Hearing road noise in the front bedroom

Hearing road noise in the front bedroom

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Discussion

CharlieH89

Original Poster:

9,079 posts

165 months

Saturday 22nd September 2018
quotequote all
Hi fellas, after a bit of advice really. Plenty of knowledgeable people on here.

Me and my wife bought our house 12 months ago. Wasn't until we moved in that we realised road noise was quite loud when in the front bedroom, which is the bigger of the three so we sleep in there. It isn't really a busy road.
We could also hear shouting from the local football field which is 400 metres away.

February we had a new UPVC double glazed window and frame installed.
Seemed quieter. Obviously we were happier but as the months have gone by road noise outside is slowly driving me crazy. I work in an office all day which is pretty silent unless I leave the office and go into other parts of the building.

Does anyone have any suggestions what I should do?
Is the simple answer to get triple glazing or move into the back room? smile

Windows is 95 inches across. 45 down.

xyz123

997 posts

129 months

Saturday 22nd September 2018
quotequote all
Most simple answer is to move to another bedroom. Rather than triple glazing I will look in to secondary glazing (bit like cavity wall insulation, two separate windows separated by air gap). When we were at a relative's house near an airport the secondary glazing made significant difference in noise...

Wozy68

5,390 posts

170 months

Saturday 22nd September 2018
quotequote all
Secondary glazing, massive difference in noise reduction at my friend house, and her windows are just single glazed wood.

dickymint

24,335 posts

258 months

Saturday 22nd September 2018
quotequote all
Oddly enough this just popped up in my mail.....

https://www.bose.co.uk/en_gb/products/headphones/n...

Edited: just seen the price yikes

Jamessd

80 posts

128 months

Saturday 22nd September 2018
quotequote all
I live under the Heathrow flight path, and often get woken up at around 4:30am when the first flights start to come in. When that happens I just pop in a pair of disposable earplugs, which block out the noise completely.

They initially took a few nights to get used to, but definitely worth persevering with for a good night’s sleep.

wobert

5,051 posts

222 months

Saturday 22nd September 2018
quotequote all
Jamessd said:
I live under the Heathrow flight path, and often get woken up at around 4:30am when the first flights start to come in. When that happens I just pop in a pair of disposable earplugs, which block out the noise completely.

They initially took a few nights to get used to, but definitely worth persevering with for a good night’s sleep.
Plus they block out the wife’s snoring....

PositronicRay

27,012 posts

183 months

Saturday 22nd September 2018
quotequote all
wobert said:
Jamessd said:
I live under the Heathrow flight path, and often get woken up at around 4:30am when the first flights start to come in. When that happens I just pop in a pair of disposable earplugs, which block out the noise completely.

They initially took a few nights to get used to, but definitely worth persevering with for a good night’s sleep.
Plus they block out the wife’s snoring....
James is kept awake by your wife snoring?

OldGermanHeaps

3,830 posts

178 months

Saturday 22nd September 2018
quotequote all
PositronicRay said:
James is kept awake by your wife snoring?
Aye its proper loud, i had to ask her to leave.

HRL

3,341 posts

219 months

Saturday 22nd September 2018
quotequote all
Triple glaze and put a fan on slowly if you can still hear anything outside.

Looks a lot less offensive than secondary windows.

shady lee

962 posts

182 months

Saturday 22nd September 2018
quotequote all
We had the same, road noise sounds like waves on a beach with standard glazing lol

I'd forget triple glazing as a acoustic solution, the dB drop is minimal to a double glazed. Triple is more of a thermal thing from what I can gather.

Secondary glazing will be silence, but can be fugly as hell.

Or what we did was replace the glass units with "airport spec" glass.

This is made up of 10/12/6.4 rather than 4/20/4 in a standard glass.

Not cheap, but very easy to fit.

Heres a video of ours
https://youtu.be/wdVKel7gFUs

And some decebel readings.

Before




And after,



If you want silent, secondary glazing with a large gap.airport spec is a huge improvement,but it's not far off silence.


Spare tyre

9,573 posts

130 months

Saturday 22nd September 2018
quotequote all
The trick is to not let it annoy you, then you’ll be fine

I lived opposite fratton train station, next to a rowdy pub and the neighbour barking dog 247

Once you accept the noise you ignore it

A lot easier said than done

Perhaps some radio or something to drown it out?

hotchy

4,471 posts

126 months

Saturday 22nd September 2018
quotequote all
Jamessd said:
I live under the Heathrow flight path, and often get woken up at around 4:30am when the first flights start to come in. When that happens I just pop in a pair of disposable earplugs, which block out the noise completely.

They initially took a few nights to get used to, but definitely worth persevering with for a good night’s sleep.
Personally I couldn't do that. When iv had blocked ears in the past I just sleep right through my alarm that's next to my head.

As for the road noise, I can't sleep without the noise of my mini fridge I got as a teen. I have an empty fridge sitting turned on at night to let me sleep. What I'm saying, eventually you'll need that road noise to sleep so don't worry lol

HTP99

22,549 posts

140 months

Saturday 22nd September 2018
quotequote all
Spare tyre said:
The trick is to not let it annoy you, then you’ll be fine

I lived opposite fratton train station, next to a rowdy pub and the neighbour barking dog 247

Once you accept the noise you ignore it

A lot easier said than done

Perhaps some radio or something to drown it out?
I've always lived in noisy areas, my parents house had a mainline train track a few hundred yards opposite and my current abode is; whilst not on a main road, is on a busy road with a bus route and it's a poorly maintained road so the cars and buses thump along and the house can shake, it's weird how you just tune it out and get used to it.

V8RX7

26,862 posts

263 months

Saturday 22nd September 2018
quotequote all
Check they are sealing well and have been fully foamed in / sealed - many aren't

Radio / white noise
Long and heavy curtains - can be surprisingly effective

Then it starts to cost - acoustic glass, secondary glazing...



OldGermanHeaps

3,830 posts

178 months

Saturday 22nd September 2018
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Last year I had my 1999 wood framed, roughly 12mm gap double glazing with much higher quality pvc double glazing units with about a 20mm gap and the top energy saving model, and the builder noted the original units werent foamed and were a poor fit in the openings.
The difference in both noise and draughtiness is unbelievable. My neigbour has an old 928 with a noisy exaust that used to wake me when he leaves for work at 2am, it doesn't wake me any more. You can still hear it if you are awake, but it hasn't woken me since we had it done.

dazwalsh

6,095 posts

141 months

Saturday 22nd September 2018
quotequote all
As above make sure the window closes fully on its seal, try pulling the window towards you when it is already closed and see if you notice any difference in noise levels.

Gaps around the edges of the window will also let a LOT of noise in, check there is expanding foam present and that the exterior has been sealed against the brickwork.


DozyGit

642 posts

171 months

Saturday 22nd September 2018
quotequote all
Important things to note;
1. Is there an air vent, try shutting it. Consider using a central ventilation system.
2. Put a short length of rubber hose to your ear and other end to window and frame seal, listen for air leaking and fix.
3. Use a secondary airtight glazing with seals
4. Use thick blanket like full width length curtains
5. Make sure bedroom door has felt seals and shut
6. Seal all holes on floor(say rad pipe apertures)
7. Same for ceiling
8. Plant a privet hedge at least 6ft tall
Hope this helps, worked for me

Drumroll

3,756 posts

120 months

Saturday 22nd September 2018
quotequote all
Noise is a strange thing and as already been alluded too, it is sometimes just a matter of getting used to it.

We used to live by a railway line never really heard the trains, but where aware when they were not running. Parents also had a noisy grandmother clock. Never bothered me when I lived at home, when I moved out and went back to visit it used to annoy the hell out of me.

brickwall

5,250 posts

210 months

Saturday 22nd September 2018
quotequote all
HTP99 said:
Spare tyre said:
The trick is to not let it annoy you, then you’ll be fine

I lived opposite fratton train station, next to a rowdy pub and the neighbour barking dog 247

Once you accept the noise you ignore it

A lot easier said than done

Perhaps some radio or something to drown it out?
I've always lived in noisy areas, my parents house had a mainline train track a few hundred yards opposite and my current abode is; whilst not on a main road, is on a busy road with a bus route and it's a poorly maintained road so the cars and buses thump along and the house can shake, it's weird how you just tune it out and get used to it.
Growing up my bedroom was at the front, facing a reasonable-sized urban road, 100 metres from the south circular. When I moved to uni I suddenly realised how loud my bedroom was...I hadn't known any different up to then!

Pheo

3,339 posts

202 months

Saturday 22nd September 2018
quotequote all
We had double glazing installed but with special acoustic glass. This has proved very effective, the rooms are virtually silent with the windows closed. We are near to the Brighton main line, and now never hear the trains due to the windows. From my research this is better than triple glazing as it’ll block a broader range of sound frequencies than triple, which can make things worse.

This also has the potential advantage that you can probably swap the existing double glazing units rather than paying for completely new ones.

Secondary glazing will be even more effective again but looks a bit pants.