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tysonb

Member
I'm living in a townhouse and I'm ready to start my RV-7A... The garage (first floor) is not immediately next to another unit, but I'm worried about the noise going out the door and passing through the outer walls (immediately next to my garage is a single car garage that dosen't attach to a unit) I'm going to build a box for the compressor and attempt to insulate the door, but I just don't know if its going to be enough...

Bottom line - with some "soundproofing" and some common sense (no riveting after 6~7pm, before 9~10am) do you think I'm gonna make my neighbors hate me or ? I know its not going to be quiet, but is it hammering on large sheet of steel with a large hammer loud or nailing to wood loud?

Thanks for any info - I need to build this plane (not want - I need a project :))

Tyson
 
Dimpling isn't too bad. Riveting, and the compressor noise, will be a problem for some people. The good news is that riveting, for all that we talk about it, is a small fraction of the work.

If we were to accurately count how much time we spend with the rivet gun firing, I bet it would only be about 5-10 hours, spread over the entire project. Less for a QB, of course.

Here's the math: there are 10,000 rivets or so, you pound each one about 2 sec, or 20,000 sec. There are 3,600 seconds in an hour, so that's just over 5 hours.

You spend much more time drilling (which can be loud, too), deburring, and dimpling.

If you're trying to be quiet, use an electric drill. Although most of us like to use the air drill, it's not required. The less your compressor runs, the quieter you'll be.

Finally, there are fairly quiet compressors (search this forum.) I bought a cheap oil-less compressor (saving maybe $100) and regret it every time I use it. And that's after I built a sound-proof doghouse for it.
 
Honestly, rivetting is pretty darn loud but for some reason neighboors rarely seem to complain about it. They always complain about the compressor. My neighboor across the street has an oiless compressor and it makes such a racket that I can hear it over MY compressor in my own garage. Maybe it's the frequency...high pitched vs. low pitched.

I'd wait until the rivet gun showed up and just take it for a whirl. With the door closed it probably wouldn't be any more annoying than your next door neighboor doing some repair work on his deck.
 
Very interesting way to look at it... I've read most of Dan Checkoways log, and now that I think about it, there weren't "days" of riveting, just periods... That makes me feel a bit better about it.

Definately going electric/battery drills - I know air motor drills are loud and annoying to the "general population". Definately going belt-drive on the compressor... My dad has a small belt drive craftsman that he's had forever (before I was born) that is still running and is fairly quiet. My uncle has gone through 2 oilless units that I can remember, and they were annoyingly loud 200' away...

Tyson
 
Most air drills aren't THAT loud. I have a Dotco and a Rockwell that are about as loud as an electric. I also have a Chicago Pneumatic and an old Sioux (not the kind you would likely buy for your project) that are a lot louder. They all spin up and spin down faster and are lighter than electric drills. If you have a quiet compressor, you won't annoy anyone with your drilling.

As for riveting, a fair number of rivets are squeezed, so you can cut that 5 hours down to maybe 3.5 or 4.

Dimpling is no louder than hammering so if you can hammer without disturbing neighbors, you can dimple. And some dimpling can be done with a squeezer.
 
Kudos on the Dotco air drill. I have the mini palm version and it is not loud at all. I love that drill. I think I bought mine from Brown Tool. My sears compressor is not that loud either and puts out plenty of air. It doesn't run often when using the air drill. Drilling is usually in tiny short bursts and at low rpm's that doesn't use much air. Use a pneumatic squeezer for all the rivets you can reach and you will cut down on the noise level too.
 
Been there, done that

Hi Tyson,

I think the other's have told you this, but the riveting is extreemly loud. I built the emp, both wings and started on the fuse in my townhouse (slowbuild) before it became too small and I had to move.

The noise from riveting sounds like a machine gun and travels right through any structure. This has constantly annoyed my wife, however the gun doesnt come out often.

You can be sure the noise will go right through your walls, even double brick and you neighbour will hear. As you pointed out, even more noise will go out the garage door and annoy your neighbour directly across.

I never had any issues with my neighbour. I kept all noise to "acceptable lawn mower" hours and never had a problem.

The one thing you have not mentioned, that I never did at home was priming. Aircraft primer is nasty stuff and will make your neighbours very upset and possibly unwell. Do not do this in a high density neighbourhood and consider the effects on you and your family if the garage is attached to the house.

Good luck
Richard

RV7A
 
I love these forums - 6 great replys in less than 12hrs...

Yeah, I've been pondering the priming issue - I'm thinking about building a small spray "cabinet" out of an old AHU fan, some fiberglass filters and activated charcoal for the spray can stuff. Something to catch the particulate and then absorb the odors. Larger items will have to be done somewhere else... While I don't like the idea of moving components, I have some friends that live out in the sticks so I can go out there and prime in large batches... PITA, but I'll figure it out.
 
I was concerned about disturbing neighbors as well, but have not received any complaints -- and the airplane is about to move to the airport.

Strategies used:
- drill and rivet with exterior doors closed (can be hot, but...)
- oiled compressor, contained in a box built from 1-inch insulation board, and with a silencer on the air intake
- priming with less-toxic AFS and 988, though the performance of the former leaves something to be desired

I believe the exterior noise resulting from these practices is quite low, to the point that I feel comfortable working (even riveting on occasion) until pretty late at night. I suspect the construction of your garage also has some influence on how much noise gets out.
 
tysonb said:
I love these forums - 6 great replys in less than 12hrs...

Yeah, I've been pondering the priming issue - I'm thinking about building a small spray "cabinet" out of an old AHU fan, some fiberglass filters and activated charcoal for the spray can stuff. Something to catch the particulate and then absorb the odors. Larger items will have to be done somewhere else... While I don't like the idea of moving components, I have some friends that live out in the sticks so I can go out there and prime in large batches... PITA, but I'll figure it out.
Click to expand...
Another solution is to use AFS products which are water borne, no nasty chemicals, and easy cleanup.
 
My Take

Riveting is very noisy, but as has been said, is usually of a short duration. Even the best compressor is noisy in a quiet neighborhood and can become irritating if it runs frequently. Both are noisy if your neighbor is not very receptive to anything other than peace and quiet. In other words, it is all relevent to your neighbors congeniality and tolerance indexes.

As we have seen in another thread, neighbor feuds can get really ugly in short order. The best way to handle these is to never get into them. Not everyone loves airplanes or for that matter "construction in the garage" of any sorts. Talk to your neighbors and simply ask them how they feel about it and see what they say. Let them know your plans to keep noise to a minimum and then do what you say you are going to do. If you tell them the compressor will only be running between 8AM and 8PM then don't think you can sneak in a late night's worth of work once in a while.

Yes there are individual rights and liberties involved but when it comes to living with other people the relationship has to be one of mutual respect. Just because neighbors don't share our passions, doesn't mean they are wrong. In the long run, renting a hanger or some other place to build will be far less costly in terms of stress and anxiety than living next to an upset neighbor.

In other words, ust be a good neighbor. Ask for neighbor input and then respect the feedback you get. Most will be thrilled that you took the time to ask and the fact that the noise doesn't come as a surprise will go a long way to keep emotions in check. Heck, most will get excited and want to know more about the project. You'll have a hard time keeping them away. If you do get buy-in from them, check back once in a while just to make sure the compressor or rivet banging isn't more than the neighbors expected. I would say that if you are friendly, considerate, and proactive with your neighbors, these issues don't even become issues most of the time.

Good luck!
 
Almost every town has a statute or ordinance which defines 'Normal Waking Hours'. These are the hours which certain activities can take place without complaint. My town is 7:00AM-10:00PM. Not to say I can set off explosions during those hours without complaint, but the police will usually not issue summonses during those hours. They will try to mediate the problem. I rarely work past 9:00PM. I have done minimal riveting so far, but no one has complained.
 
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