Hello people!
I've moved down to London for a year for a short contract, living in a rather nice old Victorian house in N London. The downside: my room overlooks a busy road, and the single pane windows aren't really any good at cutting down the noise. I've been doing a bit of research, and it would seem that installing some secondary glazing is a reasonably priced way of cutting down the noise, drafts and such like from an old house that I'm in. The Landlord's OKed the plan, so just a matter of ordering the stuff but I wanted to get some advice before I do.
I'm going for perspex/acrylic glazing, probably from Tubeway or Perspex UK, with the magnetic sticky stuff, but the questions are:
1) how thick sheets should I go for? These are quite large windows (bay/sash, 1.70 x 0.97 m on the left panel, 1.70 x 1.20 m in the centre and a door on the right at 2.43 x 0.9 m), so heavy material (3 mm+) might be a bit much for the magnets. I've been told by several people that the air gap and sealing are more important than the actual thickness of perspex, so 2 mm might be good enough, and light enough for the retaining mechanism.
2) To edge or not. I understand edging allows for the use of thicker materials (3 mm+), but these will be heavier, and the panels do need to be removable/stickable with the magnetic strips. That and it's a lot more expensive.
I've found the whole lot for just over £200 w/ 2 mm material and magnetic stripping. There is a ledge for the panels to rest on so that's not an issue, and I can add a block on the sash bar to prevent bowing.
Will this improve the noise situation and the freezing coldness of the house?
Any experience or input with similar things that might be of help?
Cheers
Al
I've moved down to London for a year for a short contract, living in a rather nice old Victorian house in N London. The downside: my room overlooks a busy road, and the single pane windows aren't really any good at cutting down the noise. I've been doing a bit of research, and it would seem that installing some secondary glazing is a reasonably priced way of cutting down the noise, drafts and such like from an old house that I'm in. The Landlord's OKed the plan, so just a matter of ordering the stuff but I wanted to get some advice before I do.
I'm going for perspex/acrylic glazing, probably from Tubeway or Perspex UK, with the magnetic sticky stuff, but the questions are:
1) how thick sheets should I go for? These are quite large windows (bay/sash, 1.70 x 0.97 m on the left panel, 1.70 x 1.20 m in the centre and a door on the right at 2.43 x 0.9 m), so heavy material (3 mm+) might be a bit much for the magnets. I've been told by several people that the air gap and sealing are more important than the actual thickness of perspex, so 2 mm might be good enough, and light enough for the retaining mechanism.
2) To edge or not. I understand edging allows for the use of thicker materials (3 mm+), but these will be heavier, and the panels do need to be removable/stickable with the magnetic strips. That and it's a lot more expensive.
I've found the whole lot for just over £200 w/ 2 mm material and magnetic stripping. There is a ledge for the panels to rest on so that's not an issue, and I can add a block on the sash bar to prevent bowing.
Will this improve the noise situation and the freezing coldness of the house?
Any experience or input with similar things that might be of help?
Cheers
Al
