Hello.

I'm about to spend some money on a replacement window for my son's bedroom. The double glazed unti that is in there at the moment is letting a fair amount of noise through. We live on a busy road and at a weekend with taxis going past late at night, it can be a bit disruptive.

My question is what, in your opinions, would be the most probably solution to cutting down the ingress of sound? A full replacement window frame and triple glazing units or perhaps a secondary glazing unit that will sit 7 inches away from the current window? Most people seem to believe that the secondary glazing would be more effective. In fact, the only person who has argued the case for triple glazing with any real passion was the bloke trying to sell it to me.

Any thoughts would be welcome.

Many thanks in advance,

D

Secondary with 6.8mm acoustic laminated and it should be cheaper than a new window. All depends how bad condition the window is, if its that bad you just as well change the window

Hiya God.

The main window isn't 'too' bad but it's just not great at keeping the sound completely out. Had quotes for secondary - £460 inc VAT fitted. Was quoted £545 for new window that is triple glazed.

Secondary cleaner and easier to fit and if a new frame is not needed why pay the extra

My thoughts too...

Secondary will do a better job. If it's a 28mm unit in the existing window just change the glass unit only for a 4/4/4 with 2x 8mm spacers, you can even have 4/4/6.4lam on outer pane which helps even more as you can get smaller spacer bars.

I've got triple in my house bought them from www.eewindows.co.uk

Ifwindow is in good condition i would just change the glass 4/18/6 .Idid this and it works great. But just a though have you checked rubber seals as this could be part of the problem.

Thanks for all of the replies.

I've been stripping the plaster from the room in question and taken it off the walls around the window units. The plaster is falling away as it's so old but it revealed something that may have been adding to the sound issue. There is practically no filling material between the frame and the wall. The double glazed unit has been placed in situ when installed, screwed in and then silicone sealed. I was expecting at least there to be some form of packing medium to fill the gaps but there is absolutely nothing. In fact, I can see daylight down the side of the frame. I think it's a case of sh*t windows and installation of an equal quality.

Plan is to fill gaps with Gripfill or another mastic-product and then have the room re-plastered. Once decorated, I'm having new window guys to come in and fit secondary.

This whole episode got me thinking as to why our double glazed front door is so bloody noisy too. After inspecting, the two long window units in the door, it appears that there are no seals on the windows at all!! I don't know if this is the design or if there should be some rubber cushion that sits against the glass and the plastic frame that holds the unit in but it feels like the previous owners have taken big shortcuts when it comes to the quality if their (and now my) windows.

Bug*er.

http://www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1167223#1167223

If you got enough room inside the secondary glazing then you could add the insulation sound materials to break the sounds barrier, I know someone done it with a heavy duty stick-on carpet tiles!

you can also use expanding plastic foam to fill the big gaps. Silicone the outside bead first and let it set, to prevent the foam bulging through the outside.

you can trim it with a serrated knife, sand it, plaster it, paint it or fill over it when hard.

it is very messy and sticky so cover everything with clingfilm, newspaper and masking tape. Have multiple pairs of disposable gloves. Keep it off your clothes, hair, eyeballs and skin. Spray water on it to make it expand and harden quickly.

Hello again.

Have removed practically all of the plaster from room being decorated and have found that apart from the silicone sealant on the exterior of the windows, there is absolutely no other material in the gap between wall and window frame. Image below (sorry about the quality) shows how you can see daylight from inside the room down the side of the frame.





I was planning on filling the gap before room is re-plastered. I know John D mentioned the expanding foam but I've heard that if not used correctly it can bend/warp PVC frames. Anyone have any thoughts or recommendations? Somebody has suggested Gripfill to me??

Thanks in advance as always...

D

Your plasterer got to bond it anyway so get them to squeeze it behind the frame at the same time when plastering the walls