How can I lessen road noise in my home?

Road noise is one of the most general complaints amongst homeowners in the US. In most cases, homeowners that experience issues with it will be able to restrict the impact the noise has on their emotional and physical health using noise reduction measures.

Homeowners can control road noise by:

1. Creating noise barrier walls

Noise barrier walls can assist homeowners in countering noise intrusions. Nonetheless, barriers should meet specific guidelines to be efficient. Many people wrongly assume that their best protection against noise is a thin belt of trees or a hedge. Nonetheless, air will filter through permeable barriers of this type. To create an efficient barrier, the planting of a homeowner should comprise of very dense trees, like the evergreens. Following the construction of this type of natural barriers, homeowners might derive the advantage from a 25 per cent reduction in road noise.

Man-made barriers, like solid fences and masonry walls, are frequently the preferred barrier solution as they are impermeable, implying that, unlike vegetation, they won’t let air pass through. Man-made barriers don’t have to be solid walls. They can be huge earthen shoulders. Such barriers have the potential to lessen undesired noise by almost 50 percent.

2. Installing acoustic doors and windows of a higher isolation quality

Noise can be transmitted through the weakest points of a home, like its doors and windows. Depending on the sound isolation quality of their current acoustic doors and windows, upgrades can provide homeowners some relief from noise. While buying new doors and windows, homeowners should look forward the sound transmission class (STC) rating. High STC rating is associated with better noise isolation. Most of the single pane windows have STC ratings between 26 and 28, while dual pane windows have STC ratings of between 26 and 33. On the contrary, soundproof windows have a tendency to be associated with STC ratings between 45 and 54.

3. Installing some kind of noise masking systems

Homeowners can mask road noise by applying sound masking systems either outside or inside of their homes. Electronic sound masking systems, that play white noise through the noise generators, are a popular solution. Nonetheless, other options include, but are not restricted to, outdoor and indoor water features, fans and sound recordings, sound control curtains etc.

Homeowners annoyed with undesired noise deriving from newly built roads might be able to apply for acoustic chambers from their local authority. Such grants will assist them in facilitating extreme road noise.

Self-adhesive blocking material can be implemented directly on the current wall, through which plastic pads are then attached to the current wall. New acoustic plasterboard sheets are then attached to the plastic pads over the blocking material. Acoustic plaster board will also assist to block and lessen further the transmitted noise.

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