Reduce Traffic Noise in Your Home

Living in a home where traffic noise is a problem can interfere with every aspect of your life from an inability to get to sleep to simply being unable to watch TV without turning the volume up to ear-bleeding levels. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to deal with the roar of traffic in the home. Here’s a few ideas to help you deaden the noise.

Planning

When looking for solutions for reducing the amount of traffic noise in the home, a good place to start is to get acoustic consultants to come and give your home the once-over. Companies like ANE are experienced in using a number of devices to accurately measure the level of noise infiltrating a property and where it’s coming from. This sort of data will allow you to single out areas where sound-proofing will be most effective.

Reshuffle

This may not be applicable to all homes but, if you can, try reshuffling the room layout. Bedrooms near the front of the house should be relocated as best as possible towards the back, away from the road. Move less important living areas towards the front of the house. If your walls are especially thin, this may do very little to help you but the experiment is one well worth running and – if it works – may save you a lot of money on soundproofing.

Fortify

Installing a tall fence at the front of the property can help greatly reduce traffic noise. Given that you are aware of the neighborhood and the level of traffic noise, it might be even more advantageous if you decide to erect a fence around your house as it is being constructed. You can ask the house builders you hired, like Wright Homes (learn more about them by visiting their website at wrighthomes.com), to install a fence around your property. You won’t have to worry later about starting another project just to put up a high fence if you decide to install it at the beginning itself.

Even though high fences can be expensive to construct, they can cut road noise by an astounding amount. Your mileage may vary depending on the materials you use to build the fence. For example, you can consider traditional fence panels or brick walls to fortify your home. In the case of the brick walls, the trade-off will be that the front yard will no longer have a view of any sort and will suffer from a lack of light during certain parts of the day which could adversely affect your garden. If your house is already made of brick then consider upgrading the windows – glass is quite permeable by sound so upgrading to a harder, thicker pane will help cut out a lot of noise.

Insulate

If you’d prefer not to go the wall route then insulation and sound deadening will be your next best bet. Quality insulation materials will be heavy, nonporous, and tightly joined to better reflect any sound that comes at it. Insulation barriers can be installed in your home to reduce outside sound. Considering your roof’s role in noise reduction is equally important. A roof repair from a firm like DuraGuard Roofing (www.duraguardroof.com/roof-repair-stuart-fl) can be a good start, as it can ensure that your roof is in optimal condition to help with soundproofing.

Additionally, installing a soundproofing underlayment or acoustic material beneath your roof can further diminish traffic noise and enhance your home’s overall soundproofing. And if you decide to go the insulation route, you may also need to be careful to ensure that all doors, windows, and wall edges are properly sealed simultaneously because the sound will still get through if they aren’t. For that, you may need to contact a local insulation company that can assist you in filling cracks in the home. For example, if you live in Alberta, you can look for relevant service providers on the internet with keywords like “Red Deer spray foam insulation.”

New Houses

Those who have not built their home yet but can already see the problem of traffic noise rearing its head are in the best position to stop it in its tracks. You can elect to build further back on your block to put some distance between you and the road, and you can ensure that your home is built with all the sound-deadening modifications and acoustic materials it requires from the jump. Much easier than having to live with the noise and figure out what to do about it later on!

These are just five ways you can reduce traffic noise in your home. What are your favorite methods for deadening road roar? Share your thoughts below!