Some types of noise pollution are easier to eliminate – or at least minimize – than others. But traffic and road noise often prove the peskiest.

In fact, they are some of the toughest types of noise to conquer – and if your home is close to a major road, you know how pervasive highway and road noise can be. Between the sound of cars whizzing by, horns, sirens and all of the other noise pollution that comes with proximity to roadways, it can be hard to enjoy your living space.

If you’re lucky enough to have a yard, it is likely even more heavily impacted since it doesn’t have the benefit of walls and windows separating it from the road. 

However, there are ways you can mitigate your surrounding exterior noise. Here, we provide some do-it-yourself options, as well as a few professional options so you can make your home the quiet sanctuary you so need – and deserve.

DIY Roadway and Traffic Noise Solutions

Here are a few DIY options to consider:

1. Outdoor Water Features: Waterfalls, streams and fountains can reduce roadway and traffic noise in exchange for soothing white noise, camouflaging irritating sounds, like highway traffic noise, car horns and sirens. 
2. Soundproofing Accessories: Working outside is only half the battle, however. Sealing all cracks and holes between inside and out can usually have quite an impact. Be sure to seal any cracks or holes in your home, such as windows, doors and exterior walls with soundproofing accessories. 
3. Greenery As Soundproofing: You can add an additional layer of sound insulation – beyond water features and soundproofing accessories – with plants of varying heights and widths.

PRO TIP: Continuous shields work best as louder sounds will permeate any breaks in your barrier.

Professional Roadway and Traffic Noise Solutions

Here are some professional options: 

1. Windows: Most single-pane windows offer only a modest amount of noise reduction with thicker glazing increasing the sound transmission class (STC) to about 33. But acoustic windows are double- or triple-paned and can increase the STC to beyond 50.
2. Sound Barrier Materials: Mass-loaded vinyl is frequently used for indoor sound blocking solutions but there exists an outdoor option that can be incorporated into new or existing fencing to augment the sound-blocking benefits that some types of fencing provide. It can also be used as a standalone solution but will only be effective if installed at the correct height and distance from the road.
3. Architectural Barrier Structures: Working with landscape architects and professional soundproofing consultants, incorporate stone, concrete, brick walls or fencing to construct the best barrier and structure for some of the most effective soundproofing. 

PRO TIP: The material you use isn’t as important as how you build the fence. A good sound-blocking fence should have no gaps. 

Some options include:

Viterolite®: Viterolite® are precast tiles made from expanded glass granules that are produced from recycled glass. They provide versatile sound absorption for challenging environments and are sustainable, non-fibrous, and sound-absorbing while combating weather aging and contamination damage. 

Pyrotek’s Reapor®: Reapor® acoustic panels are high-performance noise absorbers that look like cut stone. Constructed from small aerated granules made from recycled glass, the panels are a hard, lightweight, fiber-free, non-combustible stone-look panel that can be used indoors and outdoors. The unique material is highly porous, absorbing noise both between and within the granules.

Pyrotek’s Outdoor Wavebar: This mass-loaded vinyl is resistant to weather and UV light, can be laminated onto lightweight structures to dampen vibration and reduce airborne noise, and can be easily draped over fencing to create an acoustic barrier.

In closing, a dose of reality: As mentioned earlier, it’s important to manage expectations when it comes to road and traffic noise. It truly is one of the most difficult noise problems to solve. 

In fact, we’ll level with you in that it is impossible to block all highway and road noise from your yard, but noise barriers can reduce the noise significantly enough for you to ignore it and enjoy your outdoor space.

The solutions above can frequently be costly and, in many cases, will not completely eliminate the noise – but they will help to mitigate it to varying degrees. 

At Sonic-Shield, we're happy to work with you, your contractor or on our own to help you try to mitigate your Roadway and traffic noise to create the serene oasis you want and need.

Contact us today to get started.