Noise Complaint!!

Put 4X4 posts about 8" in front of the shop door. Put some cedar boards, or two sheets of plywood across them. This will block the sound enomously.
 
Find out your local laws concerning noise and have a printed copy on hand and even a decibel meter if you ever need to prove that your within your rights. I've heard that a drum full of sand is an excellent sound dampener for an anvils base.
 
Bigblue17 said:
Count - Unfortunately, the shed door does face her house. I'm forced to keep the doors and a window in the back open when I forge as that's my ventilation source. The idea of a barrier between the shed and her house seems a bit "overkill" to me. Yes, it'd likely solve the problem, but I would hope there's a less labor-intensive solution.

I think I'll try the weighted belt trick and maybe some acoustic tile on the inside.
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I assumed that was the case.

You can close both those doors to about a 30 degree angle and still get tons of air flow, but the doors will reflect the sound back inside the shed.


I still believe in berms, or tree hedges for the long term.
Not only for sound, but it keeps people from knowing your business
I've known people who have had anvils disappear from sheds and barns once someone know it was there.


Barriers I'm thinking about can be as simple as a few steel fence posts and plywood or wood lattice wired to them.
in exactly the way Stacy mentioned.
 
some insulation in the walls, then peg board ( like 1/4" masonite with holes all in it ) , then a layer or 2 of drywall and some moving blankets all around . will kill alot of the sound. thats how we build my buddys vocal room in his house for recording. ( raised floor of course) room is dead on inside and VERY quite on outside. NOW i know this is in a shop so blankets might not be safest thing around all that heat ? but i dont know how much room you have? but a couple alternating layers of a softer and a more dense materials will kill ALOT of sound. they have a product too i forget the name , its like this flaky sound barrier stuff, kinda looks like a super thick green ceiling tiles. really good at killing sound BUT i dont know how safe it is to work with ... also the way it kills sound is by turning the sound energy into heat energy, not much but still heat... i dont know if it can effect room temps but probably dont want it any hotter in your forge? haha just some ideas to play with hope they help. i love sound and audio, kind of another hobby of mine, way too much to get into on here, sound can get crazy almost pushing boundaries of physics. also a nice lattice or arbour in front will make your shop look a lil nicer add privacy and help with sound. or open doors but hang moving blanket infront of open doors ? but it sounds like you are working within the law and also within common decency , so i hate to say stick it to her... but some people you can never make happy, most of my nieghbours are older and i just find they dont like me, but im younger guy, big dog, tattoos, nice car ( not that nice, i wish i had a german car) , they have an impression of me thats wrong , if i had the german car id be undersame impression hahaha hope some this info helps and it all works out, maybe make her something ? then she will see what all the noise was for ?
 
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As Borg said, try a wall between your door and her yard. It doesnt need to be large, just enough to block and redirect the sound waves. If you are inside the shed when you are hammering, the open door acts as a channel directly to her house, if the wall is a couple of sheets of plywood with a curve or v directly in front of the door to the shed, it will reradiate the sound, like putting something in a puddle and dropping a rock, the waves hit the block and move away. Yes, some will go over the top but the sound will be greatly reduced. You on the other hand, will need better ear plugs. Are you still going to shovel her driveway or ask the brother to do it now?

Hmm I need to type faster, as Stacy said but angle the plywood for better reflection, sound works on the same principle as radar and angle reflect better.
 
I had largely the same idea as Stacy, except I was thinking a U shaped wall which overlaps the width of your shed.. so it will direct the sound out behind your shed, instead of at her house. Also egg cartons are a poor mans soundproofing.. line the walls with it will help, but it wont matter much if the door faces her.
 
I have both my anvils fastened to there wood bases with construction adhesive. I've tried all the other remedies and this by far does the most sound deadening of anything I have tried.
 
what about moving the door to the backside?

It sounds like the way you have it set up, your probably actually amplifying the noise directly at her house.

It reminds me of all the folks living in town homes that place their surround sound sub woofers with the port directly against the shared wall.
 
Look up the local noise ordinance law.

Chances are you can probably make as much noise as you want from around 7am - 9pm.

If she doesn't like it, oh well.

The neighbors called the cops on me a while back, claiming that they could hear my grinder from inside. (I can't even hear my grinder running from inside MY house.)

I was working during the time frame allowed by the noise ordinance, so the cops told the neighbors to stop calling them and deal with it.
 
I hung two buckets of sand. One on the horn and another on a lip. With the help of worn grinder belts. I forge in my garage that is just 6-8 yards from my neigbours house. I cant say that it is quiet, but no complaints from them so far.
They are the fourth owners of this unfortunate house in just two years. Probably it is not very good house to live in.:confused: May be it is haunted or it has wet basement... who knows.
 
Mitchell Knives said:
Look up the local noise ordinance law.

Chances are you can probably make as much noise as you want from around 7am - 9pm.

If she doesn't like it, oh well.
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I had a much meaner way of saying this. Suffice it to say: don't be a schmuck, and don't let some b**ch or her brother try to intimidate you.

And stop shoveling her snow.
 
So the FIRST contact you have with your nieghbor on this issue is her brother telling you the next time they hear it, they are calling the police?!!!!
 
Rick Marchand said:
So the FIRST contact you have with your nieghbor on this issue is her brother telling you the next time they hear it, they are calling the police?!!!!
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I actually had to deal with a guy like this a couple weeks ago (probably why it's pissing me off a bit). I actually ended up getting the cops to tell him to f*ck off and stop harassing me though. :P

Edit: different situation, same attitude and empty threats.
 
There is Adhesived backed rubber mats used in walls and in cars for sound deadening. Works slick and pretty inexpensive.
Horse stall mat comes to mind
 
get some old carpet - nail it up inside the shed - that's your acoustic damper.
i also agree with Stacy on putting up an 8 foot tall wall across the front of the shed about 6-8 feet out so you still get ventilation but any residual noise is redirected.
then paint the anvil with rubberized undercoat ($3 a spray can in the automotive section of your local wally or other box store), or do one of the other harmonic dampening tricks posted in the thread and you will be able to document good effort to mitigate any excessive noise.




and stop shoveling her drive -- the brother is obviously well capable of keeping himself busy on her behalf.
 
Do what you can to reduce the noise. If you are not in violation of the noise ordinances you could suggest her or her brother help with the construction or cost of the baffle that you would be willing to install for her benefit. Since it is a noisy hobby I would continue doing the neighbourly things you have in the past, unless they start hounding you calling the cops etc.
 
You have had several great suggestions. The fence is a great one. But I would go and talk to the lady. It may not be her as much as it her brother! He may be thinking that he is doing her a favor.
Having said that most residential areas are only restricted by noise ordnance regulations from approx. 7 AM to 8:30PM. Now this does vary from area to area. So I would go to the police that have jurisdiction over your area and see what your local ordinance is!

My son used to play the drums. I will say it was a heck of a lot louder in my house than on the outside. I had a cop show up one afternoon at my door and asked if we had been playing loud music. I told him NO but my son had been practicing his drums. On that particular day he had only played for a few minutes and that we had quite a high investment in his drum set and he was learning to play the drums and in fact he had gotten quite good at it.

The cop asked if he could hear my son play. He listened a few minutes and asked him to continue playing till he came back if he did not mind. he then walked the 300 - 350 yards across my property, and another 100yds to the lady's door who had made the complaint. He asked if he could come in. She allowed him inside and he shut the door after talking to her a few minutes he informed her that he did not find the noise of the drums inside her house excessive noise.
He also informed her that as long as he (my son) played within the hours of 7AM -8:30PM he (my son) was well within the law. He then walked back over and knocked on my door again. My son was still playing so I asked him to come and talk with the officer. He told my son that as long as he followed the limitation of the noise ordnance hours he was well within his rights. He then complimented my son on his playing and said he played the saxophone. he apologized for bothering us but said anytime there is a complaint they have to show up to investigate. We were never bothered by the law or the old lady again.

Now I will say this she was just a hateful old bat that had called the law on everyone in the neighborhood at least once. Not to mention this is the same lady who asked me not to call the law on her Grandson when he buried an arrow in the back of my house inches from my son's bedroom window while target practicing with his bow one afternoon. I didn't call the law but did have a long talk with his mother and father.

Sometimes it doesn't matter what you do for people but I still have to believe in good in this world and it doesn't do anything for you to lower yourself to their standards. I commend you for that!
 
I put a healthy bead of silicone caulk on the bottom of the anvil before setting it on the base and it reduced ringing significantly.

BTW, in my neighborhood, there was (and may still be) a prohibition on having a smithy. When my neighbor pointed this out to me (primarily for amusement), I directed him to to section of the same document permitting the raising of pigs. He then said the smithy was just fine. -Doug
 
DougSeward said:
I put a healthy bead of silicone caulk on the bottom of the anvil before setting it on the base and it reduced ringing significantly.

BTW, in my neighborhood, there was (and may still be) a prohibition on having a smithy. When my neighbor pointed this out to me (primarily for amusement), I directed him to to section of the same document permitting the raising of pigs. He then said the smithy was just fine. -Doug
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that is something I need to remember. that is funny.
 
Buy two 100lb rare earth magnets and place one under the horn near the tip and the other under the heel near the back. These are the areas that make most of the ringing we hear. My 128lb anvil rang painful loud without ear plugs before I did this but now all I get is a dull thud.
 
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