Your Corner Wrench: Staying on your neighbours' good side

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It’s safe to say that few residential neighbourhoods across the country don’t have at least a few DIY shade-tree mechanics that work on their own vehicles from time to time. The majority of their neighbours never complain about these home-based auto hobbyists, but give them reason and you may find a bylaw officer knocking at your door.

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Most municipalities have some type of legislation on home-based vehicle repairs. Their purpose (according to the politicians that enacted them) is to protect neighbours, property values, and the environment. It would be a rare event indeed for a municipal officer to give anyone a hard time about changing a tire in a driveway, but start removing an engine or a transmission, or doing some paint and body work, and that’s another story. Then there’s the debate over unfit vehicles. Keep a project car out in the open with enough parts removed to make it immovable, and you might just get slapped with a derelict vehicle infraction.

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But relax — as with most municipal bylaws, anything related to enforcing the rules on home vehicle repairs is complaint-driven. Most DIY techs are well known for helping out neighbours when automotive problems arise or a tool needs to be borrowed, so they usually have good relationships with those living around them. But as we all learn in life, it only takes one to upset the cart, so here’s a few tips on keeping the peace.

Legislation

First, learn about your municipality’s rules and regulations on working on vehicles at home. This information is almost always available on your town’s website. Second, be careful about the noise your hobby creates. Most complaints are about noise and the rules to control sound levels have time-of-day and decibel limits. Be considerate when pulling out the air tools, compressors, and disc grinders.

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Environment

Protect the environment. We’ve covered this before; nothing will raise the ire of even the friendliest neighbour like a stream of engine oil or coolant rolling down your driveway into a storm drain. And don’t forget, this includes spray painting. Years ago, when I was a municipal councillor (please forgive me), we came down hard on an individual in my small Ontario town who was doing complete paint-jobs, behind closed doors in their garage. Many had a great home-based set-up, but painting without filtration or emissions control systems had neighbours understandably worried about breathing in paint fumes.

Keep it clean, quiet, and safe, and you should stay out of trouble.