Good morning Friends,

For those folks who work out of your garage and in a residential neighborhood, how many complaints do you receive from your neighbors especially when you are planing after a few hours in order to get your lumber down to 3/4" from 4/4 stock?

-0-close neighbors = -0- complaints.

Run the planer and routers all I need to when I need to, DC vented to the out side, too.

Shooting range beyond the shop. The noise barely bothers the dogs. After the first couple of rounds, they go back to sleep. 

Depends on the season Ralph.  My shop is well insulated and the insulation dampens the sound well in the winter.  In the summer is a different story. I checked the Db level of my planer a couple of years ago and it peaked at 104 Db.  Only once have the neighbors complained.  It also helps that they bring all of their furniture repairs to me and I fix them for free.

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Ron Dudelston
Above and Beyond WoodWorks

I have had no complaints made in the 10 years that I have lived in my home. Of course that doesn't mean that I have neighbors who don't like the noise I make but they just haven't said anything to me or to one of my other neighbors who would tell me (not a very social bunch on our street). I don't fire up any machine before10am or after 8pm with very few exceptions like when I am working on the drill press or lathe which I can do with the garage door closed.

I live on a corner lot and my shop sits in the back corner of my lot so it has three other house in fairly close proximity to it. I have had no complaints by my neighbors, but I also try to be a good neighbor with my woodworking. My shop is also insulated and that makes a difference on the noise. If you are outside and I am running them you can certainly hear it, but I have had my son to run boards through and I have gone in the house and can barley tell it is going on.

 

With that though, I don't run them after 9:00 pm. It would have to be a real emergency for me to crank one up late at night. I also don't start them before 9:00 am on a Saturday morning. I found out that we have a lot of folks already mowing grass by 9:00 so my stuff is not much different than all of the lawn mowers running.

 

I have talked with my neighbors about what I do and the times I run things and have always told them to let me know if it is a bother. Keeping good communications open certainly helps.

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John Moody
John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com

My shop is in the basement. Wife is the only one who complains and then mostly about the dust.

 

Neighbors are close so I don't run the noisy stuff very early or very late. In the summer time I need to be aware of the open basement window and the little ears next door- Navy vocabulary.

 

Lew

My neighbors benefit from my woodworking. I have fixed/repaired a piece or two for all of my close neighbors. Working primarily with handtools is a big plus also. I often work into the wee hours of the morning and no one (my roomate included) ever notices.

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Adam Welker
Red Car Construction and Fine Woodworking

Good Morning All,

Great responses and I too have a corner lot and with the insulation I have installed the neighbors lawn mowers make as much noise as my planers and as mentioned taking notice of the time of day when it is OK to run the planers for the normal daytime noise in the neighborhood are about equal to the sounds coming from my shop.

Thanks for your support.