Noise: how to sound proof?

missk_ensington

Hi there,

I have just read the thread about trains lower down and was goin go ask this on there, but thought it was better to start a new thread rather than invade someone else's!

My house is on a main road, and I've never lived on a main road before.... Its drivnig me mad! I haven't slept for weeks (its a country-main road if that makes sense and although its 30mph cars go up at 60+ regularly, its also the main road for lorries to access Leeds/Halifax without using the motorway) so morning noon and night I hear traffic.

I thought about sound proofing, but not sure who to do it and how much it costs. A friend suggested secondary windows, but again, how much is this???

Can anyone make any other suggestions?

Also, does a person have any rights if they live close to a noisy pub that serves until 5am and has karaoke on until daylight with 17 year old loitering outside with WKD bottles? Obviously this is a consideration when buying a house, but where must pubvs draw the line in residential area's?

Thanks!

tigerminxy

I used to live on a house on a busy road and I can honestly say you just get used to it. Having said that, I also put up double-glazing to minimise the noise. I ruled out secondary glazing just because I didn't like the look of it but I have friends who had it and it did have a very big effect. Not sure about pricing, though.

As for the noisy pub, if it has a licence to serve until 5am then it's entitled to do so. I'd be surprised if it was allowed to carry on stuff like karaoke until all hours, though. Might be worth reading the small print of their licence, as the new laws (contrary to the Daily Mail's ignorant stories) are very reasonable in their balance between licensed premises and community. Regardless of the licence, though, if there are 17 year olds being served at the pub then you might want to point this out to the local police. I know we have a drunkard culture in England where we're positively encouraged to try and get served underage as some sort of rites of passage but the licencee should know better.

missk_ensington

Its a village pub where lock ins are almost obligatory and age limiot means nothing (the Landlords daughter who turned 16 a few weeks back has been working there full time 5 nights a week for nearly a year).

If I make a complaint I then have to declare it when I sell the house, which will draw attention to there being problems and may put off a buyer.

Was wondering if the brewery might pay for sound proofing to keep the peace, or install Air conditioning since the problems are coming from the hot weather - the windowns and doors all have to be opened letting the noise out (and the drunk 17 year olds!)

Got double glazing already and it still wakes me up every hour in the night - usually boy racers with their music on full blast. I'll be in bed and hear this 'bang bang bang' from a car driving past at 60mph! Been there 4-5 weeks now and I'm not getting used to it yet....!

Scarlett1

didnt you consider all this when you moved in, surely you expected this when you moved into a property near a main road and pub

missk_ensington

Of course, I expected music and people hanging around at weekends, and I knew there was a karaoke on a Saturday but I expected it to finish by midnight at the latest, not 4am! Yes I knew it was a main road, but I couldn't afford anything on a quiet street as they started at 100k and the further I could possibly stretch to was 92k.

Thought I'd be able to do something like seal windows somehow or sound proof somehow

DKLS

Try a search for Triple or quadruple glazed windows, not common over here, but very common in Scandanavian countries. A friend imported a set from Finland, and they are excellent at keeping noise out.

aloiseb

Maybe it's possible to complain to the council or someone about the pub without it havign to be a resident's complaint (if you complain about a neighbour,itwould have to be admitted when you sold the house on, but surely a pub isn't exactly a neighbour in the normal sense?)

It certainly sounds as if there might be grounds for complaint - e.g.underage drinking, cars driving too fast, etc.

In the meantime, I recommend foam earplugs - they've transformed my sleeping life!

cheapsally

I will recommend earplugs too, I bought some really good ones from this site around 3 years ago and still have few pairs left.
http://www.safetysupplies.co.uk/trolleyed/4/index.htm

I bought pack of "Ride pick n Mix" and i found that MaxLite Ear Plugs are best for sound proofing and you can buy those in pack of 200 pairs separately.
MaxLite Ear Plug(200pr) - £14.80(£23.21 inc p&p+vat)

They are so much better then ones i was used to buy from places like boots
http://www.boots.com/shop/product_details.jsp?productid=1027206

meanmachine_2

Well now you know why the place was up for sale!

1) Noise is a terrible blight on all our lives in the summer. Your place will seem very different in the Autumn and winter.

2) Do try ear plugs - the best high street ones are "muffles" wax ear plugs from Boots.

However, they're unlikely to block out very bassy noise, like suped up boy racers.

3) I looked after a place for a friend on a busy road. Couldn't sleep all week. Thought my brain was going to start dripping out of my ears.

So I entirely empathise.

4) You might get used to it in the end. The human body is very adaptable. But I put a very high premium on peace and quiet and would happily pay an axtra £25K for a place off a main road.

Old_No.7

ear plugs might be the way to go: i've had secondary glazing installed in our flat on a busy road in London, and although it works a treat (worth every penny and it doesn't look as bad as I thought it would), in summer, when we have the windows open, it's obviously fairly useless... For all other times (which is most of the time, let's face it): even if you have double glazing, the secondary glazing would reduce the sound further, as it's an extra barrier (with a substantial air barrier as well: a secondary glazing person can calculate how much distance you need between glass and secondary glazing)

But from your 2nd post I get the idea you mean that you want to pub to install secondary glazing or airco in their premises, rather than you install it in your house?

As to getting used to it: I did get used to it, but my flatmate never did and moved out in the end (that was before the secondary glazing though).

Good luck with it all!

sportbeth

when I moved into my flat it was unbearable at first. Right on the main road and a bit of a drag raceway for the local idiots in their lowered Nova's.

After about 2 weeks I pretty much slept all the way through. I would suggest that in the winter you barely notice it especially if you get secondary glazing. And in the summer, if you can, open all windows on the rear of the property when you are sleeping and in hot weather leave the front windows shut. That cuts down the noise quite a bit. Alternatively invest in a really good fan like we did