How can we reduce traffic noise in our new house?

[Livelaughplay]

Our new house is so loud from road traffic and trains. The trains I can deal with but when I just used an app to measure noise, the upstairs with windows open a bit are about 64 decibels, windows shut is 58 decibels and the garden is about 70! We do plan to replace the windows as they're old, so that might help when they're shut, but I like to have the window open to sleep, but this noise is insane. I know I can wear ear plugs which is fine, but what about the kids. Apparently WHO guidelines say these levels are really disruptive to health. The garden is going to be unenjoyable, but that was one of the reasons we bought the house!

I said this to DH when we viewed, but it's honestly perfect in every other way, this is the one massive, and increasingly larger, compromise. We are about 300m from an A road, with not much in between but fields, although I can't see the road at all, although don't know if this will still be the case once the leaves have come off.

Reasonably, what can I do? Are there special windows? But what about when they're open in summer? Mechanical ventilation? What does that feel like? I love an open window!

I am having serious regret at it feels like the whole village when I'm walking around is plagued by the road noise. I did say before we bought, but DH insisted I was being over-sensitive about it (which I know I can be), but having measured, I really don't think I am and now it's too late!

I also have a general case of buyers remorse, so I'm trying to work through things and find solutions and not catastrophise!

Help!

You will get used to it. I once lived a lot closer than that to the M4 and after a few weeks I barely noticed it, and the most annoying thing was that the nearest junction was over a mile away! Mind you, I was in a flat so no garden.

I would definitely not spend a lot of money/ effort on it in the first year as I think you will get used to it pretty quickly and in a year you'll be wondering why you cared. The constant hum from a distant A-road is in many ways less distracting than frequent cars coming along a residential road.

We have to replace the windows because they need doing, but yes perhaps you’re right not to go crazy on other things just yet. At the moment we live on a 20
mph road, but our lounge windows backs right onto it - I have to close the window to watch tv because it’s so noisy! It’s not even busy but is so annoying!

You are heading into the noisiest period because trees drop their leaves and the roads themselves will be wet which increases noise levels. See how you feel about it in the spring/summer - I appreciate that is a long time to wait.

A phone app is not accurate for measuring decibels - you can get an idea of something being louder or quieter than other things using it, but it won't have been calibrated like proper equipment for measuring volume levels is. You could try measuring it against something like a brand new appliance that you still have the EU data sheet for as they do have to report noise level in decibels there.

We moved 20 metres from a busy dual carriageway and I really regret it. It is hard to get away from the noise ever. We are used to it to an extent, it doesn't stop me from sleeping, but I do find it makes it hard to use the garden much. Both DH and I felt it would be fine because we had both lived near roads before, but not quite this close. I think 300m is not so bad.

We had to get some panes of glass replaced in a couple of rooms and I went for acoustic (sometimes called laminate) glazing. You can still hear things but it massively takes the edge off.

You can get it in 6mm, 8mm or 10mm, our frames could only take a maximum of 8 so that’s what we went for, but I would do 10 if I could. Obviously you can do 10 if you change the frames as well or even triple glazing (I’ve heard laminate is better for noise though but I don’t really know). If you change the frames as well you now have to have trickle vents installed which may make the noise worse also a lot more expensive than changing the panes only.

The other option is secondary glazing but this can look a bit ugly.

I have looked at options for the garden because we are near the motorway. I looked at 2 companies called Jackson’s and first fence who do acoustic fencing, a water feature is also a good idea. But better than a fence is a Gabion wall or a brick wall. In Germany they have something called a freisenwall which is meant to be good for noise.

A Friesenwall is a variety of drystone wall. Depending where you live, a brick wall may be easier.

Thick glass is extremely heavy and may not be suitable for old windows, especially sliding sash.

secondary glazing is very good for noise reduction.

Thank you I didn’t know how to explain a freisenwall. I like the look of them because you can plant things on the top it looks like but it looks very difficult to make.

The house was definitely a fixer-upper so a lot of renovations over the first few years, but the ventilation job happened when an installer we knew happened to have a few days free - he was offering mates rates so he got to say when. There wasn't actually a load of making good afterwards - the vents all have a little flange around them (like a frame) that covers the cut-out in the (usually) ceiling. One wall had to be core drilled iirc but that was mainly a matter of extensive dust sheeting beforehand, and hoovering afterwards.

We were able to put most of the ducts in the loft because we have a warm roof (ie insulation at rafters) - it doesn't work properly if the ducts run somewhere cold.

Two ducts do run up the corner of the landing..we always meant to box them.in but it hasn't quite happened.. Wouldn't be a big job though.

I would second the advice tonsee if you get used tonthe noise, but highly recommend the mvhr for constant good air quality anyway! (Bonus if you ever need to install ac and i think most of us will eventually, it recovers the cool too!)

Now hoping I can post rhis reply without attaching a rogue gif...

Success!

There is an A road close to me where the residents campaigned for 21 years to have the speed limit reduced, not because of noise, but safety as there were so many accidents and deaths. Eventually the speed limit was reduced from 60mph to 40mph for the most dangerous section. In short, this is a very long term strategy with a limited chance of success.

Another vote for a water feature in the garden. You need to establish the prevailing wind to work out the best place to muffle the noise. We’re about 800m from a dual carriageway which is directly north of us. With a prevailing wind direction from the SW this means we can’t always hear it. Once in the garden immersed in whatever I’m doing you can’t hear it. It is strange how different bits of our village are affected depending on surrounding buildings etc.

Triple glazed Windows and lots of trees.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/garden-design/sustainable-planting-combinations/problem-solving/noise-reduction

It’s not the same but we live in a London suburb near a big hospital. There are sirens all times of the day and night. I only notice them when guests mention it! My mum is like oooo an ambulance because they rarely ever see or hear one but I could easily hear 30 a day. I don’t hear it any more

I’m just not sure that I’m going to be this person! But I will try to remain open minded!

Maybe I can make a maze with hedges! The garden is a good size, so I’m sure I can plan something good. Might have to learn how to be a bit more green fingered though!

The road is to the west mostly - is that bad news? How can I tell which way the wind usually blows here?

3G plus an MVHR system is a dream. Perfectly fresh, filtered air in your home at all times, no unpleasant smells, reduced pollution and allergens, etc. I always notice the difference when I go into other peoples homes. We have a Zehnder which is extremely cheap to run with solar + ASHP but might be difficult/expensive to retrofit fit in an older property - I'd recommend flexible rather than rigid ducting if you do consider it. You can open windows/sliders/bifolds, etc any time and the system automatically adjusts.

I was looking at an older house the other day, where the road has got much busier since it was built, and I noticed that all the (replacement) windows on the front elevation and the bays (except the landing) were non-opening and sealed.

This enables the glass to be a bit bigger, and can presumably be sealed better against noise.

I would hope they had installed some other method of ventilation.

Look at
https://www.sat24.com/en-gb/country/gb/hd#selectedLayer=euRadarSatDay
And you will see the clouds blowing along.

It is predominantly from the South-West. In some hilly areas you may get variations.

Although a weather system will be rotating, so blowing in all directions round the perimeter, if, as usual, it is travelling from the South-West, this vector will add to the rotation, making the SW stronger and the NE weaker.

I live on the South Coast, and apart from temperature differences causing onshore and offshore breezes in summer at day and night, the wind direction is very dependable.

The little arrows on this one show you local winds, which vary more

https://weather.metoffice.gov.uk/maps-and-charts/wind-map#?bbox=[[47.010225655683485,-18.940429687500004],[60.21799073323445,14.765625000000002&model=ukmo-ukv&layer=wind-speed-and-direction weather.metoffice.gov.uk/maps-and-charts/wind-map#?bbox=<a class="break-all" href="https://47.010225655683485,-18.940429687500004],[60.21799073323445,14.765625000000002" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">47.010225655683485&model=ukmo-ukv&layer=wind-speed-and-direction]]

Select "wind speed average" and enter location as your nearest town. You can zoom in and out.

Link no good, try this one

https://weather.metoffice.gov.uk/maps-and-charts/wind-map

Thanks for this. Hmm a lot of the time it will be blowing towards us then, but I guess not all the time.

We back onto a road and have planted clematis and virginia creeper which will both climb up to the trees at the back of our garden. The more you can plant the better it will be. I don't think you will ever get a sound barrier erected by the authorities.

We moved into a house with similar road noise just over a year ago and we’re still not used to the noise. We don’t notice it much during the day, but at night it’s awful. The traffic obviously decreases but in a way it’s worse as each car triggers my ears again rather than a continuous stream you get used to. And it’s the tyre that make most of the noise not the car engines so EVs wont help.

Glad to hear so much positive feedback about triple glazing though. I went down a rabbit hole of secondary glazing, triple glazing, acoustic glass etc and ended up so confused.