A homeowner told me my plank tapping sounded like a weird bird call

I was installing some click-lock laminate in a house in Springfield last month, doing my usual thing of tapping the planks together with a block and hammer. The client, an older lady, came in and said, 'Young man, that noise you're making sounds exactly like the woodpecker that's been at my maple tree.' I had to laugh, but it made me realize how loud that repetitive tapping can be for people living there. Now, if someone is home during the install, I try to do all my cutting and prep in one go first, then do the tapping assembly in bigger chunks to cut down on the constant noise. Anyone else change their routine because of a funny bit of feedback from a client?

3 comments

3 Comments

lily5741mo ago

Oh man, that's a great story. I actually read an article a while back about noise from home projects, and it said that kind of steady, banging sound is one of the most annoying for people trying to live around it. It totally makes sense that you'd change your method. Doing all the prep first is smart, it turns a whole day of random taps into just a couple louder sessions. That's really thoughtful of you to think of it that way.

noahhernandez1mo ago

Totally, that constant tap-tap-tap is the worst. My neighbor was doing some light framing last year and the random, spaced-out hammering drove me up the wall more than when they finally just ran the saw for ten minutes straight. It's that start-and-stop rhythm that gets under your skin. You end up just waiting for the next one instead of being able to tune it out. Makes complete sense to group the noisy parts together so people can plan around it. It's just a nicer way to live close to other folks.

max8081mo ago

Nicer way to live" seems a bit much.