Garden Wall for Sound Reduction
We may be buying a house next to the Prospect Expressway – the inside of the house is pretty quiet, but the backyard sounds like your next to an expressway. Does anybody have any experience with walls for sound reduction? I’m thinking of a pier-and-panel brick wall 7′-8′ tall to block line-of-sight noise. Any other…
We may be buying a house next to the Prospect Expressway – the inside of the house is pretty quiet, but the backyard sounds like your next to an expressway.
Does anybody have any experience with walls for sound reduction? I’m thinking of a pier-and-panel brick wall 7′-8′ tall to block line-of-sight noise. Any other ideas? Any potential snags?
Noise, stress from noise, air quality – are all going to affect your quality of life. Since an expressway is what can be called an incurable defect, you have to seriously consider what kind of discount will make the property comparable to one without that defect. If you’re talking about a couple of blocks it’s one thing, if you are right next to it, it’s another entirely.
If you haven’t already, also do some research on what living in the presence of such sound, even when reduced a bit, does to your health.
I know you couldn’t pay me to live by an expressway. I’d choose a smaller, lousier space, and a lousy neighborhood over that, any day.
I believe you’ll have more luck warding off bad reflected sound if the top of the barrier is broken-up/angular. If it’s flat across the top, apparently…I’ve heard ;o)…loud sounds can “pour” over the wall more thoroughly. Of course, you may not be able to create a jagged topped wall.
And yes, do some research on shrubs and trees that are dense and are known to block sound the best. As much as your average garden center thuga is not indigenous (Thuga occidentalis is native to the Northeast though…so look around. Maybe online or call the Gowans Nursery), they are very dense and do help cut down on sound. They grow quickly and densely. Pleached beech trees are also effective but take some work.
You should also think about any surfaces that bounce sound back. Depending on the house and yard, you may want to try growing Virginia creeper on walls and set in a “naturalist” array of shrubs and trees.
A water feature may help distract but if the sound of traffic is really loud, it might get drowned out. I’ve found tasteful wind chimes and bells can actually distract away from the low, droning hum of traffic. Just be mindful of neighbors! 🙂
Have you lived near the Prospect Expressway before? I used to live in Greenwood, and while the expressway definitely provided a constant humming “background track” to the area, it wasn’t nearly as load as we thought it would be. Traffic is extremely mild at night (past 11). Rush hour honking in stopped traffic peaks around 9AM and 6PM, but the fact that the road isn’t at grade helps dampen a lot of the noise. Also, I’m not sure if this would apply to you, but my LL once installed a 2 ft. fence on top of a 5 ft. wall in her back yard to completely block the neighbors and the city said it was too high (a total of 7 feet).
Have you lived near the Prospect Expressway before? I used to live in Greenwood, and while the expressway definitely provided a constant humming “background track” to the area, it wasn’t nearly as load as we thought it would be. Traffic is extremely mild at night (past 11). Rush hour honking in stopped traffic peaks around 9AM and 6PM, but the fact that the road isn’t at grade helps dampen a lot of the noise. Also, I’m not sure if this would apply to you, but my LL once installed a 2 ft. fence on top of a 5 ft. wall in her back yard to completely block the neighbors and the city said it was too high (a total of 7 feet).
Per zoning you should be able to have a 8′ freestanding wall in a rear yard as long as it is not part of a roofed structure. I don’t know if there is a code regulation against walls, I think zoning would control this issue. Mass is the best way to stop sound, so your plan of a brick wall wall would be a good way to go. A water feature with running water will help cover up the sound of traffic. Good luck.
You are not permitted to have a freestanding wall or fence over 6′ tall on a residential property. Go for tightly planted vegetation.
Having read extensively on the subject, vegetation needs to be very, very dense to reduce noise. It does have a positive psychological effect: what you cannot see seems less loud.
I second tinarina’s recommendation.
If this is a problem now, it isn’t going to get any better.
Buy another house.