All that road noise could shorten your life

A study cited in this news article by the L.A. Times suggests that living with road noise can shorten your life.

One of the ways the L.A. Times article suggests to minimize the effects of road noise on your health is to muffle the noise: “Muffle the sound at home. Consider whether freeway noise might be seeping into your house in unexpected ways. “Houses and apartments also have exhaust vents, attic vents, unsealed construction joints, electrical outlets and other openings which are ‘weak links’ for the transmission of noise,” says David Lord, a principal at 45dB Acoustics Consulting, who works throughout the greater L.A. area. “As soon as you seal one avenue for noise transmission, the remaining openings become more obvious, so they all have to be dealt with for the best solution.” (One tip: Lord recommends laminated glass as an exterior noise barrier for windows, as it can reduce noise levels by as much as 10 decibels.)”

Your particular experience with road noise will depend upon many unique factors, and we encourage you to Contact Us to analyze and address your specific case.  However, as a basic starting point for considering your road noise plight, consider the wall or walls that are facing the road.  Are the affected walls more than 30% comprised of windows?  If so, sound-proofing windows will probably be your best bet.  However, if these walls are less than 30% window, we should analyze the wall structures themselves for soundproofing.  In this case, start here with our section on Soundproofing Walls.