Building a sound resistant "Bed Shed"

Main thing: the person moving never talked with me about anything. Instead, she tried to FORCE me into a schedule more convenient for her by trying to keep me up past the time I'd like to start sleeping, apparently hoping that would result in me waking later. Because once I'm up near 5 am, she hears it it looks like. And she'd rather wake at 6.

That's what all this was about. Her refusing earplugs, sound proofing, etc (all the stuff I had to do and use) and, instead trying to adjust my schedule such that it wouldn't collide with her's. As understandable as that is, I guess, the feeling that I had no say in it at all, and was being manipulated into a new and "better" schedule bothered me I can tell you!

A simple conversation could have, maybe have helped, but she avoided me like the plague.

Mowing the lawn every three days, raking leaves, shoveling snow (same week as mowing the lawn, by the way) taxes based upon property twice the size of mine, etc..

if I have ever mowed twice in the same week, it's because I was anticipating a long break from mowing. and I don't even own a leaf rake.

Owning a condo is great if it works for you, but in your case, it doesn't sound like it is. How much have you invested in that sleep box?

As for mowing

The thing I hate about mowing is it keeps me from doing other things that need to be done.
The thing I love about mowing is it keeps me from doing other things that need to be done.

Be careful what you wish for. That probably wouldn't be covered by your monthly maintenance fee. When the building that my sister owns a condo in needed a new roof, she got hit with a $2000 additional assessment.

The roof was done last year. There was some assessment for the deductible.

Probably more hail this year too. Another deductible. Anyway, my place is paid. The monthly fee is small enough that I don't really care too much,... yet. Heck, I've paid more per month for cable -- without too many channels either!

To the first point about evacuating air from this roughly 210 cubic foot sleep capsule: the 800 cubic foot per minute floor fan very smoothly pulls air out of it from an opening 50 square inches (an inlet situated on the opposite end of the capsule is also roughly 50 square inches, each port having a convoluted, or twisted pathway as sound damping ductwork). The interior hums a bit, but that's the much sought after white noise - to go along with all that sound resistant material as its outer shell.

So as GTCgreg suggested the design of the fan was important. The floor blower having a wheel arrangement, pulls air in at the center then throws that air mass outward, such that more air is then drawn in at the center.

No. The 800 to 900 cubic foot per minute rating of this model of fan does not result in sheets or blankets getting blown around. In fact, the air trickles along inside nicely, partly due, I suppose, to the convoluted air passages serving as both inlet and outlet of the chamber. And also because the air spreads out into the chamber rather evenly. On the outside, however, air jets away from the floor blower just as you would expect from a 800 cu ft per min fan; pretty forcefully.

The result of building a sleep capsule for reduced noise interference is arguably debatable. The chamber does a great job at making it almost impossible for someone on the outside to hear a person inside screaming loudly. Yet, a person on the outside speaking at normal levels can be heard by the person inside to some degree.

To counter this problem a second box was installed that surrounds the head of the occupant. The open end where one places their head cannot be insulated too much, as it's essentially an open door for your head. So the insulation on the four other sides (top, rear, left & right) are insulated well, but only to such extent that makes sense for a box with an open end. A hose was attached and feeds up and out the exhaust port to serve as both cooling and breathable air circulation while one's head is inserted into the box. This resulted in improved noise damping, actually. But further improvements where needed.

So, all the way out on the outside of everything, I included a second house fan to serve as additional white noise (all such noise generated on the outside of the capsule).

In short, I surmise, with regard to blocking a neighbor's noise, where such neighbor seems intent on disrupting your sleep, you could use these several things: (or, yes, move away)...


1) a sleep capsule with appropriate ventilation, said capsule having Homasoto wall insulation material of at least two inches thick. A wide, foam door can be constructed having ceiling tile acoustic material added for both lightness and sound damping aspects.

2) minimally, one fan of appropriate size for ventilation. In this case 900 cu. ft. per min.

3) said fan serving as white noise generation. Possibly including a second fan to enhance the effect since you basically end up inside the sound resistant capsule where its almost hard to hear enough of the white noise in some cases (mine for instance).

4) for additional noise isolation a small secondary box can be constructed specifically for placing your head and pillow into. A vent hose should radiate up and away from this box, going out the main exhaust port, such that ventilation for your head is achieved.

5) earplugs are a possible addition as well as noise-canceling headphones or earbuds. But, I have discovered that these generally eliminate more white noise than anything else. If your brain gets used to handling the white noise, it can more readily ignore incoming bumps, thumps, and whacks. If you've wiped out the white noise with plugs or phones, your brain is essentially sitting in perfect silence until one of those pounding "thumps" comes along and surprises you. I suggest using white noise and possibly a lot of it when dealing with occasional sudden thuds.

6) and lastly, the use of certain antihistamines could be considered if you are a light, light sleeper as I am AND IF YOU HAVE PROPER PRESCRIPTION FROM A BONAFIDE MEDICAL PRACTITIONER. For the weekends, when neighbors get a bit more rambunctious, I suggest Friday using Hydroxyzine HCL 50 mg, followed on Saturady with Cyproheptadine HCL 4 mg instead. Ask your doctor if this sounds reasonable for you. By using each substance only once per week, you can be assured to pass through each substance's half life all the way to its elimination, thereby avoiding issues owing to side effects. I also have sleep apnea, and sedating sleep apnea can be counter productive. So I ratchet up my sleep apnea hardware to maximum level for the nights where substances are used.

To sum up, if you have to stay situated within earshot of somebody's noise attack, 1) bury yourself inside as many noise isolating systems as you can (two for instance), 2) use white noise if palatable for you, 3) carefully sedate if necessary, using proper medical supervision. (Noise Canceling earbud or headphone systems may or may not be a further useful addition)

It's really too bad, The Light Works. I wondered if the droning of a fan was going to keep me awake too. I've managed I guess to find just the right level of fan noise, since I'm inside a sound-resistant capsule, away from any fan. And, at just the correct level of fan vibration, the other sounds seem to be unable to get focused upon by the mind, since the mind is busy canceling the hum of the fan. As it is, after about 40 minutes, the hum of the fan basically disappears. Almost like that old trick where you stare at a spot, eye never twitching, until your eye basically has its view wash away to nothing.

in my case, it truly is the sheer volume. I had one night that I checked out of annoyance, and it was over 70db in the bedroom.