Help - how to reduce noise from my windows

[Sidwell28]

We recently had several new double glazed windows and doors installed with argon gas. However we live on a road which has become very busy and noisy and there is a lot of noise coming through the 2 new windows upstairs which back on to the main road (one of these is a bay). Our concerns have been addressed to the owner, of the company who installed them, who has said that the wall upstairs could be thinner than the wall downstairs which is why the bay he installed lets in more noise than the bay downstairs installed by another company. He also said that his surveyor (not qualified) has inspected the work of the fitters and that the fitters are themselves very consciencious, so in effect we are left with the problem. Additionally one of the windows installed did not have a top opening as per our order and £50 was deducted from the cost!

The two rooms where the two new noisy windows are installed have vents over air bricks. Could this have any bearing on the noise situation and is it possible to get vents that are sound proof when closed? I am also interested in finding out where to buy a sound monitor to check how much noise the windows are letting through.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[pinenot]

I think your being fobbed off by a company, expert at this sort of waffle/excuse, anybody firm that can miss out a top opening window tells you a lot about their competence in my opinion.

By the way, the argon in the glazing cassettes is meant to provide better sound blocking performance.

Your best recourse would be to establish whether this company is a member of any trade federation and whether they would provide any arbitration on this. I take it you have just had these installed??...pinenot

 

[foxhole]

The walls are the same dimension throughout most properties, the window must be badly fitted and sealed to allow in noise pollution.

 

[crank39]

One common issue i come across quite often when inspecting, especially bays is that any voids between the frame and bricks have not been foamed, this is especially critical on bays as there is always a need for certain amount of pvc cloaking/trimming up purely due to the various angles and where the frames meet the walls, you will get a lot of noise coming through these, traffic noise, people talking across the road all comes through as though one of the openers is on night vent. Another this is if you can hear noise through this then your probably losing heat through it too

Get them back and ask them to peel off 1 trim as a sample just to satisfy your curiosity.....i bet its not foamed, this may apply to the flat window also if it has any degree of trimming up

 

[Sidwell28]

One common issue i come across quite often when inspecting, especially bays is that any voids between the frame and bricks have not been foamed, this is especially critical on bays as there is always a need for certain amount of pvc cloaking/trimming up purely due to the various angles and where the frames meet the walls, you will get a lot of noise coming through these, traffic noise, people talking across the road all comes through as though one of the openers is on night vent. Another this is if you can hear noise through this then your probably losing heat through it too

Get them back and ask them to peel off 1 trim as a sample just to satisfy your curiosity.....i bet its not foamed, this may apply to the flat window also if it has any degree of trimming up

Thank you for your reply. We are pretty sure we saw the foam you talk of beofre the windows were finished off.

You mention that you get called out on inspections: would you know of anywhere/anyone independent in the Kent area whom we could get in, simply to advise us on whether the noise the windows are admitting is acceptable or not? We are reluctant to ask someone from another window company as they could well be biased against a competitor & want to lessen their reputation or even get extra work - at cost - for themselves.

 

[crank39]

Unfortunately not, we only inspect for insurance companies, the ones that sell the 10 year policies to the installers and also soon to be doing some random certass inspections too

 

[chippie244]

The air bricks will admit sound.

 

[big-all]

another point you must consider is the area between road and house
bushes and fences at low level will absorb and deflect noise and vibration [pressure waves]


is there a large hedge fence or trees that could absorb or deflect sound at ground level