How to deal with unbearable road noise after moving
Unexpected traffic and semi-truck noise can ruin sleep, cause house vibrations, and severely damage mental health. Expensive window replacements only help a little, leaving homeowners desperately looking for other solutions or wondering if they should sell and move again.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1wear ear plugs to bedDid this help you?
- 2selling the house quicklyDid this help you?
- 3installing new windowsDid this help you?
- 4insulating walls with rockwool and double drywallDid this help you?
- 5moving to a new locationDid this help you?
- 6building a thick fence with dense bushesDid this help you?
- 7installing interior or exterior storm windowsDid this help you?
- 8planting a line of fast-growing evergreensDid this help you?
- 9Installing triple pane argon-filled windowsDid this help you?
- 10Accepting noise reduction as a minor side perk of storm-protection windowsDid this help you?
- 11Installing removable window inserts and weatherstrippingDid this help you?
- 12Hanging heavy acoustic curtains over windowsDid this help you?
- 13Setting up a water feature on the balcony to mask the noiseDid this help you?
- 14Placing dense potted bushes on the patioDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“road noise is killing my mental health”source ↗
“I have now been woken up for the 5th consecutive day at 4 AM by loud, blasting exhaust.”source ↗
“Has anyone here sold quickly because of this?”source ↗
“Struggling personally because we moved from our townhouse last year because of neighbor noise through the walls only to move somewhere much more expensive and even worse noise wise.”source ↗
“feel like my whole house shakes when one downshifts outside my place”source ↗
“I live on a very busy road on the way to an industrial park so there is always lots of semi trucks going by my house.”source ↗
“I just spent a fortune on new windows from Renewal by Andersen which helped a little bit. Anything else I can do?”source ↗
“I am in the same boat.”source ↗
“I have a condo on a busy Main Street. The city busses stop in front and I’ve noticed my cat has been scared of the busses and garbage trucks lately.”source ↗
“Ps the noise is loud even with the windows closed. I can’t ask my landlord to upgrade the windows so looking for renter friendly options”source ↗
“You’re mostly paying for the storm protection, the noise reduction is just a side perk that varies wildly by window.”source ↗
“I used triple pane, argon filled. Works great.”source ↗
“I get road noise when loud trucks drive (going 35 - 40 mph). I have the cheap contractor windows that the house came with (built in 2016). Will upgrading to impact windows make a difference that will justify their price?”source ↗
“I just spent my first weekend there and I was surprised by feeling like there is constantly a background hum even closed up in the house.”source ↗
“After living in a small town for 2 years I wanted more people. So hence comes more noise. But I'm worried it'll be tough to adjust to "peace and quiet" in my own house still won't be what I'm used to in the tiny town.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 9How to handle constant noise and distractions in an open office?
- 3How to handle terrible air pollution when traveling