FFR cars and unsympathetic neighbors

[narly1]

Another post here on this forum and my own plans have prompted me to start this thread.

As my wife and I look into the future towards retirement we've been contemplating what type of home will best suit our needs.

We've come to the conclusion that a smaller, older home that we can freshen up on a larger property is what we need. A separate shop if not a 2-3 car garage is a must-have.

Nicer newer places as a rule don't work as they are built on postage stamp sized lots....not the best for a car/mr fix it guy like me.

So wonder if any of you are surviving in tight quarters with an FFR in the garage...

[fletch]

Not terribly tight here, but we have our challenges. We are still building our 818... gokart stage for quite a while now, ironing out some suspension issues and stubbing out all the wiring for everything we want to include. First, our driveway is short & steep which means we'll need to increase ride height by an inch just to get out on the street once the body's on. We also live in a somewhat upscale neighborhood with small lots & an HOA. I just a nasty letter from them when we left our donor chassis on the driveway. They threatened a fine and a court appearance. That kinda pissed me off, but it is in the HOA covenant so I moved on. Driving our gokart around the neighborhood generates largely positive responses, lots of thumbs up & smiles. But as we've done more of it and occasionally exceeded the 25 mph speed limit, some have gotten testy.

<rantModeON> Now would be a great time to mention how much I hate the NextDoor app. It gives neighbors and others nearby an opportunity to whine and complain about all their problems without ever talking to the folks they've got the problem with. Everyone is so suspicious & afraid of one another they don't seem willing to drop by and try to resolve their issues. Being a good neighbor includes overlooking minor stuff and addressing issues you can't put up with face to face. <rantModeOFF>

Get to know your neighbors. Make them your friends or at least be as cordial as possible. It helps to head off the crap they might otherwise choose to send your way if they don't know you.

[David Hodgkins]

There are too many variables to list when you say "tight quarters": lot size, single or multi-family structures, etc so it's hard to make generic statements but there are some basic rule-of-thumb courtesies I have found that keep the risk of irritated neighbors to a minimum:


Be friendly, open about your project, and know the local rules on what is permissible in your neighborhood. Be ready to recite the rules to anyone who even brings it up.
Keep the noise down. If doing anything that makes noise like grinding, running a compressor, drilling, etc., close the door. Sounds of machinery is irritating in the neighborhood.
Build during non-quiet hours. If you can build doing the day, GREAT! But not before 8am. Quit @ or before 5, and if an evening build session is planned, start after dinnertime in warm climates, and close the door.
Close the door whenever possible. If in a warm climate and no air, crack a window or open the door just a bit to get air flow. Fans are your friend!
Never* start and rev the motor, "just to here it run". *It's super exciting to hear that first start! Give it a few revs to hear and feel your accomplishment! Not first start? Don't start unless necessary. 1st start = exhaust ON.
Invite neighbors to see your project. I don't mean send invitations. I mean be open to discussing what you are building, and invite them to see it. I've had folks 5 to 85 ask about the build, and almost always, they are interested in seeing it!
Always offer water. But keep a few brews in the fridge.
Keep it neat. No one likes a slob as a neighbor. Even though you are building a project that has dozens, or maybe 100's of parts, organize it and keep the shop neat. First impressions on a skeptical neighbor can swing on whether you are perceived as orderly or not.
Keep it quiet. I mean what you are building! It should sound civilized in the neighborhood. Don't let it rev until to are away from your neighborhood.


:)

[NAZ]

Looking for that retirement property -- a forever home? Once you've settled on a location, get as big a property as you can afford. They're not making anymore land and with glaciers melting, there will be even less dry land. Also get as big a shop as you can afford. As for the house, well now that's just a house so whatever came with the perfect property and shop can be modified as needed.

Good luck.

[RoadRacer]

Love David's list.. but yes, be as considerate as you can if you're in a subdivision. I'm in one that doesn't allow cars parked on the street, and doesn't allow (actually specifically forbids) car projects.

Yet, everyone around me is nice, never heard a bad word. I go-karted around, but as quietly as possible, and never speeding.

FWIW, I built in a 2 car garage that my wife still parks in - so at the end of every day/weekend I have it tidy and ready for her to park in again. Never any mess outside, or any sign of the car. Now it's built, I'm "safe" from the rules, but I still drive considerately within the subdivision. But I realize I'm lucky - my long-term goal is still to own 5 acres or (if we don't move) to have a large workshop nearby. I have plans for more cars (RCR40 is next) and have sworn to stop selling them! Everything from now on is for keeps :D

[narly1]

LOL the first thing I'm looking at is the outbuilding or attached garage (hopefully with a mud room and bathroom off of same).

[cob427sc]

The garage is the most important for most of us. Seems it's hard to convince the wife otherwise. When I was in college fooling around with cars all the time, I had a sort of friend who needed some short term work area and as my father had a big workshop I volunteered space. Worked fine until around 1am on a Sunday morning we all decided to fire up the fuel dragster before we left for the track. Even though we were in a rural neighborhood with a part time police force they were there in minutes. Was not one of my better decisions.

[Joel Hauser]

I'm a legal aid lawyer, handling lots of residential eviction defense cases. One of my favorite judicial decisions on the subject of the noisy neighbor living in an apartment house includes this passage. I don't know; I always enjoy reading it.

"'This is my home, and no one can tell me what to do in my own home’. This is a prevalent notion that stems from the ancient axiom that a man's home is his castle. The difficulty of the situation here is that Mr. Sokolow's castle is directly above the castle of Mr. Levin. That a man's home is his castle is an old Anglo-legal maxim hoary with time and the sanction of requent repetition. It expressed an age when castles were remote, separated by broad moors, and when an intruder had to force moat and wall to make his presence felt within. The tranquillity of the King's Peace, the seclusion of a clandestine romance and the opportunity, like Hamlet, to deliver a soliloquy from the ramparts without fear of neighborly repercussions were real. Times however change, and all change is not necessarily progress as some sage has perceptively reminded us. For in an era of modernity and concentrated urban living, when high-rise apartment houses have piled castle upon castle for some twenty or more stories in the air, it is extremely difficult to equate these modern counterparts with their drawbridged and turreted ancestors. The builders of today's cubicular confusion have tried to compensate for the functional construction by providing lobbies in Brooklyn Renaissance that rival in decor the throne room at Knossos. They have also provided built-in air-conditioning, closed circuit television, playrooms and laundromats. There are tropical balconies to cool the fevered brow in the short, hot northern summer; which the other nine months serve as convenient places to store the floor mop and scrub pail. On the debit side they also contain miles of utility and sanitary piping which convey sound throughout the building with all the gusto of the mannoth organ in the Mormon Tabernacle at Salt Lake City. Also, the prefabricated or frugally plastered walls have their molecules so critically near the separation level that they oppose almost no barrier at all to alien sounds from neighboring apartments. This often forces on into an embarrassingly auditory intimacy with the surrounding tenants. Such are the hazards of modern apartment house living. One of my brother justices, the Honorable Harold J. Crawford, has opined that in this day in our large cities it is fruitless to expect the solitude of the sylvan glen. (Twin Elm Mgt. Corp. v. Banks, 181 Misc. 96, 46 N.Y.S.2d 952.) In this we concur. Particularly so, when we consider that all of us are daily assaulted by the ‘roaring traffic's boom’, the early-morning carillon of the garbage cans and the determined whine of homing super-sonic jets.” Louisiana Leasing Co. v. Sokolow, 48 Misc. 2d 1014, 1015–16, 266 N.Y.S.2d 447, 448–49 (Civ. Ct. 1966)

I don't live in tight quarters, but I do have neighbors. I was worried about complaints as well. However, in 4 years there has not been a single complaint about my noisy car. Everyone I drive by gives me a smile and a wave. In my opinion, the giant lawn mowers and leaf blowers used by the landscapers, the Harleys (seems like everybody has at least one of them these days), barking dogs, and late night pool parties are way more annoying than an occasional home built hot rod being tuned or driven by. The roadster drives by, and then it's gone; the mowers and leaf blowers start roaring at 8AM and continue until 4 or 5 PM throughout the spring, summer and fall. The pool parties and dogs can be heard until 11 or 12.

Invite your neighbors over for a closer look. Let their kids sit in it. Take their pictures. Drive them around the neighborhood. I bet you'll never hear a complaint, and you'll make a bunch of good friends.