Expert: Richard Taylor, AIA - 10/28/2005

Question
Dear sir. I have a big problem of noise pollution. Our house is right next to a gym/concert hall. Four days out of a week, the noise is just to loud. An elderly neighbor can't get to sleep. My baby wakes up everytime the game buzzer goes off. And it's just very, very annoying. We've tried to talk to the owners andeven the municipal but nothing has happened. Is there anyway to soundproof our glass windows without spending too much? Thanks!

Answer
Hi Mark - thanks for your question!

I'm sorry for the problem you're having - if I were you I'd keep working with the concert hall and with the city to find solutions.  Keep pushing, they'll eventually respond.

In the meantime, let me give you a short "primer" on sound transmission.  Sound is transferred from one area to another by air, or by building materials.  You may be getting unwanted sound from both sources, and may be able to reduce some of the noise easily.

Sound conducted by air requires a pathway - it can be something large like an open window, or something as small as the gap around an electrical outlet.  Start by carefully checking for any air passages from the outside to the inside - regardless of how small the passages may be.  They might be around windows and doors, electrical outlets, cracks in the wall, or heating ducts.  Seal up whatever you find with caulk or another appropriate sealer.

Sound conducted by building materials is a little tougher to solve.  Basically, sound waves cause materials to vibrate - just like the cone of a speaker or your eardrum - and that vibration transfers the sound into the adjacent space.  If you have single-pane windows, the sound outside is vibrating the glass which transfers the sound directly into the room.  If you can introduce an airspace between the glass and the outside or the glass and the room you'll cut down the sound transfer.  Check with your local hardware store for custom-fitted storm windows (vinyl-framed, not the old aluminum kind).  Fitted tight, they'll make a noticeable difference.

Are the walls of your room insulated?  Insulation traps and attenuates sound waves.  An uninsulated exterior wall will transfer a lot of sound but filling the wall cavity with insulation will help a lot.

Finally, assuming that your building existed before the concert hall, you may have legal options.  At the very least, you should be able to force the owners of the hall to pay to install sound-attenuation devices (as we've discussed above) for your building.  You will probably find that your neighborhood has some sort of community legal advisory firm that can provide legal help for these kinds of things at no cost.  Call your local Bar Association for more information - lawyers do a lot of "pro bono" work in such situations.

Good luck - hope this helps!

Richard Taylor, AIA
Richard Taylor Architects, LLC
www.rtastudio.com
www.betterhomedesign.blogspot.com