soundproof windows?

bobwilson · 12 January 2018 at 3:03AM

We live on a 5 lane dual carriageway & would like to install soundproof windows. It's a small 3 bed terraced.. we have 7 basic casement windows & they were installed by DIY by the previous owner. They're pretty useless.. and look cheap

I asked for some double glazed window quotes from companies, for PVC double glazing & also a quote for timber just for comparison.

After a very long sales speech & making us watch pointless videos, Anglian quoted us £98,000 for timber (I kid you not). They then said they'd reduce that to £60,000 as a special discount for us (Still not kidding). :rotfl: They then told us they hadn't drawn up a PVC quote as they thought we would go for the timber

I suggested to the man that if we had that kind of cash lying around, we would put down a deposit on another house or would have bought something in a better area than this. He gave some moronic arrogant response like "well I don't judge peoples' decisions and I can't predict what people might wish to do."

He then told us PVC would be about 25% less than timber, but then he said he could probably do PVC windows for around £30,000 for us. :rotfl:

We had another quote from a company called "Safe style".. and the man wasn't interested in anything, nor in listening to what we wanted.. he was an indian chap but it didn't seem to be a language barrier as he sounded english. He didn't seem capable of truly listening, just seemed to presume everything.. then he told us something like £8500, but he refused to put it in writing & said "that's a special discount, so I can't write it down". It was just bizarre.

We had another quote arranged from someone else, but they never turned up.

Has anyone else had similar experience? What should we be expecting to pay? Are there any decent companies for acoustic double glazing? We were thinking more along the lines of £2000- £5000. Is this wrong?

We then considered going down the line of secondary glazing instead, but had a similar fiasco.

We're now considering installing DIY secondary glazing but it all takes up so much time on top of all the other DIY we're having to do at the moment because of other ridiculous quotes (e.g. one workman quoted £4000 labour for installing 20m2 wood floor (we expected £300-£900) and another quoted £4,500 to touch up the paint around our light switches (we expected it to be £50-£100!) )

We have done the painting ourselves & we're starting to regret pulling up the laminate floor & ordering new flooring before getting quotes for installation.

Are there no decent honest tradesmen around? How do these crazy people stay in business? Surely no one would pay those kinds of prices..

A quick google search reveals "average" price ranges for certain jobs, but we just seem to get consistently 3 or 4 times those prices.

Debbie_Savard · 12 January 2018 at 7:36PM

>Is this wrong?<

Yep, that's not realistic for 7 windows. But good to see Anglian are still up to their usual tricks.

See http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4898346 for ideas on minimising noise

Rather than asking for 'acoustic' glass, ask for a quote for glazing using a 6.6mm laminate pane and 6mm toughened pane with at least a 20mm air gap, ideally more, in UPVC frame.

Slinky · 12 January 2018 at 9:16PM

Stop calling in the companies you see advertised on the TV - you're paying for all that advertising budget.

Try asking for some recommendations from local people for local businesses who will be a lot cheaper.

pollypenny · 13 January 2018 at 10:10AM

Get three quotes from local firms, by recommendation if possible. Local firms have reputations to maintain.

tony541 · 14 January 2018 at 12:15AM

Yes, get 3 quotes from local builders and you could look at triple glazing which typically only adds on another £50 or so to each window. You would also gain some heat retention to boot. We did our windows facing a dual carriage with triple glazing and it has worked a treat. You can get glass now that permits more radiant heat from sunshine into your house which is handy for south facing windows. Tony

Mr.Generous · 14 January 2018 at 12:32AM

Only £98,000 before the special discounts from Anglian! Bargain time. £10k per window say, and throw in £28k for two guys to fit them over 2 days. You cannot say fairer than that.

How on earth do they get any sales. When I retire I might get them over for a quote just for the comedy value.

Local companies, triple glazed with a big air gap will be the way to go. Wander down to a sealed unit manufacturer and get some recommendations for companies to get quotes from.

jamesperrett · 14 January 2018 at 1:18AM

tony541 wrote: »

Yes, get 3 quotes from local builders and you could look at triple glazing which typically only adds on another £50 or so to each window.

Triple glazing is actually worse from a soundproofing point of view as it is the gap between panes that is important and that gap is reduced by the presence of a third pane. That's why good secondary glazing is far more effective as it gives you a much wider gap than you would achieve with sealed units.

I'd agree with the suggestion to use local firms that have been personally recommended.

bobwilson · 14 January 2018 at 2:00AM

tony541 wrote: »

you could look at triple glazing which typically only adds on another £50 or so to each window... Tony

Double glazing is more soundproof than triple glazing. Triple glazing is better for heat retention.

bobwilson · 14 January 2018 at 2:02AM

So... can anyone recommend someone in South West London? Lol. I don't know anyone here to ask..

maisie_cat · 14 January 2018 at 6:16AM

I saw a Sarah Beeny programme recently where she proved to a couple that secondary glazing was more effective than double glazing. In their case the couple had lovely old windows and the secondary glazing was timber. The larger gap facilitated the better soundproofing as Jamesperret advised.
We had hardwood double glazed fitted 10 years ago, 15 windows & bifold doors were £22k.
They are lovely. were made by glyngary and fitted by a local firm. We are between Heathrow & Gatwick so have aircraft noise & the M25 this time of year and our windows are very effective.

thesoundproof · 16 March 2019 at 4:44PM

There are few things to consider.
1. Windows
Acoustic glass is very heavy, so the frames and hinges need to support that.
Double glazed acustic glass 43db 8.8mm (16Argon) 6.8mm 35kg pre SQM
Locking mechanism (multi locking is best)
Seals - double
Frame material: timber is better then UPVc

Anything less then 43dB will not be significant.
There are companies that offer uptown 51dB glass (for residential)
51dB triple glazing = 55kg per sqm

Secoundary glazing, to work well you need 150-250mm gap between existing windows and secondary.
Glass min 8.8mm acustic

Installation is often overlooked, you purchase expensive windows and they need to be installed correctly do there are no gaps.

Acustic windows don't have ventilation, do you need independent - acusticlly treated ventilation.

2. General structure of the building.
For example bay will have really weak walls, they need acustic treatment.

soundproof windows?

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