Shielding barn and arena from new neighbors, ideas?

[PeanutButterPony]

I was empathetic to your situation until you showed the cray of ‘the started something with that light!!!’ . you jumped the shark there.

3 ac isn’t enough to ever feel private once a body comes along… there’s just no way- when anything changes, it’s pinchey and too close. I appreciate the contempt for light pollution, but maybe a polite and puzzled, hey would yall mind if we (did whatever, simple as nailing a bit of plywood behind it to block it) did so and so? My arena is right beside our road, with big metal halides on during the winter months…fully legal no zoning faults… and if the folks across the way fussed, we’d adjust them, no worries. but their house sits back and years in no fusses so …what? maybe they’re seeeeething with Raaaaage. I haven’t the first clue.

You are coming across as seriously unhinged. I have neighbors that I really do wish didn’t work on drag cars, of course I do, but they don’t aggravate my horses. just me. NPR and loud radio and fans on for white noise, we cope.

If it’s all just so bad awful that They Must Die, you’d better move, life’s too short to seethe yourself to death on 3 piddly acres in Mississippi. As I typed that I could hear them running a car down their driveway, balls out, WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHgrumblegrumblegrumnble. But you know, it ain’t no hog farm, and they ain’t makin meth. I won’t tell you to "read the zoning laws and shut up’ as someone else so gently, and so kindly, suggested, but those folks owe you not one single thing other than don’t break the law. Nothing, just nothing at all.

[Chall]

You could erect a telephone pole next to theirs with a swivel concave backboard on it.
With the ability to move the backboard into different positions you can either totally
reflect the light back on their property or allow the light
through to shine on yours when it suits you.
Erecting your own pole means you have control

For sound barriers I would research government highways.
They routinely build walls to block highway sounds from
residences and would have the most experience.
Lattice fencing with ivy intertwined would allow you to build high and
cheaply with the ability to remove it easily, but I don’t know how sound deadening it is.
Here’s one link http://www.acoustiblok.com/soundproofing-photos-for-residential-noise.php

http://www.google.com/search?q=residential+sound+barriers&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=c_9uVJGrK9CWyATjtIGYAQ&ved=0CEcQ7Ak&biw=1024&bih=646

[RockinHorse]

Sounds like she should move in next to halfmagic. They would probably be awesome neighbors for each other: :winkgrin:
http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?450262-Bad-Neighbors-Live-amp-Learn

[saje]

I don’t know if it’s the same where you are, but here those dusk to dawn lights on a power pole are put up and maintained by the power company (and I’m with you, I hate them).

Can you call the power co and explain that they have it set so that it’s lighting the wrong property?

Also, I have neighbors who have a motor shop and like their gear head toys. It isn’t all day every day, and it really doesn’t bother the horses. What the horses freak about is the guy 3 places away (they’re all long narrow properties) delivering round bales to his mixed herd of critters. That gets them because they can see just intermittently through the trees but they can hear the rattle/bang/swoosh noises. The neighbor’s compressor and power tools don’t faze them a bit.

I very much understand your dismay, I like my peace and privacy and I’d rather not have neighbors. It would bum me out too.

But honestly, for your own sanity, try not to imagine the worst, you may find that they are nearly as bad as you anticipated. You don’t have to be friends, but don’t let yourself start out as an enemy before they’ve truly given you a reason. They obviously don’t think they way you do, so they won’t know what sort of things bug you (ie: the light). They probably think they’re doing you a favor!

Life is too short to be angry and worrying all the time…

[SMF11]

What are you going to do when the 40-odd acres behind you are developed?

Can you buy some of that land now?

[walkinthewalk]

I am sure money played a big part in only buying 11 acres but there is no privacy on 11 acres. We have 23 acres and the only reason we have privacy is because everyone else bought 12 to 18 acres from the two original farms that went up for auction.

You honestly need to get over yourself, buy some of the land behind you, or just move.

The more you dwell on turning this situation into nothing but negatives, the sooner there will be problems between you and your new neighbors. It’s almost as if you’re looking for trouble.

If you moved in next to me with that attitude, you’d find it in a skinny minute as it sounds to me the one and only thing we’d have in common would be horse ownership. You’re the kind of person that would make me think long and hard about putting pigs and their shelter along the boundary fence.

[HRF_Second_Chance]

Sorry but you sound like a bitter woman. And you clearly feel like your superior to your new ‘blue collar neighbors’. Since your husband is a mechanic and has his own toys I’m sure you know that cost involved with what your ‘blue collar neighbors’ are spending on their hobby as well. My dad has a shop on our property. My brother raced motorcycles. I had hunters. It all worked out. You need to put your big girl panties on and get over it. At this rate you’re going to give yourself a heart attack over something you can’t change. We have a massive development going in across from my barn. We aren’t happy about it. But there’s nothing we can do about it either except prepare our small farm as best we can. Hell our road was dirt until about two months ago.

Truthfully I have worked at barns that have a ‘screen’ of foliage such as you mentioned and the horses ALWAYS though the daggum boogie man was living in them. We were alongside a busy street. They’d be saints on the sides they could see, they’d spook at the areas they couldn’t. Horses are flight animals. If they think something is in the bushes, they are running from it. So good luck with that idea. I’d rather my horse be able to see what was coming at him as everyone here has already mentioned.

[MSP]

This is the last time I will explain any more of this. I asked a very specific question about ways to block light and sound and get privacy. And the responses and making me out to be some kind of monster are way over the top for me. Maybe some of you need to evaluate your own behavior.

My husband and I are the only ones that have greeted these people. We were very optimistic at first and then slowly by their actions we have begun to wonder about what we are in for. I see nothing wrong with planting a hedge for privacy and hopefully to gain back my darkness. I would rather see the stars then their yard contents. For those that don’t understand why even post? Go live in the city and enjoy your lights.

I have talked to these people; we do have some common connections from car shows so I am sure I will learn even more about them. I am not going to start trouble with them. I positioned my barn and ring so my existing neighbors would not be bothered and they would be in a quiet spot. So yes, I did consider my other neighbors when I built and I also made sure I followed the rules. It seems as if they don’t think that way. So yes I will need to get used to it and adjust. Best way for me to do this is to block my view of them. Apparently being upset about the light and wanting to block it is punishable by stoning from the COTH mob rule.

“If you don’t start none there won’t be none” is a tongue and cheek expression around here. Apparently for some of you that translates into physical violence based on your reaction to that statement. I don’t have to be friendly with these people. If they are old enough to build a house they had better make sure they have their ducks in a row. And since they mentioned having problems with a neighbor where they live now I have to wonder if it is them!

Just for the record I check out the real estate every week and we have asked to buy the land behind us. They will not break it up and they are asking $1.4 million for the 42.5 acres. I don’t have that kind of money; I know it is surprising because you all think I am living in a Mc Mansion. I would move and build again but DH isn’t motivated.

I thank those of you that actually paid attention to the question and gave me some ideas, that is why I asked. Good to know that your horses were not bothered. Even my non-horsey neighbor across from me will stop doing loud stuff when he sees me mount up on a green horse. We have a couple crazy people but the others are all very considerate and good neighbors.

Yes, often I am bitter but I fail to see how that affects what trees I plant. You also don’t know what I am living with and what I am facing. I asked for suggestion nothing else. Right now I am pretty focused on my bucket list while I can before I can’t any more. I don’t give a rats arse what anyone thinks of me because you don’t know me. I want to carry out my plans for my property and having to spend money I don’t have to regain some thing I used to have before they moved in is upsetting to me. :ambivalence:

[Chief2]

MSP, I don’t think you’re crazy at all. It just sounds like frustration, and it sounds like while you are thinking this over you are coming up with some creative ideas to deal with the change that has taken place. I even like the idea of building the new barn and relocating things around. In the end, that might make the most sense and keep everyone happy. I’m sure DH would love a barn to store his cars in. Since I am married to a gear head auto parts man, I can relate. DH would probably be thrilled with that proposal!

I would start with the more immediate changes you can make now to temper things down for your own peace of mind, and then plan for ahead with DH for something that would work better farther down the line. Good luck with your property. It sounds like your creativity is kicking in!

ETA: In addition to checking with your garden center, I would suggest checking into the books by P. Allen Smith. He has a section in one of them (and a video) about screening things in, or screening them out, and different ways to nicely achieve your objective. That’s where we got the idea about how to screen out the Munster Family house. When it comes to gardening and landscaping, the man is a genius.

[poltroon]

[QUOTE=Come Shine;7868699]
Can’t believe no one has posted this link yet. Enjoy.

http://elitedaily.com/humor/neighbors-legendary-argument-floodlight/[/QUOTE]

That. Is. Awesome.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

I would let the horses get used to it. I rode at a place that had a gun range/hunting facility! Horses can get used to pretty much anything. Spooky horses are way more worried about what they can’t see but can hear. Been there, done that.

However, since that isn’t what you want as a suggestion, I would do a tall privacy fence. Even better if you can build a berm, do a tall privacy fence and then do a hedge or screen of trees. The problem with trees alone is they take time, or you will plant them too close together for future growth. They also die sometimes after a few years of babying them. Can you tell I did a tree hedge once?

No ideas on the light, I guess that would make me happy from a thievery/trespass/wild animal perspective.

I get why you are upset after so much time, but it was inevitable. I have about 8 acres with road on two sides and a 100 foot wide tree shelter on the west, but I’m wide open to corn fields on the south, and I debate if I put my fence there or if I plant trees now. Of course then I loose my view of the river bluffs. If someone built there I think I would do a privacy fence AND trees. The set back there is only like 10’ for a building. Much more along the roads.

[atr]

The light would annoy the crap out of me and I’d talk to them asap, in a kind and gentle way, about moving it, or shielding it.

The little barn I board at in the winter has the neighbors from hell issue, and a boundary dispute to boot, which means no new fencing can go in until it resolved, or one side or the other would be admitting defeat, and this has been going on for at least the ten years I’ve been there, so nothing’s going to get resolved any time soon. BO has just had the fairly brilliant idea of putting up mirrors along the arena fence line. A narrow profile, very tall and actually very useful solution which would shield us from the lunacy next door. Whilst some things can rationally be used as training opportunities, some things are just downright dangerous or angering to witness.

My arena at home is bounded on two sides by trees, and my horses are far too interested in what’s going on in or beyond the shrubbery, so I’d not do that again.

[CaitlinandTheBay]

I don’t understand why you haven’t spoken to them abut the light yet. From the sound of it, they don’t live there- so they’d be less likely to know what’s actually being lit. Or, and here’s a really crazy idea, maybe they think they’re doing you a favor. You get all the benefits of a security light (real or imagined) and none of the cost. Maybe they think they’re being really great neighbors. I don’t understand why you’d go through the expense of moving fence lines and putting up shrubs or privacy fencing before at least speaking to them. If you’re really not a nut-job, speaking to them (or leaving a note explaining or asking them to give you a ring) seems like the way to go first.

Also, I really enjoyed that Australian man and his emails.

[clanter]

[QUOTE=JanM;7867404]
They were aimed totally off the property, and the man who lives next door had to sleep in the living room, because his bedroom was flooded with light he couldn’t block out. it.[/QUOTE]

There is way to correct this if you wanted to escalate the neighborhood wars to the next level by getting some of the inexpensive 4 by 7 sliding closet door mirrored doors to redirect the like back to the offenders house.

But I suggest caution as I once belonged to a church who wanted to build a softball field and there was a vey large uproar regarding lights. The land had been just as the OPs farm land that got surrounded by the city. After the proposed zoning adjustment was turned down I suggested that we raise pigs on the land as it was zone agriculture without restriction. Lights were approved.

---

Also 35 years ago we had the chance to buy a nice little property that was setup just right but we didn’t because it backed up to a large farm…that was then, today it has a nice $30M high school football stadium on the old farm with concrete poured right up to the fence line… the high school uses the stadium’s parking lot as practice area for its marching band.

[LauraKY]

I can tell you what not to do. One of my neighbors (not a close neighbor, thank the gods) is bat sh!t crazy. She decided that her neighbor’s mercury vapor lamp was too bright, hired a painting company to paint the light on her side and sent him the bill. It didn’t go over well. Did I mention that she’s bat sh!t crazy?

Personally. I hate the mercury vapor lights and I never keep lights on at night…it just ups the risk of Potomac Fever.

But you do attract more flies with honey. Either ask them if there’s a way to block the stray light (risk of Potomac gives you a more legit reason for requesting, at least in some eyes) and if they refuse, figure out a way to block it.

The rest…well that’s what happens when you don’t have a big buffer separating your activities from your neighbors. I’m lucky my barn is smack dab in the middle of my property.

[walkinthewalk]

Friday night, Mr. WTW was loading the race car – less than 30 feet from the wall of the horse whose legs I was wrapping for the night.

You’re probably familiar with the shake/rattle/roll a race car makes, when it’s getting loaded on the trailer.

I was sitting on a foot stool, under my horse’s neck (he was eating hay), trying to get both legs wrapped from one position, when the car loading hoopla started.

My horse calmly picked up his head, looked toward the work shop, clearly wondering what all the noise was about but, he remained perfectly still. I gave his leg a quick swipe with my free hand and said “it’s ok, the car’s going on the trailer”.

He understands “it’s ok” and a calm swipe of my hand so he promptly went back to eating, and I continued wrapping both front legs while sitting on a stool under his neck.

I agree with the poster who commented that you sound very bitter over the situation and you’re allowing that bitterness to fester. No matter how gracious you think you’re going to be when a confrontation happens, you won’t be if you don’t let go of that bitterness.

[Faith]

[QUOTE=MSP;7866655]
Let me clarify a little more.

We asked to buy the property many times and we also asked him to give us first chance at it before putting it on the market. He promised he would! My new neighbor is a real-estate agent and she tracked him down and managed to talk him into selling over the course of 6 months, for far less then he told us what he would want. He just never gave us a chance to buy it and never put it on the market.

Automotive work shop noises… guys playing loud music, large block engines revving, sanding, grinding and compressor noise. Yes, I will wait to see how bad it is before I move my fence but the horses are not going to see anything if the noises are coming from inside a building.

I fail to see the logic of putting up a light and having 50% of it shining on your neighbor’s property. The light is like a street light, very tall, comes on at dusk and off at dawn.

And then finally, I foster rescue horses many are un-tame and I prefer to have quiet when working with them for my own safety. In general my peaceful home of 15 years has been disrupted and I simply can’t stand it and don’t want to see these people or their cars, trailers and lights.

Sounds echo around here and I really would like to find a way to minimize it.[/QUOTE]

I’m sure it won’t be long before they can’t stand you or your horses either. You’re creating your own hell.

[China_Doll]

Good fences make good neighbors. I live in an area with 5 acre plots. The new neighbors bought the vacant land and built an expensive house somewhat close to my property while the other side was timber but my side was higher ground. They have constantly complained that they have to look at my barn. Why move to the country? I had my horses and property there long before they came.
Fought me at the county when I got a permit to add on to to my barn. They have numerous kids that it seems like a daycare. They have big noisy parties and 4 wheelers running around. This is an executive neighborhood on the edge of town and he is a Doctor. They always seem to mow their lawn late at night while I’m having company and dinner in the deck. When it gets dark I think good they will quit mowing but that doesn’t curtail it.
I don’t bother them and my dog does not go to there property while there dogs bark at me every time I’m outside and have now been coming on my property.
My barn is a newer pole building with nice white doors and residential windows. When I get visitors they actually think the barn is a house it looks that nice so it’s frustrating to have them complain. All the time while I mind my own business

[Anonymoose]

I love Chall’s suggestions.

I would be furious if such noisy neighbors moved in next door to my quiet peaceful farm and put up a light (I hate light pollution) and started running loud engines all the time.

But since the new neighbors are there, I like Chall’s suggestions.

[susanne]

[oops…after posting, I see Chali already suggested this…I will add that the nasty susanne just popped in and suggested in place of plain wood, try a mirror…]

Erect a sturdy post (old telephone pole?) on your side of the property line in line between the offending light and your house or barn. Attach a basketball backboard or a 4x8 ft. sheet of plywood at the same height as their light.

This won’t block all the light, but it will block the blinding glare of the bulb and diffuse the rest.