Soundproofing a house against noise from outside - double pane windows?
May 20, 2024 11:37 AM Subscribe
Our 100 year old house faces a park. In the spring/summer, the park is used for festivals and celebrations featuring live and recorded music with a heavy base component. We are contemplating replacing our single pane windows with double pane or similar in effort to mitigate the sound. Have you done this? does this help much?
Context on the house: Our house is 100 years old, detached, on a corner facing a park. It features double brick walls with single pane windows that range from 2-20 years old. There is a large front facing window (doesn't open) on the main floor, and another on the 2nd floor (does open). There are about 5 other windows along the side of the house that are less exposed, but still exposed to the sound.
Context on the amplified music: 7+ days year for 5-8hours and incredible volumes. Zero progress engaging with city officials to manage the frequency, duration or volume. We find it very tricky to be home on these days, and since there is generally no advance notice of the events it's tough to plan to be out of the house all afternoon to 11pm.
Would swapping out the largest windows for double or triple pane help? and if so, to what degree?
Bonus question - would enclosing the front porch, fully insulating with rock wool be a better albeit pricier solution?
Context on the house: Our house is 100 years old, detached, on a corner facing a park. It features double brick walls with single pane windows that range from 2-20 years old. There is a large front facing window (doesn't open) on the main floor, and another on the 2nd floor (does open). There are about 5 other windows along the side of the house that are less exposed, but still exposed to the sound.
Context on the amplified music: 7+ days year for 5-8hours and incredible volumes. Zero progress engaging with city officials to manage the frequency, duration or volume. We find it very tricky to be home on these days, and since there is generally no advance notice of the events it's tough to plan to be out of the house all afternoon to 11pm.
Would swapping out the largest windows for double or triple pane help? and if so, to what degree?
Bonus question - would enclosing the front porch, fully insulating with rock wool be a better albeit pricier solution?
Not all double-pane windows are the same in terms of sound proofing. There is a rating assigned to all new windows that tells you exactly how well they can stop sound: the sound transmission class (STC). You want to look in particular for windows with an STC of 45 or higher. Here's a quick guide from a soundproof window manufacturer.
The take home: simply swapping in double-pane windows will not help. However, if you get windows that are specifically designed for soundproofing, you can cut out a lot of the noise.
posted by mr_roboto at 12:07 PM on May 20 [10 favorites]
The take home: simply swapping in double-pane windows will not help. However, if you get windows that are specifically designed for soundproofing, you can cut out a lot of the noise.
posted by mr_roboto at 12:07 PM on May 20 [10 favorites]
I don't have a lot of window experience, but I wonder about fitting a big sheet of dense styrofoam, maybe with eggshell foam glued onto both sides of it too, into the window well when the noise starts. That's what they do on film sets to soundproof the doors. Not pretty, but cheaper than a full replace.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 12:07 PM on May 20 [1 favorite]
posted by nouvelle-personne at 12:07 PM on May 20 [1 favorite]
Double pane windows and insulating the walls helps, but doesn't eliminate it.
A few additional ideas:
If these are city-designated events, there should be some advertising somewhere as to what is happening - the city must advertise? Maybe put a google alert on the name of the park? If they are not city events, then does the park require a permit? Perhaps engaging with the permit office to either post the permits in advance (my city does that) so you know what is coming or alert neighbors about weekly events.
posted by Toddles at 12:09 PM on May 20 [6 favorites]
A few additional ideas:
If these are city-designated events, there should be some advertising somewhere as to what is happening - the city must advertise? Maybe put a google alert on the name of the park? If they are not city events, then does the park require a permit? Perhaps engaging with the permit office to either post the permits in advance (my city does that) so you know what is coming or alert neighbors about weekly events.
posted by Toddles at 12:09 PM on May 20 [6 favorites]
Innerglass is a system I've heard of that the site linked says helps with soundproofing. Seems like it would work on a similar principle as double-pane, with the added benefits of being added insulation in winter and not having to redo all your windows. Recent experiments have found another way: "silk fabric in direct suppression mode, the researchers found that it could significantly reduce the volume of sounds up to 65 decibels". Low-tech hack? Ear protectors.
posted by HearHere at 12:18 PM on May 20
posted by HearHere at 12:18 PM on May 20
single pane windows that range from 2-20 years old.
Noise or no noise, double-glazed windows will save energy -- less pollution, lower utility bills -- so get the double-glazed noise-reduction windows unless they are crazy expensive or ugly as sin.
posted by pracowity at 12:32 PM on May 20 [1 favorite]
Noise or no noise, double-glazed windows will save energy -- less pollution, lower utility bills -- so get the double-glazed noise-reduction windows unless they are crazy expensive or ugly as sin.
posted by pracowity at 12:32 PM on May 20 [1 favorite]
We have triple pane windows that came with our house. We live on a pretty busy street and they have definitely made it not noticeable in terms of noise at rush hour. No idea if they were chosen as noise reducing.
posted by leslies at 12:35 PM on May 20
posted by leslies at 12:35 PM on May 20
Response by poster: For clarity, these are often permitted, but not put on by the city. The city councilor who approves the events, will not make public the calendar of events. The parks department will not make public the calendar of events (but you can look up ie. soccer or baseball league schedules).
Many City departments have been pleaded with, with respect to calendar visibility, negotiating some kind of a cap on # of events, or time duration limits, volume limits etc. There is no appetite to get involved, from city employees contacted over the past number of years.
These events generally cannot be Googled in English. Events notifications are supposed to be posted in the park, I believe 10 days in advance. This does not happen. Some happen on national holidays and are somewhat predictable, but not always.
Thanks for all the insights folks. Really appreciate it!
posted by walkinginsunshine at 1:18 PM on May 20
Many City departments have been pleaded with, with respect to calendar visibility, negotiating some kind of a cap on # of events, or time duration limits, volume limits etc. There is no appetite to get involved, from city employees contacted over the past number of years.
These events generally cannot be Googled in English. Events notifications are supposed to be posted in the park, I believe 10 days in advance. This does not happen. Some happen on national holidays and are somewhat predictable, but not always.
Thanks for all the insights folks. Really appreciate it!
posted by walkinginsunshine at 1:18 PM on May 20
IMO, you could do a few windows - especially on the front nearest to the park, and see if it helps much. It really depends on the number of windows.
" Bonus question - would enclosing the front porch, fully insulating with rock wool be a better albeit pricier solution?"
Fully insulating with rockwool would be a better solution -if you can have some access to the cavity inside your walls, or I guess your home is large enough in terms of square footage to build out internal walls (especially ones facing the park) that you can insulate without losing too much square footage and without massive expensive extending your electric service due to moving outlets, etc.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:09 PM on May 20
" Bonus question - would enclosing the front porch, fully insulating with rock wool be a better albeit pricier solution?"
Fully insulating with rockwool would be a better solution -if you can have some access to the cavity inside your walls, or I guess your home is large enough in terms of square footage to build out internal walls (especially ones facing the park) that you can insulate without losing too much square footage and without massive expensive extending your electric service due to moving outlets, etc.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:09 PM on May 20
You can test the best possible improvement by getting something like plasterboard or thicker plywood, cutting it to fill the inside of your window well, and sealing the edges with removable caulk rope or similar. If that helps a good amount, then you should expect new windows to help. You could also keep it and put it up as needed; adding soft insulation between the window and the board will help with sound too. Look up "window plug".
If your window looks out onto the porch (otherwise I don't know why you'd bring it up?) then a fully-enclosed porch would help with sound especially if you have soft things in there, like a couch and rugs.
posted by flimflam at 2:24 PM on May 20 [1 favorite]
If your window looks out onto the porch (otherwise I don't know why you'd bring it up?) then a fully-enclosed porch would help with sound especially if you have soft things in there, like a couch and rugs.
posted by flimflam at 2:24 PM on May 20 [1 favorite]
We recently replaced ~20-year-old, low-end double pane windows with higher quality ones installed by a reputable company. The installers said there was no insulation around the old windows at all, and several of them had broken seals. I can't speak to how they would perform against a festival level of amplification, but the cars and motorcycles with intentionally loud exhaust and music blasting that go down our street on a regular basis are way quieter.
Over the years we have also replaced our front door (original to our 100 year old home) and roof, and both of those also made a difference in noise reduction. We've added faux wood blinds and thick curtains to the windows facing the street that we pull closed when things are loud out there (and for fireworks which scare our dog). The improvements have been gradual so it's a bit hard to really assess, but when I compare how we used to be able to hear a normal conversation of people walking by our house on the sidewalk with how it is now, I definitely think there is a difference.
Amplified bass is a real beast, though. We have a neighbor across the street who likes to blast music from his roof late at night, but our windows are relatively new and he hasn't done that since they were installed, so I can't say how good the windows are at blocking that out just yet. Might be worth bringing in a soundproofing expert just to get a consultation about what your options are before doing anything - good windows are expensive.
posted by misskaz at 2:25 PM on May 20 [4 favorites]
Over the years we have also replaced our front door (original to our 100 year old home) and roof, and both of those also made a difference in noise reduction. We've added faux wood blinds and thick curtains to the windows facing the street that we pull closed when things are loud out there (and for fireworks which scare our dog). The improvements have been gradual so it's a bit hard to really assess, but when I compare how we used to be able to hear a normal conversation of people walking by our house on the sidewalk with how it is now, I definitely think there is a difference.
Amplified bass is a real beast, though. We have a neighbor across the street who likes to blast music from his roof late at night, but our windows are relatively new and he hasn't done that since they were installed, so I can't say how good the windows are at blocking that out just yet. Might be worth bringing in a soundproofing expert just to get a consultation about what your options are before doing anything - good windows are expensive.
posted by misskaz at 2:25 PM on May 20 [4 favorites]
Elaborating a bit on things that have been mentioned:
If it's really loud and bass heavy, you might have difficulty achieving an acceptable reduction in levels. Bass frequencies are omnidirectional and very powerful. They also set up resonances in building materials that can penetrate into the interior of a building, (the double brick walls, if they're in good shape and well tuck-pointed help here).
Not mentioning any of this to discourage you from trying stuff, but to reinforce flimflam and nouvelle-personne's idea of experimenting with relatively affordable solutions before spending a lot of money on expensive windows only to potentially find out they don't make a big difference.
Sound proofing comes from: isolating structures from vibration, density, and air-tightness.
Another thing you might investigate is if there is anyone in your area who has expertise in building recording studios, they may be able to assess your building and offer recommendations.
posted by caseyblu at 5:40 PM on May 20 [2 favorites]
If it's really loud and bass heavy, you might have difficulty achieving an acceptable reduction in levels. Bass frequencies are omnidirectional and very powerful. They also set up resonances in building materials that can penetrate into the interior of a building, (the double brick walls, if they're in good shape and well tuck-pointed help here).
Not mentioning any of this to discourage you from trying stuff, but to reinforce flimflam and nouvelle-personne's idea of experimenting with relatively affordable solutions before spending a lot of money on expensive windows only to potentially find out they don't make a big difference.
Sound proofing comes from: isolating structures from vibration, density, and air-tightness.
Another thing you might investigate is if there is anyone in your area who has expertise in building recording studios, they may be able to assess your building and offer recommendations.
posted by caseyblu at 5:40 PM on May 20 [2 favorites]
Yes, replacing the windows would help. DIY ideas: acrylic inserts, particularly for the large non-opening window. Acoustic treatments on interior walls and windows. Some other interior and exterior noise-reduction schemes.
Hours of noise pollution is not fair, and the uncertainty makes this worse. I think if you followed the event organizers and musicians on social media, you could opt-in to notifications and alerts for upcoming park events and performances.
posted by Iris Gambol at 12:14 AM on May 21
Hours of noise pollution is not fair, and the uncertainty makes this worse. I think if you followed the event organizers and musicians on social media, you could opt-in to notifications and alerts for upcoming park events and performances.
posted by Iris Gambol at 12:14 AM on May 21
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posted by slkinsey at 11:51 AM on May 20 [3 favorites]