Advice Needed - House on Busy Road

[EEvermore]

Looking for advice on my current situation which I am finding very hard to deal with.

DH and I are in our late 20s and have just bought our first home together in a UK city. For the past 5 years, we had been renting a flat from DH's parents. It was a great flat (quiet area, lovely interior) however it was small and we were ready to have our own house with a garden.

I'd been browsing RightMove for YEARS (I love looking at houses), but we properly began our house search in August/September 2023. We viewed a few places, but either were too expensive or needed too much work. Roll around October 2023, and up pops our house. At first glance, everything about it was perfect. It is a 1900's 3-bed victorian terraced house with newly renovated bathroom and kitchen, and beautiful period features. It was exactly what we had been looking for - I couldn't have dreamed it better myself - with the one disadvantage that it is located on a fairly busy B-road within the city (30 mph but often cars go faster).

Even though we both had fallen in love with the house after the first viewing, I remained cautious about the busy road. We went back for a second viewing, and I carefully listened to the traffic noises this time, but it really did not seem so bad and I came out feeling overall very positive about the house.

After that second viewing, things moved very quickly as the then-owner had offers in already and the house was going to a rapid closing date. I was away travelling with work at this point, so in haste my DH put in an offer (higher than I would have to be honest) - about 7% over the home report value.

We obviously got the house, and officially moved out of our flat and into the house about two/three weeks ago. The whole time we were moving, I kept having this niggle at the back of mind about the busy road, but the excitement and stress of redecorating and moving kind of pushed that away.

Now that we have been living here properly for a few weeks, the dust has settled and the busy road is really starting to grate on me. There is a constant stream of traffic between 7am - 10pm. It does quieten somewhat in the nighttime though - there is only maybe 1 or 2 cars going past every minute or so.

For most of the day, the traffic is a constant noise wherever you are in the house. For the first few days I tried to ignore it by having the TV on in the background, or playing music, but a few weeks in and I'm getting tired of having things running all the time to cover up the noise. I am originally from a small countryside village and love peace and quiet so this is less than ideal.

Our living room, bedroom and my home office are all located in the front of the house and therefore receive the worst of the traffic noise. Even as I type this right now, there are cars whooshing past. There are about 12 yards between the road and our front door, and thankfully we have a very high (8 foot) hedge in the front garden which blocks out a lot of the traffic from view in the living room, although you can still hear it. Our bedroom and my office though have a clear view straight down to the road, and there is nothing that has worked to completely get rid of the noise or the view of cars.

I am really starting to resent buying this house, and we have only been here a few weeks! DH says he is not bothered by the road or traffic at all, and we are starting to have arguments about this and the decision we made to buy this house. More than my hate of the traffic is my fear of how this issue will affect DH and I’s relationship. I really have tried since we moved in to ignore it, but with every passing day it seems to be all I can focus on. I am trying to tell myself that we couldn't have afforded a house this nice if it wasn't on this busy road (the same house for 1 or 2 streets back go for 50-100k more). But overall we have spent so much money in buying this house, paying the moving fees, and then another good couple of thousands in decorating (plastering, paint, windows, carpets).

I can't help but feel that this should be the most happy and exciting time for us, yet this road is ruining everything.

I feel very alone in this situation, and I have no one apart from DH to speak to about this. Any advice or messages would be very welcome (even if it's just telling me to get over myself!). Thank you.

Another vote for secondary glazing .Once installed the noise won't be an issue ,I promise .
Make sure it's easy to open and that you can access all panes to clean .
You might also want to look at some sort of sunscreening blind .
Also ,don't underestimate how long in takes to settle in a new place .You will get used it ,honestly.

Sorry; meant secondary glazing.

Easy fix, if you have the money. Triple gazing. You'll hear nothing inside the house. Thete's no comparison with double glazing where you hear everything.

It's amazing what weird noises, vibrations etc you get used to in your own house. I've lived right on a junction near a hospital where the ambulances regular whacked their sirens on, and you really do stop hearing it after a while. However, you're in a bit of a vicious cycle now because you're fixating on the noise and that makes you actually listen for it, rather than zone it out. Plus if you are used to quieter areas, it's natural you will notice it more at first and it will probably take longer for you to get used to. You really need to find ways to try and not make the noise the big thing you think about. You say it's a lovely house and just what you wanted, and presumably you chose to live in a city for the convenience and accessibility to other parts of your life. You will get far more noise in a city anywhere than you are used to. So really try to focus on all those good things, and relax a little and just give yourself time to get comfortable.

Triple glazing.Or secondary glazing added to double glazing .

Same situation here! Bedroom at back of house makes a huge difference. Double glazed here (but you could go triple glazed). Soft furnishings do absorb noise as per another poster. Not my ideal choice initially but a MUCH bigger house for the money.

You can get triple glazing.

I would seal the front of the house off. Not only because of the noise but also the pollution.

Make it so all the ventilation happens out the back.

For the front you need to look at triple glazing and sound reduced windows. A lot of windows these days have trickle vents that let the noise through. Also the loft is important because often there is ventilation there that allows noise in. So appropriate insulation might not only improve the thermal characteistics but also reduce the noise getting in that way. Allow the hedge to grow slightly higher if possible and reduce any gaps.

Finally noise cancelling headphones can help reduce external noise massively when you are working.

Whichever room makes you hate the noise the most use that as a test room for either secondary glazing or a triple glazing unit. It can make a massive difference. Yes it will cost money but owning a home costs money.

The idea that living in a new (to you) house should be happy and exciting certainly isn't one I've experienced.

I've bought 5 houses over the years (not at the same time) and they all had niggles and some of them needed major work.

I was always happy to have more/better space but it's hard work making a house you have just moved to feel like your home.

1 Use insulating tape around your windows and doors to prevent noise entering through any cracks.
2 Noise blocking curtains provide another barrier against noise entering inside the home.
3 Trees planted around the perimeter of the home will reflect the noise back onto the street.
4 Erecting a solid fence will also reflect the noise back onto the street.

Did the secondary glazing help with your sound issues? Is it okay if I ask the rough cost? Thank you.

We have secondary glazing and it makes a massive difference. When we go upstairs they don’t have it and it is much noisier.

Thank you so much. Our windows are double glazed but I haven't heard of Secondary Glazing before. Will look into this!

Was it expensive? We've already spent so much money 🙃

No house is perfect, and there always negatives you'll find out or will be worse once you live there. You can't blame DH for it. You either sell up and move, or you find solutions, but you can't let it ruin you marriage. Can you have your bedroom at the back, even if a smaller room? Or work from a room at the back? Look at more serious noise cancelling windows, very thick curtains for the front rooms, plant a hedge in the front garden. it's all new now, and honestly I think you will get more used to it.

You need to view at different times of day and different days to assess if the noise levels are tolerable. Weekday traffic will differ to weekends, term-time to school holidays, work days and bank holidays. Is it better/worse in garden?

Is it a public transport route(can be a positive), how often, are the buses diesel, electric or hydrogen powered and will that change in future.

Is it a hgv route to local works, pubs or supermarkets as that can be at antisocial hours.

Are there other trunk routes nearby , which if disrupted will increase traffic or when on diversion for roadworks.

What is the speed limit and how is it enforced, are there any pinch points which slow the flow down or can cause congestion. Check the police crash map to see if it is incident prone. Is the road well maintained as potholes and rough surface can increase noise.

Does the council monitor air quality , the results may not be as negative as you anticipate. Results are usually available online.

Do emergency services use it as a priority route to other areas, schools or motorways etc , as this can be 24/7 use.

Main roads are usually high priority for gritting and snow clearing which can be a bonus. The council website should indicate it.

Ah sorry I misread that you were still at purchase stage. Even so you may find some aspects useful to reassure you. We live on an A road and peak is 7:30-8:45 and 3:15-5:00, but dh can't easily work with a window open.

It’s bothering you because you are letting it. We lived under the flight path in London and I only realised this years after we moved in after a guest pointed out the sound of planes so often - practise ignoring it

Hmm, I think lots of things, some of them contradictory tbh.

Firstly, I lived in a house on a busy A road for a long time, and just to say that if there really are 1 or 2 cars a minute all through the night, then your road is really very busy indeed and you have my sympathy on that front. I agree that extra or specialist glazing is probably most likely to be the solution but god knows if it will be affordable, and certainly you'll be unlikely to see that money back, as anyone with the money to pay extra for it will just buy a house that's not on the busy road.

I also think you should focus on that a little more: the only reason you could afford this house is the road. And tbh I also think that if you can afford to buy a 3-bed period house with a new kitchen and bathroom in your twenties, and then spend a load more on getting it just how you want it before you even move in, then you also need to realise what an incredibly privileged position you're in and, bluntly, get a bit of a grip.

The twin red flags in your OP imo are the mention you make of your husband paying more than you think he should have for the house, and also the fact that he says the noise doesn't bother him. I've lost count of the number of threads (on all topics) that I've read on this site where the OP is bothered by something and her DH says he isn't - as if that means the conversation's closed, no further debate needed. If it bothers you, then it's a problem. Even if he doesn't think it's a problem, it still is, because it bothers you, even if it doesn't bother him.

Secondly, why did he offer more than you wanted to for the house? Did you not consult? Did you agree a figure and then he moved the goalposts? Because that's not really how you do things when you're a team. Or alternatively, do you have the kind of relationship where you expect him to make things happen and fix things for you? In which case, it's not really OK to mind the solution he arrived at now that you're in a snit about the road noise. None of this is really clear from your OP, or whether there's some whole other thing like he provided 90% of the money, and if so whether he thinks that then means your opinion doesn't matter.

We don't need to know any of this btw but I think you need to think about it, because from where I'm standing this isn't really about the house or the traffic.

Being on a fairly busy road would be a deal-breaker for me and I would not buy a house on one.
That said, you have got what is otherwise a lovely house and you can use the experience to help you make a more informed decision in the future.

Have only ever lived on a quiet road (goes nowhere) or in a cul-de-sac.
It is often the case that if a car goes by, we look out of the window to see who it was! 😂
Another advantage is that you don't get lots of people walking by.

You can get acoustic glass now. DM had this instead of triple glazing -glaziers recommend it instead of triple glazing - for the same reason.

You’re obviously very disappointed but there are things you can do. As others have said, additional glazing to the front of the house should reduce the noise considerably. Being terraced means it will only be the front windows so probably won’t be hugely expensive when compared to the cost of moving so soon after purchasing. I think it’s also likely to be more noisy in the winter with wet roads and bare trees.

It is your first house and for most people their first homes are rarely without compromise. Try to look at it as just the first rung in the property ladder - not your forever home. You will be far more aware of what to buy in future.

try your best not to obsess over it and give yourself time to adjust to your new surroundings.

I did a cheap job, I think I paid £500 for downstairs and upstairs, this was back in 2017/18. It was a local builder who did them for me as I wanted wooden frames to match the existing windows. They have made a big difference but I can still hear the traffic and will be so glad to move. I never open the windows as I want to block out the noise and pollution so it feels especially suffocating in the summer.