John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

First of all - thanks to all that has answered my previous questions.

One thing still remains unsolved: soundproofing our large windows.
They're about 150 cm * 145 cm and I don't want to seal them off permanentely and loose daylight / fresh air.

My plan is to install 2 layers of removeable MDF plate, sealed with weatherstripping so we have glass - airspace - MDF - airspace - MDF. The window "frame" (dunno what you call that) is deep enough for that - aprx. 15 cm.

Would this help at all? We have a railway running quite close to so I sure hope:)

Can't think of anything else right now, maybe you can.

Other solutions I have come across in here don't seem to do the trick, because of the large size of the windows.

Cheers, Lasso.

Do you know what thickness the existing glass is? Is it near one side of the frame or the other? It's possible you could get a second glass of a different thickness and seal it in neoprene with as wide an air gap as possible.

What you do NOT want to do, with either wood or glass, is to create a triple leaf barrier. The best possible use of materials for sound proofing is to use only ONE air space with TWO leaves of mass. Anything else is going to make things worse, not better.

I'm pretty sure that the low frequency noise from a railway won't be slowed down very much by anything you do - most likely, a lot of your noise is flanking noise through the foundation and framing of your building.

About the only cure for that problem, short of moving to a quieter location, is to build a fully floated room inside a room, using rubber and springs and special suspension hangers for the ceiling. Really low frequency loud noise is REALLY difficult to control, and the solutions I'm aware of are all relatively expensive.

Wish I had better news for you, but that's the best I can offer... Steve