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Old 05-21-2008, 12:27 PM
 
Location: Floribama
18,948 posts, read 43,421,357 times
Reputation: 18748

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Quote:
Originally Posted by bookworm2768 View Post
"and is 15 feet from my bedroom window!!"
That's your problem. If the houses are only 15 feet apart there are going to be many noises that will get on your nerves. You will have to get used to it or find a house with a bigger yard.
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Old 05-21-2008, 12:42 PM
 
23,563 posts, read 70,158,065 times
Reputation: 49102
A key factor, as Cosmic has suggested, is the cost involved in rectifying the situation. I'm fairly certain that an attorney isn't going to be the cheapest solution. For that price, I suspect you might outfit the neighbor with a geothermal heat pump. Similarly, although the new proprietary materials are very good, they are more expensive than double layers of rock. I had to roll my eyes when that site mentioned THX walls, which were another income source for Dolby and Lucasfilm that used old technology under a brand name to add "value."

I agree that resonance can be an issue in some cases, but when there is a non-uniform disconnect between inner and outer surfaces, that pretty much goes away.

There are plenty of devious and humorous things that could be tried - buy a sound switch and set it to turn on a recording of screeching whenever the compressor starts up, and hide a speaker near the unit, with another aimed at the bedroom window of the neighbor. Set up a fountain on your side of the property, next to the unit, and fill it with pool acid. Find someone who steals scrap metal and offer a bonus. Set up an array of blowtorches that come on when the compressor fires up, making the unit inefficient. Borrow a giant van de graff generator and make a lightning strike on the control circuitry. Build a parabolic reflector to aim the sound back at the neighbor's house. Find a kid with a pellet gun. Pea out the window on the unit. Most of these "solutions" are anti-social and ultimately more expensive than a few simple modifications that resolve future issues.

The funny thing about noise is that once you focus on it and regard it as irrritating, it gets more so with time. Some nights when we open the windows we can hear the coyotes singing, other times cattle bellowing, and other times just the stream or the wind. Our solution to the noise pollution of suburbia was a bit more extreme, but it works.
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Old 05-21-2008, 12:47 PM
 
Location: Texas
8,064 posts, read 17,980,678 times
Reputation: 3729
Quote:
Originally Posted by southernnaturelover View Post
That's your problem. If the houses are only 15 feet apart there are going to be many noises that will get on your nerves. You will have to get used to it or find a house with a bigger yard.
That's EXACTLY what I was thinking! Knowing that other people have a right to live as they see fit (within reason), I'd never buy a home that was situated that close to the next-door neighbor unless I was prepared to be flexible and accommodating. Goodness, I live in a neighborhood of manufactured homes and my next-door neighbor's home isn't that close to mine! I wouldn't have bought my home if the one next-door was really close.

I don't think there's anything you can do legally, and telling your neighbors (with whom you don't have a friendly relationship) that they need to buy a new AC condensor (even if you offer to help pay for it) could be seen as insulting. These folks might have financial issues that prevent them from replacing it and they would be embarrassed to discuss it with a virtual stranger! I know I would be! HOWEVER, if they have insurance, the condensor would be replaced by insurance if an accident happened to it. (A yard man accidentally dented mine at my former house and, even though, it still worked fine I decided to have it replaced via insurance since it was 9 years old.) Maybe you can strike up a conversation with your neighbors and steer the conversation around home improvement and how insurance can help pay for things.

Sorry if my post seems harsh. It's just that a home is a big investment and one has to decide where to live very carefully, for their own happiness and comfort and also for possible resale in the future!

Last edited by teatime; 05-21-2008 at 12:58 PM..
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Old 05-21-2008, 01:21 PM
 
Location: Broward County
2,517 posts, read 11,033,106 times
Reputation: 1391
this is why my next home will be in the middle of 1.3 acres of land. I hate noise.. HATE IT
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Old 05-21-2008, 01:38 PM
 
563 posts, read 3,737,950 times
Reputation: 325
Quote:
Originally Posted by Driller1 View Post
My thought was to kill it.
And last night i was ready to do just that!
Thanks so much for all your kind responses. All the homes in our neighborhood were built in the 80s and there's about 15 feet between the houses. All our bedrooms are lined up against one exterior wall (very smart energy wise since they are on the east wall and on a seperate HVAC system from the rest of the house.) so it wouldn't make a difference if we abandoned our bedroom.
I have a feeling that it is a money issue. They bought the house just 2 months ago (very soon after we bought ours) and I'm guessing that they want to sink more money into it after just making a big home purchase. (unlike dummies like us who replaced both HVAC systems to 21 seer 'quiet as an indoor fan' systems!). They need some work done on their roof too (storm damage) and have not taken care of it yet so my assumption is that the noisy ac is not first priority.

Unfortunately, even though it is driving me batty, I don't see myself shelling out money to help them replace the unit. I like the idea of replacing the windows with triple pane windows though and perhaps adding sheet rock. I've also been told that heavy drapes might help. So, now we have a plan. Thanks!!
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Old 05-21-2008, 01:45 PM
 
563 posts, read 3,737,950 times
Reputation: 325
Quote:
Originally Posted by teatime View Post
That's EXACTLY what I was thinking! Knowing that other people have a right to live as they see fit (within reason), I'd never buy a home that was situated that close to the next-door neighbor unless I was prepared to be flexible and accommodating. Goodness, I live in a neighborhood of manufactured homes and my next-door neighbor's home isn't that close to mine! I wouldn't have bought my home if the one next-door was really close.

Sorry if my post seems harsh. It's just that a home is a big investment and one has to decide where to live very carefully, for their own happiness and comfort and also for possible resale in the future!
No I don't think you're being harsh. There were other reasons for buying the house we did and those reasons are still extremely good ones. Too long a list to share here though. Suffice it to say we are fairly close to Dallas and lot lines here are fairly small. One has to make some compromises when it comes to commutes and quality schools. Anyway . . .

Since we bought the house in the winter we didn't expect the clunker to make such a racket. It doesn't look terribly old until you get close up to it. I agree with you that it is a sensitive subject to bring up with a stranger and probably would not do it even if they were friends. I don't think perpetuating insurance fraud (would it be fraud to dent the unit??) is an option. so the only thing to be done is shore up my walls and windows and, when time comes to sell the house (hopefully when I'm dead and gone) it can me marketed as having a sound proof master suite.
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Old 05-21-2008, 02:07 PM
 
692 posts, read 3,137,584 times
Reputation: 357
Chickpea,

HAA HAA ..... You outdid me on the hillarious things you could do. It sounds like Bookworm has a good head and will make the right decision. Glad I could contribute.
I myself am determined to build an extremely energy efficient and ultra quiet home.
It's the wave of the future as the populations grow and everybody now wants to have more pets.
I do wish we could have a National Vote on BOOM BOXES. Most people that have them are totally "brain dead" when it comes to common courtesy.
We have a woman in her 50's running around our neighborhood with one in an Old Plymouth Mini Van of all things. At first I thought it was for her kids but she is always by herself. Some people never grow up. Does the word "DRUGS" sound familiar.

Silverfox
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Old 05-21-2008, 02:27 PM
 
Location: Philaburbia
41,878 posts, read 74,938,731 times
Reputation: 66805
Turn up your stereo and relax. Your neighbor's air conditioning is none of your business.
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Old 05-21-2008, 02:33 PM
 
Location: SW Austin
314 posts, read 1,228,400 times
Reputation: 94
If they just bought the house, they might have a one year home warranty. You should mention the problem and ask if they have the warranty. If they do, they may be able to get the A/C repaired for a very minimal cost ($50 to $75).

Also we used to live behind a group of yappy dogs, and I bought the double honeycomb blinds off the internet with the side panels for noise reduction. They are amazing in cutting down on the noise. Ours blinds also had black out, so our bedroom was like a quiet peaceful cave even in the middle of the afternoon.
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Old 05-21-2008, 03:04 PM
 
692 posts, read 3,137,584 times
Reputation: 357
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81 View Post
Turn up your stereo and relax. Your neighbor's air conditioning is none of your business.
"Another Great Example of why we have the problems we do"
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