good and I'm going on 5 yrs now, possibly this is because across the street from me is a kid that plays the drums often with the windows open and he plays into all hours of the evening which can be very annoying.

[Paul Hinds]

My detached garage/shop is pretty close to a couple of neighboring houses but the only thing I run that makes much noise is a RAS and even in the summer when I have the bay door open the neighbors tell me that hardly hear anything and don't even think a thing about the little that they do hear. It's about like having someone running a lawnmower in the neighborhood, probably less. I don't do it for a living though so it's nowhere near constant.

[Viking Mountain Tool Works]

I sure hope not, my nearest neighbor is 1/4 mile away with a hill between!

[Mark Patoka]

I have a 2-car garage in a cul-de-sac and no one has ever complained. In the summer I'll work with the door open but I try to minimize any loud tools after 9pm and then will also close the door. I try to save staining, finishing or gluing for the late night tasks. I have a couple of neighbors that believe in using their leaf blowers (my wife calls them noise polluters) at least once a day to blow off the couple blades of grass or leaves from their pristine driveway and I'll bet they are at least as loud as any of my tools so I'm not too concerned if I spend a day running tools inside my garage but I do try to be respectful.

[Dennis Ford]

Most of the time, not much noise outside my shop and I am not real close to neighbors. If the planer (and cyclone collector) is running for any length of time, they heat up my shop. I use those with the door open but only during middle of day, no complaints yet.
The neighbors close enough to notice have benefited from a handmade gift or two; I am not expecting any issues.

[Rod Sheridan]

I have a small shop in the basement of a townhouse.

You can't hear anything outside the house, and inside my neighbours house if you listen very carefully you can hear something, nothing that bothers them at all.....Rod.

[Jim Andrew]

For John Spitters, Grizzly has their Christmas sale on, and they have included their helical heads for the G0453 planers. They now have the Byrd cutterhead for less than the Asian counterparts. The H7768 Byrd is 559.95. If I didn't already have a helical cutter on my planer, would order one. You commented that your planer is a screamer, so assume it has straight blades.

[Mike Henderson]

No complaints from my neighbors so far.

Mike

[Peter Quinn]

My shop is in a basement with 12" thick walls, the only complaints come from the inhabitants, I've asked neighbors, they didn't know I did wood working!

[Mark Bolton]

If you want to head it off just make them some stuff. Give away a few cutting boards, or little odds and ends to try and keep the peace. Im sure noise in the evening/late night/Sunday's may be more of an issue but... If your going to get a pain in the butt neighbor there is nothing you'll be able to do about it anyway.

My shop is zoned commercial but there are houses around. I just try and be courteous. I dont plane with the bay doors open even in the hot summer days. The shop acts like a megaphone and projects the sound out the doors. The neighbors have made far more noise than I ever will allow to come out of my place. But for the same reasons I try to keep the peace. Finishing and spraying finish would be a major issue but noise is a bit easier to address.

[Kevin Bourque]

I dunno. It's impossible to hear the doorbell with all the noise.

[scott vroom]

I dunno. It's impossible to hear the doorbell with all the noise.

Now THATZ funny. :D

[Chris Padilla]

Only when I smash my thumb with the hammer and the expletives fly.... ;)

[Tom M King]

Closest neighbor is over a half mile away, and that through thick woods. There are some waterfront houses a little closer, but they are mostly weekenders, and not much going on in a shop here during the weekends.

[Alan Bienlein]

I honestly never worried about it as I do my wood working at decent hours. The noise is no different then some one cutting and weed eating their yard.

[Ole Anderson]

Noise is not a problem when you have the shop in the basement. There are however times when I work in the garage, breaking down sheet goods with my tracksaw or routing a 1 3/16" x 1/2" groove in over 100 feet of Trex, with my shop vac running at the same time. Never a complaint. Nor when I run my ZT doing the lawn, or my gas edger or my gas trimmer or my gas chipper or my chain saw. Its power tools in the suburbs, baby! Less noise than a guy riding his Harley through the sub.

[Jeff Heil]

Fortunately, there is so much new construction behind us, the noise from the job sites drowns out anything I am doing in the basement shop with the windows open. Once the neighborhood fills in and "matures" I will have to be more careful. I will have to see if the neighbors next door can hear anything, but I doubt it as we have large lots and well insulated homes. To Kevin's point, my GC suggested we wire a second door bell chime in my dedicated basement shop space and I told him I did not want to be disturbed. :)

[david minnery]

I have similar concerns, I'm in a one car garage right now and have done the best I can insulating the shop. The bleed really comes from the front carriage doors. I screwed a sheet of plywood on the inside of the doors which helps. Only remove it when I get some lumber delivered.
My dewalt planer is loud, but I use my CNC a lot more and that produces a high frequency sound that can be challenging to muffle.
Long story short. I'm looking to move in the next year. I know how to sound proof walls and ceiling, the doors are the tricky part. I'd love to hear some ideas on dealing with doors.

[Shawn Pixley]

I work out of my garage. The lots here are 35' wide so our neighbors are maybe 10' away. I don't run power tools before 8 AM or after 6 PM. The neighbors have never complained. I like and socialize with them often (it's a beach thing, you understand). I have helped each of them out is some way and would gladly do so again. I don't abuse their tolerance.

[Andy Pratt]

If you think you might ever have a problem you could always head it off by making them something nice as a gift, explain it as a hobby you love and then their first experience with your woodworking will be a good one. If the noise ever bothers them, they'll think of their cutting board/trivet/rolling pin from you first before they complain about it. Who knows, you might even generate some business in the process.

[Ralph Butts]

The deer haven't complained yet.

[Ken Frohnert]

LOL. I got deer running all over the place - In fact one stops by periodically to eat my new Scarlet Ohara holly about 50' away from my small shop.

[Mike Wilkins]

I made a conscious decision to refrain from running any loud machines after 9:00 PM. And I have asked the neighbors to let me know if my activities bother them. So far so good. After that hour it is hand tools only.

[Dave Anderson NH]

I live in a subdivision in a rural town. We have 2 acre minimum zoning requiring 390 feet of frontage on a road which makes the houses well separated from each other. Since 3/4 of my 2.0 acres and almost everyone else's too is heavily wooded, noise is not a problem. The only neighbor house I can even see all year around is directly across the street 300+ feet away. Only 2 other houses can even been seen when the leaves are off the tree. When the wind is right, I get more noise from the rod and gun club a half mile away when their ranges are active and the area cops are learning to use their automatic weapons.

[Mike Ontko]

I warned the neighbors when we moved in that I was going to be getting into woodworking. The only ones who seemed concerned is the couple who live behind us, with the 75-year old black walnut tree--orignally planted by her parents when they bought the homestead (the entire cul de sac was their original property) :D

My wife practices her viola 1-2 hours a day and gives lessons to budding string players on weekday afternoons. And I still fiddle on occasion with my electric bass. No complaints so far, but its easy enough for her to put a mute on her viola if anyone has a problem.

I do try to be considerate of my neighbors P&Q, regarding my shop and lawn maintenance related activities. But those potential noise sources pale I think in comparison to what goes on around our neighborhood on a regular basis. If you've heard or read about the whole "Coal Train" issue that's still under much heated discussion in the Pacific Northwest, the end of the related train tracks go right through my town about every 2 hours or so. I'm situated on a hill that's about 1-1/2 miles from the nearest tracks, but you can hear the whistle blowin' all night long. And, I've got the baggy eyes to prove it. On top of that, we're just below one of the alternate flight paths for planes going to and from the Bellingham International Airport. They don't come by very often (it's definitely not a travel hub like Chicago or Dallas), but it does add to the background.

[Larry Edgerton]

My first shop got shut down because of noise. I had a shop employee that would get there early and open the doors and run the planer, an old delta at the time that was quite noisy. By the time a complaint was filed the neighbor that filed the complaint had sunk his teeth in and would not budge. I was fined for running a commercial operation in a residential area and forced to shut down and buy in an industrial park.

It is one of my concerns at my new shop/home complex, so I am careful about noise. I now have SCM planer and jointer, both very quiet, and do noisy work with the doors closed if the neighbor is home.

Larry

[Kent Cartwright]

My shop is in the basement, so no neighbor complaints. I try to be a considerate dad/husband and not start working TOO early. However, once 10 am hits on a Saturday, my mantra is; "I'M UP, YOUR UP!" :-) and I let the woodchips fly!

Kent

[glenn bradley]

I am in suburbia, small lots, close neighbors. I don't start till 7am or when I hear the first yard machine whichever comes first. I knock off before 9pm. I've never had a complaint but, at a neighborhood barbecue, a neighbor I hadn't met exclaimed "Oh, you're the guy with the jet in his garage" when we met. I assume he meant the cyclone as it does have a bit of an "F-14 feel" to it. The attached garage has the two outside walls partially insulated and drywalled. The garage door is the double-wall insulated type but, nothing special. The rafters are open. Hope this is useful.

[Cory Maccarrone]

So far so good, no complaints. Not sure there's much they can hear though (my shop is in my basement). I definitely don't do anything to shield the sound, and sometimes work with my windows open (especially in the summer).

[Shawn Pachlhofer]

I'm a turner.

I use mostly local wood that I harvest.

In the field I'll cut logs into usable lengths, then split them - they stay stored in half logs until I'm ready to use them.

then when ready for use, they get trimmed up further on my driveway - with a chainsaw....about 20' from my neighbor's kitchen window.

he doesn't like me, and I don't care for him

but I do try to keep chainsaw sessions short (1 hour at most), and occasionally I'll use an electric on smaller logs.

[Gene Takae]

The neighbors close enough to notice have benefited from a handmade gift or two; I am not expecting any issues.

Dennis has the right idea. If you invite your neighbors to the party they can't complain about the noise!!!!

[Rich Engelhardt]

So far - no complaints with my garage/driveway use.
I do limit myself to after 8am (9am on Sunday) and before 7pm.

AFAIK, there's no infants living close by anymore to disturb with noise. The neighbor across the street that had 6 month old moved a couple of months ago.
LOL! No - it wasn't because I made too much noise :D !

[Lee Ludden]

Had one complaint ever. Was using my planer out in the driveway. Renter a few doors down called the police, but they came by and said I wasn't doing anything wrong and we ended up chatting for 45 minutes. Local codes say 6am - 10pm is fair game, but I generally do 8am - 6pm for anything loud that with the garage door open.

Get to know the neighbors and be a good neighbor to them and they will usually reciprocate.

[Bill Huber]

I have gone to each one of them and talked to them and to-date they have not had a problem with my shop at all. My little shop is a shed in the back yard and when I am doing things like planing I keep the door shut, this really knocks down the noise getting out.

I have also given each one a nice cutting board and have done a few chair repairs for one and a cabinet door fix for the other.

Now when the one has a pool party that gets a little loud I don't say anything because they don't say anything about my shop.

[Johnny Rowland]

I have a 24x30 shop.Sometimes I'll work until 2-3am.Mine is covered in Hardy board and sealed up pretty well,I play music pretty loud..No complaints!! Good insulation will help a lot with noise and heat/cold..Good Luck..