It’s incredibly rare for the home of your dreams to be entirely compromise-free. From foregoing that parking space you always said was essential to accepting a property with fewer rooms than you planned, these are usually compromises we’re willing to make for a house that gets our hearts soaring. In fact, the pull of the ideal property is so strong that many of us even choose roadside houses that suffer from car noise we always swore we’d never put up with.
The trouble is that, as much as people tell you road noise will soon fade into the background, some homeowners find that they simply can’t switch off to the constant swish of cars. This can prove incredibly distracting, and can even stop you from settling in your new home in extreme circumstances.
Luckily, road noise doesn’t need to be the unmanageable problem that we often treat it as. Sure, you can’t move that road or get rid of those cars altogether, but you can make household changes that can be equally effective. Here, we’re going to consider your best options for making that happen.
# 1 – Replace your windows
Anyone who hears about your road noise problem will recommend replacing your windows, and for good reason. Single-pane or older windows can certainly let noise in as though it were happening right in your living room. By comparison, double or triple glazed window replacements from companies like Renewal by Andersen Windows can make a huge and immediate difference to the sound disturbances you’re dealing with. Certainly, thicker glass can help to eliminate at least the majority of road noise that passes by, making it seem from the inside that your house is set a lot further back than it actually is.
Of course, with windows being a relatively pricey home addition, it’s natural to assume that you can get away with simply replacing your road-facing windows and leaving the rest be, but it’s only really through full-house double glazing that you can enjoy the extent of soundproofing on offer here. Not to mention that, regardless of how much they costs you, complete property window replacements can add as much as 10% to overall home values, as well as making your property far more appealing when it comes to selling.
# 2 – Reconsider your layout
Unless you’re set on major renovation works when you move in, the chances are that you’re more than happy to leave your property’s layout as it is. The trouble is that, traditionally, most houses will have living spaces at the front of the house while the kitchen, dining room, etc. are placed at the back.
There’s nothing wrong with this in theory, but it can quickly become an issue if you have a road right at the front of your house. Even with double glazing, you’ll experience inevitable sound disruptions while you’re trying to relax with a layout like this.
Hence why reconsidering layout is another fantastic way to eliminate noise as much as possible. Of course, how easy this is depends on the existing layout of your property. Needing to replace a kitchen, for instance, can turn into major renovation work that, though still potentially worthwhile, requires ample consideration and planning. By comparison, something like switching your dining room and living space should be a simple case of moving furniture, and can ultimately make a huge difference to the peace you enjoy in the spaces where you spend most of your time.
# 3 – Revamp your doors
While windows are an obvious go-to for eliminating outside noise, few of us consider how much of an impact our doors can have on sound exposure within our houses in general. Yet, doors that have a far more substantial square footage than most windows, and that generally come complete with some pretty sizable gaps that windows don’t typically have, can be some of the worst culprits for letting sounds in.
Wooden front doors are especially bad news in this sense, and this tends to be the case regardless of how much damp or soundproofing you use to overcome the issue. By comparison, composite external doors that are typically made from uPVC offer a far more effective, well-sealed soundproofing solution. Even better, these are now available in a range of wood grain designs that can provide the authentic feel of a wooden door with none of the compromise.
Meanwhile, inside your home, the installation of thick, wooden doors between rooms can be another fantastic way to eliminate noise, especially if you’ve replaced the most important rooms to the opposite side of your property from the road. This way, closing plenty of those doors between you and the road should provide a peaceful internal cushion that doesn’t even give a hint there’s a road anywhere nearby.
# 4 – Install a wall around your property
As well as focusing on the things you can do to eliminate noise exposure inside, prioritizing household exteriors can prove crucial for providing peace at last. The installation of brick garden walls that both hide that road from view and provide unexpected soundproofing benefits can certainly help to reduce noise when you’re trying to relax in the garden. By helping to set your property back from the road, additions like these can also make a huge difference to your interior noises, ultimately keeping that road very much out of sight, out of mind.
The sound-reducing benefits of a well-built brick wall can especially be enhanced by things like creeping plants, or even the addition of bushes that can replace that wall if you don’t fancy looking out on brick whenever you glance out the window. These little extras add a further layer of sound protection, as well as generally helping to get your garden looking great, and helping to add a picturesque quality to your property in general.
# 5 – Introduce sounds that you prefer
As strange as it might seem to add more sound when you’re ultimately trying to find peace, many homeowners find that replacing road sound with noises that they prefer can be an effective way to overcome problems of this nature.
Notably, many homeowners report that the addition of various water features within the garden can help to drown out road noise by distracting the mind from the fact that it’s there. Equally, the addition of something like a cuckoo clock in the home can provide a comforting ticking sound that brings many of the same benefits. In each instance, sound transference is at play to help your mind focus on something far more pleasant than the continual sound of cars outside of your door.
A final word
Roadside homes can seem like a nightmare from the outside, but the reality is that, if you love a property, even this compromise shouldn’t be enough to keep you away. After all, just as you can add new bedrooms to a wonderful property that doesn’t have as many rooms as you ultimately need, there’s plenty you can do to bring peace to a roadside home next to even the busiest of roads. You simply need to set your mind to soundproofing techniques like the ones listed here and make sure that you’re doing whatever you can to embrace what you love about that house without dwelling on this negative.
Trust us, all of that work will be worth it when you can finally relax in that dream living room without having to worry about sound for even a second!