Solution to noisy neighbors --- Move.

[John cycling]

My SE bedroom is mostly okay at night for sleeping, but gets way too noisy in the daytime due to the noisy neighbors south of me. Thus I decided at the end of June to clean up and prepare the MBR for my desktop pc, and to have another sleeping option. My plan was as follows:

1- take photos and discuss what to do with a friend;
2- clean out SE and NE corners of MB room;
3- put old items in garage for selling or giving away;

4- rewire phone jack to duplex for phone and internet;
5- clean off table in den and move to MBR;
6- move desktop computer from den to MBR;

7- clean off bed frame and SE corner of room;
8- get new mattress to replace the one tossed out 8 years ago;
9- upgrade desktop pc with SSD, cpu and psu quiet fans..

My plan was to finish the first 6 steps by July 31st. I made great progress through the first 7 days, tossing out boxes full of old cassette tapes, numerous boxes full of old papers, moving a weight set, an old sewing machine and a cyclone trainer. But then I inadvertently caused my (primary) laptop computer to crash and the weather got hot.

 

[Gaer]

Wow! You're really organized!
My neighbors have a terribly messy yard! Junk everywhere!
I'm not going to let it bother me because they are really sweet folks!
But I'm semi-rural and have my art gallery in front of my home, so I have complete privacy!

I'm in awe of your determination and decisiveness! You're inspiring me to clean out my storage! Way to go!

 

[Aunt Marg]

I'm in awe, too, Gaer, over John's, determination and steadfast direction.

To you, John, I hope you can keep moving forward once a lull happens in the weather. I know what it feels like to work towards a goal, a dream, only to have it dashed by something or another.

Maintain your even footing on the path you're on, don't veer of course, and remain committed to seeing this through!

 

[John cycling]

Gaer and Aunt Marge, thank you for your kind and generous comments, and for all the inspiration you both provide in this forum.

The 3 bedrooms are #1 the noisy one, #2 this one (the den), and #3 the master bedroom, all in a row. I crashed the laptop and moved into here (the den) on day 8, where I've always used a desktop computer, and have only used BR#1 the last two years since getting the laptop. Both computers are updated now and working quite well.

The noisy barking neighbors had a party on day 10 but, with the doors to those rooms closed, I hardly heard them in here. Now moving a computer setup to the MBR is not as imperative, but I still want to do all the steps on my list, am sticking to my plan and readjusting the process.

I have fluctuated between oh yes this is moving along nicely, to oh there's so much to do and it seeming close to hopeless. Perhaps treating this as a daily activity to keep looking forward to like my exercise can be helpful. I have continued to make some progress each day, hope to keep making this into a habit, and then to continue on with the rest of the house.

 

[Aunt Marg]

Thank you so kindly for your words, John!

You're a real gem!

I enjoy your company on the forum immensely, and am thrilled you found us and joined!

Re: your plan, ever since you posted about it yesterday, I have been giving thought to a little something that may help combat any sort of residual noise pollution that may still be present after you shuffle your rooms around.

My idea... a sheet of, or several full-size sheets of rigid solid core foam insulation. It comes in white and pink, can be cut with a utility knife, and if you were to get the sheet or sheets in a 4" thickness value, you could stand the sheets up against the offending wall/door to further help reduce any unwanted outdoor noise.

If you really wanted to get serious, you could buy even thicker sheets outside that of 4" (if they make them), and adhesive together two sheets to make one. At 8" (or more in thickness), I believe the rigid solid core foam insulation sheets would stand well on their own, so no affixing to walls or doors, and it would be super light enabling you to move them around at will, where you need them, and when you need them.

With the sheets being white, it would provide a clean look and act similarly to the cubicle office enclosures in big buildings, but would be a fraction of the price.

Additionally, depending on what level your office will end up being on, if it's ground level and you have the room, you could plant a row of Emerald Green Arborvitae near your fence-line/property line, and within a few years have a wonderful privacy wall that would pull double duty by insulating your home from excess noise.

Here is an image of the solid rigid foam core insulation I'm talking about.

Newly planted, your conifers would look like this with correct spacing.

Within a few short years, your privacy fence would resemble this, which you could keep sheered and topped for neatness.

The sound insulting properties of having a privacy fence like this is extraordinary.

 

[John cycling]

Aunt Marg,
That's one of the nicest things anyone's ever said to me, especially meaningful to me coming from you.

I've been quite sad that you left, and sent you a few messages but you probably didn't receive them.
Considering what happened, I probably would have done the same thing that you did but I still miss you!

Thank you very much for sharing your helpful ideas and suggestions. I am considering them all moving forward.

My house is one story, and I finally took a photo of the 3 Emerald Green Arborvitae that I planted a few years ago. The 1st one was on the right but unfortunately died. These 3 were planted about a year later, with a ground cover that turned out to be quite invasive. The trees survived, and I recently replaced it with bark. The trees are doing much better now, and I hope to replace that 1st one this winter.



As you can see, the houses here are too close together and there is not much privacy, which is why I planted them there.

 

[John cycling]

Moving to my desktop setup in the den provided a similar solution to the noise, so there's no need for another setup in the MBR. This took care of most of the items on my list except for the mattress, which is still in my plans but not as high in priority.

This computer hasn't been upgraded for 10 to 15 years, so I ordered a new CPU, motherboard and memory, which should be quite a bit faster, also cooler, more quiet, and cut energy usage in half. I want to get a better internet speed and price too, although that might be more difficult.