How to block noise at night but easily uncover windows during the day?

December 14, 2023 7:43 PM

I have not had a restful/unbroken night's sleep since moving into a new apartment. Culprits are nonstop sirens all night long plus a crazy dude who walks by under our window screaming at his hallucinations at least three times per night. It's been 6+ weeks and I have not gotten used to it.

Super frustrated because we even took the precaution of visiting the neighborhood in the middle of the night to check the noise level before choosing this place and it seemed very quiet. But thanks to the angles of the nearby hills and the placement of other buildings, it's much much louder in our top floor apartment than it is on the street. The sirens in particular are from several blocks away and cannot be heard at all when we stand on the sidewalk under our window but we can hear them loud at clear from our bedroom.

Regular noise-dampening curtains are insufficient.

White noise and brown noise generators are insufficient.

I cannot wear earplugs due to having psoriasis in my ear canals. I have tried over a dozen different varieties of all different materials and I either claw them out of my ears in my sleep or wake up with incredibly painful bleeding open sores where they rubbed on the scales.

I am already on multiple prescription sedatives plus cannabis gummies. I still get woken up a dozen times a night.

We cannot move. We already had to move twice in three months because the first apartment we moved into had a mold infestation that made me seriously ill. We are physically disabled so moving costs us an extra $1,000-$2,000 in hired help for packing, moving, unpacking, cleaning, etc. and having to spend that twice in three months has completely wiped out all our savings. We also simply cannot cope with the stress of moving again -- our last 4 moves were so difficult that I've developed PTSD symptoms because of it. Like even just thinking about having to move again triggers panic attacks followed by suicidal despair.

I need natural sunlight and fresh air to wake up in the morning so whatever we use to block noise at night needs to be easily removable in the mornings.

I was thinking of making some sort of thick foam window insert? But getting it in and out of the windows each day would be a PITA.

I'm on the verge of making a nest of blankets on the closet floor (it's not wide enough to fit a cot) in the hope that it might be quieter in there, but I can't get back up off the floor without assistance so that's not a great solution because I'd have to yell to wake my husband up every time I needed to pee.

Ideas?

posted by Jacqueline to Home & Garden (14 answers total)

This article talks about how to create a removable acoustic plug that fits into your window to block sound transmission. I don’t mean to say that you need to do it yourself, it’s just a decent overview of what’s involved in making one. The downside is that these are not cheap, but it might be a worthwhile expense to fight the sleep deprivation.
posted by corey flood at 8:05 PM on December 14, 2023 [2 favorites]

I haven’t tried these myself and they are rather expensive but they might be looking into
posted by raccoon409 at 8:11 PM on December 14, 2023

Also what kind of windows do you have- and do you think they are the source of the noise leak?

Could you build a room inside a room, almost like a canopy bed to make it quieter?
posted by raccoon409 at 8:13 PM on December 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

You might consider industrial wool felt panels set like ‘barn doors’ in front of the windows. Basically sliding panels of 1” wool felt as solid “curtains” as many ranks/tracks deep as you need to be able to cover/uncover the windows. I’ll come back with a link if I can find one.
posted by janell at 8:24 PM on December 14, 2023

The window plug described here is fairly easy to make and very effective. If you are going to add anything to the window, you need something a little bit heavy and it has to seal tightly around the edges, otherwise it's not going to have a significant impact. If you don't need to open the windows for a while, there is "replaceable caulk" (like this or this) which you could install around the edges of the windows because they surely leak air and lots of sound. These two things together are the most you could do to the windows short of replacement.
posted by flimflam at 9:47 PM on December 14, 2023

I was just reading about using bubble wrap to insulate windows from cold, wonder if it would work to cut sound. Just cut bubble wrap to fit on the glass, spray water on the glass and put bubble wrap on. Remove in morning.
posted by mareli at 10:04 PM on December 14, 2023

This is what laminated windows are made for. If you are renting and cannot move, you probably want something like Soundproof Windows that fit inside your existing windows. They slide open easily to let in outside air. I can't vouch for this vendor because when I was looking into their product, I determined that too much noise would get inside through the remainder of the building envelope. But in a top-floor apartment with interior and exterior walls to code, laminated secondary windows are your best bet. My sympathies, and good luck.
posted by backwoods at 10:57 PM on December 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

FWIW noise reduction methods have tradeoffs in terms of costs, effectiveness, and permanence. Given your other constraints, you might want to consider using a daylight alarm clock and a portable fan to compensate for a lack of light and fresh air.

Consider camping out (on a cot) in the bathroom, interior hallway, or living room for a few nights... just to reset the stress/anxiety cycle associated with your sleeping location.

Even if the weather is terrible out, you may find "forest bathing" helpful. (Even better if you can take an outdoor nap).

Are over the ear noise cancelling headphones out of the question? Is it possible to shift your sleep schedule so that you are trying to fall asleep at a less noisy time? Can you move the head of the bed into the closet and use say an Ikea Pax wardrobe in the space between the bed and the noisy windows?

When you tested the white noise machine, did you you place it in various positions between you and the noise source? Did you try two sources of white noise (e.g. one from the white noise machine and one from the phone at your night stand)? Did you attempt different noise patterns/types (e.g. pink vs brown noise)? If you haven't done so, this is low hanging fruit.

Soundproof Guide's Youtube channel may be of interest. ex: Soundproofing Apartment Windows From Outside Noise
posted by oceano at 12:49 AM on December 15, 2023 [2 favorites]

Another vendor who might have some solutions. If you have time, it seems like calling to explain what you're looking for would be a good idea with a lot of these places.
posted by Eyelash at 1:27 AM on December 15, 2023

Based on my past experience, given your situation, I would consider:

* If you can sleep on your back, over-the-ear noise canceling headphones

* The various window insert suggestions -- maybe in combination, like bubbles on the glass + foam insert

* Check the caulking around the window (this has helped with insulation and sound for me in past)

* Running a television or radio overnight

* Last but not least, do you have things hanging on your walls and/or rugs? Both can quiet a room.

Good luck
posted by cupcakeninja at 5:14 AM on December 15, 2023

I have trouble dealing with outdoor noise and live in an intermittently loud area. All these plugs and screens sound really great, but I also wanted to say that I find that running a basic box fan works much, much better than white/brown noise generators, which don't do much for me. You need a simple box fan like the $25-$30 ones from Target, not a more expensive one, because more expensive ones are quieter. I have one right next to the head of my bed and it helps tremendously.
posted by Frowner at 5:27 AM on December 15, 2023 [8 favorites]

Perhaps try contacting this company for advice and recommendations. I have one of their soundproof mats that I put in my window each night before I go to bed and remove each morning when I wake up.
posted by SageTrail at 7:19 AM on December 15, 2023

Similar to Frowner, I found that white noise machines were insufficient to block street noise but what did work was turning my air purifier to the highest setting overnight. (It is essentially a fancy box fan with a filter attached.) It takes me a minute to adjust to the volume of the fan, but once I do I hear nothing else (not sirens, giant trucks backing up outside my window, people yelling, or street maintenance).
posted by CtrlAltDelete at 9:54 AM on December 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

* If you can sleep on your back, over-the-ear noise canceling headphones

If you are a side sleeper, one of the u-shaped travel pillows works okay for supporting your head around the earpiece of over the ear headphones too. It takes the pressure off your ear when you're lying down. I've had to do that a few times when traveling and discovering that my evening's location was excessively loud.

what did work was turning my air purifier to the highest setting overnight

I've also found that a combination of a rain noise on speaker and an air purifier does a good job of layering over other sounds. What doesn't work for one type of sound, might be covered by the other.
posted by past unusual at 6:11 PM on December 15, 2023