Noise at Home: What You Can and Can’t Do About It

By Bill Primavera

People often say that the most important thing they seek in their home life is peace and quiet. While some people can live happily with the most extraordinary noise surrounding them, such as those living near an airport, others seem to be more sensitive to less extraneous sounds, such as passing cars.

I have learned through the years that there are times when you can do something about noise in your living environment and, other times, you’re just out of luck.

A neighbor of mine recently asked me if I was annoyed by any noise in my condo building, and I answered that I wasn’t. My unit has always been like a tomb, while he complains of hearing rock music every night but can’t identify its source. He also he says he hears a motor from the roof, and again, while I also live on the top floor, I don’t hear a thing. I’m lucky I guess, but there have been times when I haven’t been.

At one time, my single-family home was located diagonally across from Guiding Eyes for the Blind before it installed soundproof kennels. Every day, a contingent of 140 dogs barked incessantly while outside “socializing” with each other. It was unbearable to me and many of my neighbors.

Together, we formed a committee to deal with a less than cooperative CEO at the time to force the organization to be a more accommodating neighbor. That made us unpopular with some people who thought it was unreasonable for us to challenge an institution that did such noble work. Then again, these people didn’t live in the immediate neighborhood. But our campaign eventually brought results with needed soundproofing.

When I lived in apartments in the city, I could go nuts about a noisy neighbor above me or to either side of me. And when I fell in love with and bought my first home in Brooklyn Heights, I found that it sat directly over the A train subway line. Visiting dinner guests would sometimes have a look of mild panic when the rumbling train barreled below us. “What is that?” they would ask as though they might be experiencing the city’s first earthquake.

We loved the house and learned to accept the noise. In fact, when the transit workers went on strike for a week, we missed the sound that lulled and vibrated us to sleep at night.

Those who live in a single-family house expect to be spared the kind of noise pollution that one might face in an apartment, co-op or condo with common walls.  But we have all of the outdoors to carry annoying sound waves – lawn mowers, leaf blowers, cars and trucks.

In our region, the Department of Transportation helps those residents who live close to major highways by erecting tall sound barrier walls. When installed on both sides of a highway, it can be much like passing through a tunnel without a ceiling. I really hate the fact that some of these walls are now appearing on secondary roads, such as on Route 6, which traverses upper Westchester.

It is estimated that as much as 90 percent of outdoor noise comes inside via windows and doors. Good insulated windows are the best defense to prevent outdoor noise from becoming indoor noise.

If you happen to live in an apartment, co-op or condo, the concern is more about how protective the ceiling and floor insulation is. There is a reason why many units for sale are promoted with such phrases as “no one above or below” or “end unit with only one shared wall.” But if you find that you’re sharing too much of your neighbors’ personal lives, there are companies that sell soundproofing wallboard to add as a second skin for more privacy.

Another option for quieting your space and mind is to create white noise or more pleasant distracting noise to take the edge off the irritating noise. I have a sound effects device that I used to take with me on road trips when I had to stay in hotels or motels on busy highways. It creates the sound of ocean waves, waterfalls, rain and a variety of other soothing sounds.

Instead of covering your ears and living other peoples’ lives, you can make your own privacy by addressing sound pollution creatively. Of course, the most direct protection to unwanted noise are earphones from an iPod or, simpler yet, old-fashioned ear plugs.

Bill Primavera is a Realtor® associated with William Raveis Real Estate and Founder of Primavera Public Relations, Inc. (www.PrimaveraPR.com). His real estate site is www.PrimaveraRealEstate.com, and his blog is www.TheHomeGuru.com. To engage the services of The Home Guru to market your home for sale, call 914-522-2076.