Good luck to ALL.

This is from RampPlans.org’s FAQ:

2.19.

How can I make a half pipe quiet?

This is a tough question, so this answer is somewhat of a list of guesses. You can close up the back of the halfpipe we did this and it seemed to help a little. Fill in the back of the halfpipe with some sort of sound deadening material. Dirt is probably the cheapest and would work the best. We’re pretty sure if you fill up the back of a halfpipe with dirt this will work really well. Add layers of sound deadening material between the layers of your substrate, such as tar paper for roofing. Use a surfacing or substrate material that deadens sound, polyboard would be a very good choice.

If you have experience with any of these solutions or know of others, please let us know how it went so we can get this question answered better.

Brian Pittman had some good things to add:

At some point your half pipe just gets too big to use dirt to reduce sound. Unless you’re really psyched about moving mounds of dirt I’d advise against it. Putting dirt up against the wood has the added disadvantage of encouraging all kinds of wood-eating bugs, mold, and mildew. And if you’ve got a permanent or semi-permanent structure in mind (more than 1 or 2 years) you’ve got to stick with solutions that provide longevity.

When I permitted my ramp, the local city recognized sound as a potential issue and required me to close in the back of my ramp with plywood. This is the strategy at just about all Vans skate parks. At about $6 to $10 per sheet, just buy 1/4 inch ply and slap it up. For my 16 foot wide halfpipe, it took six sheets on the back and three for the sides, so about $70 for each side. An 8 foot wide mini ramp may come in at $50 for both sides. [ Thanks to Brian Pittman ]

Another cheaper option is to scrounge around carpet store dumpsters and staple discarded carpet scraps in 4- or 8-foot sections to the back of the ramp. Carpet is about the best noise insulator you can find – just ask your neighborhood garage band. [ Bud Stratford, reports that this method worked very well! ] Just do yourself a favor and avoid carpet scraps that are saturated with dog piss.

[Another] good cheap way of sound proofing a mini-ramp or half pipe is by standing up old mattresses. They are usually easy to find. Just ask around for people getting a new bed. [Thanks Slade Buddy]

Another idea involves the hollow-metal sound that you get when you grind steel coping. You can fill the coping with sand, and plug the ends with dowels. That cuts down on coping noise a lot…. [Thanks to Bud Stratford, Muncie IN USA ]

Posit L had this to add:

if you use a barrier of plastic between the bottom of ramp and the backfilled dirt for sound deadening it will help to combat insects and mildew.

The main thing you need to do in order to silence a mini is to shut the coping up. sand works but fill it with concrete, make a watery slurry, stand coping up, plug one end and pour in other from off ladder. Since it is so heavy now you can keep it in place with plumbers tape (bendy metal strap with holes) on the last inch or so, were nobody grinds.

Don’t forget to “vibrate” it, you can use a piece of all thread or rebar, just ream it in there and slush it all around, you don’t want any air pockets. enjoy also its best to use construction grout,(no rocks in the mix) about 8 bucks a bag, one bag should do a 12′ wide mini.

sKATEBOARDING FTW

2ND:
SUE the BAS***** many young attorneys will jump at the chance to do this for for free ,
for the name recognition. One of the best is Tibbitts. STEVE YOUNG COULD GET THE LAW CHANGED IN TWO MINUETS ON NATIONAL TV.
THERE IS A TIME TO FLOOD THE CITY ATTORNEYS ,AND YOU DISTRICT REPS. AND THAT IS ONCE ONE OF THIS ACTIONS HAS BEEN STARTED!!!!

thanks
THomas

I completely understand that these kids could be doing something worse and skating is good for them, I just wish they’d do it somewhere else. Or at least stop after a reasonable amount of time. The noise is awful.

If I had a soundmeter, I could give ratings. I don’t really undrestnad why people would think it is okay to do this to neighbors. I can’t use my back deck at all on ANY EVENING after work becuase it is always noisy. We are renters in a duplex, and seriously, this kind of thing might cause us to move.

I pay $2500 for my monthly rent and have to listen to insanely loud noise pollution. I really do not understandy how people can say that it isn’t noisy.

Maybe my neighbors built it wrong. It’s an enormous wooden half-pipe – very tall and wide on a wooden platform.

Holy cow, the noise must be able to be hear from half a block away. And this is prety dense neighborhood -half apartments, half houses, lots of green yards..