THE GOODS : Some Sound Advice : Be It Barking Dogs or Roaring Airplanes, There Are Ways You Can Silence Neighborhood Noise

It’s 7 a.m. and a dog in a Los Angeles yard sprints to a fence and barks at a pedestrian.

The aroused schnauzer stops after five minutes, but repeats the pattern. Ev ery hour. All day.

This sort of persistent annoyance leads to most noise complaints against man’s best friend, officials say.

“It’s not so much that the one time bothers anyone,” says Linda Gordon, management analyst for the Department of Animal Regulation. “But in your typical neighborhood, there’s going to be four to five people passing in a morning. If the dog barks at each person, that adds up.”

Sometimes these distractions become overwhelming. A Fullerton man was sentenced last March to 60 days confinement for killing a neighbor’s dog by taping its mouth shut.

Fortunately, there are better ways to combat noise, whether the source is outside your home--car alarms, airplanes, parties or construction--or a dishwasher or shrieking child within.

You can defend yourself against neighborhood noise on three fronts:

* At the source, by politely asking the offenders to quiet down or, if that doesn’t work, by filing complaints with city or county agencies.

* At your doorstep, by retrofitting your windows, doors and walls with sealers and insulation to keep the racket outside.

* At your ears, by wearing earplugs or by turning on music, air conditioners or other sounds to mask the noise.

If you’re planning to move to a new home, start by visiting it at various times of day and night and listening carefully. Too much traffic noise? Sirens? Lively neighbors? Better to find that out before you sign a lease or a purchase contract.

Ask your future neighbors whether their quarters are quiet. Sit in your bedroom-to-be and listen for noise in early evening “when people will be getting home from work and when traffic or aircraft noise will be greatest,” says a recent article in the trade journal Sound and Vibration.

“Don’t try to convince yourself that you can get used to the noise ,” the article recommends, “because it is just as probable that you may develop a sensitivity and the noise will get more intolerable.”

Turning Noise Down

If you’re already settled, the easiest strategy may be to appeal to noisy neighbors to tone things down. If that fails, myriad government agencies may be able to help, including airports about airplanes, Caltrans about freeways and the Los Angeles Department of Animal Regulation for written complaints against animals. Police and sheriffs handle phone complaints about animals and other disturbances, aided by a special Los Angeles Police Department noise enforcement team for long-term grievances.

These agencies administer city and county codes that forbid construction and garbage collection between certain hours and limit noise levels for tools, traffic and animals.

No statistics are available on the total number of complaints about noise, but the animal regulation department logs about 2,100 a year and Los Angeles International Airport receives about 1,200.

When a citizen complains that someone has violated city ordinances, the suspect would ordinarily be told at a hearing on the matter, says Maria Reyes, deputy city attorney. If the conduct persists, the city might file a case seeking a $150 fine and 12 months summary probation. The maximum penalty is a $1,000 fine and/or six months in jail.

The same rules would apply to most cases involving animal noise, but the Department of Animal Regulation can hold hearings to determine if a barking dog is a nuisance and take steps to revoke the dog’s license.

Blocking Noise Out

If you can’t silence your particular problem, your best strategy may be to keep the noise out of your home: Residents can weatherstrip doors and windows or install thicker or double-pane windows.

“More than anything else in your house, tightening up those openings will give you the most bang for your buck,” says architect Clifton Allen, president of Meyer & Allen Associates in Hollywood.

Householders can also rebuff noise by insulating walls or ceilings or building a wall around the yard. The wall can protect against the din of streets or freeways or even a barking dog.

“If the neighbor’s house is too close to the property line, however, a wall may not be the best thing,” Allen says. “The sound may bounce off the wall, back to the neighbor’s house and back to yours.”

Inside the home, you can dampen noise by installing sound-absorbers such as carpets, draperies and upholstered furniture.

Some programs help pay for such retrofitting. Homeowners in specific areas around several Southern California airports can get 80% of retrofitting paid by the federal government and 20% through the airport.

The program pays for secondary or replacement windows, solid-core doors and attic insulation. In severe cases, the Airport Improvement Program also makes changes in walls and roofs, says Dave Brown, an engineer who manages the acoustics department at Wyle Laboratories in El Segundo. For details about the program, contact your city or county government.

“The program can be five or six times more expensive than normal windows or doors,” Brown says. “Costs vary from $16,000 to $25,000. This is why I hesitate to tell people to do it themselves.”

Covering Noise Up

If fighting back isn’t your style and fortifying your home is beyond your budget, your best bet may be earplugs, which can cut about 30 decibels of sound--enough to bring many situations to a comfortable level, says Dr. John House, president of the House Ear Institute in Los Angeles.

The same effect can be provided by turning on a fan or air conditioner, which can mask “the annoying noise of a barking dog or the thump, thump, thump of a loud band,” House says.

The aim of all these procedures is to return sound in the home to a safe, comfortable level. Neighborhood noise can be more than annoying. If it’s too loud and too persistent, it can contribute to permanent hearing damage.

“The rule of thumb is if you have to raise your voice above the noise to be heard, it’s too loud,” House says.

“Anything over 90 decibels is potentially dangerous. Quiet conversation in a quiet room would probably be about 60 decibels. Heavy traffic noise is about 80. A power lawn mower is about 100 or 105; a helicopter about 105. Rock music concerts get to about 115 or 120. A jet airplane at takeoff 100 feet away would be about 130.”

The higher the decibel level, the shorter the exposure needed to reach a dangerous level.

The danger begins at “eight hours at 90 decibels, four hours at 95, and two hours at 100 and so on,” House says. “As soon as you get to 110, you’re talking about a half hour’s exposure. Anyone exposed to that type of noise level should wear ear protection.”

Of course, noise is in the ear of the beholder. One person’s tumult may be another’s sweet inspiration.

“We love to say noise is unwanted sound,” House says. “The neighbor’s party is music to them, but not to you.”

NOISES OFF

Annoying sounds from traffic, airplanes and other outdoor sources can be kept outside the home with a variety of techniques, such as insulation and double-pane windows. To quiet outdoor noises, sound-absorbing carpets, draperies and upholstered furniture can help.

REMEDIES

Keep sound outside * Insulation in walls * Double-pane windows * Build a wall * Masking--turn on a steady sound, such as a fan or air conditioner, to drown out an irregular noise. * Weather stripping (doors and windows)

Absorb sound inside * Carpeting * Cloth materials such as sofas with padding * Draperies * Neoprene pads--put washers and dryers on pads so they don’t directly touch the floor (not shown).

DR COLOR, NOISES OFF, KEN OELERICH / Los Angeles Times