Dual- and triple-pane windows really changed the soundproofing game for a lot of homeowners and renters. The design caused sound waves to deteriorate quickly as they tried to move through the layers of glass and gas. But those windows don't stop all sound, and many residences still have single-pane aluminum-frame windows. When faced with a noisy neighborhood that manages to breach windows and walls, window treatments are your next line of defense if you can't do anything about the windows themselves.
The More Layers, the Quieter Things Are
The more layers you have, the quieter things will be. Nothing is going to be totally soundproof except for things like anechoic chambers, which are not things you construct in your home. But by adding window treatments that have soundproofing qualities, you certainly make the situation better and quieter. Sharp, loud sounds are dulled and dampened. And it doesn't hurt that these window treatments can look great. Just make sure you add as many layers as you can. Add honeycomb blinds to the window, and then add a sheer liner and a blackout curtain on top, for example. Those layers will do a lot of work to make the room much quieter.
Why Honeycomb Blinds Work
Honeycomb blinds are not like your typical horizontal blinds. There aren't spaces between the slats. Picture those temporary paper shades that you can get at home improvement stores, where there's just a sheet of paper that's been folded into an accordion shape; honeycomb blinds, when you look at them from the side, look like three of those paper blinds layered one in front of the other and staggered, so there are two columns of space. All that space and those layers trap sound waves so that they can't proceed through the blinds.
Blackout Curtains Block Almost Everything
On top of the honeycomb blinds, you can add blackout curtains and sheer liners. The liners let you open the honeycomb blinds for light while still getting some privacy, and the blackout curtains block light and sound coming through the rest of the window treatment setup. These curtains have thicker, denser material that does not have spaces through which sound can travel easily. When you want to make it really quiet, lower the blinds, close the liners and close the blackout curtains. Also, honeycomb blinds come in a blackout version that has dark layers on the interior of one of those accordion-fold layers. While they don't really substitute for blackout curtains, they can still help.
Between the window, the blinds, the liner, and the blackout curtains, you have several layers of window treatments that each reduce the power of the sound waves coming into the room. The result is a cozy, quiet environment.
To find out more, contact a company such as EZ Sound Proof.
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