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Acoustic Windows for Road Noise, Read This First
If road traffic or other outside noise is getting into your room, it is tempting to go straight out and buy expensive triple glazed, acoustic laminated windows. Before you spend that money on acoustic windows for road noise, it is well worth checking a few things first, because the noise is very often not coming mainly through the glass.
Three parts of your home could be letting that noise in, and none of them is the window itself. Check these before you order anything, and you could either save a small fortune or at least make sure new windows will actually deliver. Here is what Quietco would look at:
- The window wall, is it hollow dot and dab?
- The cavity, what insulation is inside it?
- The loft, can you hear the road up there?
Work through these three before you commit to anything, and you will know exactly where your noise is coming from. Let us take them one at a time.
First, Check the Window Wall
Give the wall your window sits in a tap. If it sounds hollow, it is likely finished in dot and dab plasterboard, and that hollow void can actually be making the noise worse rather than better.
Test it for yourself in two quick steps:
- Put a finger in one ear, and press your other ear against the window wall
- Listen for a few moments and gauge how much noise is travelling up and down it
If a lot is coming through, that wall is a major path.
On new build homes especially, the windows often go in before the house is finished, so there can be gaps left around the frame too. Removing that dot and dab and treating the wall properly, right up to the window frame, improves how well your existing windows actually perform.
Next, Check the Cavity Walls
The next thing to check is what is inside your cavity walls, because it makes a real difference to low frequency noise. Having carried out thousands of insulations, we can only tell you what we consistently find.
Where there are polystyrene beads or rigid insulation in the cavity, low frequency noise, the rumble of trucks, artics, tractors and motorbikes, tends to travel more easily right across the structure of the house than it would with an empty cavity or mineral wool. So if you are hearing that deep rumble all over the home rather than just at the window, the cavity fill could well be the reason, and no new window will fix it.
Then, Check the Loft
This is the one almost everyone misses. In upstairs rooms the roof sits surprisingly close to the ceiling, so noise from outside can pour in through the roof and drop straight down through the bedroom ceiling below.
The problem is that standard loft insulation offers almost no sound attenuation. Put your head up in the loft, and if you can clearly hear the road or outside noise up there, then nothing is stopping it reaching the ceiling beneath you.
Adding proper acoustic mineral wool insulation across the loft can dramatically reduce that noise dropping into the room below, and for many people it is a weekend improvement rather than a major job. It is well worth understanding how much noise comes through your ceilings before blaming the windows.
Why Windows Alone Often Disappoint
Here is the principle that ties it all together. A home’s resistance to outside noise is governed by its weakest transmission path, not by its best element.
That means if the window wall, the cavity or the loft is letting noise in, upgrading the glass simply fixes one route while leaving the others wide open. You can spend thousands on the finest acoustic windows and still be kept awake, because the noise was never mainly coming through the window in the first place. Check the other paths first, and your money goes where it will actually count.
Find Out Where It's Really Getting In
The smartest thing you can do before spending anything is to find out exactly where the noise is entering. Treat the real path and you may not need new windows at all, or you will know they will genuinely work when fitted alongside the rest.
That is precisely what we do, and you can read more about how we work and the results we get.
Fill out the contact form to book your FREE noise diagnosis call and we will pinpoint where your noise is really getting in. Get in touch here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I buy acoustic windows for road noise?
Not before you check the other paths. Road noise often comes in through the window wall, the cavity or the loft as much as the glass, so it is worth diagnosing where it is really getting in first, or expensive windows may disappoint.
How do I check if noise is coming through my window wall?
Tap the wall to see if it sounds hollow, then put a finger in one ear and press your other ear against the window wall. If you can clearly hear noise travelling up and down it, that wall is a significant path.
Can cavity wall insulation make road noise worse?
It can. We often find that polystyrene beads or rigid insulation in the cavity let low frequency noise travel more easily across the whole structure than an empty cavity or mineral wool would.
Does loft insulation stop road noise?
Standard thermal loft insulation does very little for noise. Adding proper acoustic mineral wool insulation across the loft, however, can significantly cut the outside noise dropping through an upstairs ceiling.
