Hi all, just moved into a house, its about 50 meteres from main road, I do have double glazing and has tall conifers at front. i was surpised that double glazing didn't reduce it more, it gets rid of all hi pitch road noise, but still lets an amount of the lower rumble of lorry exhaust noise etc. Any ideas on how to reduce it further, can't afford triple glazing. Regards Gary
Can we have more info please? Age and construction of property? I suspect that you may need to start saving for secondary triple glazing which although could solve your problem may also look awful. When is it a problem to you (evenings, only at night 'cos you can't sleep, etc.?) Could you add shutters internally to the windows?
Hi Bob,thanks for replying 50 year old detached house, living room and bedrooms at front. I was surprised how little conifers "screen out" the noise! Its mostly evenings and yes at bedtime, I require it to be less noisy. I had thought of some kind of shutter arrangement inside of the window, but thought i wouls ask on here 1st. Also i had no idea as to what material would absorb the lower frequency noise best? Is there already something made to to this commercially? Regards Gary
not sure this will help, have you tried having a stereo on very low in the window, and face speakers towards the window. sound waves are neutralised by similar sound waves from opposite direction, they use it on large droning machinery, very affective apparently ????
I have an idea that I saw something years ago in a book where they made a frame to fit inside the window reveal inside the room. Within the frame sat a pair of shutters made from a simple frame sandwiched between two sheets of thin ply(?) and filled with a piece of expanded polystyrene as thermal insulation. This was more for thermal insulation than acoustic insulation so you may want some more opinions on suitable filling but I hope you are understanding the principle.
You could try acoustic glass in the sealed units, not sure what the attenuation is but it will help, try Pilkingtons web site for info.
I think it will be hard to significantly attenuate the lower frequency noise. Soft furnishings etc will help reduce the effect in the rooms, but it will still be there. As suggested above it may therefore be easiest to 'mask' the noise. Running a fan on low works for me, if you are right on a road then perhaps a/c in the bedrooms could help (with temperature and noise!). Obviously not a cheap option! Is there any scope to build a wall in front on the conifers? Have you checked things like the mastic seals around the window frames? Also do you have loft insulation? Finally what are the floors downstairs, are they covered or are they stripped floor boards?
One thing you can do is renew the mastic around the windows as it breaks down over time and this can let a surprising amount of noise through. Also check the insulation in the loft and double it. The roof space can add to the booming affect transmitted into the house. Also have a look at all air bricks and any point that allows noise to travel. The other type of noise is vibration caused by the ground effect of vehicles and tyre noise. If this is a trunk road then you may be able to lobby the Highways Agency to put down a noise reducing surface. Also if you can get the speed limit reduced this will help greatly. Double glazing can reverberate and the bigger the air gap between the panes the less this will happen. Hope this helps, DWD
Thanks All I can build a bigger wall to about 4ft ,but would like to try cheapest solution 1st. Will check on loft insulation soon, although i think its ok as bathroom at back is quiet. I had also thought of the amplified opposite sound idea (lotus use it in there cars to reduce noise) i will look into it. I will also check all your other suggestions. The shutter type idea will help the best for the price i think. What material reduces lower frequencies? Chipboard? or a sandwhich of "loft insulation type stuff? (will only be 2" thick max) or some other material? Any suggestions? Thanks all Gary
FLIED LICE, VE'Y NICE!!! would've thought a heavy rubbery material or acoustic tiles would be best - as I'm sure you probably know, the rubblings of trucks etc are low frequency "bass" which are more difficult to eliminate. May sound silly, but do you have a decent underlay under your carpets or are they laid straight onto the boards?
A spammer has raked up a 13 year old post. The OP has solved it by not using his/her hearing aids that they need nowadays as they're so old....
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