Sound Proof Windows

[Apothecary]

Hi,

Can anyone point me in the direction of a supplier for sound proof windows? I get too much noise pollution that wakes me up in the night sometimes and wish to turn my bedroom and office into something like an 'underground bunker' even it's 17 floors up in the air. I stay on Sukhumvit Bangkok.

With Thanks,

Apothecary

[Soutpeel]

double glazing would be the way to go, but aint going to be cheap in Thailand

[Naam]

17th floor and noise pollution throught the windows? are you sure?

[TwoDogz]

There was a thread a long time back about a guy complaining about his neighbours listening to his wife screaming during sex.

There was a lot of information in that thread re soundproofing.

[Soutpeel]

17th floor and noise pollution throught the windows? are you sure?

On a flight path/approach for one of the airports ?...

[LennyW]

Most of the UPVC window suppliers do double and even triple glazing.

[ThaidDown]

a guy complaining about his neighbours listening to his wife screaming during sex.

The moral of that is... make sure your wife does not return home while you are having sex.!!

On topic ... as said double or triple gazing. If just for night time use maybe an over frame filled with acoustic foam slid over the window frame. Of course then also blocks the light.

If higher frequency noise even heavy curtain material could be cheap to try.

Do not know what the source of the noise is but an alternative approach could be a white/pink noise generator in the room to mask the problem.

[simple1]

a guy complaining about his neighbours listening to his wife screaming during sex.

The moral of that is... make sure your wife does not return home while you are having sex.!! On topic ... as said double or triple gazing. If just for night time use maybe an over frame filled with acoustic foam slid over the window frame. Of course then also blocks the light. If higher frequency noise even heavy curtain material could be cheap to try. Do not know what the source of the noise is but an alternative approach could be a white/pink noise generator in the room to mask the problem.

Do white noise devices mask the sound of barking dogs & if so where you buy / order them in Thailand - I live in Pattaya

[Hssl]

upvc 'casement' windows is what you need - IF you really think the noise is coming through your windows

[Morakot]

a guy complaining about his neighbours listening to his wife screaming during sex.

The moral of that is... make sure your wife does not return home while you are having sex.!! On topic ... as said double or triple gazing. If just for night time use maybe an over frame filled with acoustic foam slid over the window frame. Of course then also blocks the light. If higher frequency noise even heavy curtain material could be cheap to try. Do not know what the source of the noise is but an alternative approach could be a white/pink noise generator in the room to mask the problem.

Do white noise devices mask the sound of barking dogs & if so where you buy / order them in Thailand - I live in Pattaya

One of these larger fans can create a bit of "white noise".

Edited August 2, 2012 by Morakot

[klikster]

double glazing would be the way to go, but aint going to be cheap in Thailand

Only if you can prevent the noise 'flanking' the double glazing.

[bbradsby]

The solution(s) depend entirely on the frequencies of the noise. Please describe the noises and/or sources. If there's a pile driving contractor next door going at it 24/7, you're up against a real design problem that simple dual glazed plastic windows won't solve.

[Apothecary]

The solution(s) depend entirely on the frequencies of the noise. Please describe the noises and/or sources. If there's a pile driving contractor next door going at it 24/7, you're up against a real design problem that simple dual glazed plastic windows won't solve.

Thanks for all your replies. Yes, it's 17 floors up and i'm quite sensitive to honking cars and garbage men breaking glass as they do their round in the middle of the night. Also get the roar/hum of cars coming in at a level louder than i'm confortbale with.

I thought uPVC may be the way to go but i don't know of any supplier for this in Bangkok. I did try a web search and asking the help of a Thai person.

[bbradsby]

OK, sounds like higher frequencies, which travel easily through gaps & cracks in the entire building envelope of your unit - not just in your bedroom. So try the simplest, cheapest solution first: simple ear plugs and an extra loud alarm clock to wake you from your peace. Seriously. I've used this one to great effect. If that is not workable for you, get out your wallet and open it in increments:

First, seal all fixed window frame to wall (or ceiling or floor, depending on how big your windows are) joints with a continuous, airtight sealant joint. Look for cracks/gaps/bad joinery in the frames themselves, and seal with color matched sealant. Examine the glazing gaskets - often they are not airtight seals in job-built, low-tech, low-mid-rise window 'systems.'

Install tight-fitting neoprene gaskets at all edges of exterior doors and operable windows. Low-mid-rise terrace/balcony sliding doors are horrible offenders for air & sound leaks.

Bathroom, kitchen hood, laundry exhaust fans & grilles, and any pipe/conduit penetrations in walls/floors/ceilings with gaps or cracks transmit higher freq sound waves with ease. Exhaust grilles need lined, sound baffle boxes, else your grille is a speaker box for outside noises.

Interior door gaps combined with hard surface floors, walls, glass, and gyp ceilings enhance noise flanking from other rooms inside your unit, or adjacent units! If you can differentiate different words of normal conversations in adjacent units, you have air gaps for easy sound... and smoke and fire transmission! Tracking these down can involve selective demolition of finishes, but should be looked into. Seal all cracks, gaps, then review the results. If flanking is occurring, track down the source(s) and seal similarly.

If this is not quiet enough, next least expensive solution is to introduce white noise, starting with a simple floor fan or MBK clock radio with white noise feature. I'd be amazed if this doesn't solve your problems, after sealing all cracks & gaps.

For lower freq sound waves, which transmit exterior sound to you by vibrating your walls & window planes (turning them into effective speaker membranes) adding mass to the offending building assemblies is the only answer that I am aware of, besides active noise cancellation and simple ear plugs and an extra loud alarm clock to wake you from your peace.

OK, thats a lot to cover, not really edited much as its getting late. But give these a try and let us know if these solutions don't solve oyur problems beginning with the cheap & easy first. It's the low freq noises that get expensive to remedy.

[kyb789]

Personally I think the advice and comments you received are just a load of crap. The windows in Thailand were not meant for insulation and noise reduction. Gazing is worthless and will not give you what you want. Back in the U.S. the biggest pitch now is the double pane windows with vacuum between he glass. I just refinished my home and it works beautifully. Noise reduction to almost zero. Try finding that tin Thailand. Haven't see it yet.

[TwoDogz]

Personally I think the advice and comments you received are just a load of crap. The windows in Thailand were not meant for insulation and noise reduction. Gazing is worthless and will not give you what you want. Back in the U.S. the biggest pitch now is the double pane windows with vacuum between he glass. I just refinished my home and it works beautifully. Noise reduction to almost zero. Try finding that tin Thailand. Haven't see it yet.

Looking at the stars is not worthless, it is an amazing sight on a cloudless lightless night.

The US comes up with some stupid ideas, but putting a hoover between glass is just weird.

[klikster]

Personally I think the advice and comments you received are just a load of crap. The windows in Thailand were not meant for insulation and noise reduction. Gazing is worthless and will not give you what you want. Back in the U.S. the biggest pitch now is the double pane windows with vacuum between he glass. I just refinished my home and it works beautifully. Noise reduction to almost zero. Try finding that tin Thailand. Haven't see it yet.

Looking at the stars is not worthless, it is an amazing sight on a cloudless lightless night.

The US comes up with some stupid ideas, but putting a hoover between glass is just weird.

I doubt if that is fact. More likely the space is filed with inert gas to prevent condensation / fogging. Seems to me a vacuum between two thin layers of glass would put them under significant stress and make them lots easier to break..

"Personally I think the advice and comments you received are just a load of crap."

Actually, many of the comments here were pretty good until ..

And I'm still trying to figure why "g(l)azing is worthless". Glass is glass, whether Thai or farang.

"The windows in Thailand were not meant for insulation and noise reduction."

????

"Noise reduction to almost zero."

Wouldn't noise reduction to almost zero would actually be "dam_n near nothing"?

[bbradsby]

Personally I think the advice and comments you received are just a load of crap. The windows in Thailand were not meant for insulation and noise reduction. Gazing is worthless and will not give you what you want. Back in the U.S. the biggest pitch now is the double pane windows with vacuum between he glass. I just refinished my home and it works beautifully. Noise reduction to almost zero. Try finding that tin Thailand. Haven't see it yet.

Everyone has the right to their opinion - however credentials & experience you have to earn. Therefore some opinions are worth more than others. To your points:

1. single glazing's performance depends on panel size, fixing, perimeter seal, frame rigidity and panel thickness. Do you see multi-pane glass in plastic frames at airports - no. DO they deal well with massive noise challenges -mostly.

2. dual pane sealed insulated glass' cost/benefit value for sound attenuation is very low if the space within is less than 3/4" [20mm].

3. dual pane windows are basically worthless for attenuating high-freq noise, the OP's issue evidently, as it travels through air gaps into occupied spaces, unlike low freq sound waves.

Having said that, the OP's bedroom windows may be THE problem, part of it, or none of it! Noise problems, sound frequencies, transmission and attenuation are site-specific, usually multi-faceted, and so the solutions differ.

This forum's users' free, very general advice the OP has received should be treated as a Chinese take-out menu since no one but himself has seen/heard his specific noise problems. For instance, he has not mentioned the potential effect of adjacent buildings reflecting sound from the street to his unit, nor how many exterior walls his unit has. Sound waves bounce off of hard, smooth surfaces quite nicely, so his issues could be coming from all sides of his unit... kitchen openings, living room balcony doors, etc., on the opposite side of the unit. And then, since all Thai apartments are built to be fantastic echo chambers, flanking in through bedroom and/or bathroom door cracks.

[Apothecary]

OK, thats a lot to cover, not really edited much as its getting late. But give these a try and let us know if these solutions don't solve oyur problems beginning with the cheap & easy first. It's the low freq noises that get expensive to remedy.

Dear all,

Thanks again for your replies, especialy 'bbradsby' detailed response with different solutions. in the bedroom is indeed sliding glass doors on to an a balcony. the building itself is very solid (17 year old concrete) and i'm sure the main culprity of noise transmission is the glass sliding doors (or the frame / seal). i'm going to investigate further. in the mean time does anyone know of a supplier in Bangkok of uPVC doors with vacuum double layer glass?

Thanks again!

[Hssl]

038 378 302. Tryba PVC Doors & Windows - Not BKK BUT the casement doors I got from them were good enough for a professional recording studio.............

[KRS1]

Correction

a guy complaining about his neighbours listening to his wife screaming during sex.

The moral of that is... make sure your you wife does do not return home while you your wife is are having sex.!!

On topic ... as said double or triple gazing. If just for night time use maybe an over frame filled with acoustic foam slid over the window frame. Of course then also blocks the light.

If higher frequency noise even heavy curtain material could be cheap to try.

Do not know what the source of the noise is but an alternative approach could be a white/pink noise generator in the room to mask the problem.

[bbradsby]

Dear Moderator, please consider creating a "Best Of TV" sticky thread that pins, for everyone's continued enjoyment, the funniest/most bizarre threads of all time from all Forums?

I hereby vote for the "a guy complaining about his neighbours listening to his wife screaming during sex." as the inaugural, instant classic, BoTV Post.

[saengsureeya]

[TwoDogz]

Dear Moderator, please consider creating a "Best Of TV" sticky thread that pins, for everyone's continued enjoyment, the funniest/most bizarre threads of all time from all Forums?

I hereby vote for the "a guy complaining about his neighbours listening to his wife screaming during sex." as the inaugural, instant classic, BoTV Post.

he was listening to the guy screaming 'aw gawd' not the girl.

Kind of sick if you think about it.

[aussiebebe]

038 378 302. Tryba PVC Doors & Windows - Not BKK BUT the casement doors I got from them were good enough for a professional recording studio.............

That company looks good; I have similar problems to the OP and if his condo is the same as mine, the management company may not allow any external changes to the building's appearance so that rules out windows. The Thai-German build-on shutters look interesting as they address the dual problems of sound and light at nighttime; where I live, even with silver curtain-backing materials it's hard to block out light at nighttime. Those shutters may be a solution (if permitted by the management company).

I've looked at all sorts of solutions; I haven't found any internal-window companies in Thailand but youtube has a British video showing how to make a perspex DIY alternative with a sheet of perspex held on with magnetic strip tape and metal strip tape - no idea where to buy any of those three things in Thailand, Home Pro can't help!

Another way is to make window plugs, boards which you fit over the windows at night. Home Pro sells large sheets of that corrugated board (future board?) but window plugs are usually lined with mass-loaded vinyl or similar. The sound absorbing sheets you buy at Home Pro (M-sorb) would be useless. I've no idea where to buy mass-loaded vinyl - the limitations of google....