In order to ensure acoustic comfort in your home, it is not enough to buy a plot in a quiet and peaceful place, you need to take care of its correct location on the site and a competent project that would take into account optimal design solutions, noiseless equipment and high-quality building materials.
Correct site selection. When choosing a place for a future home, do not chase the cheapness of the site, do not consider the low price of land as compensation for a noisy environment. Consider if you can live in close proximity to a noisy highway or a rattling train line. In this article, we will consider the situation when the plot planned for purchase is located in the near suburbs or in close proximity to a highway or railway.
When choosing a building site, we recommend using the following recommendations:
When choosing a site in a residential area, it is best to choose streets where there is no heavy traffic.
Do not be lazy and familiarize yourself with the general development project of this area in the district architectural bureau. It may turn out that in this quarter, in addition to residential buildings, development of industrial facilities is envisaged.
If there are free (not built-up) plots in the neighborhood, try to find out their planned purpose.
They can also have a production purpose, such as a service station, a supermarket, a car wash, a nightclub, a carpentry workshop, etc.
These facilities may become potential sources of increased noise levels in the future.
Do not forget that the information received from real estate agencies does not give an objective assessment of the noise level on the plot planned for purchase. It is best to get acquainted with the site in person, take a walk around the area. However, a walk sometimes can not reveal all the hidden nuances of the area.
To learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of the site, we recommend that you talk with future neighbors, visit the district administration.
Try to get information about the level of background noise in the area where the acquisition of the site is planned in the territorial department of environmental protection and the district sanitary and epidemiological station.
If possible, try to familiarize yourself with the data on the maps of road network noise or acoustic discomfort near areas of major acoustic pollution. These maps are specially developed for each locality and are part of the general plan of the settlement. If you are unable to access this information, you can perform a private noise measurement. When getting acquainted with the area in which you plan to purchase a plot, pay attention to everything: the architecture and number of storeys of houses, the type of road and sidewalk coverage, the presence of reservoirs, etc.
So, for example, the type of building of the street and its width can contribute to an increase in the noise level, so a narrow street with a continuous building of two- or three-story buildings and a stone pavement significantly contributes to an increase in the noise level (by several decibels) due to the imposition of reflected sound waves. A house near a body of water may also not be a very quiet and peaceful place, since the surface of the water is an excellent reflector and noise amplifier, especially if there is a nightclub, a highway or a railway line on the opposite side.
The road surface material has a great influence on the noise level. The most optimal road surface is asphalt, the noisiest is solid concrete, and the noisiest is stone paving. In the latter case, the noise level may increase by a couple of decibels, however, this is true only when vehicles are moving at speeds of more than 60 km / h. The optimal location of the house on the site. The correct location of the house on the site will not only significantly save on soundproofing materials, but also give peace and comfort to its inhabitants.
First of all, you need to be aware that noise protection is a costly and complex undertaking. Even if you “throw” all efforts on arranging sound insulation in the house, it is unlikely that you will be able to protect yourself from excessive noise in close proximity to the highway. The arrangement of earthen ramparts, green fences, replacement of windows with special windows with a high level of sound insulation, as well as the installation of protective shutters will help you slightly reduce the noise level.
A greater effect can be achieved with the correct placement of a fence or noise screen, which will provide the house with a so-called acoustic shadow. The noise level in the house can be reduced by choosing the optimal location for its location on the site, the furthest from the noise source. The minimum distance from the roadway or other source of noise to the planned location of the house can be independently calculated by analyzing the intensity of traffic along it.
So, they make an approximate calculation of the number of vehicles passing through it for 1 hour, and divide the resulting number by 10, which will be the minimum distance from the road to the planned house. For example, if about 700 cars drove along the street within an hour, then this distance should be at least 70 meters. In addition, it is necessary to take into account a number of other factors, such as high humidity and unfavorable wind direction. Taking into account them, this distance is usually increased by at least 1.5 times.
Approach the selection of the site and the placement of the house on it with full responsibility. Analyze all the obstacles in or near the area that can weaken and scatter the sound wave, or, conversely, reflect and amplify. If there are no favorable factors in this area, and the noise source is very close, then in this case you run the risk of becoming the owner of a “noisy” house.
You should not expect that you can get used to a high level of noise. It is impossible to get used to the constant clinking of dishes in the buffet when a train or tram passes under the windows, as well as to the periodic roar of turbines taking off or landing planes.