please help, noise reduction.

[serge_09]

ive had my greenwing 6 years now, I've recently moved in with my partner (who isnt a pet fan let alone parrot fan) and the noise is becoming a problem. the GW doesnt squark a lot, if youre shouting up/down stairs or if new people come in (which isnt really what you want having guests enter). it does seem a lot louder in this house than my last.

the other problem is my girlfriend will be working on the otherside of the wall with clients. I'm looking into ikoustic soundproofing if only to cut the decibles down a bit but its causing big problems that i dont know how to fix. any help would be much appreciated.

 

[itzjbean]

All macaws will make noise so your partner will have to learn to accept that some vocalizations are normal and will last its entire lifetime. There is no such thing as a quiet macaw.... that being said, what kind of activities does your GW mac have to do to entertain himself? Have toys or wood to shred on a daily basis? Lots of outside of cage time? Trained to wear a harness and venture outside for some fresh air and sunshine? They do need continuous stimulation and socialization to be good pets and so not sure if sound proofing is going to be the key here or behavioral training.

Good luck to you!

 

[noodles123]

This situation sounds problematic. If push comes to shove, I hope you find someone who is an animal lover (instead of re-homing your bird)...Maybe I'm jaded, but it has been my experience that little annoyances early on become points of contention when things get rocky. Just remember, you made a promise to your bird before you met your partner...

Carpet and rugs will absorb some noise, as will large furniture. You can buy sound panels on amazon (foam). A noise cancelling machine might help those in the next room? If the floors are wood, try putting down runners in the hall etc...It isn't going to be perfect and it will still be loud to a non-bird person. If your girlfriend isn't on-board now, she probably isn't going to be very understanding when bird-related issues arise in the future...I learned that the "hard way".

 

[serge_09]

thank you both for your responses. She spends the majority of the day at work on her tree, when she gets home she goes away (or if she goes home earlier in the day she is out of the cage). At weekends she is out of the cage more or less all day and she has toys to play with (wooden, she doesn't much care if she cant destroy it).

my partner doesn't want me to get rid of her (with that in mind had i of met my girlfriend first though getting her wouldn't of been in the question). She understands and doesn't mind the odd squawk but Lola basically makes it so nobody outside the bedroom can talk (if she can hear it).

i did make a promise to my parrot first but i've also just made a very expensive, lengthy promise to my girlfriend too and i don't like breaking promises. so lets just say getting rid of either is out the question.

 

[Flboy]

So, when you are yelling, your Macaw does the same!

 

[serge_09]

no, when anyone new enters the house

 

[greytness]

Sounds like my macaws. They both sound off at 'intruders' entering our home as well as any time one of us opens up the door. Mornings and sunsets are other times they like to amp up. If they both get going simultaneously, forget having any meaningful conversations as you won't be able to hear the other person speaking!

 

[bill_e]

So I would think that high quality sound panels on the wall of the macaw's room would deaden/muffle the sound such that it wouln't cut through you but you will still be able to hear it. The panels need to be in the bird room and of course then there is the danger of him chewing/ingesting them.

By the way, like 90% of the sound goes through the door so sound proofing it will make a difference, Use weather stripping to seal around the door and a tight fitting floor sweep on the bottom.

 

[serge_09]

So I would think that high quality sound panels on the wall of the macaw's room would deaden/muffle the sound such that it wouldn't cut through you but you will still be able to hear it. The panels need to be in the bird room and of course then there is the danger of him chewing/ingesting them.

By the way, like 90% of the sound goes through the door so sound proofing it will make a difference, Use weather stripping to seal around the door and a tight fitting floor sweep on the bottom.

thanks for the response bill great info! i had been doing some research over the the last couple of days and speaking to sound proofing companies. The 2 internal walls are both stud walls so the plan is (should anyone stumble across this with a similar problem) to remove the plaster boards refill them with thick fiberglass put a soundproof dry wall over use a isomax/genieclip type clip system on that and apply a second soundproof dry wall and one in the other room.

the door is going to be the issue in which you can have a special sound proof door (about £2k) a double door system like recording studios or what you've suggested.

the sound proof guy suggests this could reduce 100db by about half making it about as loud as next doors barking dog (whilst an annoyance to some, a perfectly reasonable level of noise to own something as glorious as my Lola)

i might post a before during and after thread of the soundproofing project as i know there are others interested.

 

[bill_e]

Please keep us posted as I am interested in what you end up doing and how effective it is.

 

[bill_e]

You could also hang a sound curtain in front of the door. We've done that on ships to isolate equipment sound from the user.'

And is he talking about a 50% reduction in decibles or a 50% reduction in the volume of the sound? For every 3db of reduction of decibles the volume decreases by half so going from 100db to 50db is a bunch of noise reduction.

 

[serge_09]

You could also hang a sound curtain in front of the door. We've done that on ships to isolate equipment sound from the user.'

And is he talking about a 50% reduction in decibles or a 50% reduction in the volume of the sound? For every 3db of reduction of decibles the volume decreases by half so going from 100db to 50db is a bunch of noise reduction.

yes ill have a look at that and see if it would work, good idea!

well i didn't initially realize that an decibels don't work in linear improvements such as 20cm is 10cm more than 10cm. It works in powers of 10 so 20db is 10x louder than 10db. That being said this is the claim on the website...

"Our IsoMax Clip system offers the industries highest performing soundproofing system, designed to reduce sound transmition and vibrations through walls and ceilings. Offering higher dB levels than standard resilient bars. Attaching the IsoMax Clip to timber joists, simply and easily secures the furring channel and decouples the new high mass ceiling layers from the structure, resulting in up to 49dB airborne and 55db impact sound reduction ."

which i think backs up his claim of reducing the decibels by half. It isn't something i'm experienced in though so i could be mislead.

my thinking is it cant make it any worse lol

sound proof underlay and carpet (with a vinyl covering round the cage) will replace the laminate aswell

 

[SilverLining]

I was in a similar situation when I got married and had a newborn.

I have 2 conures, a grey and a ringneck for over 6 years. I ended having a 12x10 fully insulated shed in my back yard with a dedicated 30amp circuit and running water build to house them. I used sound proof insulation and 5/8" thick drywall with waterproof paint. Storm proof door and double pane windows on all sides of the structure for plenty of natural light.

Now they can scream their little heads off and no one can hear them in the house. I usually spend 3-4 hours a day in there with them playing and giving them attention. They love it there and the people in my house love the quiet.

I've even added a TV and mini fridge with a lazy boy to make it my man cave. It actually has worked out really good for me. Just me and my birds...and my beer.

That was the only thing that worked for me where I could keep my feathered kids and my families sanity.

 

[Moxie]

Soft items will absorb the sound... pillows, curtains, carpets and upholstered furniture. Plants are also good at reducing the noise.