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housebuyervnm · Sep 23, 2011, 06:47 AM

I am thinking of buying a property on a busy street but work from home and am concerend about the noise. It is a great buy and the house is gorgeous and great neighborhood etc. So am wondering if I can effectively put up an sound proof fencing and or shrubs? I could do a six foot tall fence I think and the lot is pretty even and doesn't slope down at all until after you are past the house. The house faces the busy road.
Got to make a decision soon as we have an accepted offer in and this is the due diligence period. I had not realized how loud it was there till we went back after the inspection.

I have heard that tall bushy shrubs make a difference and some day they do not. I have heard the same on fencing and would love to hear from anyone who has actually done it and what results they have vs reading on sites that sell the stuff. Any input welcome!
Thanks!

ma0641 · Sep 23, 2011, 07:28 AM

No fencing is "soundproof" but a combination of solid fencing and evergreen shrubbery is about the best you can do. Evergreen shrubbery along the roadway would also help. Noise level, measured in decibels, is a logarithmic scale so any reduction in transmission loss would be an improvement. Wood fencing is generally not adequate, you need block, brick or stone and the shrubbery. Not a cheap fix. If this is a 2 sty house, noise will go above the wall and penetrate the house.

solidzane · Sep 23, 2011, 08:02 AM

My suggestion is far from fashionable, but will help with the noise in a given room...

Egg crates... As in the cardboard or foam seats from any eggs at a local store... You can tack them up to the interior walls of whatever room/s and it will help to lower the volume... Works in both directions too. Our neighbor had a garage band which was very loud for a few months. They put up the crates and it was a drastic change.

Like I said, it is far from fashionable, but for the short term you could paint them to match the walls, and use them like a cork board... It would work until you get your wall and shrubs up... :)

ma0641 · Sep 24, 2011, 06:24 PM

Egg crates work great if used to disperse bounced or echoed sound. Unfortunately, they do not have any meaningful Sound Transmission Loss-STL. This is what reduces the sound level as it travels between 1 point and another, or to state a more simplistic case, would walls of egg crates work as division walls in a house? Anechoic rooms do have an egg ctare look but it is not for transmitted loss which is the issue here. Good thought though!

Fr_Chuck · Sep 24, 2011, 06:42 PM

A combination, and it depends on how much "sound proof" you need.

Fences ( if zoning will allow it along a front) helps, large shrubs help, Are the windows a triple glass, with heavy curtains.

The egg crates really help, we used them in a room where we used to do recording, Strange but works.
Attic insulation to stop noise though the celing.

pattyg2 · Sep 25, 2011, 02:27 AM

Hedges work wonders on noise reduction. My windowless bedroom wall faces the side street on my corner lot. I planted red tips many years ago and they have grown to the roof line. I trim the tops twice a year by going on the roof. I no longer hear the noise from the street. I also have jasmine growing along the fence on that street which also helps.