Way to Soundproof my Bedroom from Street Noise

[jdean]

My house is about 10 years old, so all of the walls are made out of those small reddish color bricks and the windows are all wooden. I'm tired of the traffic noise waking me up. I have already decided to try the double glazed windows but what more can I do. It would be too much work to knock the whole wall out and replace it with the white bricks. Any suggestions will be welcome.

[NamKangMan]

Definately double glaze the windows.

In relation to the walls, if your bedroom is large, what about a timber frame cavity wall that is heavily insulated inside the cavity. Then just your usual plasterboard and painted finish. Sure, your room will be slightly smaller, but if that's no problem for you, it could fix your problem. Or, similarly, double brick the wall, from the inside, which would probably be cheaper.

Another idea, and I haven't seen your property, but you did say it's a house, is to put a high fence up along the street front boundary, not for anti-theft or privacy reasons, but to act as a sound barrier, as it will bounce a lot of noise back off it. A cheaper option to this is using trees.

[bkkjames]

earplugs

[stevehaigh]

alcohol

seriously, i think you will find it very hard to make any improvements after the double glassing. i lived in Paris for a year, right next to the metro (above ground bit). it drove me nuts at first but after 2-3 months i didn't notice it anymore.

[KarenBravo]

Nail empty egg-cartons to the outside walls.

[eezergood]

Sound proof your head - as suggested, ear plugs

[LivinginKata]

Unhelpful/nonsense posts removed.

[hugocnx]

Sound needs air for transportation. The more openings to the outside you can close, the better. The thinner the layer to the outside the more membrane matter you have. The red bricks are not that bad since they have a spongy structure that acts as a double insulation. Concrete is far worse.

Look for fresh air 'louvres' in walls; windows not completely closing; thin glass.

Things you can do are limited as noice reduction is quite costly.

Indeed double glass windows. Close all openings thru which noice can come in e.g. the bathroom, the hall, the ceiling.

Isolating the ceiling with glasswool can be done (double gain)as also pre-set walls. These must not have fixed mounting to the outside wall and preferably layered inside with egg plate foam (available in Thailand). Pre-set walls can be made of thin plywood or gypsum plates or whatever these are named in English.

Edited February 14, 2014 by hugocnx

[phuketsub]

I could not agree more wholeheartedly: earplugs. Don't leave home without them, either...

[casualbiker]

i liked namkangmans suggestions.. it all depends how much you want to spend?

if you look around at Global or thaiwatsuda you can find insulated gyproc, stick that to the walls, seal it and paint. job done.

http://www.greenbutterfly.org/projects/insulation-internal/

[NamKangMan]

i liked namkangmans suggestions.. it all depends how much you want to spend?

if you look around at Global or thaiwatsuda you can find insulated gyproc, stick that to the walls, seal it and paint. job done.

http://www.greenbutterfly.org/projects/insulation-internal/

a5e1b6e7.jpggreenglueapplication.jpg

Yes, I think a good solution.

If the noise is really bad, some batons can be screwed onto the brick wall and then the insulated plasterboard can go onto the batons. This will create a cavity which will further block/trap the noise vibration.

[RigPig]

i liked namkangmans suggestions.. it all depends how much you want to spend?

if you look around at Global or thaiwatsuda you can find insulated gyproc, stick that to the walls, seal it and paint. job done.

http://www.greenbutterfly.org/projects/insulation-internal/

a5e1b6e7.jpggreenglueapplication.jpg

Yes, I think a good solution.

If the noise is really bad, some batons can be screwed onto the brick wall and then the insulated plasterboard can go onto the batons. This will create a cavity which will further block/trap the noise vibration.

I am (I hope, all going well) about to buy a place next month. I am thinking of battoning all the outside walls with steel studs (no termites) and fixing gypsum sheeting with insulating fibre glass batts installed in the cavity. This will insulate the house from sound, heat and give me a gap in which to re-wire the place and run the (double insulated) cables without chasing conduits into the walls. I will rip ALL of the electrics out and re-wire properly. I will also insulate the roof space with batts. Double glazing is of course always a good idea too, but I have other ideas for that.

[Loles]

Dear Amigo, you don't waste your money. Your mentioned problem comes with your age. When you were younger you could sleep well even a battle-field. If you are enough old you will wake up to every BST. This is the life can't do anything.

[lucjoker]

your roof acts as a big megaphone !

Insulate your ceiling (not the roof itself)

Double walls are very good but keep the cavity empty,unless you want mice

make a holliday resort from you insulation and you will hear the moving arround the whole night !)

Best of all is dont live near busy streets! before you rent or build:check out the location ,are there empty plots near you?(they will start building there

soon and it will be noisy and stay noisy if it becomes a karioke bar or a garrage (anex paint cabin )

Check your future neibourghs ,thai? children? DOGS !!!!

If you buy land ,buy at least 1 rai and put the house in the middle and a lot of big trees arround .

Or stick to the simple solution from above ,alcohol and go to bed at 4am .

proost.

[abhaya]

Earplugs.

[Guitar God]

I have a place in Bangkok with the same problem. I'm convinced the majority of the sound comes in through the windows and balcony doors. Good double-glazed doors and windows would really reduce the amount of noise but so far I haven't found any places which sell them. I think if you found a source and replaced the widows it would be enough. I hate earplugs, it sounds like I'm underwater, I hear my heartbeat and blood flow in my ears and it's harder to swallow. I just lost a nice pair of active, in the ear noise canceling headphones that I used on airplanes. Those might be another option.

[jackflash]

You have my sympathy! The street noise level is horrible in Thailand.

Please note that It's not enough to just add a cavity wall and/or ceiling. The false walls need to be floating, else the battens will simply conduct noise and can actually make it worse.

In Europe it is common to see false walls and ceilings which are hung via special damping strips which physically stops the vibrations being conducted.

Edited February 15, 2014 by jackflash

[im fine and you]

Heavy curtains are a must on windows, I currently live opposite 3 karaokes and 1 bar, they do quite a good job.

[Gnasher328]

Small earplugs from Homepro etc are comfortable to sleep in but not as effective as the larger ones I bought from the UK.

[johnnysunshine]

Ear plugs!

[keestha]

White noise machine?

[gandalf12]

Use plaster board on the inside of the wall facing the road and put expanded polystyrene between it and the wall. You can then paint the plasterboard. It may not totally reduce it but it will be a significant improvement and wouldnt cost much

[maderaroja]

There is an outfit in BKK that does this nationwide. They apply foam board over the outside of the wall and finish it with gypboard. I don't remember the name of the company. This is a website for acoustiblok: http://www.acoustiblok.com/

[lucifer666]

Many many moons ago ( more than i care to remember) my (Then) band and i made a soundproof recording studio using the trays that eggs come in, glued to the walls. Cost nothing and worked like a charm

Edited February 15, 2014 by lucifer666

[casualbiker]

Many many moons ago ( more than i care to remember) my (Then) band and i made a soundproof recording studio using the trays that eggs come in, glued to the walls. Cost nothing and worked like a charm

No egg trays like that in Thailand. At least I haven't seen any! You gotta eat A LOT of eggs!

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[lucifer666]

Many many moons ago ( more than i care to remember) my (Then) band and i made a soundproof recording studio using the trays that eggs come in, glued to the walls. Cost nothing and worked like a charm

No egg trays like that in Thailand. At least I haven't seen any! You gotta eat A LOT of eggs!

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

I see them everyday in my local shop. Usually stacked around 2 foot tall. Seen them at the local markets also. I meant the large trays, not egg boxes though

[belg]

get your eardrums pierced, as nothing will stop the noise

[khunPer]

Nail empty egg-cartons to the outside walls.

No, paperboard egg cartons works for acoustics only on smooth hard surfaces, they will not insulate and reduce noise from outside. The hippie-age way improving a garage to be a recording studio.

Best sound insulation is heavy materials (like stone/cement) and reducing vibrations between surfaces (with mineral wool like brand Rockwool).

First and cheapest thing to check and improve is unwanted openings toward noise source, such as bad closing window frames (rubber band) or ventilation holes (can even be small openings where aircon pipes comes in). Noise/sound “loves” to find it’s way in through small holes.

Double glass windows will improve some. Sealed frames are more important and a thicker glass like 6mm instead of 3mm or 4mm, or use laminated 8mm made of two 4mm glass plates glued together; best performance from a double window with a laminated 8mm and a single 6mm, in of course a solid non vibrating frame. Maximum is achieved from two sets of separated frames and the glass slightly angled and few degrees, so standing sound waves between the glasses are killed (that’s how to make a window in a recording studio, but may be a bit over the target for normal room, especially if walls and ceiling etc. are not up to maximum insulation).

The white comfort bricks are good, especially if you make double walls with mineral wool between the two walls; even better if one of the double walls is made of solid bricks. Construction wise the solid brick wall shall be where you have a foundation to carry it, as the white comfort bricks are not so heavy.

Ceiling can also be a cause for noise, but a bit trickier to deal with. Mineral wool above gypsum plates can improve.

Acoustic non-reflective materials may help a bit inside the room, but will not be a major improvement, such as thick curtains or other non-reflective materials – for example empty egg cartons…

Edited February 15, 2014 by khunPer

[AlanL1275]

Easy...Very Easy,

For me I have traveled very extensively around the world and had to deal with the same problem.

Even in the quietness of a 5 star hotel there are subtle sounds that are not the same as you are use to, and as low in volume as they are, they will wake you also.

For 30 years now I have slept with the same sounds around me every single night.

I have what I call is a noise maker. It produces sounds like rain, white noise, the ocean, etc. (as an example I don't like the ocean sounds because they are up and down in volume) I use the sound of rain. White noise is fine also. It's similar to a fan blowing in your room.

They can be purchased as portable units, even battery operated.

If you have a smart phone you can download for free apps that do the same thing. Just leave your phone plugged in for the night to charge, and play your favorite sound. No matter where you go/travel in the world you can fall asleep with the same sound every night of your life.

The Android app I use is called Sleep Time, and you can mix different sounds together, like rain, and white noise, or even rain hitting on a tent, or tin roof.

Hit the play button, and go to sleep with external sounds drowned out by the same thing every single night, no matter where you are.

In my condo I also have a fan blowing on high, but still basically consistent sounds/white noise.

Edited February 15, 2014 by AlanL1275

[IrishIvan]

Thailand is the hub of noise polluters and noise pollution, they are addicted to noisy crap. I cannot remember a day where i havent heard a whipper snipper, some idiot yelling into a megaphone selling pot plants, or d**kheads driving without mufflers on their motorbikes.

Edited February 15, 2014 by IrishIvan