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Ask Slashdot: Cost Effective Way To Soundproof My Home?
An anonymous reader writes: As more and more people live closer together in tightly packed subdivisions, the mental stress of noise becomes a serious issue. Noise nuisance complaints are on the rise, litigation increasing. We try to tune it out, yet the stress it causes is still present, and there's seemingly no way around it." Six months ago a new neighbor moved in next door who has two dogs, one of which barks incessantly with a high pitched yip that is driving my wife crazy and making it difficult for me to read or work on the computer. I've already talked to my neighbor and he will bring the dog inside but three days later it starts again. What is a cost effective technical solution to knock 10 or 20 dB off the exterior noise? soundproof windows, an interior acoustic blanket,a sound blocking fence, a sound absorbing fence, planting foliage or noise cancelling headphones, or something else. I'm sure I'm not the first slashdotter to have this problem. What has worked for you?
what worked for me was getting rid of THAT neighbor.
If it is for an annoying dog, just get one of the anti bark devices that look like a bird house first. There are several with good reviews on Amazon. They don't work on all dogs, but there often is success with them. It is worth a shot since they are only like 50 bucks, and soundproofing your home is going to cost a lot more.
Otherwise what I have found the most effective is outside vegetation around your property border. Gives you privacy from both sight and sound. Also pretty....
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As you get closer to your ears, the sound reduction becomes less selective and you wind up reducing the level of sounds that you want to hear..
n/t
No idea about soundproofing, but just feed the dog plenty of high calorie snacks.
Document the noise and contact your local bylaw officers. Present them with a clear explanation of what's happening. Video will help. In most jurisdictions, there are restrictions on outside noise that lasts longer than a certain duration and that occurs after a certain cutoff time at night.
This is not a problem you should attempt to resolve by wrapping your house in 3 feet of bubble wrap and duct tape.
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/product/GUN-DP12#Reviews
Kill the dogs with chocolate - easy to find / buy and hard to prove!
From Steve Gibson of GRC..
https://www.grc.com/tqc/thequietcanine.htm
We created a few "quite spaces" in our loud office with Acoustic Soundproofing panels. You cover the doors, walls, and ceiling, and nothing gets in or out. They worked wonders.
www.amazon.com/Mybecca-12-Pack-Acoustic-Soundproofing/dp/B00TP7C9YY/
Tbh, if you can somehow just get the dog to not bark (as much), I think that would solve the problem most affectatiously for all. Anything else would be very expensive I imagine.
The Bose QC25 are the best ones available right now.
Most places have ordinances against nuisance barking. Check out your local laws.
1) CLOSE your gob
and
2) COTTON WOOL in your ears
New doors, windows, and most importantly improve the insulation in your walls and attic, - also air seal. Insulation can be "dense packed" into walls without opening them up.
Not only does it make your home quieter, it makes it more energy efficient. It may not eliminate all outside noise, but at least bring it down to a less distracting level.
I've wondered what a yapping dog would sound like after giving it a whiff of helium.
add a layer of "quietrock" to exterior walls.
My house has 2x6 exterior walls, with insulation in them. My interior walls are 2x4, but are also insulated. Outside noise is so reduced, when there is an accident on the super sharp corner we live on, we don't hear it - hte neighbors 100 yards further away do and they are the ones that call the cops/ambulance. We notice when we see the flashing lights outside...
Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Chaos maximizes locally around me.
See http://www.maxxon.com/ I have used their Acoustimat product in the past to make my bedroom substantially quieter, and it worked fantastically. It's, unfortunately, somewhat expensive, but it is at least effective.
Everything you could ever want to know about dealing with sound is in here:
http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/index.php
Get USED to it.
Has the average age of Slashdot users gone down that much? It's like pre-schoolers are posting now!
But what if you work nights and have to sleep during the day?
This time with the police or a dog catcher in tow.
Of course there are other ways you could fuck with them. Feed FiFi the dog some ex-lax. Explosive diarrhea will result. You could also experiment with narcoleptics and benzos too. Maybe even some Prozac for the pooch.
No actually don't shoot the dog (even if you really want to).
I have had this issue before and endless complaining from multiple neighbors to the association along with calling the cops immediately when it starts every single time they dump it outside has forced them to leave the little shit inside. Thankfully, the county I live in has very good nuisance barking laws and they send an animal control officer within 15-20 minutes. The offending neighbor can get ticketed and even have their dog taken if they piss off animal control enough (and find one thing out of code, such as no water dish outside, inadequate shade, etc).
Aside from the real estate market still being quite soft around the country, moving every time there's too much noise just isn't practical. It's expensive to move even with just getting help paid by pizza and beer.
And the thing is, no matter where you are, you have to deal with leaf blowers and other lawn equipment, motorcycles, people who insist on having car stereos that can be heard a mile away, people who have those loud pickup trucks and of course the dogs that were mentioned.
We live in a narcissistic obnoxious society that has no consideration for others.
Throw a couple of pounds of chocolate in your neighbors back yard or mix fine shards of glass into hamburger meat and toss in your neighbors back yard. Problem will resolve itself in a few days.
God damn if we aren't a bunch fo sick, devious fucks. I love it.
It's all about physical isolation, and mass.
1. Stagger your studs on shared walls. This will mean that the sound hitting his wall and your wall won't pass through the shared studs.
2. Sound isolating drywall. It's not that much more expensive than regular drywall. Its heavier and has a membrane sandwiched in between: http://www.quietrock.com/
3. Hat Channels and clips. The clips get screwed to the studs and the hat channel sits on the clips. The channel sits on the clips, and the drywall is screwed to the channel. This means sounds hitting the wall will not transfer to the studs (and vice versa)
http://www.soundproofingcompan...
4. Wrap your electrical boxes for outlets and switches with quiet putty, seal up and joits where air can move with acoustic sealant. Anyplace air can move, sound will leak through.
http://www.soundproofingcompan...
5. Fill the walls with insulation. The more mass you can cram in there, and the more airflow you can stop the better.. regular R-21 will work.
6. Double up your flooring. Put acoustic sealant between the layers. Get a mass loaded under rug foam pad.
http://www.soundproofingcompan...
I did this all to my TV room, cost about $600. I can crank it up in there, and it can't be heard in the rest of the house.. Its on the second floor above the kids room
For an apartment you are somewhat limited. Wall hangings made of heavy fabric are helpful. You can add inexpensive moving blankets behind the decorative layer to aid in sound control.
For your own house added insulation is really effective. Insulate the exterior walls, blown in is pretty effective.
If you really need quiet ripping out the interior walls and putting in isolation walls with fiberglass or cotton batting will be much much more effective, both as insulation and soundproofing. You only need to treat the exterior wall although doing select interior walls will provide added privacy as well.
Replace your old windows with high quality high R value, multi pane windows properly installed.
Become friends with the dog and the neighbors. Yappy dogs yap less at people they know.
Phil
Laugh, it's good for you!
When I worked at the AV dept at our local community college back in 1979 the resident engineer sound proofed a recording room by glueing shag carpet to the walls. I was surprisingly effective.
I had the same problem. An ultrasonic pest repeller took care of it for me - the dog went to the far side of neighbor's yard to bark.
...about soundproofing, not poisoning dogs, I believe it was.
Nobody's mentioned that soundproofing and heatproofing are largely the same thing. If your walls are well-insulated, your primary entrance for sound is through the windows. The questioner didn't mention his climate, but if he doesn't have double-pane glass, that's your major problem there. And you're probably cheaper to go to triple-pane or just two sets of double-pane before you start coating all the rest of the walls with another layer of acoustic panels or some such.
Then there's doors. Make sure you have heavy doors, well-insulated.
To an actually nice neighborhood where the setbacks and minimum building lots are sufficient.
Anti Barking electronics work.
From the sounds of your area do you have a HOA to abuse and thus abuse him, those fun things like 3 people show up to elections so get 2 neighbors and vote yourself in.
Check the laws abuse him with those, if you can't abuse him while staying within the laws. I suggest ICP blasting as max legal decibels as early/late as possible. Put a sign on speakers that it's dog barking abatement. Another good one is enough security lights to make sure it's daylight coming through his windows sporadically 24/7 you obviously live far to close to your neighbors thus making thus effective.
Fake it get a lawyer to threaten to sue for the lose of use/value of your home, the cost of soundproofing etc etc. I am not saying it will stick just that many view the threat very seriously.
Do not use a gun were a nation of insane anti gun laws, often crossbows and other non firearms are just as effective and remember in many places an animal in your yard is fair game to kill check with a lawyer first obviously.
If you can get away with it kidnap the dog bring it to a distant no kill shelter after checking and removing any microchips. Probably a better life that living with these tools.
Realize that in everything but moving your going to have to deal with a pissed of neighbor for at least awhile. Suggest a good full coverage CCTV spread to capture any repercussions. I do firmly suggest moving to someplace that has reasonable zoning not these built on top of each other to make the developer happy places.
No sir I dont like it.
There is a device that detects barking of dogs and sends a high pitched sound beam only dogs can hear towards them. The dogs hear a screeching sound. They very quickly learn not to bark.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
Thanks for all the answers, guys!
Now I have a follow-up question; What would be a cost effective way of digging a well inside my basement, for added storage space.
Also; does anybody know where to get cheap skin lotion?
I bought a house on a busy residential street, didn't get much sleep when some of the rice rockets and wannabe racers went by. I had dual pane windows installed on the street facing windows. You can do it yourself by measuring and going to Lowes to order them, or have a reputable company install them. The difference is outstanding, very little traffic noise gets through. A bonus is they act as thermal insulation, less heating and cooling costs. I got the ones with argon gas between the panes, but that's not necessary just for sound proofing.
I had a similar problem 2 years ago and work from home. We sunk a bunch of money into it but its really hard to actually solve. (Sound proofing drywall, acoustic tiles, soundproofing windows, $30k maybe wasted) We ended up moving to a house with more space between it and the neighbours. Big expense and a much more expensive house, but rest time at home is invaluable. Live and learn.
If these kinds of things bother you, the next neighbor will just as much as the current one.
I can't stand that kind of living (grew up that way). The other morning my big noise complaint was a moose bugling from across my field, but that's pretty rare. Once in a while a helicopter goes over or a logging truck rolls by, but compared with barking dogs and hourly sirens, there's no contest.
First be happy, then get rich.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Used to live in a 1914 brick house in Toronto -- the double brick walls with an airspace between coupled with the doubled glass of the storm windows over old double hung did a great job. The walls were lath and plaster -- a greatly underappreciated material, IMHO. If there was a storm or loud celebration outside you just didn't know. Or I got the urge to play kodo drum recordings loud enough to feel... The peace of an undiscovered tomb. Combination of solid, non-resonant surfaces with air spaces and very good sealing around the openings. The trick in reducing exterior noise is to have a gap in the acoustic path from the noise source and an absence of resonant surfaces. The high frequencies are relatively easy. Its the low tones that are harder.
Good luck... just don't get the urge to leave a window open...
I replaced the single pane windows in my old house with double-pane, and they do help reduce noise from outside, when they are closed.
Adding wall insulation, usually blown in, should help, too.
The least expensive solution is to wear foam ear plugs, however.
30db quieter, on average.
Uh, Linux geek since 1999.
Cerwin Vega + Slayer. Worked for me with annoying partying students up till 3am. They sure didn't like Slayer at 7am.
It's not the fault of the dog. It can't express it's desires in any other way. The owner hasn't trained it properly so it is just doing what it's natural instincts are telling it to do. To poison the dog is completely unfair to the dog as it hasn't done anything wrong. The fault is entirely with the owner. If they trained the dog properly and paid attention to the dog then it wouldn't be making a whole lot of noise to annoy the neighbourhood.
It will be nice and quiet, you'll have more space and nobody will complain if you decide to make noise yourself
It's important you understand the difference between sound ISOLATION and damping for acoustics. Foam panels and etc are not useful for isolation, just for reducing echo when sounds DO get into the room. Good damping can make outside sounds less annoying by way of making the room less echo-y, but they don't really "block" sound very well. So, I would recommend you DON'T spend a lot of money on foam panels and other acoustic treatments you may see in recording studios and voice booths, unless you find it is too echo-y.
Sound isolation depends on having MASS which can absorb the energy and convert it to heat, which means materials like concrete, drywall, brick, MDF, etc.
The best way to isolate normal rooms under construction are with two layers of drywall, with the inner one suspended on "green glue" or a similar flexible adhesive that separates the two layers. When it comes to isolating vertically attached rooms the ideas are similar. You can build a second dropped ceiling to add mass and separate the spaces.
Pumping insulation into walls can do quite a bit to lessen the travel of sounds through the structure of houses, as well as direct travel through a wall. As a bonus your home will be cheaper to heat/cool. For already-built housing, I think this is one of the best routes to go. You only have to cut round holes, and either rent the equipment or pay a professional to pump it in and then patch your drywall.
It's not cheap, but it is going to be one of the most cost effective methods in terms of labor and material.
I'll limit my comment to technical solutions since I had a noise problem at my place dealing with outside noise.
To solve you issue you first need to assess how the noise is entering into your space and whether some spaces inside your home are significantly better than others. Noise requires air to move through so barriers that prevent airflow and membranes that diffuse pressure gradients are what needs to be evaluated. Windows and doors are the most common leaky entry point for noise, drywall and poor insulation can also be a cause. Because the noise is coming from outside, your weakest link is probably the Windows, Windows framing, and insulation. If a door is nearby that leads to the outside that is also another entry point that propagates within the home. For example, let's say you have a study room near your home entrance. Even if you redo the Windows their, if your study room door isn't sealed for soundproofed, the barking noise will coming through your main entry door and through your study room door. Windows will get you 80-90% there usually, but if you have an old home.
The cheapest solution is sealed polycarbonate window inserts that are placed in your window framing on the inside. Google Indow Windows and watch the videos. Next option is full window replacement. I recommend Home Depot advice here because I have found that they offer the best window solutions at the cheapest and most flexibile price, especially during the holiday season. Sometimes up to 20-30% off plus nearly free multi-year financing. Some people choose a glass window insert like Citiquiet Windows, but I think they are ugly and expensive (but worth it for bedrooms). If you don't like Indow Window inserts, Citiquiet provides the compromise, but I would just redo Windows completely. After Windows, I would do entryway doors and/or inside doors where silence is desired. If you need more info, let me know. Beyond this, if you have high-ceilings, installing architectural sound barriers dampen noise that is bouncing around inside and make the space look fancy if done right. The more sealed airtight barriers there are, the more dB reduction will be provided. 20-30dB should be easy to do with inserts in my experience. The mode difficult thing to sound proof are slide patio doors. Those just have to be redone in order quiet. Again, Home Depot is where I'd go. You could try to find sound-proofing companies but they will just charge you a premium for everything I just described. Their only real value-add is experience dealing with multiple sound-proofing projects where there is a major renovation involved. If I was perhaps gut renovating a study or bedroom/sunroom, I might consider invoking a soundproofing company or contractor that has had sound-proofing experience. For internal soundproofing for indoor noise and privacy, I would involve a soundproofing company for sure. They understand how to properly layer and install soundproofing drywall. I found a few hours studying YouTube to be a great help as well.
Accidentally posted anonymously....
To solve you issue you first need to assess how the noise is entering into your space and whether some spaces inside your home are significantly better than others. Noise requires air to move through so barriers that prevent airflow and membranes that diffuse pressure gradients are what needs to be evaluated. Windows and doors are the most common leaky entry point for noise, drywall and poor insulation can also be a cause. Because the noise is coming from outside, your weakest link is probably the Windows, Windows framing, and insulation. If a door is nearby that leads to the outside that is also another entry point that propagates within the home. For example, let's say you have a study room near your home entrance. Even if you redo the Windows their, if your study room door isn't sealed for soundproofed, the barking noise will coming through your main entry door and through your study room door. Windows will get you 80-90% there usually, but if you have an old home.
The cheapest solution is sealed polycarbonate window inserts that are placed in your window framing on the inside. Google Indow Windows and watch the videos. Next option is full window replacement. I recommend Home Depot advice here because I have found that they offer the best window solutions at the cheapest and most flexibile price, especially during the holiday season. Sometimes up to 20-30% off plus nearly free multi-year financing. Some people choose a glass window insert like Citiquiet Windows, but I think they are ugly and expensive (but worth it for bedrooms). If you don't like Indow Window inserts, Citiquiet provides the compromise, but I would just redo Windows completely. After Windows, I would do entryway doors and/or inside doors where silence is desired. If you need more info, let me know. Beyond this, if you have high-ceilings, installing architectural sound barriers dampen noise that is bouncing around inside and make the space look fancy if done right. The more sealed airtight barriers there are, the more dB reduction will be provided. 20-30dB should be easy to do with inserts in my experience. The mode difficult thing to sound proof are slide patio doors. Those just have to be redone in order quiet. Again, Home Depot is where I'd go. You could try to find sound-proofing companies but they will just charge you a premium for everything I just described. Their only real value-add is experience dealing with multiple sound-proofing projects where there is a major renovation involved. If I was perhaps gut renovating a study or bedroom/sunroom, I might consider invoking a soundproofing company or contractor that has had sound-proofing experience. For internal soundproofing for indoor noise and privacy, I would involve a soundproofing company for sure. They understand how to properly layer and install soundproofing drywall. I found a few hours studying YouTube to be a great help as well.
Fuck city dwellers who move to rural areas and then complain about livestock and pets.
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
Because soundproofing is not a simple process, it's construction. It may be cheaper to hire a lawyer than to improve the soundproofing of your house. Acoustics 101 is a good resource despite late 90s appearance (full disclosure, Auralex is the company that makes the site, I sell Auralex products as well as other manufacturers products). The cheapest way to improve your soundproofing is to use something like their SheetBlok, but a 4'x30' strip runs over $400 and it's really meant to be put in between layers of walls, ceilings, and floors. It only does about 6 dB of isolation, but, when you remember that decibels are a logarithmic measurement, 6 dB is cutting about half, 12 dB is cutting to a quarter, etc. If you're looking for cheap, quick, and dirty, put up SheetBlok on the interior wall (glossy side to the room) and paint it. It'll look okay at best, but it should give you some decent benefit sonically.
"Don't meddle in the affairs of a patent dragon, for thou art tasty and good with ketchup." ~ohcrapitssteve
Record the neighbor's dog barking, then play it back looped and loud when neighbor should be sleeping.
You fuck off.
Dogs are important for enjoyment at home.
If you go crazy because a dog barks a couple of times, that's your problem.
Meanwhile, normal people just sleep through it.
I read a NYT's article about this last night. Seems very timely: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12... A few years ago I soundproofed the area around my furnace and this article sums up what I found nicely.
No, the dog is barking at something which it can't get to and it's stressing the animal out. The dog owner needs to subdue the animal until it calms down (forget about what the dog is barking at it's not important, unless it's a scary dude in a mask with a knife).
What a parent dog(bitch) will do is place their weight(like one of their paws) on top of the animal(puppy) until the puppy relaxes so that's what the owner needs to do, they don't need to squash the animal but just restrict it's movements(no petting needed) eventually it will learn to control it's anxiety.
Or if your in America I believe the correct response is to put a hot one in the mutha fuka.
Leyland cypress is fast growing, dense, and looks interesting.
Simon's Rock College
Answer = Crossbow.
Virtually all effective sound absorption relies on putting mass between you and the noise, and that the mass be not stiff (lead sheets are an example). For high frequencies noises, baffling and bouncing it around (e.g. torturous path filters) helps, but for low frequencies, it's all about mass.
They make z shaped furring strips with elastomeric mounts (non-stiff) that you can use to put another set of drywall (mass) sheets on your walls.
Get a few larger, louder, more powerful dogs, then park them permanently right next to your neighbor's yard. Do this and pretty soon, your neighbor's barking dog will become a non-issue, allowing you to continue living in peace.
Indoor/Outdoor carpet is fairly cheap, and deadens sound pretty well because it has both fuzzy stuff to deaden high frequencies, and also a rubber backing to deaden low frequencies, as in suspended lossy mass.
https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendaEM
Get your walls filled / covered in air-crete magnesium oxide foam.
You go fuck yourself you. Dogs nees to die
Not a solution all on it's own but it definitely helps. There are some high quality dedicated devices like the Marpac DOHM, or you can get an app and run it through speakers.
The best neighborhoods are the ones where people just mind their own fucking business, but often a friendly request is enough to make a difference. People often don't realize they're disturbing others, particularly if they're enjoying whatever it is that's disturbing.
What has worked for you?
THE 2nd AMENDMENT.
(sorry, I had to do it)
Being annoyed as fuck about a neighbor's dog that won't shut up doesn't mean there's anything wrong with your life - it means you can't even get any peace and quiet in your own home. On the annoyance scale it's right up there with the jackhammer but below a baby crying. Talking to the neighbor isn't going to make him play with his bored dog.
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
I used to live on a busy city street. Wore them for sleeping. Cut out the loud street noise significantly. Very inexpensive vs. soundproofing a home !!
Reducing the sound transmission is good, of course, but usually difficult and expensive. Adding more absorption inside the space is always good, will gain you a few more dB, and improve the environment for listening.
But the best and cheapest method is to add noise.
How can adding noise improve the situation? There's already too much noise! This has to do with the nature of hearing and attention - the so-called invisibility of the familiar. Ever notice that when the AC or a fan turns off you suddenly notice it, while you didn't notice the sound before? That's because the mind will tune out and ignore meaningless background.
If you can add enough white/pink noise to mask the offending noise then your attention will not be distracted by it, and eventually all of the sound will fall beneath your attention. This is the usual treatment for tinnitus, ringing in the ears, and many sufferers can gain substantial relief by it.
A quick way to try it out is with your home stereo. On FM mode, tune between stations (and turn off muting). This will provide very nice white noise with adjustable volume. Give it a couple of hours at least. There are inexpensive white noise generators available.
A little classier is falling water, such as an inside fountain. This is more towards lower frequencies (pink noise), but the particular random nature of the sound is very calming for most people.
I can almost guarantee that if you pay a lawyer to write up a nasty cease and desist order (even if it's kind of BS) that dog will be gone in no time.
Fuck city dwellers who move to rural areas and then complain about livestock and pets.
Fuck country bumpkins who move to the city and have feral animals as "pets" that bark nonstop because they didn't go to doggy-preschool and now it is Lord of the Flies.
Just because those city-slickers don't look so tough, don't think they're powerless to deal with these sorts of problems. They may have a lot more process backing them up than you imagine.
The occasional barking dog isn't a big deal unless you are stressed, but continuous (or frequent) barking over long periods of time can certainly wear on anyone.
Sound proofing is all about adding mass to the walls through which sound is trying to travel. Nothing else counts for shit, including the gimmicky "goo" crap and foams they try to sell you. Do this. Go to Costco 9if you're near one) and go to the hearing aid depratment. They have a soundproof room. If the dorr i open, swing it a little if they'll let you. It weighs a ton and the room itself is built like a Sherman tank. That's who it's done- adding mass.
To add mass your best bet is porbably to add dry wall slabs or build a second interior wall, which itself is filled with dry wall. Dry wall is the cheapest heavy thing you can get, save rocks which are too heavy (you can't have your floor collapsing). Look up soundproofing and double walls to see how to add a secnod wall.
Regarding windows, you're fucked unless you're willing to build custom interior shutters which themselves contain 3 or 4 thickness of dry wall. Sound proof windows ar a myth; the best you cna do is triple glazed windows which would work at about a B- level and cost youa grand per window .
The only other thing to do (once you've done those other things) is close up any leaks where sound can get through. But do that after you've done the other two.
HTH
Get one of the dog repelling ultrasonic whistles. It will make the dog run to the far side of your neighbor's property.
I solved my next door barking dog problem by walking over and knocking on the door every time the barking dog woke me up. After a friendly 3am visit requesting that the dog be hushed, the dog quit barking at night.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12...
do not even bother with wall soundproofing until you replace all your windows with triple pane and seal up every single air leak. adding a storm window to the outside of the triple pane will also help as each air gap will significantly reduce the sound levels transmitted into the home. after you do all that, THEN have the wall insulation replaced or actually added. Most homes in america have little to no wall insulation as most homes are older than 1950 when heating costs were cheaper than insulating.
now fix all your doors, bet you that every single one of them has crap seals that all need replacing. Door seals need to be replaced every 4-5 years, 99% of all homeowners do not do this. if your doors are really old wood panels replace the whole door and door jam with a modern steel/fiberglass wood core door with at least a double pane window in it.
A typical home, expect to spend about $10,000 to bring the windows and doors up to at least current and dramatically reduce the noise incursion.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Get a weatherproof high pitch remote dog trainer for like $100. Place it as close to his home as possible. When they bark then use it. I have don't this multiple apartments and the owner doesn't even know you're training the dog. Don't waste your money on sound proofing unless you love next to a busy street. You will never get that money back when moving in the future.
You guys are so funny with your various poisons, sound proofing techniques, intimidation and legal maneuvering. All you need is peanut butter. I guarantee that dog will be gumming a golf-ball sized ball of peanut butter for at least 15 minutes straight, and once it's done getting all the peanut butter out of its mouth, it will be too tired to bark. Works every time.
*** *** You're just jealous 'cause the voices talk to me... ***
You might want to have a chat with one of the companies you linked. They seem to be using your exact submission text on their landing page. Maybe they were just flattered you mentioned them?
http://oi66.tinypic.com/2q2r7lj.jpg
Not so long ago, this thread would have been full of technical solutions, but now mostly its like, call cops, look before you rent... blah blah
For your windows, you have to get double glass windows for soundproofing. For the walls get Acoustic foam. Something like this
http://www.foambymail.com/ACS-...
or this
http://www.foambymail.com/NE/n...
Not too expensive, and will take care of the noise.
That said, if you are in a concrete building, the sound comes in through doors and windows.
If you fix your doors and windows, the sound should lessen. If you have thin walls, in that case foam will work well.
My Aurora : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o91ZsGwJYyg
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Carpet padding is amazingly effective, easy to staple to a wall or ceiling and often available free if you can find clean pad from a carpet replacement.
If you need it more ascetically pleasing, cover the pad with fabric material from your local build fabric store and get creative with paint or preprinted material.
I live in an area close to a highway (half a mile or so), noise-wise no big deal really, with walls made of stone.
One big plus is - neighbors are quite noise resistant. One day, middle of the night, I noticed a faint beep from the garden. It was the robotic lawn mower warming up. Turned out its clock was off since a while, and it thought it was a good idea to mow the lawn at that time. Zero complaints from neighbors.
I think you may be able to train yourself to ignore or not let the dog barking affect you. The more serious kind of noise is loud/high-bass music.. this I think it's hard for humans to ignore. It goes right thru' the walls for long distances and feels like earth-quake like vibrations. Any natural noise, if you just don't resist it and let it sink into you..you will soon get used to it and not be bothered. That it, it is your resistance [and all the anger emotions associated with that neighbor] is irritating you.. or your idea that someone is responsible for your upset mood [after all most of us are looking for some excuse to pounce on someone]
The most basic human right of all - the right to simply NOT have anything to do with people you don't want to.
Like white people not having to live with non-whites. What a 'hate' crime that is!
It's one thing for a dog to bark a couple of times (because the owner is not neglectful of the animal and responds to the barking); that's fine, whatever, dogs bark when something is wrong or when they perceive that some thing is wrong. If a dog barks for more than a minute or so and the owner hasn't responded, that's a neglectful owner and they need to, as you say, fuck off. Right off, in fact.
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
Noise is absorbed and blocked by solid material.
This is what you need to stop sound.
Noise is diffused by soft material.
This is what you need to cut down on echos within a space.
The cheapest way to block sound is an extra layer of sheet rock especially decoupled with "Green Glue".
For more cash ...
These are: Celotex SoundStop (a sound-proofing fiberboard), QuietRock by Serious Materials, and Soundproofing Mass Loaded Vinyl, manufactured by Super Soundproofing Co.
Also Mineral Wool ("e.g., Roxul or Thermafiber), and cellulose fibre are good for low frequency sound.
Use foam / caulk to make sure there are no air gaps for sound to sneak thru.
If it's a single wall... you can put up book cases with a quilt hanging on the back.
Double drywall is about a 10% benefit. Double drywall with green glue is about a 90% benefit.
Adding insulation to the wall space will get some more silence.
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
Second floor neighbors immediately below my third floor dorm room 30 years ago insisted on sharing their love for heavy metal during otherwise peaceful weekend afternoons when campus oversight was unavailable. I quickly rigged ropes and suspended speakers outside their open windows and blared Pavarotti which successfully conveyed how inconsiderate behavior could be reciprocated. Their unwanted noise ceased for the remainder of their final semester upon which they flunked out.
Now that resources permit, I would rent/borrow a commercial concert hall amplifier and several 5' tall speakers and face them towards the offending neighbor's walls and write a program to react when a microphone senses dog barks to blare dinosaur roar sound clips from Jurassic World when the dogs bark. To augment reality for the dogs, I would negotiate procurement of lion and tiger urine from the local Zookeeper and disperse it regularly where the dogs' excellent sense of smell are sure to identify it. If the neighbor were to inquire about the source of the offending noise, I would calmly note how this is America and we all have rights to purchase pets to protect us from unwanted barking at all hours of the day and night.
New York Times just had an article on engineers who make apartments quiet. They also had pictures of a lot of different types of materials http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12...
He takes care of such problems in a single night.
A .22LR will do the trick, or if it's a particularly large dog a .38.
"Grab them by the pussy" -- President of the United States of America
I wanted to try to make a noise cancellation setup based on a microphone and (a pair of) speakers, to take care of some fan noise coming in through the window. Noise cancellation with speakers has lots of problems, since the phase of the sound changes quickly across the room, so if you get cancellation in some places, you get reinforcement in other places. I wanted this for the bedroom, so theoretically it could work since the "listener" position is relatively well constrained to the bed, and the source is also constrained to the opening in the window. The first idea was to process the incoming sound in real time on the computer, and feed it to the speakers. This would be ideal since it's possible to get directionality and filtering with multiple mics, and equalization is also easy in the digital domain. The problem is that a computer sound card typically has a latency of a few milliseconds, and sound travels about 340 mm per millisecond, so the mics would have to be quite far in front of the speakers (closer to the window) to mitigate the latency. [At the highest standard sample rate, 192 kHz, you only get 192 samples per millisecond. Just shows how small the buffer is.] So I gave up on this without even trying.
The second idea was to do it with a naive analog circuit, which just amplified the signal from the mic and fed it to the speaker with an inverted sign. I tried this, but didn't get much cancellation. Whenever I cranked up the volume, I would get feedback. There was always some frequency which was fed back to the mic in-phase, depending on the distance between the speaker and the mic. I tried to make a directional funnel for the mic, but no success. It should be said that I also connected a pair of headphones to the same circuit, in place of the speakers, and couldn't really get that working either. So maybe there was some technical problem.
So now I'm using a pair of noise isolating headphones, but just using them as ear plugs -- works, but not so fancy.
I work nights and sleep during the day. When there is noise outside, I just put in my NR33 earplugs and go back to sleep.
From TFS "the mental stress of noise becomes a serious issue."
It seems to be an overlooked part of city life, but I believe noise is a major contributor to general stress and fatigue. And not just noticeable noise like dogs barking or loud music, but the background noises you forget about until it's switched off.
Have you ever worked in an office building when the aircon goes off and all of a sudden there's an eerie silence? That buzz is in your ear 8 hours a day, but you don't notice it. Background traffic noise is the same.
There are billions of people subjected to unnatural background noise every waking hour that is constantly attacking the senses. Surely that is having an effect?
It struck me when one time I was flying business class and got a pair of noise cancelling headphones. After a 10 hour flight, for the first time in my life I got off the plane feeling normal. Could it have been the constant droning of engines that destroys your well-being on long haul flights?
After that flight I bough the best noise cancelling headphones I could find (Bose QC3) and never looked back. On the bus to work I wear them, even without music, and at home, I live in a quiet suburb, when I put them on there is still a noticeable drop in background noise. I just did a 24 hour flight around the world and back and actually got off the plane feeling reasonably human. Even with the jet lag I could deal with because the constant overpowering noise wasn't there destroying my soul. I can only imagine what effect it will have on humanity when noise pollution is treated the same as every other type of pollution.
I thoroughly recommend a good pair of NC headphones for anyone wanting to improve their life.
Shoot the damned dog. Done!
http://www.soundproofing.org/i...
Go to Home depot and buy enough foam board to coat the interior of rooms that you need to be quiet. You'll need to cover windows, walls, floors and ceilings as well as doors. You will be creating a dark cave. Plants on the exterior will help, but you'll need an awful lot of plants, and in winter, they may not be very effective with leaves falling in autumn.
I'd like to piggyback on this discussion.
I have a house that is near a pretty busy intersection. The fence needs to be replaced in the next year or two and when I do, I want to do something to reduce the traffic noise. The house has a great backyard except for the traffic noise. The inside of the house is fine with plenty of insulation and triple pane windows.
I can think of one of two solutions.
1) Double layered wooden fence with something such as http://www.acoustiblok.com/aco... in the middle
2) Brick, masonry, or concrete fence
The good thing is that the zoning laws say that I can put up an 8' tall fence without a permit.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? What did you do?
I auditioned a half-dozen different speakers for a sound-reinforcement system in a church. The Bose speakers sounded okay, but didn't sound like the person that was speaking. Some of the other brands (Meyer and EAW) sounded just like the person speaking, only louder.
Obligatory xkcds.
... learn to love them!
Insulate your house more. There is material they can squirt in the walls with just a little hole to increase the r value and sound dampening. I knew I wanted to do this immediately after I moved and the attorney got me off of my child sex conviction. So I moved and the first thing I did was squirt that stuff in the walls so that the noise from kids I bring in doesn't get outside. Also double paned gas filled windows.
A cheap easy way for me was to remove the old drywall on walls that faced the road. It comes in standard sizes and goes in between your studs and then a thin layer of drywall. My local Menards carries the product and its not insanely priced. http://www.homasote.com/produc...
very effective combination for reclaiming one's personal aural space in densely populated areas.
Don't waste your money on sound proofing unless you love next to a busy street.
I love next to a busy street, but I've found that a ball gag keeps the girls quiet enough that passing cars haven't complained.
Dog bark ultrasonic units, "fart stench" bomb liquid, water balloon launcher, anise seed extract, fermented cat droppings.
The general idea is:
1. Ultrasonics for the dog.
2. Water balloons containing "fart stench", fermented cat droppings, and anise seed extract for the owner.. indirectly. Dog will go "catnip" over the anise extract and roll in the fermented cat droppings..
We did 6" of exterior rockwool, triple pane windows with storms. GREATly reduces outside noise.
http://www.greenbuildingadviso...
It is not cost-effective immediately, however adding that much insulation on the house has about a 15-year payback on heating an cooling costs so it is cost-effective in the long run. Rockwool makes the house fireproof too.
I have a neighbor whose dog will start barking if it is let outside late at night. He keeps it inside usually. I have a sound machine and use the white noise feature to block the barking. You don't have to completely mask the noise, just mask it enough to keep the noise from dominating. The web is full of the devices - look up sound machine. It will take one of the larger ones to mask a large room. In the mean time, try this free program on your computer:
http://www.etfacoustic.com/WhiteRain/WhiteRain.html
A couple of things from an environmental noise consultant of some thirty-five years. Home treatment is expensive and can't be expected to make outdoors noise inaudible when short peaking sounds like dogs barking are involved. Once sensitized, noises are much more annoying, and can be annoying at lower levels than when first annoying. Second thing is, dog barking is a nuisance prohibited and regulated in virtually all jurisdictions in the US. The dog owner is responsible for curbing the noise and must be aware of that. Especially is in an HOA, there are often prohibitions against dog barking noise. While you're working out the situaiton with the neighbor, it may be possible to reduce impacts on sleep disturbance by relocating the bedroom to the other side of the house, and running a sleep machine with steady sound such as pink noise during sleeping hours. ... Sleep interference and allostatic load from chronic noise-produced startle or emotional stress are principal effects directly associated to noise worldwide. Regardless of what you can accomplish with the neighbor, make sure you get good sleep. Best of success.
Don't waste your money on sound proofing unless you love next to a busy street.
I love next to a busy street, but I've found that a ball gag keeps the girls quiet enough that passing cars haven't complained.
You're the best dad ever!
Stopping the sound being transmitted is easy, isolate with an air gap between surfaces. Where it gets hard is that your home has other functions that get in the way and making the place into a windowless padded cell inside a cinderblock bunker is not ideal. You are going to have a large collection of things to do the job that may include most of the above and more - then still find that bass gets in.
I've got a neighbour who had a dog she had to give away due to noise complaints. The guy who complained has had builders in with power tools from 4AM for months, so more complaints going back his way. If either of them had guns there would be blood spilled.
As someone who spent the thousand dollars on one of these supposedly sound proof windows from the site linked in the article (just referring to them in a text post makes me feel dirty, so I refuse to type the URL), my whole hearted recommendation is to stay as far away from them as possible.
The window is very cheaply made (it looks and feels like a $25 vinyl window), and most likely won't do a damned thing for your sound problem, anyway.
The company sent a saleperson to take measurements, but then left me to my own devices for installation. After the window was delivered, they wanted to charge me extra to have someone install it. If you're comfortable doing this type of work on your house, then this part won't bother you so much. But for me, it was quite the blood pressure riser. After seeing the amazingly bad product I received, and knowing that a refund was not going to happen (which was my own fault for being so enamored by the promises that I shut down the common sense processing in my brain) unless I took them to court, I just cut my losses and bought a wood window from Pella for another thousand dollars. But this price included professional installation. The noise reduction in the room was very noticeable after the installation was complete.
Replacement windows can make a significant difference, but you're probably a lot better off buying a standard wooden frame window from a reputable company like Pella (or Lowes, which did a wonderful job on my other window) than falling for the sales promises made by this company.
There is an effective, low cost technical solution to this issue. First some context. I had neigbours with *two* loud dogs that would bark all night and wake me up when I was falling back to sleep. It was becoming a problem because their barking went through the night and they slept during the day. The police had asked them to keep the dogs quiet however they didn't have the power to enforce it.
Having been in the situation before with unreasonable reactions from neighbours I was reticent to create conflict by directly confronting them so I also tried just throwing the dogs bones to chew. I was becoming so fatigued and exhausted from the barking that I got to the point of nearly having car accidents from driver fatigue so I was desperate for a solution.
The answer came in the form of a high frequency sine wave oscillator with a frequency randomly varying between 19khz and 23khz, two 8 ohm high frequency drivers and 70watt rms amplifier. I also distorted the source signal randomly. The signal was above human hearing but well within dog hearing. When the dogs were barking I applied the signal until they were quiet and then shut it off to train them to relate the sound to annoying barking.
It was extremely effective, silencing not only my neighbours dogs but a lot of other noisy dogs on the street. Ironically it also helped with security as the dogs would only bark if something was *really* going on, which usually meant people lingering outside for whatever reason. We'd had some car break ins before, so the dogs actually became good security guards again. I didn't use the device in those circumstances.
Fortunately, the dogs learned very quickly and I didn't need to use it very often and no one, except me, knew when it was operating so it also avoided confrontations with neighbours.
My ism, it's full of beliefs.
Best low-cost solution, trees and shrubby between your house and the neighbors. Years ago when they started building high capacity high ways, the would build wood or concrete walls along the edges, which turned out to be not that effective. Today, they realize a couple hundred feet of big trees and shrubs is the most low-cost and surprisingly effective sound aborbsorbion/blocking.
Every 17-year old boy with a few baby whiskers on his chin seems to want to up his manhood with noisy cars. A little gay spoiler and funky fart pipe to garnish a Japanese clunker is the recipe for maximizing the fun.
Law enforcement seems oblivious to this and auto inspections are a history.
Filtering low frequency sounds is difficult, as lower frequencies penetrate media better.
There are other mobile electronic noise sources too disguised as music makers that has escaped all enforcement. Several hundred watts of amplification and multiple 15" woofers is more than needed for busting eardrums inside a car with closed windows. Open-window-switches and interlocks could prevent much of the noise from escaping. The small space inside a car does not require much over 8" woofers for music reproduction. A 100dB inside car limit should be enough. Under 100W total RMS would be enough for even for deaf people.
Limiting the sales of these gadgets should take care of most of the problem. Law enforcement is possible if there's a will.
Earbuds are much better and cheaper at busting eardrums for those who want to be deaf.
I'm all for putting the responsibility for the noise on the dog owner, but the idea that allowing a dog to bark is inflicting any harm on the animal itself is absurd. Dogs will bark for reasons other than your list, including out of play.
I used a delicious treat made out of over-the-counter sedatives and ground beef on my neighbours dog. Worked in 20 mins...
Bose qc20i are pretty decent, use them to block noise at work... But you won't be able to hear your wife either... Might be a bonus?? ;)
Tripple glazed windows are also good.
Dear OP! I feel for you. buddy. Been there. Used all kinds of things.
EAR PLUGS ARE WONDERFULL!!!. the squishy pink and yellow ones are the best. Others are not very good so be careful what you buy. Use a good ear plug and you won't hear anything. Sleep like a baby though sadly not an option if you have your own kids you need to listen for.
Daytime Jackhammer earmuffs work beautiful too. You can't hear the phone or your own TV with them on, but it's not too hard to fit headphones inside them so you can listen to your own stuff without being drowned out by your asshole neighbor.
Now as for making the noise stop
The sort of person who makes a lot of noise is 95% of the time a prick to begin with. You can talk to them but that has risks. Some people will cool it down. You'll get a bit if noise but it'll be bearable. Most of the time though. Pricks though will get furious at you for daring to talk to them about it and may start a campaign among your neighbors to drive you out or beat the shit out of you. It happens.
From practical experience I'd recommend don't speak too them directly unless you know them and get on well with them because it can make things worse. Depending on where you live the cops can be good too. In L.A. the cops we had were great. They kept visiting again and again and it bought us some peace. If the offenders rent, talk to their landlord. They won't evict over noise but they will remember and usually not offer a renewal to them. If you live in apartments talk to your building manager. If they are good whether the offender rents or owns they will read them the riot act and a good building manager can scare them shitless. Never ever identify yourself though. If they ask if it is you who is complaining, deny it. You shouldn't have to do this but you will make yourself a target. Councils might have authority depending on the noise but they are slow and beurocratic and really don't give a shit. The court is expensive, takes time and makes your neighbors enemies for life and your lawyers rich. Don't do it,
You talked about noise proofing. I know people who have done it but you can't do the whole house unless you have an incredible amount of money and when you wake up you will still be next door to assholes.
If none of the above work, Move. That's unfair. They should be moving. Not you. It is better though to choose your battles carefully in life. Moving will cost you money but less than soundproofing and when you are somewhere else nice and peaceful you will feel so happy and relieved. There are communities where people are quiet and decent and care about their neighbors. Find one of those. Moving out will be the happiest day of your life.
Good luck bro!
I've done a few sound isolation jobs. It's possible to spend quite a bit of money so you want to go from easiest to hardest. First put your ear directly against surfaces between you and the noise. That will give you an idea about your weakest link. Everytime sound passes through one medium to another it loses amplitude. Your windows are probably the weakest link but you never know for sure until you actually listen.
Heavy drapes are the cheapest easiest.
You can get triple pane vinyl windows for a $42 premium over regular low-e ones. Less than $200 per window plus install.
If you are isolating walls you probably don't want to rip everything apart. So I've had a lot of luck with a product called Green Glue. It's a kind of caulk that goes between layers of sheet rock. So Green Glue and an extra layer of 5/8" rock.
Maybe some landscaping outside, heavy vines like english ivy?
You could also change the siding on the outside, insulating that. More mass means lesser sound.
The main problem is that the sound is not regular. Random sharp bursts are the worst.
never buy within sight of a neighbor.
Maui County doesn't have any non-automotive noise ordinances, and homes more than 15 years old aren't likely to be insulated. When I was about to move into the neighborhood, I sampled a few Friday and Saturday nights and found the noise level to be commendably low. But, neighbors move, or change their game, so all the research in the world doesn't guarantee long term quiet.
When the neighbor to one side rescued four dogs too many and penned them in the side yard facing our master bed, and the neighbor on the other let her ex-bf set up his drum kit in her garage, but meters from our living room and kitchen, it got a bit sporty. I had a lot of nice talks with the dog lady, and repeatedly called the cops over the drumming. In the end, the solution was six foot high lava rock walls, which provided the added benefit of a modicum of additional privacy.
We also utilized local lore and hung a mirror on the outside wall of the house facing the ex-meth head drummer in the garage, the idea being that his bullshit reflects back on him. He may not have known it was a karmic f-u, but we did, which was good enough.
Luke, help me take this mask off
Try a combination of white noise and earplugs, it helps me while I sleep. Using only one of the two is not effective at all.
Yep, I have a neighbor who has a cute little beagle. He will leave it outside and leave. The dog barks (cries) non-stop until he returns. Dogs are social animals. What did I do? I first got heavy curtains and such and increased planting. This will muffle the sound, but you will end up using ear protection when awake (just like the type that people use at the hunting range. If you own your house, buy some Plexiglas, the thicker the better (Plexiglas is acrylic). You can make your own window inserts to put inside of your windows. Neighbors don't know you have them. There is a you tube video of this guy in a high rise in Canada. Check it out.
Buy an outside bark breaker from Petsafe of some other source.
These devices detect barking and emit ultrasonic pulses that train the dog to not bark.
here's one that looks like a birdhouse:
http://www.guardianpet.net/getdoc/7efcd598-8acf-4b2d-8dd5-7cd1395f1a38/Outdoor-Bark-Control.aspx
Replace the 9volt battery with a wall wart.
The most effective soundproofing is lead sheeting, about one eighth of an inch think. Precautions must be taken to avoid lead dust and to protect children from exposure.
Generate MORE sound with https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik...
Casteism
New law: Thou shalt not interfere with thy neighbors rights and freedoms, whether you are an ignoramous or not!
Self-importance and self-indulgence is the root of ALL evil.
Step one. Adopt the yappy dog and take it out for walks. Excessive dog barking is typically of high energy dogs who either do not get enough exercise or is not given enough attention. If wife is against step one proceed to step two.
Step two. Find dog a better more responsible dog owner. The first owner clearly isn't exercising the dog enough if it is constantly left alone outside all the time.
That said, IMO avoid films and paints that claim noise attenuation. You could put up foam around the walls of a room and put up several layers of curtains over the window. The curtain fabric will have to be really thick like comforters for the best noise attenuation. But that is more trouble than it is worth.
You could build a sound isolation booth if you want absolute quiet, the second best option is sound canceling head phones by Dr. Dre or Bose, they are pricey but they will work a lot better than a $20 model from the pharmacy. Third best IMO are ear plugs.
Its easier to drown out unpleasant noise with pleasant noise. Music is your friend, invest in a good sound system and crank up the volume.
Before there were bark collars; there was alum.
Season a bit of meat with alum. When the dog barks; five him the treat.
Watching a dog make barking motions with no sound coming out and just realizing it is hilarious.
Very old training method to teach hunting dogs not to bark just to hear themselves make noise.
NRRPT/RCT