Street noise reduction

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moonchild508

Member
For those of you who have shutters installed on your windows, do they help to reduce roadway noise?

Does anyone have soundproof windows or other means of noise reduction installed on their windows?  Any recommendations?
 
moonchild508 said:
For those of you who have shutters installed on your windows, do they help to reduce roadway noise?

Does anyone have soundproof windows or other means of noise reduction installed on their windows?  Any recommendations?
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if you do just windows i think you may (dont know for sure) just be half way there. how bout sound insulation in the walls?
 
Doesn't soundproofing through the walls require a lot of work?  The noise level isn't unbearable, so I am looking for a simple and (hopefully) not too costly option.  We sometimes use a white noise fan, which works great at night but tends to wake me up in the early morning hours.
 
moonchild508 said:
Doesn't soundproofing through the walls require a lot of work?  The noise level isn't unbearable, so I am looking for a simple and (hopefully) not too costly option.  We sometimes use a white noise fan, which works great at night but tends to wake me up in the early morning hours.
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If the fan wakes you up in the morning you could put the fan on a timer to turn off at a certain time.
 
moonchild508 said:
Doesn't soundproofing through the walls require a lot of work?  The noise level isn't unbearable, so I am looking for a simple and (hopefully) not too costly option.  We sometimes use a white noise fan, which works great at night but tends to wake me up in the early morning hours.
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probably, i was just throwing it out there as as something to consider, would suck if you spent thousands on windows and still have noise that you thought was coming through the windows actually coming through the walls. the difference between those olds school aluminum windows and dual pane windows is significant, not sure what the difference is from dual pane to sound proof windows is.
 
I think they have some noise reducing curtains?  Not sure how well they worked but I would think everything helps.

 
moonchild508 said:
For those of you who have shutters installed on your windows, do they help to reduce roadway noise?

Does anyone have soundproof windows or other means of noise reduction installed on their windows?  Any recommendations?
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Maybe you should of thought of that before moving there. (Just saying :D)
People who choose to live close to the fwy - should expect "noise pollution" ;)
 
Heavy drapes are probably more effective than shutters (unless the shutters are outside).

Shutters still have slats and while it does reduce noise it's not exactly sealed, the cloth in drapes is better at absorbing noise.

If your home is older, replacing the windows with double-paned will help... or even checking the seals on your windows is recommended.
 
You really need a noise audit to get a true sense of the problem.  There are multiple possibilities with different solutions.  Sound can come in through the roof, walls, windows and doors, and each has its point of diminishing returns relative to the other sources and to expense.  A year ago we bought $8k in triple paned windows (just the windows; our labor is free) because that is what the noise pros recommended to the previous owner to deal with periodic noise from the north.  Upstairs in the master bed there is a huge improvement.  Downstairs, not so much, because the north wall also has a door, which is now the biggest source of noise transmission.  Doors, roof and walls had already been done per recommendations, so this is as good as it gets for us without spending a LOT more.  I sleep soundly upstairs, and turn the volume up on the surround sound downstairs.
 
Haha...thanks for the recommendations, everyone.

I use the ear plugs occasionally, but they kinda hurt my ears.  Setting a timer on the fan is a great idea..will give that a try.

Daedus - Where did you get the triple paned windows and who installed them for you?  Might be an option to explore.

The noise is only noticeable upstairs, and it's not loud enough to bother my husband.  We currently have drapes over blinds in the bedrooms.  I was wondering if shutters would reduce the noise a notch, since they would provide a seal around the window edges (where there is a currently gap between the blinds and the window edges where light comes through).  We initially got the blinds because of the lower cost.  Looking back we should have just installed the shutters.  We have them in the living room and they look much nicer.
 
We have the Milgard Quiet Linehttp://www.milgard.com/catalog/windows/series/quietline/windows.  Any Milgard dealer can get them.  This industry has very tightly controlled ad and distribution networks.  You will be challenged to find prices online.  The manufacturers set "MSRP", but actual prices from dealers are much less...about 50% less in my case.

Can't help you with installation.  Like I said, "our labor is free", meaning my wife and I are the installers.  It really is not that hard...break the seams to the inner and outer wall, remove the 5-7 screws holding the old window in, replace with new window and secure with 5-7 screws.  Then it's just caulk and cosmetics.  Our dealer did say they could install them for "probably about $100-150 per window".  I'm happy to make that in my spare time.

There are a few details you'll need:
Rough frame opening size of the windows.  You can just guess if you're only looking for a quote, but keep in mind prices are tiered.  28-34" might be 1 price, but above 34" the price might be a big step up to the next tier.

New construction or retrofit.  Make sure they quote you for retrofit windows, which have an external flange to seal against the outside wall (unless you really don't want a visible flange and don't mind redoing the exterior).

Tempered glass costs more.  Any windows in bathrooms or below a certain height need to be tempered.  Check the building codes for specifics as I cannot recall them.

You can opt for obscure glass, which lets in light but isn't see-through.  Good for bathrooms.
 
Just a few more ideas. Solid core doors might help some what. Also a canopy bed with thick curtains might block sound out. You could also play some light background music or sound to drown anything else out. A waterfall or tropical rain forest theme perhaps?
 
Chairman said:
Just a few more ideas. Solid core doors might help some what. Also a canopy bed with thick curtains might block sound out. You could also play some light background music or sound to drown anything else out. A waterfall or tropical rain forest theme perhaps?
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lol
 
To respond to the original post, the shutters didn't make any noticeable difference. The blackout curtains behind our regular curtains made a slight difference, but not a significant one.

I got my blackout curtains from Home Depot. They're kind of on the expensive side though because the panels aren't that large.
 
Here's a device that sounds promising if it ever gets made:

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/sono-noise-canceling-apartment-windows/story?id=20726945
 
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