Outdoor Barking Solutions

[Kerry]

I didn't get anywhere with this question on Gunnarsholt's, so I thought I'd ask it again, here.
Thanks for any tips.

Many years ago, I received an advertisement for sections of some kind of outdoor sound proofing panels that attached to the top of a fence with brackets, angled in about 10 degrees or so, and helped to absorb the sound. I tossed the ad, thinking that it'd come again in another batch of junk mail, but it never did.
I've tried searching for this type of thing, and have contacted some soundproofing companies, but they aren't familiar with the product.
Has anyone heard of this product or have any idea what kind of weather-resistant, soundproofing material that a handy person could use to make something like this?

[Currmudgeon]

I have not seen such a product. I'll be curious to see if anyone else has.

In g4eneral, the secrets to sound proofing are mass and airtightness. A solid or board on board fence will give you some sound attenuation. A chain link obviously won't give you much. A masonry wall would give you more.

The inward leaning panels should help reflect sound in, away from your neighbors, and allow them to exist in a sort of sound shadow.

Off hand, I'd be thinking of cement board, like Wonderboard or Durock. But they're heavy and would be onerous to mount.

I wonder if some sort of lightweight plastic board would be sufficient.

Mounting will still be a major iussue, as these will be wind traps. Sailing a sheet of plywood through youir neighbor's window in a storm will not win you many friends.

I have heard of straw bale barriers, about eight feet high, being effective.

[Kerry]

Thanks for brainstorming with me, Currmudgeon. I seem to remember those panels being somewhat like a heavier gauge, styrofoam-like material, I want to say about 2 feet high, 4-6 feet long, and approximately 2 inches thick, and attaching with some kind of long, bent bracket to the top of a fence. The brackets seemed to support the material by their attachment to the back. I've been imagining that I could just take the thing that my husband uses to lay on to change the oil in the cars and mount it. I don't know where he got it. Super durable, he's had it for years, probably found it in a construction site debris box. Maybe I can take a sample of it into a building supply store and see if it can be identified. I could have the brackets custom made. Perhaps it could be coated with something to toughen it up and make it a little more resistant to the elements...
Our building code allows a 6 foot fence with a 2 foot privacy fence on top of that. We just have the 6 foot redwood fence. I don't think that the dogs could reach them to chew them up.
We've tried planting heavy shrubs along the fence lines, but they've either been trampled, or killed by something that drained out of the neighbor's hot tub.

[Smithie86]

Kerry,

What we did see at the club hosting the AWDF last year was a mound of dirt higher that the kennel surrounding the outside.

[Currmudgeon]

Earthen berms are excellent sound screening. The problems are, they take up a lot of real estate, and they require heavy construction machinery to build, or a million club members with head pans.

I seem to remember those panels being somewhat like a heavier gauge, styrofoam-like material, I want to say about 2 feet high, 4-6 feet long, and approximately 2 inches thick, and attaching with some kind of long, bent bracket to the top of a fence. The brackets seemed to support the material by their attachment to the back.

I can kinda visualize the material you're talking about. The biggest problems I see with panels on brackets is that the whole system, panels, brackets, and existing fence posts, must be able to withstand wind forces. This can be a pretty steep requirement.

[Kerry]

Smithie86 said:

Kerry,

What we did see at the club hosting the AWDF last year was a mound of dirt higher that the kennel surrounding the outside.

Thanks, Smithie86. I like that idea for when I get my dream place, and I'm going to keep that in mind. We have a berm on the busy road behind us where we live now, excess soil from the golf course that a neighbor dumps there periodically. It reduces the auto noise significantly.

Currmudgeon, You're probably exactly right about the durability of the product. Perhaps that's why I never got another advertisement for it.
I'm also thinking about material used for stadiums and recording studios. Still, it'd have to be mounted on the fence, or have some Star Trek capabilities, like a shield! ;D
I think that I need to study how sound travels, as our current property is in a cul-de-sac, our property somewhat pie shaped (with a big bite taken out of the apex) with the kennel positioned at the apex behind our house. I'm going to monkey around with some products and see just how much sound I can block from traveling here or there. I'm sure that my offended neighbors will delight in participating in my experiment!
Thanks a lot, guys.

[opione]

This might sound silly, but you may want to talk to a sound company who wire auditoriums and stadiums for speakers. I used to work for a company about ten years ago, and they new everything about how sound travels and how to confine it to the area you're going to be in...i.e. outdoor stadiums. They might be able to explain how to dampen sound, especially when your dealing with outside noise and reverberation off buildings. It can get pretty confusing.

[Currmudgeon]

Reverberation is a significant issue. In general, hard, dense surfaces, e.g masonry walls, block sound by absorbing the energy. But hard surfaces reflect sound, causing it to go elsewhere. That's why they line recording studios with that egg-crate foam. It's a sound deadening material. It doesn't do much to keep the sound from passing through the wall. The heavy wall construction does that.

This indicates that, in addition to erecting a sound fence, planting bushes along nearby building faces would be a good idea.

[Smithie86]

Kerry,

We are also looking at possible solutions as we have neighbors that complain about our dogs barking when the dogs are physically not on the property....:-)