Condo dwellers?

[Tony Kent]

Hi all,
I hope you all are doing well. I have a question for folks that live in or have lived in a condo. How did that effect your turning?
I am considering moving into one, but only if I can continue to turn and do other wood working, otherwise I will consider a different option.
Thanks for your thoughts and experiences on this kind of living.
Take care all:)

[Matt Warfield]

My friends that live in condos have no issues with woodworking unless it's between 10pm and 7am. The neighbors tend to like their sleep for some reason. I say hand 'em a tool and let them join in. :D

[Tony Kent]

Hi
Thanks for the reply. That is so funny, yes would be fun to hand them a tool. I already have one picky nieghbor here so I don't use any machines after 8pm on weekdays and 9 on weekends.
Sounds like its a non-issue or could be a small one . Then again I could bribe new neighbors with bowls or vases:) hehehe
Thanks again,

[Jim Becker]

Tony...it likely will depend upon the particular condo and it's covenants...as well as the nature of its current population. Some you'll have no issues. Others, you'll be the pariah! Check things out very carefully before you sign on the dotted line.

[Raymond Overman]

No turning after 8 or 9 PM? I'd never get any turning in. Ninety percent of my shop time is between 8PM and Midnight. Of course I don't live in a condo, don't have a homeowner's association, and my shop isn't attached to the house.

Good luck with that. Even if the neighbors say it's ok, I'd be worried that the covenants would kick in the minute that one of them mentioned the occasional noise to their friend on the homeowner's board. People that you never thought would hear you will hear you and all it takes is one person to spoil your fun.

[Jim Becker]

Fortunately, "turning" is a relatively quiet activity...most of the time. Occasional shouts of joy...or angst, notwithstanding... ;)

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

When you say "Condo" what do you mean, as this term has various meanings.

Will you own the place?

Is it one big apartemt building or what we used to call "Row Houses" ?

No matter what you do, will you be able to have one room for turning?

If so, you and you own the place, you could very easily sound proof that one room so no one could hear your screams.... ;):D

Cheers!

[Mark Pruitt]

Fortunately, "turning" is a relatively quiet activity...most of the time. Occasional shouts of joy...or angst, notwithstanding... ;)
...and some of those shouts might give one within earshot reason to question the, shall we say, mental well-being of the person at the lathe! Like when I was having a momentary stupid attack and had a series of catches and finally shouted "STOP THAT! NOW!!!" (OK, I ain't tellin' ya what else I said.):o Then I quit and I march into the house muttering, "I am GOING to learn this stuff OR ELSE!"

And Susan looks at me and says, "I thought you were doing this for fun."

"I am, dang it!!!":o :p

(Then I went and plugged Bill's DVD in, figured out where I was screwing up, cooled off, went back and got it right.);)

M

[Cecil Arnold]

Tony, like Stu, I'm not sure what you envision by a "Condo" but we lived in a "townhouse" for a few years. It was like a row house, 8 two story units in a single building with shared 2 car garages (2 cars for each unit, or four buildings sharing a common wall). While there I finished the garage by insulating, putting up dry wall and installing a pull down stair for attic storage, painting the floor with epoxy, and building some simple workbenches with storage below. I used a contractors table saw pretty much as needed, but stopped most noisy operations around 8 pm. I have to say that other than living in the country the town home experience was one of the quietest places I have lived, with very little noise from any neighbors. I would think that turning in a situation like mine would be completely overlooked--except for any major outburst as Mark describes above.

[Bob Noles]

Tony,

You could install a lathe muffler :D

[Andy Hoyt]

Yup, like Bob says. And don't forget to coat all surfaces with turning wax - the sound just slides on by.:D

[Mike Jory]

Hi Tony;

It's labor day, I'm at work, on the computer, it's not all bad.
A couple of items for you to consider. I like Jim Becker's reply on the covenants. Will you rent or purchase? Upstairs, downstairs? I assume the condominium you're think of has a garage? Those are just a couple things.

When I read your post, I had a vision of renting, installing a mini in one bedroom, :eek: covering the carpet floor in a tarp, dust collector, air filter, etc. :D Stand for tools, chucks. Small table for grinder, etc. That would be interesting. Dedicate a bedroom for woodworking. :cool: Now my mind is ging to play with this idea all day.
All kidding aside, good luck.
Mike

[Mark Pruitt]

When I read your post, I had a vision of renting, installing a mini in one bedroom, :eek: covering the carpet floor in a tarp, dust collector, air filter, etc. :D Stand for tools, chucks. Small table for grinder, etc. That would be interesting. Dedicate a bedroom for woodworking.
I actually did that once. (Well, not with a lathe--didn't own one yet--but with a BS, DP, Workmate, Shop Vacuum, fan in the window for dust extraction.) Believe me, it was not very fun. Always concerned about making too much noise and disturbing the neighbors. I still shake my head in disbelief when I think about those days. I would have done anything for a decent place to work.

[Gary DeWitt]

I'm in half a 2 car garage under a condo. I have one neighbor who objects to long router or TS sessions with the door open, especially when her windows are open. Understandable, since the alley between my place and hers amplifies noise. Now I just shut the door.
I buy power tools with noise level in mind. I put my shop vac enclosed under my router table and insulated with sound board. Big improvment! I'm hesitating before buying a compressor, unless I can insulate it the same way and can find a relatively quiet one. Considering a chain saw, perhaps an electric.
Turning is usually a quiet activity, shouldn't even be heard by your neighbors. Just don't attach any power tools to the walls, vibration travels. Also, you could always insulate your work space with sound board over staggered studs.
As far a cc&rs, there's nothing in ours that prevents me from running power tools on my property. Since my place was built in '64 and is constantly being renovated somewhere, there are usually power tools running anyway.

[Tony Kent]

Thanks everyone for the replies, I appreciate it big time.
For those of you that wondered what I meant by Condo, sorry i forgot that there are more then one definition. This would have been a single unit with 2 car garage.
I'll keep you informed on where I land and how I keep up with my turning.
Thanks again, you're all so kind here :)
Tony