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Original poster

Magnetic secondary glazing - does it reduce noise?

17 replies

user1471524772 · 02/11/2023 21:32

Does anyone have any experience with the magnetic secondary glazing (the kind that you install yourself with magnetic tape)?

We have good double glazing but we live on a busy road and the noise is driving me crazy! We had 'proper' secondary glazing installed in our old house and it was brilliant for reducing noise, but we just can't afford the cost of it right now. The magnetic DIY version is much cheaper, but most people seem to get it to improve heat retention - I can't really find any reviews of people who installed it to reduce noise. Anyone have any experience of doing this?

OP posts:
Original poster
user1471524772 · 04/11/2023 14:16

Hopeful bump before I spend lots of money on something that doesn't work !!

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elastamum · 04/11/2023 14:35

We have just put this into our living room. Single glazed listed building. It has been brilliant. Much warmer and no road noise. It was also much cheaper than anything else.

Original poster
user1471524772 · 04/11/2023 15:54

Thank you SO much for that reassurance @elastamum. I was so worried that this solution seemed too good to be true, as it is so cheap relative to all the other options I've been looking at, and I didn't want to waste £200 if it wasn't going to stop the road noise from driving me crazy!

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SarahMused · 04/11/2023 16:17

We have this on our single glazed listed building and are quite close to a motorway. It has reduced the noise to nothing but I’m not sure how much difference it would make if you already have double glazing. Maybe try to find out the difference between double and triple glazing in noise reduction. I would imagine it would be less than single to double.

HappyMavis · 04/11/2023 16:39

Very similar situation here - sorry if I'm being stupid but how would you fit it to the dg panels with protruding opener handles - or would you limit to it the panel's without? Unfortunately that feels like it would limit its effectiveness?

theduchessofspork · 04/11/2023 16:42

elastamum · 04/11/2023 14:35

We have just put this into our living room. Single glazed listed building. It has been brilliant. Much warmer and no road noise. It was also much cheaper than anything else.

@elastamum

Would you mind sharing what brand you used?

elastamum · 04/11/2023 17:19

We got ours from the plastic people. Magnetic secondary glazing kit. We used a slightly thicker one.

Original poster
user1471524772 · 04/11/2023 17:54

I am thinking of going for the 6mm plastic (also from the plastic people. What thickness did you get @elastamum ? We could maybe afford to go up to the 10mm, but the jump in price is massive!

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Original poster
user1471524772 · 04/11/2023 18:01

@HappyMavis Our plan is to fit it to the casement box around our sash windows, so all the handles and whatnot will be in the gap between the window and the new perspex pane. We'll just lift off the new pane if we want to open the window, but as noise is our main problem we keep those windows closed 99% of the time anyway!

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elastamum · 04/11/2023 18:25

We put 3mm on. One up from the recommendation for our size windows.

Original poster
user1471524772 · 04/11/2023 19:58

Oh wow! If 3mm is enough to make a difference then that is brilliant - that will save us a fortune!

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CutesyUserName · 04/11/2023 21:55

3mm is pretty standard for secondary glazing acrylic panels. We had them in our last (listed) house and are going to fit them asap in the house we've just moved to (original Victorian sash windows - gorgeous but drafty!)

Also check out Trent Plastics or anyone that supplies and cuts 3mm acrylic sheets. The material is all the same, so shop around for the best price. Use magnetic tape to attach. Can be bought from Ebay or even Amazon.

Also, yes, it made a difference to road noise as well as warmth for us.

Original poster
user1471524772 · 18/11/2023 14:21

I thought I'd update this thread in case anyone else was thinking about doing this (I always hate when there's no update on DIY threads to say whether it has worked or not 😁)

In the end I went for 6mm perspex as various secondary glazing sites said that more mass would be better for sound and it was not a huge difference in price over the 3mm. I ordered the perspex and the magnets separately from the two cheapest places I could find online - spent £270 in total for two big windows.

Once it all arrived it took me about 2 hours to put the tapes on the window and on the plastic. It was pretty straightforward - I'm sure someone who is a more competent DIYer could do a tidier job, but it looks fine, and after a couple of days I don't even see it anymore it blends in so nicely.

And it has been great for the road noise. I can still hear it, but it mostly sounds like it's much further away. So we're falling asleep easier and not being disturbed nearly as often. It isn't as good as the "proper" fitted/glass secondary glazing that I had in my old house (that really blocked out all noise and that was on a red route!). But the three quotes I had for fitting proper secondary glazing this time were both £3000+ and at least 6 weeks waiting time. Bonus that we've also been able to lower the heating in the bedroom too cos it definitely retains more heat.

Anyway, hope that helps someone else in the future and thanks to everyone who responded and helped me make the decision to take the plunge!

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SallyLockheart · 03/12/2023 08:16

@user1471524772 thanks for the update. May I ask - did you use thicker magnetic tape with the 6m panels and how big were your panels. As you say the thicker acrylic isn’t that much more but I’m concerned how heavy the panels are. Our windows have narrower sides and wouldn’t fit the 25mm tape

Original poster
user1471524772 · 03/12/2023 10:25

SallyLockheart · 03/12/2023 08:16

@user1471524772 thanks for the update. May I ask - did you use thicker magnetic tape with the 6m panels and how big were your panels. As you say the thicker acrylic isn’t that much more but I’m concerned how heavy the panels are. Our windows have narrower sides and wouldn’t fit the 25mm tape

@sallylockheart Yes, I bought the thicker tape. My window panels are approx 1m x 1.1m, and the other was 1.1m x 1.3m. It recommended the wider tape if the total length of all four sides was bigger than 5m, and as we were close to that and going for heavier perspex we thought we should. The panels are heavy, but I can still lift them up, slot them under the blind, and put them in place on my own, so they're not that heavy. I'm not sure they definitely needed the thicker tape as I initially put one of them up crooked, so it was sitting "off" the tape on both sides (sort of half on half off) and didn't notice for a few days! But it is resting on a window sill, and I think the line of tape above the still + the top line of tape is taking most of the weight. So you might be able to get away with using thicker tape on the top/bottom and thinner on the side if you don't mind the uneven look of different sized tape around the edges? You can cut the tape down too (it's easy to cut with a scissors or craft knife) so you could cut it down to the max size that will fit for you.

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SallyLockheart · 03/12/2023 10:29

@user1471524772 many thanks. Real life experience is always useful!

determinedtomakethiswork · 03/12/2023 10:35

Is the window just as clear? Does it look like you've had anything done from the outside?

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