sound proofing house windows

[john1056]

Keep it simple. You need mass primarily. That's cherap drywall and plywood.

Secondary is sealing the plug / panel

Third would be to damp

The foams etc aren't going to help with anything except lighten your wallet

I think this foam has some mass, 1 lbs per square foot. It is expensive, but I liked the idea of using it in a sandwich because it seems like it would be easy to cut to fit tight in the window. My sandwich would be like plywood->Green Glue-> drywall->2" foam (fit tight) -> drywall->Green Glue->plywood. The whole thing would be held together with long screws and one side would have handles. The drywall and plywood would be a bit smaller than the opening.

My walls are 1 1/4 thick (two 5/8s with Green Glue in between) so my window is pretty tight besides the window itself (no gaps under trim or anything like that).

[Ted White]

Would not recommend. It's not bringing anything to the party. Drywall has much more mass.

Also, I'd suggest you build a panel that covers the window casing. Behind the casing is likely a sizeable gap. Covering the casing covers that gap

[john1056]

If I built a little frame and attached drywall/plywood to it, what sort of foam or padding would I use around it to prevent damage to the drywall on the inside of the window?

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FIecI8KHjtU/S ... G_4949.JPG

[Ted White]

Some standard weatherstrip. Wider is better. Closed cell foam from Frost King, available at Home Depot

[john1056]

For some reason I have very little imagination when it come to this sort of thing

The Frost king products aren't very wide, like 1/2 inch as I recall. A plug framed with 2x4s would be at least 3 1/2 inches and I was thinking I it would be nice to put the drywall on top and wrap a frame around the whole thing. so that would be 5 1/2 inches. (4 layers of 1/2 inch drywall). Would I wrap a bunch of weather strips around the outside? Maybe one in the front, one in the back?

[jnTracks]

as i'm getting ready to do this i'm thinking it'll be plywood with green-glue in the middle, hinged so they turn and close over the window casing. a thick weather stripping all the way around and a couple latches to squeeze it down tight. i'll have furniture blankets hidden behind my curtains too.

the windows are old and as i've been moving things i've been listening; they are definitely the weakest link.

[kevin206]

In my older home I had 2 windows 36x54 with 6in wide trim all around. I built boxes that covered the window and all associated trim. I used 1x4 pine for the frame and a piece of 7/16"OSB. The contraption ended up being 4'x5 1/2' and heavy and hard to store, but it worked fairly well. Where the frame met the wall I attached sticky back open cell foam. To attach I ripped a 1x6 on a 45 and attached one piece above the trim(and painted it to match the wall) and attached the other to the box. Didn't even notice since no damage to the walls. I didn't cover it with anything so it was ugly and I sometimes had to throw a moving blanket on it when things got too lively.

I had previously tried a window plug and it wasn't very effective.

[norton]

don't forget the insulation.

You'll want something soft between the window and your plug to get max benefit. Even a section of R11 thinned out would be preferable to nothing.

[Judas Jetski]

I've been thinking about this very issue...

OK, the best defense against sound transfer is dead, isolated air space. You know that shipping material, that's like sealed plastic bags filled with air? It seems as though those would have a lot of potential for sound transfer reduction, doesn't it? I mean, you'd have to find a way to make sure there weren't any gaps between the bags (smash 'em together and stick 'em with duct tape?), and you'd have to make sure the window edges were pretty well sealed...

I've got an old house with wood-frame windows. And I'm really thinking of just stuffing a bunch of those plastic bags in there, tight enough to force the window frames against the window frame housings. There'll probably be some weatherstripping involved as well. It just seems like the soft plastic of the plastic bags wouldn't be very efficient at tranferring sound from one pane of glass to the other, and the dead air inside the bags of course won't transfer hardly anything at all. As long as I can stop the sound from sneaking out around the edges of everything, it seems like that really oughta cut down on sound transfer.

Any of you wise heads know enough about the science to tell me if I'm barking up the wrong tree?

[wkrbee]

BOW-WOW

[Nick Sevilla]

"WOWEEE"

Christopher Walken

[Ted White]

You know that shipping material, that's like sealed plastic bags filled with air? It seems as though those would have a lot of potential for sound transfer reduction, doesn't it?

We want the resistance from all that fiber. Fiberglass, cellulose or mineral fiber.

[Judas Jetski]

Huh. See I thought that the fibers from the insulation would just transfer the vibrations more directly. Isn't that why you're not supposed to insulate between double walls? Or do I have it wrong, and you're just not supposed to *pack* the insulation between the walls? I know you're not supposed to do that.

[Judas Jetski]

I've got Hi-R in there now, just kinda sitting in there loose. It seems to help a little bit. Not much. But at least it doesn't sound like the neighbors are living in my house (and me in theirs) in that particular room.

[Ted White]

Compressed insulation will conduct. Low / med density will offer resistance. TL test reports abound online that show the value of insulation in a partition.