They have the dyno's at the back of their shop and they leave the doors open so it doesn't echo in their building. Ive heard them in the afternoons, evenings and on Saturday mornings. I have to take a lot of red eye flights for work so listening to constant dyno pulls at 9 am is a pain in the ***. I live several houses away and hear it all the time.

Not sure why they cut all the trees down- that was natural sound deadening.

There is a guy that works from home behind them that is having to lease an office because the sound of the dyno takes over conference calls.

We will never be able to sell our houses for a fair price as long as Powerfab leaves things the way they are.
HOA has finally agreed to to take some action on this.

I do find it interesting that Powerfab hasn't commented on this. For as great as people say they are- their neighbors can't stand them.

I'm sure this comes off whiny but I was hoping to connect with the owner to try to find a resolution.

 

To dispel some of the myths in this thread, I will add some comments on behalf of Powerfab.

1. We do not operate the Dyno before 8 a.m. or after 6 p.m. Only rarely have we gone past 6, never past 7. Any noise you hear after that is not us.

2. We have made substantial upgrades to our sound proofing. We have sound deadening material which is the same stuff NASA uses. We recently upgraded our sound proofing again (1 week ago). There is more than 4k invested in the sound deadening we have now.

3. We are talking to contractors to build a dyno cell that would contain the sound. Initial estimates are between 55 and 70k. We don't have this kind of capital laying around, which is why we do not have one already. Feel free to help us out in this regard .

4. We are compliant with current ordinances. We have measured decibel output all along the fence line to which the residential properties back up to.

5. We are trying to be as reasonable as possible in working with the community. We are sorry our normal business operations are affecting you. We have tested extensively bay door configurations, changed the design of our sound deadening and continue to test and check almost daily.

Feel free to come talk to us about any solutions you may have or issues you are experiencing.

Thanks,

 

Angry midget, have not heard much from you these days Scott. How ya been?

 

Alive and kicking. Don't really do much internet posting anymore

 

I hear that. Htr is pretty dead. This place has some tech going on. Otherwise it isn't what it used to be.

 

i have two LS cars that could use work- I would be happy to give you guys work if I thought it would help. 50 head/cam combos should pay for the dyno booth.

NASA uses duct tape, not everything they use is sci-if level. Im sure you have some expensive stuff in the shop- it's a very nice shop.

But- building there when you back up to homes and not budgeting for sound control was really poor planning on your part.

You must be measuring to commercial levels (which you routinely exceed); you should go to that fence and measure to residential levels (65 db).

Unfortunately everytime I have been to your shop it's because I can't stand your noise any longer and am already extremely frustrated- everytime I am told you have a plan in place but do not have the $$.

I really need to deal with the owner on this- the guys at the shop don't care (and I don't blame them- it's not their problem) until our neighborhood makes it costly or difficult to do business. Trying to avoid this because while it is a pain for me it's better for the hobby if they stay in business- I just don't want to hear it.

Not trying to state anything that is untrue and have tried to be very careful to not say anything negative about your work- I've heard it's good.

I'm saying that it is time this becomes a priority.

 

You speak of residential levels of 65db but I have to tell you there isn't much that doesn't exceed that noise level I routinely use these meters as my work and am shocked at what is takes to exceed that level isn't much, and I'm not sure cause I haven't checked and I'm not going to lol! But is where the shop located designated as Commercial? If so I would think its that they would have to comply with etc... GL!

 

We comply with all regulations as far as we know. We have done extensive research and are still working on building a dyno cell.

Keep in mind, the same people who make these regulations (government) also regulate buildings. It will be 6 months to a year before anything is finished regardless of how fast we want it done. The permits required to build anything around here are exhausting.

 

Sadly, 50 heads/cams jobs would not pay for the dyno booth. You have dealt with one of the owners already. You are welcome to come in when your not feeling as flustered and talk with one of the others if he is available. Keep in mind, he is not available this week.

 

Inspector- I agree that 65db or 68 db is still light. I'm a good 10 houses away and it sounds like it is in my garage.

Would be interesting to know when they are going to dyno an open header car and see what it reads at the fence line between commercial/residential property. I know some of my cars are over 68 db and they have mufflers.

Let me be clear about a few things- I am not trying to bash Powerfab's work. I have said before I have never had any work done there and do not know of their performance. I have heard good things from a couple people but don't know anymore/less.

Received a very straight up pm from ganador01 (which I really appreciate) and he said that they do care- it's just not financially feasible now. I'm just saying there is a difference in caring and taking action.

Rather than try to remember exactly what I said I just copied a portion of my reply:

Quote:

As you say- you are within your legal limits to continue as normal until proven otherwise

All I can do as a frustrated resident is voice my displeasure with the noise your shop makes to anyone that will listen. Just so happens I am one of your target customers and know where some of your customer base gets their information.

I have been VERY careful not to bash your work. I have been very clear that I have never had any work done there and have only heard good things about your work. You tuned my neighbors Vette and he is very happy with it.

I'm not lying or posting half truths- from your point of view you are probably not doing anything wrong. From my point of view it feels like I live next to a race track and while that would have been fine when I was 16 now I want things a little more reasonable.

My comments on 'not caring' is that it is not a priority for the shop until it impedes business. Has nothing to do personally with the people that work there. Obviously the landscaping and iron fence were a higher priority than the sound deadening material.

End quote.

I'm not trying to target anyone that works there- I do not want them to go out of business and I do not want people to lose their jobs. I just need to make enough noise (for lack of a better term) that dampening the sound becomes a priority for the shop.

Honestly I would love to have a reliable shop within walking distance (who wouldn't?) and I don't know or have a problem with the people that work there. The owners knew sound would be an issue- it's just needs to be taken care of.

 

1965GP,

Get a meeting with your neighbors, HOA and an attorney to review your options?

 

Nxtruck2002- That's already in the works. Honestly I was hoping to come to a resolution without that. It's going to take a lot of time and money from both parties.

I met with ganador01 today and he was very upfront and forthcoming.

They had a CTSV on the dyno with full exhaust (my daily driver Firehawk is louder) and after hearing it a few times I went up there- we measured 84 db at the fence that backs up to the houses. Within the 85 db for commercial but as soon as you cross the fence it is a 65 db area. It really leaves a lot up to interpretation. Plus, this was a full exhaust daily driver.

They have built a wall to try to deflect the sound to the main road. They are planning on building a dyno cell but it sounds like money is an issue and it is far off.

They understand our situation- we have to hear dyno pulls throughout the day and it drives us all nuts. We can't move or sell our houses because- well no one is going to buy a house that has to listen to dyno pulls all day. At the same time- they have to work and have a right to.

Ganador01 was much more reasonable than the guy I had met previously- he understands our point of view but it will be up to the owners solve it.

 

It was good meeting you today. I appreciate the fact you understand that it's tough for both sides. We all want to come to an amicable solution. We do care and we will continue to work towards a long term solution like a dyno cell. It's just a little bit longer off than I am sure most of your neighbors would like.

In the mean time, we will continue working on quieting down cars on the dyno as much as possible. I will have a conversation with the owners next week about the suggestions you had. They did not fall on deaf ears.

 

ganador - Have you considered a natural option such as planting bamboo along the shop's side of the fence? There are other living barrier options too but bamboo grows vertical to save sq footage and certain species work pretty damn well. If you build a solid barrier to contain the root system it won't creep out of control, think the rule is 12" down and 6" above ground. Pretty easy to dig that trench, hit me up if you want it done fast.

Call 811 before you dig!

Another option is build a "remote" dyno room by routing large hose (6-10") from exhaust tips to a vertical sound suppression structure. Pipe or hose of that size won't interfere with the hot rod and you can move it for various vehicles like a fender exit. Again, vertical structure will save precious floor space. Used water pump hose with leakage are scrap to me at work, I can probably start collecting some stiff wall 4 or 6" ID suction hose.

 

I'll look into this.

 

Has the HOA looked at installing sound meters and recording sound levels on the residential side of things?
A simple kit is not that expensive and can be automated to document times when a threshold is exceeded. A 30 day sound survey can also be performed by a 3rd party.
Mics should be set right st the property boundary.
Results can then be presented to the local regulating entity.
Dealt with a similar situation before. Which is why I now live in the woods.

Goid luck.

 

Great idea- thanks.

I am going to look into setting this up.

 

Hey Powerfab- thanks for running the dyno all damn day on Good Friday. At this point it's just a d!ck move.

Must be a big race on Easter Sunday you have to be ready for....

 

This makes me rethink the idea of investing get in a dyno. I am 300 yards from my closest neighbor and they are only a couple but I could see how this could become an issue.

 

We spoke in person. You understand our predicament and we understand yours. We use our dyno as a part of our normal daily operations. Some days it gets used more than others.