Question:

Hi

I think your product MIGHT solve my problem. I want to talk to you about it and I might even conduct my own experiment before I proceed. I have an 6 foot perimeter fence. My street has gotten very busy. I need some plan to mitigate the traffic noise. Here are some specifics. My house is on a hill 3-4 feet above street level. Then I have a six foot fence. My house is two feet off the ground. I can raise the fence up and make an 8 foot fence. I have read that you need a 12 FOOT LINE OF SIGHT BARRIER. To mitigate sound.

I think that means that 4 feet above grade + 6 foot fence – 2 foot house above grade= 8 foot. Will your product work?

I am thinking about testing it by stacking hay bales against the fence to six foot. If that works then your product might too.

What do you think?

I am interested in your thoughts on this

Thanks, Kevin

Response:

Hay bales work as a sound absorbing barrier.

Using plywood works as a sound reflecting barrier. Plywood leaks a lot of sound over the top of the fence. A plywood or concrete block fence adds an echo to your back yard. It also reflects back onto the house sound that slips over the top of the fence, hits the house and bounces back towards the fence. Sound absorbing barriers get rid of the sound once and for all and do not create a backyard echo.

Most traffic noise comes from tires, which is at street level. For good noise control, you want to break the line of sight between the noise source and the listener by about 2 feet. This means that in most cases a 4 or 5' fence is more than adequate.

Next problem, not so severe is car exhaust pipe noise, radiator fan and engine noise which is generally 1 to 2; off the ground. Again, a 4 to 5' acoustic fence blocks the noise effectively.

What isn't handled so well is the big truck exhausts pipe that is directed towards the side of the road and is located about 10' above the ground. This noise is dumped right over most any fence and the only thing you can do about it is to ensure you do not further amplify the noise by having a sound reflecting fence.

In good weather, you can buy or rent plywood and moving blankets. Prop up the plywood to make a fence 4' high and and drape moving blankets over both sides. This should approximate the effect of a sound absorbing fence. If you like what you hear, you'll love our fence.

You are welcome to send plot plan, address and photos, we'll assess your lot and the road and take a look at what can be done.

Sincerely,
Arthur Noxon
Acoustic Engineer

Question:

Dear ASC;

I have a shadow box fence that has red cedar slats and a space in-between. We have a neighbor's side load garage near the side of our house with windows. We want to reduce some of the noise that bounces between their house and ours. I think the SoundFence may be the solution..

Our cross piece is only 1 1/2"thick, and will not accommodate the standard 3" thickness that the SoundFence comes in.

The height is about 44" and the length will vary from 7' to 8'. I would need at least four panels.

Can I order 1 1/2" thick panels at specific heights and lengths?

Thanks.

Response:

Yes, we can make a thin model. However, one side of the panel will have to be semi reflective and the other side will be absorptive. Do you want the absorptive side to face your house or the neighbor's house?

We would need length of all 4 sides of each panel and the diagonal dimensions of each panel, a total of 6 dimensions for each panel. The dimensions need to be given as measured when facing the absorptive side of the panel, not the semi reflective side. When fitting panels to old fences, the fences tend to not be square.

Remember, you have to seal the fence below the lower rail all the way to the ground. Use a 2x6 or 2x8 between the bottom of the lower rail and the ground.

We'd like photos of the install and a report back from you about how well it worked. If you want to send photos to us so we can see what you are planning, please feel free to send them. We'll let you know if we see anything odd or in the way. If you want to see a sample of the fabric, send over your mailing address.

Sincerely, Arthur Noxon