Thread: Noise, Neighbours and woodwork.....

Originally Posted by tea lady

And make them all something for xmas. Who knows you might get supplied with scones and sponges every weekend and have a whole bunch of new friends.

My sentiments exactly. I was renting a place on an acre; the property next door had been turned into units full of retirees. The matriarch of the community introduced herself to me and all her neighbours and they were all as nice as pie, never complained about the noise I made. Dibbers, trivits and bottle stands are really easy and quick to make from offcuts and make excellent little spontaneous gifts.

Originally Posted by Wolffie

That sounds a bit inconsiderate and selfish.
You say most are elderly. That should be enough to tell you something.
How do you know whether the neighbours are either extremely tolerant, deaf or intimidated?
We usually finish around 1600 hours or so.
I believe people deserve a break from noise even if they don't complain.
Cheers
Wolffie

That was not my intention of what I wrote, I meant that I will keep going the way I am. I work a few hours a day on woodwork, less noise than the shire allow for and no noisy Sunday work, and no one has complained. The elderly bit was that as some older people do they complain and whine at the drop of a hat, no one has so I must not be annoying anyone. (they have complained about the loud parties in one of the other units, one even complained about people parking in the drive way ( he has few visitors and none of them drive). I find if I need to get out (I live the furthest back) I just ask politely and they are more than happy to move (our four units are on the outside of a bend, with no off street visitor bays, no on street parking) I can not park in my carport as my van is too high (I need 2.2m clearance and my carport is 2.1m).

I am very nice to them, talk to them regularly for at least 15 minutes.


I hope that clears it up, I certainly do not want to annoy them.

Sounds good to me.
Cheers
Wolffie

Another neighbour & I both use woodworking tools that can be noisy, so we were pro-active and asked all our neighbours to let us know if there's ever a problem. Also, they know that if they want something made we are happy to do so. We limit our noisy machine use to 'reasonable' hours and try to avoid weekends. I guess we're fortunate in having good neighbours too. Never had a problem.

I can see the Darksiders grinning from ear to ear ,however they also use some machinery from time to time to dimension down timber.

I guess good insulation helps to some small measure in keeping noise down, along with keeping the cold air down to minimum and offording some protection on moist air.

Fortunately I dont have Kat's issue, as we're on acreage but still observe the niceties like quiet Sunday mornings at least until 0900.Powertool technology may progress to the point with OHS regulationary pressure to produce quieter machines however don't hold your breath.

Being on good terms with neighbours helps, also getting involved with a local WW community may be a way around this issue.

If going to the Woodwork show next week talk to folk like the Woodturners and clubs that could be in attendance.

Cheers

The noise that my neighbours make has never upset my woodwork...

My policy with machine use, saw, spindle moulder, thicknesser, planer, etc, is not before 9am and not after 3pm weekdays. 10am to 2pm Saturdays and never ever on sundays. All my neighbours know me and all know that I am happy to accommodate their particular needs i.e. shift work. Never had a real problem other than one individual who claimed to council that I was having trucks unloading steel once or twice a week and using grinders till all hours of the night. A call to council and my insistence that they come out and have a look at what I do has cleared that up.

Get to know your neighbours, let them know that you can accommodate them and you should have no problems.

Cheers
Bevan

I agree with all the ideas of Talking to neighbours. I actually had one come over thisafternoon when I had finished to see what I was making lol. He had no problem with the noise and said it was not obtrusive. (he also said that one of the other people is drunk most of the time, and the people in the other unit do not count as they are young and have loud music most nights. The neighbour who visited did not have a problem which is good

Kat.

Originally Posted by Avery

The noise that my neighbours make has never upset my woodwork...

LOL

Originally Posted by Geekgirl

I agree with all the ideas of Talking to neighbours. I actually had one come over thisafternoon when I had finished to see what I was making lol. He had no problem with the noise and said it was not obtrusive. (he also said that one of the other people is drunk most of the time, and the people in the other unit do not count as they are young and have loud music most nights. The neighbour who visited did not have a problem which is good

Kat.

That's a good outcome!

Originally Posted by Andy Mac

That's a good outcome!

It is as I have used the router with a 25mm bit to remove 5mm and 2mm of surface on the entire bench, the 5mm was in two passes and the 2mm was in one pass, the 5mm was on Friday afternoon, the 2mm was this afternoon (Just afternoon) so I am glad, as that is one of the noisiest machines I own

Kat.

Originally Posted by Wolffie

Problem is, when someone makes a complaint, it has to be investigated, even though they know it is all what comes out of the backside of a bull
Cheers
Wolffie

I know this one VERY well

I used to have a 20' Insulated sea container for an electronics workshop. It was fitted out for electronics R&D work, repairs etc. It was meant to be mounted on the back of a flat tray for a semi to move. It had a 3 phase generator, inside was a UPS, comms rack, PABX, satellite internet link... When I had finished using it on site, I parked it in the back yard, with an umbilical cord to the house (240V 20A extension lead brought power in, phone lines were brought in. all the phones in the house hung of the PABX, computers etc (this was late 90's to 2005 when I sold it) It was all LEGAL I had a permit from the shire (due to the fact they looked everywhere and could not find a legal reason to say NO, An electrician put the single phase 20A outlet in (I did the comms as I am licensed for that)..

Neighbours did not like it as it sat above the fence by ~1000mm.

So one day they phoned crime stoppers and said "The people living at X were growing marijuana in it etc etc"

So the cops raid us (with loaded fire arms crashing through doors etc) Ask to look in the sea container, which I did not have a problem with. They said they had bad information (They were also told we had other drugs, large quantities of stolen goods, fire arms ....)

They apologised, I reiterated once again, that they are free to look around any-time no need for a warrant (which they have to do if they want it in court).

They had to investigate a second call later due to a pipe going over the front wall (it was a 19mm polly pipe, the reason was I could not be bothered digging under the wall (forgot when building it to put some conduits through for retic etc).

They also called Western Power saying we bypassed the meter... (the inspector actually made the state government housing authority re wire the house as parts were damage with old white ant damage and rat damage, so the whole house had new GPO's, more in the areas we needed them etc. We loved it.

I would never make false complaints (apart from the fact I can not do anything to risk loosing my security licenses etc) I know how much time it takes to look for proof and then do the on site inspections.....

Kat.

Yes, the nosey neighbour! I know that one only too well from my house in Queensland. We called the wman next door the "Neighbourhood Watch". the house is on a semi-rural block but the neighbours house is quite close to mine. When I am working on something under the house she will bbe out mowing the small strip of her yard where she can see under my house. I put up a 10'x10' garden shed up to restrict her vision even more. Out come the building inspectors. I was cleared of any wrongdoing of course.

We kept a few animals, a goat and some poultry as well as a dog. I quickly got to be on first-name terms with the council health inspectors and the local RSPCA officers. It got to the stage that these guys would just ring me and ask if everything was still alright when they recieved a complaint. That way they could say tey had investigated. She reported that our goat was undernourhishe and being starved. When the RSPCA inspector came out the goat was so fat she asked if whe was pregnant. She once reported that our dog was left unattended all weekend without food and water and had barked all night keeping her awake. Trouble was the dog was away with me that weekend.

I am an amateur radio operator so I stuck up a big tower with an antenna on top, no coax to the antenna and I didnt even have a radio on the premises, other than the 2metre/70cm unit in the car, which was never used at home anyway. So out comes the radio inspector to investigate the interference I was causing to her TV reception. He looked at the tower without any coax and he knew it was a BS complaint.

Of course none of the investigators were legally able to tell me who had been making the complaints but I just knew. Eventually I decided to have a bit of fun with it and made up a leaflet on the computer and dropped it in every letterbox in the small estate one night.

"dear neighbour,

If you are the person who has been maliciously reporting me to local authorities even though I have done nothing unlawful on my property, please note that all of these inspectors are sick of wasting their time on your inappropriate complaints.

However I should thank you for providing me with the opportunity to meet all these great new friends.

If you are not the malicious person I mentioned above then please be advised, good neighbour, that such a being resides amongst us,

your neighbour"

That seemed to shut her up for a few years.

Originally Posted by doug3030

I am an amateur radio operator so I stuck up a big tower with an antenna on top, no coax to the antenna and I didnt even have a radio on the premises, other than the 2metre/70cm unit in the car, which was never used at home anyway. So out comes the radio inspector to investigate the interference I was causing to her TV reception. He looked at the tower without any coax and he knew it was a BS complaint.

I never really got into radio, I have done a lot of RF work with tv transmitters and community radio. I preferred Security and CCTV etc. I like how an antenna with no coax can interfere with her TV

Originally Posted by doug3030

Of course none of the investigators were legally able to tell me who had been making the complaints but I just knew. Eventually I decided to have a bit of fun with it and made up a leaflet on the computer and dropped it in every letterbox in the small estate one night.

"dear neighbour,

If you are the person who has been maliciously reporting me to local authorities even though I have done nothing unlawful on my property, please note that all of these inspectors are sick of wasting their time on your inappropriate complaints.

However I should thank you for providing me with the opportunity to meet all these great new friends.

If you are not the malicious person I mentioned above then please be advised, good neighbour, that such a being resides amongst us,

your neighbour"

That seemed to shut her up for a few years.

I am glad the letter shut her up


Kat.

Have pity on some of these complainers. Too often I have found as a neighbour I have had to suffer their complaints and bad behavior because of the problems in their personal lives. In my experiences the growing complaints were precursors to divorces or even arrest on criminal charges.

For me it's been a case of bad behavior boomerangs.

Most you you guys seem very accommodating concerned neighbours who need to move in around me and become my neighbours.