Sound wall/forest (Cincinnati, Norwood, Washington: house, buying, live)

[DIATON]

We are looking to buy a house that has a large wooded yard, approx. an acre, but ends at a sound wall. Any experience with this--pros, cons, animals, traffic, pollution, anything???

[mike1003]

No personal knowledge.

But, several relatives have lots backing up on sound walls. One off I 71 the other 275.

IMHO, those walls do nothing. Their back yards are just as noisy today as they were before they were built. In fact, the noise is different, seems amplified.

[wilson1010]

Every lot is different. They put those walls where they are not needed and don't have them where they are. Go out there at rush hour, AM and PM, on a Friday, get a lawn chair and a nice cold beverage and listen carefully from 6:30 to 8:30 and from 4 to 6. Not for five minutes. Then you will know about the sound. If you buy it, plant a forest of fast growing trees in front of the wall and forget its there.

[goyguy]

If there's "approximately an acre" of land in the back yard and it's wooded, there shouldn't be that much of a problem. One of my uncles and his family lived right next to an expressway for a few years - without a barrier wall, but with lots of trees and shrubs - and oddly you couldn't hear a thing. Nature's sound barriers tend to do a better job than human-built ones; they absorb the noise which would carry right over a wall.
Also, friends in MD who live a block from the Washington Beltway could just as easily be in the middle of nowhere. There are walls along that stretch of the road, but I think the wooded landscape is what contributes more to the quietness of the area.
DeCamp Ave in Hartwell (Cross-County Highway) and Joseph St in Bond Hill (Norwood Lateral) are two streets in Cincinnati that got stuck with an expressway in back yards on one side of the street. DeCamp has a sound barrier and Joseph doesn't. But in both cases there's no natural buffer, and the continuous muffled roar from the roads doesn't sound much different. So I'd feel more OK about buying a place with natural features and no wall than one with a wall and nothing green besides grass. Having both could only be better. But heed the sound advice given above and pay an extended visit during some rush hours.

[wilson1010]

Agree above. Trees are what really kill the noise. But, an acre is 202'x202'. I would think a lot more would be needed to separate one from an unpleasant noise source. Maybe the wall helps, maybe not.

[DIATON]

Thank you all for the information--greatly, greatly appreciated!!

[Sunnydee]

Definitely go there during the morning and evening rush hour and sit and listen for at least half an hour. We had a home on three acres and thought the noise from the road wouldn't bother us, but it did. There was a lot of traffic and although you get used to it it's always there. When we sold that place we swore we'd never live on a busy road again.