Shop noise and neighbors in neighborhoods where homes are close together

[Jamie Buxton]

A woodworker friend of mine solved this question in a different way. He says many retirement communities have amenities like tennis courts, swimming pools, and such. He found that many have woodworking shops. He chose one of them, and is very happy with it. The shop is big, and fully equipped with big stationery tools. He does have a hand-tool bench at home, but all the noise and sawdust are in the community shop.

[Lee Schierer]

It is a hit or miss situation. Neighbors you have now could be gone next month. Check your local ordenances and HOA rules for quiet times. The best was to go about this would be to take the sound reduction suggestions above in advance. Learn your close neighbors routines so you don't disturb the daily nap or favorite team broadcast. You can also make a useful item like a tray and give it to one of the neighbors as a gift and say thank you for letting you make a little noise every once in a while. If the neighbor is cutting his grass with a noisy mower, run your planer at that time. If they have a fire place make up bundles of cut offs for fire starter.

I wish you luck in this change of location.

[Aaron Inami]

I know this post is late, I was out for all last week.

"soundproofing" is actually extremely hard to do in a garage. I would look more at "sound absorbing". You can do a lot of "soundproofing", but sound still gets out. The goal would be to get your tools and machinery to be as quiet as possible. Don't buy a Dewalt 735 planer (or any lunchbox planer). Look for full size planer/jointers with helical heads. Place foam on the inside of machinery with motors:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BW56B8FR/

Look at dust collection that is quiet (Harvey G700 is great, but so is a well engineered Clearvue Cyclone if you have the budget for $6-8k).

If you have a metal garage door, you can try looking at the garage door insulation kits like the Owens Corning R-8 Faced Fiberlgass or Cellofoam. However, it would be much better to buy a bunch of 1" Owens 703, cut it to size and wrap in fabric before sticking into the garage door sections:
https://www.atsacoustics.com/owens-c...03-1-inch.html

Routers, unfortunately, are going to be very loud. It's best to get your garage to have as much "sound absorption" as possible and then run the routers with the garage door closed. You can start sticking acoustic panels across the walls if you really want. You can also run the routers as the slowest speed possible to reduce the noise (but it also reduces the cutting speed).

I think with all this, the sound won't be that offensive for the neighbors.

[Mike Wilkins]

Since I live in an older neighborhood (built in the mid-80's) we have decent sized lots. So no homes like 10 feet apart. However I never run loud machines after 9:00PM out of respect for them. Walls and ceiling are insulated well so not much noise gets out anyway. If I'm working after 9 I only use the quieter machines (bandsaw, sander, hand tools).
That's the beauty of living in an older neighborhood; I don't like the newer homes where the set backs are minuscule with no place for a detached shop.

[David Stone (CT)]

OP here: Thanks, everyone, for your replies. Overall, I found them encouraging with respect to the viability of a shop in such a setting. Additional inputs welcome and appreciated.

[Daniel O'Neill]

Getting ready to insulate the ceiling. I have one super sensitive neighbor and everyone else says they don't hear anything in their house or it's very faint outside. I have two little kids, so the only regular time I get in the shop is after 8 once I get them into bed and finish chores. My plan was to put fiberglass in the ceiling (with an airgap), cover with eps and plywood. In another thread I saw that acoustical tiles work well so I'd be up for putting those in as well. I dunno... I do want to be respectful of the neighbors but I'd never have anytime to WW if I don't do it late. I thought we moved into unincorporated township expressly for this kind of reason. Is there that much of a difference between rockwool and fiberglass for sound? Any other tips are appreciated.

[Jim Becker]

Daniel, instead of using fiberglass insulation in the ceiling, use Rockwool...it's better at sound applications (some products are actually designed for sound control) and a bit more pleasant to work with, too.

[Aaron Inami]

Be aware that Rockwool actually has different types of insulation that work differently for acoustics. This is a good chart to start from:

https://www.atsacoustics.com/page--S...erial--ac.html

If you are putting in a somewhat thin layer of insulation (maybe 2" or 3"), then the Rockwool Rockboard 60 or Comfortboard 80 is the best overall sound absorber. Both the 60 and 80 products are very stiff. But you need support because these panels will actually sag over time if they are held just at the ends.

If you are layering in thicker insulation (4" or more), then a lighter density actually works better. The 2.5lb Rockwool AFB or "Comfortbatt" product is recommended here if you are choosing a Rockwool product. Be aware that the AFB comfortbatt material will crumble easily. These will easily sag as well, so you need some sort of crossmember support under the panel.

The Owens 703 fiberglass boards are also great if you are doing 4" or thicker layers. They will not crumble like the Rockwool and will not sag (droop) over time, but they are more expensive.

[Mike Henderson]

Avoid the DeWalt 735 planer if you want to keep the noise down. It's a real screamer. It's the only tool I have where my wife comes out and complains. Get a planer with an induction motor.

I bought my 735 from a guy who was in one of those commercial rental "stalls" (maybe the size of a two car garage). The other tenants complained about the 735.

Mike

[Daniel O'Neill]

Thanks all. The ceiling is 2x8s So my goal is to pack in 5.5-6" of fluffy insulation with some type of vapor open board insulation over that then paneling like osb or something cheap. I did try some mineral wool from Menards in the ceiling. It promptly fell down. So that's why I thought fiberglass with the kraft facing would stay up a little better. I probably won't get any paneling on it anytime soon but eventually. Have you guys used the insulation supports to keep the mineral wool up? In which case I'd have to run baffles all the way up. (I'm okay with that just want to make sure my understanding is correct)

Mike, Someday....I'd like to get a used planer/jointer combo with HH. For the meantime I'll try to keep large amounts of surfacing to the daytime hours. Who knows though I get going and the time passes so quick. It is probably one of my favorite parts of our property.

[Zachary Hoyt]

I put Rockwool Comfortbatt in the roof of my shop. I had rough cut 2x10 so I put some proper vent foam things on the bottom of the 1x6 furring strips, then 2x8 sized insulation, then a plastic vapor barrier and then OSB. The rockwool mostly fit tight enough to stay till I got the plastic up, and that worked till I got the OSB up, but it all happened in a day or two so I don't know what would work for you long term.

[David Stone (CT)]

Avoid the DeWalt 735 planer if you want to keep the noise down. It's a real screamer. It's the only tool I have where my wife comes out and complains. Get a planer with an induction motor.

Ha. That is excellent advice. For years, I had a lunchbox planer, an early Delta version bought new in 1993. It produced a wonderful surface and might have gone on forever. But eventually, I could no longer take the noise level and replaced it with a cast iron machine with an induction motor.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I may have the same Delta. Its sympathetic resonance is right in tune with my Grizzly barrel top D.C. The two together are deafening. The two lawn mowers in the yard are just out of phase enough to make a bad combo not quite as bad.