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Home & Garden Articles
SoundProofing Yards and Dealing With Outdoor Noise
Fri 16 Jan 2009 - 16:02
SoundProofing Yards and Dealing With Outdoor Noise
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Craig_R_Williams]Craig R Williams
It Seems to Be Coming From Everywhere
Outdoor noises can come from all sorts of directions at one time and may have many sources and can be reflected all over the place. People tend to look at what they think is the source and imagine that the sound is travelling along a straight line straight from the source to their yard. It's possible for some sounds to take a detour and bounce off buildings and other objects and arrive at your yard amplified and from a quite unexpected direction. The amplification which occurs is no different to sound amplification which occurs when a murmur is channelled through a wind instrument and emerges at the other end as a trumpet blast. So your first step is to identify the source of the problem and the path that it is taking to arrive at your yard.
Words & Regulations Are Great SoundProofers
It might be possible that a nearby business or industry is exceeding acceptable noise levels or operating at inappropriate hours. Sometimes you can solve the problem by simply raising the issue with the proprietor in a friendly manner. It may even pay to check with your municipal council and make sure that your noisy neighbors are not breaking local laws. People are often surprised when they find that there are actually a lot of laws to protect residential amenity. I have seen laws which restrict the use of air conditioners after a certain time, prohibit leaf blowers and even outlaw pets like roosters and yappy dogs.
Having exhausted logical commonsense approaches to reducing the noise you have two options for solving the problem. The first option is to create some sort of acoustic barrier in the yard. The second option is to return in doors and work on your internal soundproofing.
An Air Tight Yard!
It is impossible to make a yard airtight so you will always have to deal with flanking sound. Flanking sound is noise which wraps over, under or around your soundproofing structures. All of the principles of internal sound barriers and sound absorption still apply outdoors.
Lower frequency noise has a longer wavelength than high frequency sound and will require a higher and denser barrier. If for example if you are dealing with truck noise you would probably need a barrier as high as 12-15 feet (3.5 - 4.5 metres) or more. In most cases this is impractical or even against municipal building regulations so it might be advisable to return in doors and work on your soundproofing there and be content on a quiet internal environment.
Is it a Baritone or Soprano Annoyance?
It is correct that higher frequency noises can be blocked by lower fences but there are some complications. Take level crossing train bells noise for example. This is fairly high frequency and you would imagine that a lower fence would block the noise. Unfortunately the train companies have installed their bells at the top of ten foot poles which means you still have to get your fence to around 15 feet to have an acceptable impact on the noise. As a general rule you want to construct the fence at least eight feet higher than the source of the noise. This is less of a challenge when it is ground hugging car tail pipes but challenging when you are dealing with truck horns, and their roof top exhaust systems or even their loud engines which are quite high off the ground.
The Way of The Lotus Blossom
When structural soundproofing seems out of the question all is not lost. There are still a couple of innovative options. You can soundproof by creating more sound, particularly sound which is pleasing to the ear. For example one way to quickly deal with level crossing train bells is to install a descent water feature in your garden as long as it is not a quiet Zen style water feature. The sound of falling water will not only create a pleasant environment but it will interfere with the sound of train crossing bells and make them less noticeable. You can achieve a similar effect with wind chimes although not as effective because they only work when the wind is blowing and the sound is less random and does not mask the train crossing bells as well. The motivated soundproofing enthusiast might consider chimes and a water feature and then external audio speakers for piping pleasant music into the yard. The application of these three strategies will sufficiently interfere with most annoying noise pollution and allow you to return to your yard for recreation, relaxation and entertainment. Another advantage of these noise masking solutions is that they are usually less expensive and much more DIY.
Acoustic By Name Only
By all means construct a sensible acoustic barrier in your yard but make sure it is at a proper height and that it does not have any openings or gaps anywhere. The right height and absence of gaps are the two most important considerations and these are the things that most people get wrong. Some DIY articles seem to promote the construction of acoustic fences at any height which frankly is a waste of time and effort. A fence won't work just because it has word acoustic in its title! There are some proprietary acoustic fencing systems on the market and even with these systems it is important that you check the required height for your specific problem. Most of these products come with data sheets.
Data Sheet is King
Most data sheets will talk about an amount that the fencing system reduces noise. The amount is measured in decibels or dB. You should look for a system which will reduce the noise by at least 20dB. As a rule of thumb each 10dB is a halving of the perceived noise. Some products come with an STC rating. Again don't consider a product with a rating below about STC 20. STC is a more useful summary of how a product responds over a series of frequencies. See if you can get the frequency chart. Two products can work quite differently depending on the noise source. If you noise problem is lower frequency like trucks and doof doof music then you need a product which blocks more noise at lower frequencies eg between 50Hz and about 500Hz. So you would look for higher values against these frequencies on the STC chart. If your noise problem is at a higher frequency like human voice or small barking dogs or train level crossing bells then you would need better blocking at frequencies around 1000Hz to about 2500Hz. You would look for higher values at these higher frequencies.
Those Fences Are Big
An effective and relatively light weight material for acoustic fencing is steel sheeting like the material used on deck roofs. Timber fencing performs well but it's harder to create an airtight structure and the timber will be heavier and more difficult to work with. Whatever you use, remember that the structure is higher than usual and it will catch the wind. Make sure that your uprights are closer together and or thicker than usual and also burry them deeper into the ground.
If you already have a tall fence but it has holes or gaps in and round it and perhaps is not made of the right material to block or absorb the offending sound you can consider mass loaded vinyl (MLV). This is a heavy plastic like membrane which is basically weatherproof and you can fix it to your existing fence and it will considerably increase the density of the fence and help block noise. MLV does not change the fact that you still need a serious fence height to make a big difference.
If you live on a large property and you are able to build a mound of earth facing the problem this can be effective and inexpensive way of creating a soundproofing barrier but again the height has to be right and it can take a bit of effort. Another option for large properties is a hay (straw) bale fence. There is endless Internet information these days on building with hay bales and they are cheap and quick.
Take Care Who You Listen To
Like all soundproofing issues there are endless myths about outdoor soundproofing. The most common one is the use of trees and shrubs. Trees and shrubs are pretty much ineffective except as visual screens and perhaps for the masking sounds of the birds and wind through the leaves.
One last point is if you haven't bought your home and you are thinking of buying a nice bargain property which is probably a bit close to the trains, airport or freeway - think again. If you are at all sensitive to noise don't put yourself through the nightmare of trying to solve noise problems for the rest of your days. Quality of life is more important than a cheap house. Spend a little more and buy quiet.
Published by Craig Williams © 2009
SoundProofingSecrets Founders and EzineArticles Expert Author http://www.soundproofingsecrets.com http://www.noisebusters.com.au
(May be reproduced with author acknowledgment and attached URLs.)
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Craig_R_Williams http://EzineArticles.com/?SoundProofing-Yards-and-Dealing-With-Outdoor-Noise&id=1882980
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