ᐅ Effective soundproofing elements near the property boundary – any recommendations?
Created on: 15 May 2021 13:54
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kati1337
Hello everyone!
We talked again with the neighbors (about the metal shed issue, some of you might remember) and have easily agreed that we want to build a privacy screen on our side so we don’t have to deal with the shed view from the terrace.
Now, this property boundary is longer than just the length of the shed. The original idea was to enclose the rest with a hedge.
That is no longer what we want, but the neighbor will plant their hedge right on the boundary, which is fine. We will also put something along the boundary on our side, but we are still unsure what.
The neighbors on this side like it a bit louder in the garden, mostly music. They have this speaker box with heavy bass on their porch that somewhat ruined our Father’s Day. Just to be clear upfront: No, I don’t want to and shouldn’t complain to the neighbors – I’m sensitive to noise and get annoyed quickly.
Our problem is that this is a new development area and everything is still very open. The bass from the speaker hits directly against our house wall, and even with closed blinds (and who wants to keep the blinds closed all day), it pounds noticeably in the living room. I don’t want to have to keep the TV on constantly to “compete with the noise,” and it’s really hard for me to just “not listen” to it; I’d simply prefer not to have that in my living room.
Now we are considering what we could build or plant in the garden along the boundary that would absorb sound effectively.
A nice brick wall came to mind, but even a rough calculation makes it quite expensive (even if I try to build it myself): 22m x 1.80m at 50€/m² (around $54/ft²) adds up to about €2000.
Cheaper would be wooden privacy fence panels, which I also find very attractive visually, but do they absorb sound well? Or panels covered with plants?
Do you have any other ideas?
We talked again with the neighbors (about the metal shed issue, some of you might remember) and have easily agreed that we want to build a privacy screen on our side so we don’t have to deal with the shed view from the terrace.
Now, this property boundary is longer than just the length of the shed. The original idea was to enclose the rest with a hedge.
That is no longer what we want, but the neighbor will plant their hedge right on the boundary, which is fine. We will also put something along the boundary on our side, but we are still unsure what.
The neighbors on this side like it a bit louder in the garden, mostly music. They have this speaker box with heavy bass on their porch that somewhat ruined our Father’s Day. Just to be clear upfront: No, I don’t want to and shouldn’t complain to the neighbors – I’m sensitive to noise and get annoyed quickly.
Our problem is that this is a new development area and everything is still very open. The bass from the speaker hits directly against our house wall, and even with closed blinds (and who wants to keep the blinds closed all day), it pounds noticeably in the living room. I don’t want to have to keep the TV on constantly to “compete with the noise,” and it’s really hard for me to just “not listen” to it; I’d simply prefer not to have that in my living room.
Now we are considering what we could build or plant in the garden along the boundary that would absorb sound effectively.
A nice brick wall came to mind, but even a rough calculation makes it quite expensive (even if I try to build it myself): 22m x 1.80m at 50€/m² (around $54/ft²) adds up to about €2000.
Cheaper would be wooden privacy fence panels, which I also find very attractive visually, but do they absorb sound well? Or panels covered with plants?
Do you have any other ideas?
Schimi1791 schrieb:
I have a ‘problem’ with the ticking of clocks. I find it really hard to stay in rooms where I can hear a clock ticking, even if it’s very faint. And my hearing is certainly not that good. It got so bad at one point that I couldn’t fall asleep at night because I heard ticking somewhere. Eventually, I found a ticking wristwatch in my wife’s jewelry box inside the wardrobe...I can relate to that very well. It just goes to show how different things can trigger different people in various ways. I feel my sensitivity is so unusual that I’m even considering mentioning it to my general practitioner to see if something might be wrong with me mentally.aero2016 schrieb:
Honestly, the best advice I can give is to approach the subject kindly. Building some kind of soundproof wall toward the neighbor could easily come off as passive-aggressive. At least, if I were the neighbor, I would feel pretty awkward.ypg schrieb:
I would definitely raise eyebrows and see it negatively. It’s like saying, “we don’t want to see you, smell you, hear you, or anything.” That can cause real tension. But probably they just lack that sensitivity.We are not bad communicators, obviously we have already talked to them. I personally spoke to them beforehand about the privacy fence, and regarding the noise issue, I’m still unsure what solution to propose first. Once I have something viable, we’ll talk it through with them directly.Schimi1791 schrieb:
What if you ask the neighbors to reposition the noise source? Could the neighbors shield the bass by installing a small rear wall?
Paragraph 17 of the Public Order Act:
‘(1) A person acts unlawfully if, without valid reason or to an unacceptable or avoidable extent in the circumstances, they generate noise capable of significantly disturbing the public or neighbors, or harming someone’s health.’
The guideline is about 40 dB. At least for apartments.I don’t know the exact legal paragraphs, and I don’t think the neighbors are the type to focus on legal texts. I casually mentioned that the neighbors on our other side have fenced off for us (with agreement), and they paid half the costs even though we were actually responsible. They said they don’t really know the exact legal details.hampshire schrieb:
I completely understand your dislike of involuntary background music.
For soundproofing, the first question is: what bothers you the most?
Mass helps with low frequencies. Since these frequencies spread out spherically, a heavy wall offers some protection—but the sound can also pass over it. Check out sound barriers along highways for what they can and cannot do. Their effect on bass in a neighbor’s garden is limited.
Higher frequencies spread more directionally. For those, you can either absorb (dampen) or scatter the energy. A dense hedge already helps with that.
From your attitude, I think a combination of measures—since building an effective wall for bass would have to be very tall—and communication/agreement is the best approach. Turning down the bass and disabling loudness effects is cheaper and more effective than a wall.
If things get really bad, investing in good noise-canceling headphones might be worthwhile. They won’t help you communicate, but they do improve your listening comfort.
I faced the same challenge in a townhouse neighborhood. I got annoyed when the neighbors left a boombox playing on their terrace while they weren’t even there. It was just habit, not ill intent, and was easily minimized after talking over the fence.
Good luck, Max It really is almost entirely the low frequencies. They are also the ones I hear in the living room. Recently “Blinding Lights” came on—I actually love that song, but not when I only hear the bassline through the wall. Even my favorite song can get on my nerves if I hear it unwillingly when I don’t want to listen to music at all.I don’t expect the measures to eliminate the problem completely. Unfortunately, I have to work on my tolerance if I can at least reduce it. That’s why I’m considering which measure makes the most sense to get the noise somewhat under control. Over the years, it will improve anyway as both gardens become more overgrown. This is also a typical new development issue. But I believe that sitting on the veranda with guests, I already found the volume extremely disturbing. But it was Father’s Day after all, and we’re in northern Germany, where there’s a lot of beer and such.
Edit: The neighbors also mentioned that they plan to install a side wall on their veranda facing us eventually, mainly to prevent drafts, which should also help reduce the problem. If we do something on our side as well, it should be possible to get it under control in the long run.
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hampshire18 May 2021 08:03I thought of gabions while on the way. They have both mass and a diffusely reflective surface, and they absorb sound better than masonry. I find them rather bulky and would let them be covered with plants.
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hanghaus200018 May 2021 08:15hampshire schrieb:
I thought of gabions while on the go. They have both mass and a diffusely reflective surface, and they absorb sound better than masonry. I find them quite bulky and would let them become overgrown. There are also very slim gabion walls with support elements.