If your apartment or living house is nearby the roadside or highway, then traffic noise has become an inevitable thing in your life. Your backyard is also affected by that, and it’s natural. If you want a noise-free backyard, either you have to shift from the roadside house or live with these, which is really a resilient thing.
We all know noise is not good for your health. Because of this excessive noise, you could face health issues like heart disease, high blood pressure, poor concentration stress, and many more. Living with these excessive noises is also irritating thing.
If your backyard is aesthetically appealing but the roadside traffic noise is killing the feeling of quietness and you are searching for a permanent solution to clear out this problem then knowing how to reduce traffic noise in my background is a must for you. In this article, you will find some unique DIY soundproofing solutions that will help you to reduce traffic noise from your backyard.
1. Building a Wall or Tall Fence
Building a wall or tall fence is working as a sound barrier for your house and its backyard. It is one of the most proven experimental ways to reduce traffic noise. If you live in a busy traffic area like NY, you may consider some particular wall or fence like a masonry wall, or it could be a modular wall, or it could be an acoustic fence. For minimal traffic noise, wooden fences are enough to reduce the traffic noise from your backyard.
If you are willing to build a sound barrier wall or fence, you need to consider the following characteristics of a sound barrier that can really stop the noise from entering your backyard.
- Height: It is one of the essential features of your wall. If you reduce the traffic noise from your backyard, your sound barrier wall should be 2-3 meters high.
- Density: The denser the barrier, the more sound will be deflected, and your backyard will become quieter. So, you need to keep in mind that your sound barrier wall needs more density to reduce the traffic noise.
- Sufficient Coverage: Just ensure that there are no holes in the sound barrier because even the smallest space can cause sound waves to pass through.
- The closeness of the sound: The noise wall should be as close as possible to the driveway, serving as a physical shield between the house and the noise. If you live on the high side of the road, you will need a higher wall. This is how the noise travels in straight lines for the first 10 m and transitions to vertical waves. However, if the obstacle is higher, the fence or wall will still be effective 20-30 m down.
2. Soundproofing a Fence with Mass Loaded Vinyl
Suppose you are annoyed with traffic noise and want to reduce it to a minimum. The first thing you could do is install a fence. Only installing a fence will not work for you. What you have to do is, soundproof your fence by using Mass loaded vinyl.
Mass-loaded vinyl is really heavy. It weighs over 1lb sq/ft. With its thickness of 1/8”, it is ideal to soundproof or thermal insulate the room. It is basically used for soundproofing the fence and It does not only absorb the noise but also reflects it in the opposite direction.
It is obvious that if you want to get the maximum result, you need to cover the area as much as possible. Otherwise, it will not work as much as required. You can consider it as well for reducing the noise from your backyard.
3. Greenery/Vegetation
Making greenery in your backyard will increase your backyard’s enchantment, and it is one way of reducing traffic noise in your backyard. Hedges, shrubs, trees, and plants can go a long way in absorbing and deflecting incoming sounds.
If you can combine both the sound barrier wall or fence and vegetation in your backyard, trust me, you will get the best result. The mixture of the duo is considered the most effective method of reducing the noise in the backyard.
If you only go for the greenery or vegetation, you can plant many hedges in your backyard. Keep one thing in mind you need to plant those hedges densley; otherwise, the noises will still be in there. Moreover, those plants could become the home for wildlife.
4. Set Up a Water Fountain
I know it sounds a little weird! But it could be one of the ways to reduce traffic noise. Traffic noises are literally irritating, and if you can’t sit in your backyard peacefully, then there is no meaning for a backyard for your house.
Setting up a water fountain can replace unwanted and distracting traffic noises with more relaxing sounds. So, it would help if you gave a thought to the water fountain in your backyard.
Moreover, a water fountain will increase the natural beauty of your backyard. Just imagine, full of greenery and in the middle of it a water fountain; it will be a mesmerizing sight to see.
5. Plan the Ecosystem for Noise Breakdown
It’s not always possible to build a wall or a fence. If you’re reluctant to explore these possibilities, you may want to think about digging down.
Hiring a landscaper to plunge the outside areas below the rest of your property can be almost as effective in blocking road noise as constructing a wall. When generating height, the sunken region has the added advantage of sound-depleting dirt.
If space is not a concern, but the construction of a sunken garden is not an alternative, consider building a raised hill. A hill deflects the sound waves much as a wall does, but it’s much smoother on the view and can be adorned with trees. That would be a way to reduce noise.
So, these are some of the practical experienced hacks to reduce noise from your backyard. However, noise barriers could reduce traffic noise to a tolerable level, and it would not eliminate all the noise from your backyard.
6. Backyard Noise Reduction Speakers
Though I haven’t heard about such kinds of speakers so far, I have searched it all over the internet, but I haven’t found any. But it could be there. I have seen lots of people looking for this backyard noise reduction speaker on Google and Amazon. If I find any, I will let you know, guys!
However, there is a noise cancellation device that usually works like CB radio. Few people used these types of noise reduction speakers to minimize noise, but it was for limited seating areas. Indeed, this wouldn’t fit the whole backyard.
However, instead of noise cancellation speakers, you can use some unique invention to reduce the tolerance level noise, which will also replace the thought of backyard noise reduction speakers from your mind.
- Outdoor Sound Blankets
- Outdoor Sound Curtains
- STC Rated doors
These are some of the noise cancellation technologies to eliminate the traffic noise from your backyard.
Conclusion
The above-given solutions are practically proven. If you are tired of excessive traffic noise in your backyard, you should try those hacks for a noise-free backyard.
Instead of searching in Google for a perfect solution for reducing traffic noise in my backyard, you better start your work on the above-given solutions. It will not eliminate all the noise from your backyard, but it will reduce the noise in your tolerance level.
You might face some issues while trying these experiments because it could prove costly for you. But no costs are really huge in front of your health issues.
Noises are really irritating. People usually use the backyard for relaxation, but traffic noises can kill your relaxation period with ease. So, read the above-written article and implement those solutions for better noise-free living.
