bad road noise can hear bad through windows and door

[Deleted User]

Hi there MSE.
My house was built in 2005, we moved in here in 2020 we have been battling road noise at the front of our property on (Removed by Forum Team) which is a very busy arterial root to West Yorkshire and Lancashire, just asking to see if there would be anything we could do to cure this or are there any grants or free subsidy for new windows and doors. Thanks. (Removed by Forum Team)...

TELLIT01

What windows are currently installed?  If built in 2005 I would assume double glazed. That being the case moving to triple glazed may help, but others will have more knowledge of how much that may reduce noise.

Bigphil1474

If you are living on a busy road, you have to expect some noise. Check if the windows are fitted properly e.g. any drafts at the edges which could be allowing noise in. If there's an issue with any seals or the brickwork, noise will travel through gaps so you could replace all the windows and still have problems. Do they have trickle vents? See if they can be closed or covered over to reduce the noise. You only need a small gap to change the noise exposure significantly.

FreeBear

TELLIT01 said:

What windows are currently installed?  If built in 2005 I would assume double glazed. That being the case moving to triple glazed may help, but others will have more knowledge of how much that may reduce noise.

Triple glazed may help. But if the windows have trickle vents, I suspect it would be a waste of money.

Building Regs basically say that if trickle vents are present on old windows, any new replacement must also have them. The regs also go on to say that trickle vents may be omitted on windows facing busy roads, but you are fighting an uphill battle with most installers.

Mr.Generous

Another vote for check the windows. had road noise a few times, (I used to renovate) and its always been poor fitting windows. There are company's who supply replacement gasket - they do a sample set so you can find the correct profile for your windows - if the seals have just worn. I've unscrewed the hinge mechanism and managed to move it closer to the frame in some circumstances to get a better seal. I've also found that adding a thin white rubber self adhesive draught proofer strip to the frames of the openers themselves is just as effective, and a lot cheaper. Ill post a link Below.

To see if it helps open the window handle and pull it as tight shut as you can, if the noise diminishes you need a better seal.

From a D/G perspective the bigger the air gap between the pains of glass the better the sound insulation. Really old DG units might have a 12mm bar, modern more like 22 / 28 mm. Tripple glazing doesn't have a good record of reducing noise unfortunately, because the gap betweeen the panes is even the sound can even amplify I read somewhere.

That's the stuff. Search "White rubber draught strip" on ebay, 10 mtrs currently £6.61

grumpy_codger

If it's triple glazing, then for noise reduction it's important to make sure that all glass panes have various thickness and the gaps are different too.

Kynthia

Are you able to plant hedges or a tree in your front garden to help muffle noise?

EnPointe

grumpy_codger said:

If it's triple glazing, then for noise reduction it's important to make sure that all glass panes have various thickness and the gaps are different too.

or the third pane is entirely seperate with a larger gap 

my parents' bedroom is  on the front of the house facing a reasonably busy road, they  retained  the (originally) seconday / supplementary)  glazing which was located half way or more into the sill opening from the  main window  when replacing the  main window with double glazed, and if the  supplementary  glazing  is closed it makes a significant  difference to the noise from outside  vs the  double glazing alone