Thread: Excessive Noise from Woodwork Power Tools

Fortunately I don't have this problem but can appreciate the concerns others have if they feel like they have to tippy-toe around their shed.

I Would agree with those who suggest checking with the neighbours to avoid any problems. Should you come across the PITA who doesn't want to know you can at least claim that you have been cooperative and reasonable.

Evanism has the best approach. See the neighbours before they see the council. I'm aware that my machines can make a bit of noise, so I've told them that if it's ever a problem, come & see me and we'll work out a way around it. They also know that if they need anything made I'll do it for them, gratis. I try to avoid using the most noisy at weekends when most of them are at home.
Much easier to catch flies with sugar than vinegar.

Originally Posted by Evanism

they were endemic.... knew all their rights, right up until it applied to them. A$$holes are a$$holes. Council have THEM well spotted, not you.

Just be sensible.

Sadly its a sign of the times or more correctly people - plenty of people are prepared to ignore or bend rules when it suits their purposes but more than prepared to make another's life hell when something doesn't suit them. Seems making a a$$hole of yourself gets attention fast nowadays and people tend to want the problem to go away so cave in unnecessarily or for unwarranted reasons.

I have often given fellow surveyor & town planner mates heaps about the smaller lots in new subdivisions - I call them the urban slums of (inset current year + 15 or 20 years). With ever decreasing lot sizes, hence separation of dwellings, we are going to see far more discontent between neighbors over issues that would not even rate a mention in the past.

Originally Posted by Mobyturns

Sadly its a sign of the times or more correctly people - plenty of people are prepared to ignore or bend rules when it suits their purposes but more than prepared to make another's life hell when something doesn't suit them. Seems making a a$$hole of yourself gets attention fast nowadays and people tend to want the problem to go away so cave in unnecessarily or for unwarranted reasons.

I have often given fellow surveyor & town planner mates heaps about the smaller lots in new subdivisions - I call them the urban slums of (inset current year + 15 or 20 years). With ever decreasing lot sizes, hence separation of dwellings, we are going to see far more discontent between neighbors over issues that would not even rate a mention in the past.

So true.

Neighbours were getting some concrete broken up

Woman in close by units complained that very noisy and could the workers start later in the day

Landscaper (who was doing the work) pointed out that it was after 7 in the morning and he could do the work then - he also explained that he couldn't afford to pay his workers to stand around idle. He also explained that would only be a couple of days then all over and no more noise. He was quite polite about it.

She eventually complained to the council that the new back fence was too high. Well we believe it was her as no one else cares. This fence does not adjoin the property she lives in as she is separated by another property.

Council inspected the fence and fined the landscaper and the homeowner. Fence had to be taken down and retaining wall moved a metre inland. The homeowners also had to get remedial work done on their deck because the council inspector noted it was too big.

I'm not sure what the moral of this story is but what a vindictive so and so

Sawdust Maker is right, some people are just toxic.

In North Sydney (Mosman and Neutral Bay) the population is a concentration of "soft hand" occupations (bankers, lawyers, accountants) whose wives (or themselves, as most are long term unemployed) complain long, vociferously and bitterly about the most incredibly trivial things.

We were there 20-odd years and the stories of vindictive pettiness were absolutely mind boggling. These people worked themselves up into a full blown histrionic fit over where a garbage bin was over some imaginary line, or where you "always park" to not sweeping leaves. There are endless stories over poisoned trees, mystery fires, people deliberately growing Chinese Giant Bamboo to block views... And HUGE complaints over cubby houses and not getting council planning permission.

These people were always the same bitter, nasty and unhinged individuals.

It was so bad, my daughter who was 8, once told one of the bitchiest nasty feral woman next door to shove a bag of walnuts "up her corn shute"! Said Nasty Person was complaining, at the gate, about the kids singing in the yard!

That broke me up. . Made crazy woman have an incoherant meltdown. She was apoplexic. It was immensely satisfying to watch.

I've always wondered why we don't have an "a$$hole" point system like a drivers license or credit report so we can socially punish these recidivist social troublemakers.

My neighbours recently commented that they had missed my noise recently as I have not done anything serious since Christmas due to a broken collarbone (that is a story for another time).
They are good people and I have told them if anyone is sick or their university student daughters are studying to let me know.
I usually avoid weekends when they are all home anyway as I am able to do my thing during the week.

Originally Posted by Kuffy

This is very true. My father leased a property to an ex-cop turned manager of council by-law enforcement. He paid his rent and at face value seemed like a decent fella. Then he started to complain....about the milkman delivering milk to the neighbours across the road at 7am, bottles rattling!!! So the neighbours, which had built and lived there for 10yrs prior, cancelled there milk deliveries. And then he told me about how he left an anonymous letter in the mailbox of a noisy dog owner "do something about the dog or I will!". I asked him "which house?", we had to walk about 900meters to the place, across streets and around corners. Essentially he has made a career out of complaining about other ppl.

I love to do things just to set these sods up, they complain to council, council guy comes around we shut the door have a chin way and coffee over power took options and on his way again.
If councils talk to you about complaints... nothing can realy be done without specifics.
They come to me ....'we had a complaint about noise from y...'

me..." give me exact time and date so I can assertain what I was doing at that time"

them... "well, I dont know exactly, we just had a complaint, your a bast*** aren't you"? he says "you know the rules better than I do"

Living in the country with cool neighbours is awesome. Just saying

Ref: North Sydney

I worked there at the Police Station in the mid-1970's, nothing has changed except the boarding houses for the mentally disabled have changed into bijoux studio apartments, for the marginally psychopathic wealthy - it seems to have resulted in a definite downturn in the quality of the area.

One of my better memories of the place was the bod ringing up demanding the Police come down and clean his front door step after someone had left a flaming bag of dog poo and he had stomped it out