Living with road noise

[crimsonlake]

Recently bought a new house, on a road which although is not a main one it turns out it is a cut through and is much busier than I ever imagined.
Yes, I should have visited at several times of the day, but friend's who live nearby said it simply had its busier times, these now appear to last much of the day.
It is a good sized property which suited my budget and I did not want to be hemmed in by other neighbours, it actually has quite a nice outlook to the front which is fields.
I do not think my double glazing is the best and I cannot afford to replace it. The living room is in the front and so is my bedroom, I used to love sleeping with the windows open but now that is impossible.
How do others cope, do you get used it?

We bought right on an a road, we noticed the windows had gaps and it sounded like they were open all the time. We replaced (with triple glazing where one layer is slightly thicker) and they price matched the original quote for double glazed. The windows are great, you still get a rumble from buses and lorries but it's only the bin lorry that wakes me up.
The worst time is sat afternoon because everyone parks to go into the shops and all the buses get stuck and everyone is beeping
We are also concerned about the long term air quality

white noise machine is your answer. We have one because where we live is so quiet that if someone coughs outside we'd wake up. We always sleep with the windows open. We use ours on the pink noise option.

www.amazon.co.uk/LectroFan-International-Model-Sound-Machine/dp/B019GAFJEG?tag=mumsnetforum-21

I've always liked the noise of traffic but also have downloaded a white noise app. It really helps

How big is the house? Is there any way you could move the bedroom to the back?

I live on a main road (buses from 6am to midnight) but our bedroom is at the back so it’s very quiet.

I used to live next to a port that was busy during the day and very noisy. When I was on night shift I’d sleep on a blow up bed in the hall.

We lived on a busy thoroughfare. I got used to it but DH didn't. It's a personal question imo We never made that mistake again. We have twice lived on roads with schools. These are busy for half an hour twice a day on weekdays but no problem.

Could you potentially build a wall, or thick hedge between you and the road?

I will look in to the white noise machine thank you or possibly download the app.
I think the hedge is a good idea and had thought of this, but it could take some time to establish...On the other hand I am considering widening my drive to fit more cars for off road parking as it is actually paved all over so this is a dilemma.

Has anyone mentioned secondary glazing? This is the most effective way to cut down noise without needing to replace your existing windows. More so than triple glazing. Much cheaper too!

@capturingdaydreams have you had this done? Does it mean your windows are sealed shut or can you open them?

Not done this myself but I looked into it before I bought my place as my bedroom faces a road and I was worried it might be an issue. It's not very busy though so there's hardly any noise. I feel your pain though as it's annoying not being able to open my window because of the fumes.

It's basically a second window in front of your existing one, which means you can open and shut them as normal.

We have secondary glazing on an old original stained glass window at the side of our house. It looks a bit naff tbh but I think the style we have is dated in itself (possibly done in the 80s) so the more modern kinds would likely look nicer. Not an option for us on the other windows as they all need replaced regardless so we'll get triple glazing on the ones facing the road.

We live just off a seriously busy A road in London. We have a really big sash window which is basically the front of our flat. We put in new wooden double glazed, acoustic glass sashes and the reduction in noise was amazing. Plus you do kind of get used to it too.