Month: August 2016

When The Sound Of Music Can Be Bad For You

Listening to music is one of life’s great pleasures. Unfortunately exposing your ears to loud music of any kind in the home or at work can have a detrimental affect on hearing according to doctors.

While loud noise over a short period can be uncomfortable for your ears, being exposed to loud noise over long periods of several hours can have a cumulative impact on ears that can actually end up damaging your hearing.

The problem for many people who end up with damaged ears is they don’t realise how much noise they are being exposed to in the home or at work until it is too late. For example, it’s natural to want to turn up the volume of music if you want to drown out other noise. This then increases the amount of damage to sensitive nerve fibres that transmit signals to the brain.

The use of headphones can be particularly problematic if they are used for several hours a day while working in the office. Any noise above 110 decibels is unsafe for the human ear.

One potential solution is to better insulate your home or office against external news so that you can listen to and enjoy your music at a level that won’t cause any lasting damage.

Posted by admin in Home Insulation, Metropolitan Insulation, Noisy Neighbours, Soundproofing, Soundproofing Commercial Property, Soundproofing for musicians
Noisy Neighbours

Noisy Neighbours

Getting The Local Authorities Involved:
Keep a Record of Disturbances

Before involving your local authority, it makes sense to gather a body of evidence which you present to them as proof of the types of disturbances you are experiencing.

Note down the time of a disturbance, its length, and its nature.

If there is a reason for you neighbours making noise at that time, for example a dog barking because it is locked outside at night, then note this down too.

Once you have a decent body of evidence to show the extent of the nuisance your noisy neighbours are causing, you can contact your local authority or council.

Contact your Council

Within most councils, the environmental health department or city living department will have a dedicated contact for antisocial noise related issues. Some councils have a dedicated staff of Environmental Health Officers, who are able to issue warnings and on-the-spot fines to noisy neighbours who do not cease making noise. Failure to pay such fines can result in prosecution and a further £1,000 fine.

What The Law Says

Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, councils are obliged to take reasonable steps to investigate complaints of nuisance noise (and other types of nuisance such as littering or emissions) made by residents. The same law states that where the local authority believes that a nuisance is present, it must serve an ‘abatement notice’ on the individual responsible. The abatement notice can forbid the nuisance altogether, or restrict it to certain times of day.

If the person creating the nuisance cannot be found, the notice is served on the owner or occupier of the property from which the nuisance is coming. Failure to obey the abatement notice is a criminal offence and can result in a fine of £5,000.

In considering whether a nuisance is taking place, the council will consider (1) the nature and location of the noise, (2) the time and duration of the noise and (3) whether the activity creating the noise has any value.

‘Nuisance’
In England and Wales, ‘nuisance’ is defined legally as an unreasonable interference with the use and enjoyment of one’s property. In deciding this, consideration of the standards of the average person, and the character of the neighbourhood in question (such as whether other residents who are affected have also complained) will be taken.

Confusingly, the definition of nuisance in Scotland is not the same as England and Wales. The definition in Scotland requires that the behaviour is both unreasonable and causes discomfort. Reasonableness is judged with regard to an imaginary ‘reasonable person’ – would they be affected by the level of noise being created?

There is no level of volume which must be met for a noisy neighbour’s behaviour to be considered a nuisance. The standard is subjective and the assessment made by the local authority will be subject to the individual assessor. This is another reason why keeping a diary of noisy behaviour by neighbours is important – it can lend weight to your case.

Solutions for Noisy Neighbours

Having noisy neighbours can be very unpleasant, but if you are informed you can do something about it. We recommend the following points of advice:

  • If you feel safe enough to do so, try to make personal contact. Many times you will find that your neighbours had no idea they were causing a nuisance.
  • If you prefer to keep a distance, use an anonymous letter or note. Be amiable, and try to let your neighbour see things from your perspective – if they are reasonable people they are likely to appreciate that everyone needs sleep!
  • Collect evidence. If your efforts at informing your neighbours that they are causing a nuisance are unsuccessful, you will benefit from having a diary of their noisy behaviour when you contact the authorities.
  • Be safe. When in doubt, do not engage your noisy neighbours – if you fear that they might escalate the situation into something beyond just noise making, or you feel frightened, bullied or intimidated, then contact the police rather than putting yourself into a potentially unsafe situation.
Posted by admin in Home Insulation, Metropolitan Insulation, Noisy Neighbours, Soundproofing, Soundproofing Commercial Property, Soundproofing for musicians, Thermal Insulation

Reducing Noise From Water Systems

One of the biggest noise problems in houses comes from water systems. Specifiers can sometimes face a challenge to reduce noise from pipes in new constructions as can those who buy homes with pipes made from materials that do little to insulate noise.

Manufacturers can often fool specifiers when it comes to acoustic levels in pipes by disguising their actual performance levels. Add to this the drive to reduce building costs and the level of soundproofing around pipes can be less than ideal.

Plastic based systems are the worst culprits for noise and ironically the old cast iron pipes they replaced still offer the best sound insulation than their cheaper alternatives. Moreover, opting for plastic based systems can end up costing more in extra insulation costs where additional materials need to be purchased to compensate for the extra noise.

According to those in the industry current standards of testing sound insulation in water pipes are not stringent enough to replicate the sound generated under normal usage conditions.

Reducing noise from pipes in an existing house is a different matter of course. It can be a major job to replace a water system therefore one option is to use acoustic heavy sound proofing in the ceiling, which can reduce noise by up to 25 db. By using glass wool and an enclosure constructed from gypsum board, it is possible to reduce the level of noise by up to 30 dB(A) in walls.

Posted by admin in Home Insulation, Metropolitan Insulation, Noisy Neighbours, Soundproofing, Soundproofing Commercial Property, Soundproofing for musicians