Noisy road solutions

[tkilmore]

Hi all,
I was hopiing for some advice on how to deal with a noisy road.
My bungalow backs onto a noisy dual carriage way, the road is about 15 meters away, I currently have a standard 6foot feather edge fence with concrete posts and gravel boards in place, with 2foot trellis on top but this does little in the way of noise reduction. I will be replacing the posts and boards soon as they were never done properly in the first place, this got me thinking I could do something about the. Noise.
I suppose the best solution would be a breeze block rendered wall, but I think this is out of my budget of £500ish. The fence is 13m long. I am handy and can do the labour/laying etc.
Could any one advise please?
Your replies will be great fully received.

Tom

 

[merlin50]

 

[HERTS P&D]

Get a pond with waterfall installed, that's what I have done and it works.

Andy

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Seriously, apart from adding another sound to try and mask as has been mentioned, you could chuck £50K at this and not achieve anything! Spend the £500 on a weekend away instead!

 

[tkilmore]

Ok, I see your points, re pond, I have 4 young kids so a no go, I bought a fibre glass waterfall last year which went some way but not enough. After searching the net for a few hours I am thinking alongthe lines of a double skinned fence with some dense material down the middle, I could use my old old fence panels on the side next to the road. Also some sort of hood to stop noise rolling over th fence. I completely understand that I will never have a silent garden but believe with a little ingenuity almost anything can be achieved! From the reading I have done it seems any gaps are the enemy.
Any thought on what cheap and material could go down the middle?

Tom[/list]

 

[george40]

You could plant a hedge in front of the fence e.g. Coniver leylandii or thuja atrovirens. They have a bad reputation but provided you prune them regularly will provide a dense hedge and filter out a lot of noise.

 

[tkilmore]

I bought 15 leylandi and planted them 2m away from my fence 4 years ago, they grew to 6ft in 2 years and were starting to filter the noise, then the council told me to move them! I had planted on council land. I dug them up moved them closer and......they died.....gutted!
I wonder if corrugated roofing stood on end would direct the sound back at the road?

Tom

 

[r896neo]

A hedge is suprisingly ineffective when dealing with noise, you need to reflect it not absorb it so you want a solid barrier. The most effective is a bund of earth but unfortunately this is mega-bucks and not realistic unless you have large grounds. Your wall is the next best thing.

A solid high fence will do a lot more to reduce the sound than a hedge but a large thick hedge has a strong mental aspect in that you feel more sheltered.

 

[tkilmore]

Any suggestions for the dense bit in the middle? No jokes!
Pea gravel? Loft insulation absorbs water, sand? Polystyrene too expensive.


Tom

 

[HERTS P&D]

MOVE!

Andy

 

[r896neo]

Sand is very good but to build something capable of retaining that weight of wet sand you may as well build a block wall.

 

[tkilmore]

Have you tried selling your house lately!!!!!! I have, everybody wants it for a song.
Ever heard the old adage "if you can't say something helpful, don't say anything at all"

Tom

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

No need to get offended and you're getting this abuse for free remember! The fact is there is nothing you can realistically do for so little money. Frankly another load of leylandii is about your only hope. Sound does not travel only in a straight line.

 

[seco services]

I have 4 young kids

Buy a tv then you won't hear the traffic and you also won't need to entertain yourselfs.

 

[Alarm]

Have you approached the local authorities?
Or would they just say your a " southern poofta live with it"?