Shop sound measurements ....finally got er done.

Rob Keeble

Member
Messages
12,633
Location
GTA Ontario Canada
Yesterday i finally managed to get to use the device Allen has kindly loaned me which i have had for must be nearly a year and get my measurements done on my shop.

I wanted to close off this issue for others benefit and to have some sort of reference related to noise and the shop.

So let me recap.

My shop internal is roughly 21X17 with 9ft high walls and a big of a cathedral ceiling. The walls are 6 inch stud bays and are filled with roxul R22. On the outside a layer of osb not 3/4 but not sure what the thin size is. Over that is building wrap and then vinyl siding.
Now on the inside there is the vapor barrier and then two layers of 5/8 firecode drywall with green glue spread between.
Double door with metal covering
3 6x5 casement double glaze windows.

Now to set the scene the shop has been decluttered for the sale purposes so its a little "live" right now compared to what it has been.

So i had a buddy come around and between the two of us I was all set to do this scientific experiment with each machine and wood for each one to process while we measured ambient noise in the shop and ambient noise outside with and without the aircon in the yard running.

Just to be absolutely clear the device i am using we all know is not a gazillion dollar sound measuring device that the likes of a sound lab etc might use for similar purposes but it does give one some relative indication.

Ok so we start by taking a measurement outside the shop door about 12 feet from the aircon to measure the ambient noise basically the aircon running and not.

Result 61 db with aircon off and 64db with aircon on.


Then we go inside and measure my porter cable 2,25HP router running in my open side router table and its in the far corner of the shop. At the door its 80bd without even processing any wood.

Then we go outside and we get the same 64db the aircon registered. I had never done this before to even go outside with a machine left running..:doh: and listen for myself. But we could not discern the noise outside with the shop door closed and standing 6ft away from the windows.

In fact the kids were playing in the pool next door and when they screamed and laughed involved with their game, we registred changes in the sound measurements.

I then went inside and put a slab of 2x4 through a round over bit and ploughed it into the router bit and my buddy could not hear the difference.

So this kinda killed my enthusiasm for going through the whole scientific process i had drawn up.

But i was still adamant we try the planer. This is a Dewalt DW735 and at the moment i dont have any attachment to the dust extraction chute so with it running with no wood through it its super loud. At to this the "live" shop element and boy you got a noise that if you do not use earplugs you wont hear after a few minutes exposure.

At the door we registered 100bd

When we stepped out the door and moved to the side where the windows were we could not pick up anything different to what we were getting with the router.

We could hear a drone in the background but any ambient noise if you were sitting on our deck was drowning out anything coming from the shop.

In fact the guy 3 houses down was using a chop saw in his garage and we could hear that over all the noise.


So in the case of my shop versus making noise to upset my neighbors in my view the case is closed and there never was any reason or cause for any claim that my shop was anykind of nusance.

The money i put into the structure to suppress the noise paid off 110% and i might add also paid off in how cool it is in there when we have a really hot day.

Sorry i had planned on doing each machine as Allen would have liked but it became a totally moot point.


Now if one adds to the fact that NN is hardly ever outside on his deck and never opens a window regardless of the weather unless they deliberately wish to spy on our conversation while we sit on our deck, then with their double glazed windows being over 25ft from my shop they would not hear a darn sound at all. Add to that if they had a tv on they would not even know anything is going on outside and i am thinking here of winter when the aircon is off and the ambient noises like a pool and kids are not there either.

In hindsight i should have done this at the start of the whole harrassment. I hope my specification of my shop and these relative indicators serve to help someone else that encounters being harrassed by their NN over their shop.

I was so suprised by how little sound emits i was actually thinking of making a video so one can hear the sounds as opposed to trying to related to the measurements.

One thing is for sure the green glue stuff really works.

Were i looking to put a barrier between floors of a home or the basement i would certainly look into using this stuff to make sound barrier. It aint cheap but i now have proof to my satisfaction that it really does work.

Of course 6 inches of roxul R22 helps too. :)


Thank you Allen for the loan of your measuring device and for being so patient and understanding , i will send it off to other Alan B in Texas for his assesment of his shop.

I wont have to go to this extent again because my next shop will have no neighbors. :D
 
Rob, It's probably vibration that the NN is hearing through that rouge piece of 40' rebar that got buried between your NN house sits and where your shop sits reverberating the sound right to his easy chair. ;) :D

Sounds like you could have used that a long time ago and saved some headaches, but someone like the NN wouldn't stop.

That green glue sounds interesting, hadn't heard of it before.

BTW...hopefully someone with a black smithing hobby will buy your house. :D
 
Vaughn you absolutely correct I thought of that fact after doing the tests to tell the truth i was actually amazed. Still smacking myself for not having done the obvious 5 years ago and then had the copper stand outside while i run a machine or two.

As to buyers i was rather hoping for a biker gang and then hoping they turn it into a grow op or meth house :) See what happens to NN if he complains about that. :rofl::rofl: They might get caught but their buddies would then see that justice would be done their way. That may create vacant land in our area. :eek:
 
A grow op is usually a pretty low-key, low profile setup. Quiet too, except for the whirring of the electric meter. :p
 
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