Noise bylaw opinions

[jsn]

I'm not trying to get people to side with me or my neighbors and I'm not saying they're unreasonable or anything. Just trying to get peoples thoughts on opinions.

I live in a condo and I have a sound bar with a subwoofer. I was listening to music which I didn't think was very loud. My neighbor below me thought it was and she asked me to turn down the music at 9pm today (thursday night).

I was pretty sure noise was allowed before 10pm but I double checked on the city of Calgary website and found the following:

Between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. Monday to Saturday and 10pm to 9am on Sunday and holidays, you may not operate:

A hand lawn mower
A motorized garden tool
A power tool outside of any building or structure
A model aircraft driven by an internal combustion engine of any kind
A snow clearing device powered by an engine of any kind (snow clearing devices are exempt during the 48 hour period following a snowfall)
A leaf blowing device

I think I'm a pretty considerate guy overall so I turned off the music anyways. I'm just curious, do people have any right to request people to turn down nosie before 10pm? I'm not asking who's right and who's wrong and I'm not saying I wouldn't turn down the music in the future. I'm just curious about what the actual bylaw requires and how you would handle the situation. Would you turn down the music and never listen to music beyond a whisper before 10pm?

[msommers]

Subs are pretty crazy with respect to noise transmission in condos. Is it right on your wood flooring? You just might need to disconnect it.

I say this because my renters got a noise complaint and it turned out that the sub positioned on the flooring was the culprit.

[revelations]

CHECK YOUR BYLAWS - these can supersede what the city has out.

Also, keep the sub away from walls (eg. 1ft space) and a foam block underneath = HUGE difference.

I went as far as testing various sub configurations - with my neighbour giving instant feedback to find out what worked best - which allowed me to just CRANK the thing

[jsn]

It is hardwood flooring but my condo is concrete and not wood framing. I thought it would contain noise a bit better.

[revelations]

Depending on unit, the external walls may not be concrete - only the floors and interior walls.

[firebane]

If you have anything other than carpet floors you need these.. http://www.amazon.com/Sewell-Speaker...5250962&sr=1-7 ..

They help isolate noise especially on any hard surface floors.

And yes if you live in a condo or shared dwelling neighbors CAN ask anytime to turn down stuff its up to you to be a dick or not.

[Thaco]

regardless of bylaws your condo board can have their own rules as well

[jsn]

Originally posted by revelations
CHECK YOUR BYLAWS - these can supersede what the city has out.

Also, keep the sub away from walls (eg. 1ft space) and a foam block underneath = HUGE difference.

I'll check the condo bylaws. I actually didn't even think about that. I just went straight to the city bylaws. I'll try adding a foam block.

Originally posted by firebane
If you have anything other than carpet floors you need these.. http://www.amazon.com/Sewell-Speaker...962&sr=1-7 ..

They help isolate noise especially on any hard surface floors.

And yes if you live in a condo or shared dwelling neighbors CAN ask anytime to turn down stuff its up to you to be a dick or not.

Yeah I realized they can ask me anything they want. I'll check the condo bylaws, but I was just wondering if I have to comply if I'm listening to music before the designated time. Once again, not saying I would or wouldn't turn down the music. More curious than anything. Have you tried using those spikes? Do they work better than a simple foam block? It says they're brass so seeing how it's solid, would it not transmit vibrations and noise still?

[frizzlefry]

As a person who lives below someone with hardwood in a concrete building I can tell you hardwood is amazing at pissing off everything that lives near you. Its not solid concrete. For structural integrity there are air gaps. So cracks do not spread. Side effect is they function like a massive amp when it comes to directly applied noise.

Best solution is to get carpet. Or toss the sub. I have a 12 inch sub in my concrete building on carpet. Walls vibrate during explosions, much loudness. No complaints. But I can tell whenever the guys upstairs with hardwood play fetch with their dog. Or if anything is dropped. Or they otherwise move.

I just call it midget bowling. Because that's what it sounds like.

[Feruk]

Had this problem once. Grab a phone book, put under sub, call it a day. Went from daily complaints to no complaints. Now where to find a phone book is a different story...

[JRSC00LUDE]

Do what revelations said, and consult with that neighbor while you figure out what works best at the volume levels you prefer. You'll make an ally by displaying some consideration and, if it remains a problem, you can evidence that you've taken the situation seriously and done your best to be reasonable. Win/Win.

[speedog]

Originally posted by Feruk
Had this problem once. Grab a phone book, put under sub, call it a day. Went from daily complaints to no complaints. Now where to find a phone book is a different story...

Pay phone. Of course, those are just as rare as well.

[vengie]

Its not the noise, its the vibration from the sub woofer carried through the wood/ concrete. You need some sort of vibration dampener in between the floor/ sub. Or Elevate the sub on a stand.

[HiTempguy1]

You need to understand that it actually doesn't matter what time of day it is. You can still be fined under city bylaw for being loud.

It is super subjective, and relies a lot on the bylaw officer. At the end of the day, you live in a condo. Why should you get to blast your bass? Many people go to sleep at 9pm, and even earlier if they have kids. This is why I have headphones.

Now, on holidays? I think that going along with the "you live in a condo" thing goes both ways, people have guests and parties during holidays, some noise is to be expected.

But during regular weekdays? I feel its on you to take care of it.

[Mitsu3000gt]

I live in a concrete condo and have a substantial home theater, far more than a sound bar. Two things you can do to minimize noise for neighbors:

1) Separate the sub from the floor. You can buy something like the "sub dude", make your own, or just put high density foam or something under the sub feet. Nothing expensive necessary, and lots of options.

2) You can calibrate the subwoofer (If available). This reduces resonant frequencies substantially, and removes boomy spots (frequencies that the individual room characteristics amplify). Probably not an option on a sound bar sub though.

I have not got a single noise complaint in the 6 years I've been there, however I do believe that people need to be able to deal with moderate noise throughout the day. They live in a shared living environment, they will not get peace and quiet 24/7. Sometimes people have get-togethers, sometimes people watch movies, etc. If they want it to be quiet all the time they are free to move into a detached home or out of the city, everything has compromises and they knew this before they moved in. Occasionally I can hear the odd bit of (minimal) noise from my neighbors (TV, walking in high heels, party, dog barking, Jacuzzi tub, garborator, etc.), or the building across from me when they are out on their patio - I don't think anything of it, and presumably they are giving me the same courtesy. Occasionally people in my building have parties or get-togethers, it's never that loud, but if it bothered me I would just go do something else or put on headphones or something like a reasonable person. After 10pm, if I am watching TV or a movie or whatever, I turn it down to levels I am confident do not leave my condo (my by-laws are the same as the city).

If you have a hypersensitive neighbor, maybe see if you can go into her home with your soundbar setup playing and see for yourself how loud it is. If it's super loud, yeah turn it down - if she is being over sensitive, then IMO she can wait until 10pm or use ear plugs, head phones, etc. (she can compromise too). Everyone has different schedules, so within the bylaw hours, and of course within reason, nobody should be preventing you from doing what you want to do. If a bylaw officer came by and your soundbar could be heard, but wasn't loud or overly disruptive, they wouldn't do anything. If her place was shaking or if it was super loud by a reasonable standard, they would.

To get fined for noise before 10pm it would have to be quite disruptive, not simply audible. If someone has kids or a super early bed time or are overly sensitive to small bits of noise, a shared living environment probably wasn't the best choice. They knew what they were getting into. That being said though I think the vast majority of people are very reasonable and I think most people understand that living in a condo building does not guarantee dead silence at the times you want it.

Tl;dr: Be a reasonable person, if your neighbors are unreasonable people, just stay within the bylaws and don't worry about it. Also separate your sub from the floor, and calibrate it if possible.

[carson blocks]

Originally posted by msommers
Subs are pretty crazy with respect to noise transmission in condos.

This is a common problem in Condos. I've seen where the Sub sounds like it hits harder in the suite below than it sounds in the actual suite it's in.

Originally posted by jsn


I'll check the condo bylaws. I actually didn't even think about that. I just went straight to the city bylaws. ...
Yeah I realized they can ask me anything they want. I'll check the condo bylaws, but I was just wondering if I have to comply if I'm listening to music before the designated time.

Just my opinion, but fuck the city bylaws and the condo bylaws. You're doing something that's bothering your neighbour, fix it so you can coexist peacefully. You're essentially sharing a house with dozens of other people, forget what time the bylaws give you the 'right' to be noisy until, make life easy and try not to disturb others, and hope they'll do the same for you. The key to condo survival IMO is good relationships with your neighbours, even at the cost of having to be a little more considerate. If you want the freedom to turn up your system, crank the bass etc, pony up and buy your own little chunk of dirt with a detached house where you have a little more freedom.

I personally can't stand condo living, mostly due to people who think it's like having their own house and are more concerned with their 'rights' than simply being a decent human. People who have no concept of things like co-operation, courtesy, and doing what's best for everyone's enjoyment of the building, but are only concerned with their 'right' to do as they please.

Sorry for the rant, after my time living in a condo, then serving on the board and dealing with these petty bullshit complaints between people with no social skills, I'm a little bitter.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by carson blocks


If you want the freedom to turn up your system, crank the bass etc, pony up and buy your own little chunk of dirt with a detached house where you have a little more freedom.

Generally I agree, they key is being a reasonable, decent person which works 90% of the time however your argument is equally as strong from the other side. If you want peace and quiet 24/7 you can pony up and buy a detached home, infill, top-floor condo, etc. When you move into a building with 10, 50, 100+ other people, tolerating occasional disturbances is part of the condo life. If it's excessive or long-lasting (i.e. not just a one-time party, loud movie, or similar), that is a different story and probably needs to be dealt with.

[KrisYYC]

I live in a concrete condo building and have hard wood floors. I work odd hours (home around 2am) so in order not to disturb my neighbors I use Sennheiser wireless RF headphones. Lets me watch movies or listen to music as loud as I like with decent sound.

[gwill]

Lots of good advice here but one thing that popped out is that your bylaws don't super cede city bylaws. Also the one poster is bang on when he said in a condo it's expected that there is some noise. The only problem is most condos have a standard rule where you can't disturb the peace of others.

I'm on a few boards and it's really hard to deal with noise complaints when there is a dispute between neighbors as its a he said she said scenario. I would do what others have said and try and work with your neighbor. I would go the extra length and document the times you spoke with them and the remedies you have tried to fix the noise issue. The last thing you want is for the neighbor to start calling the condo board and you have no documentation on the events.

If you can show the board your a good neighbor and worked out remedies with them then they'll be more likely to take your side. Especially when it comes to noise before 10 pm.

[whiskas]

Concrete transmits low frequency sounds very well, particularly bass coming from a subwoofer.

If you want to be considerate - turn off or disconnect your subwoofer entirely. No amount of isolation is going to keep it from pissing off neighbors above, to the side and below you. The thumping noise it produces is fucking infuriating.

People normally tolerate the infrequent sound of footsteps cause it lasts a few seconds at most. But thumping bass for long periods of time is borderline torture. I remember having a neighbor do that, and I would fantasize about doing horrible unspeakable things to him and his whole family - that's how rage inducing it is. I went up and spoke to him and thankfully he was reasonable and turned it off.

Part of living in a condo is about being considerate and respectful of your neighbors.

So either sacrifice the experience of some extra bass listening to your precious beats. Or be known throughout your building as that gaping asshole dick jerking cum dumpster that doesn't let people enjoy an evening in their own homes.