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hi guys for house lot size how big do you need to have a good distance from neighbor noises, like can't easily hear them talking (or yelling but not very loud), car driving in and out, and kids playing etc? I like a quiet house!
House materials to consider if I like good sound insulation? and what window materials? others to consider?
I like to turn my speakers way up when I watch movies, I guess I would need some distance from them as well? what would you suggest? (normally is it like 8am to 8pm for this kind of things? depends on HOA or your local community I guess?) thanks guys
You will need much more than any residential lot. I'm in the country, and there's a drunken neighbor who goes on rants at 5:00 a.m. who is probably five hundred feet down the road that I can hear; his barking dogs too. I can hear his girlfriend's kids screaming. Up the road, maybe a tenth of a mile, I can hear the chainsaws and running trucks. Sound proofing is great, but expensive. It does nothing if you want to enjoy a quiet evening outside on the deck.
Not only will distance matter, but geography and landscaping will impact what noises you hear. The source of the noise also matters. We don't hear our neighbors kids outside. Our house is brick, and they are about 500 feet away from us. There are also about 30 feet of thick trees and brush between us.
There is a road about 1500 feet behind our house. Again, there is a heavily wooded area between us and the road. We sometimes hear car noises, a bad muffler, on the road. The road is at the top of hill. We are at the bottom.
We are only on half an acre, but we don't hear our neighbors or traffic at all (and our street is kind of busy in the mornings and afternoons when parents use it as a shortcut to a nearby elementary school) Of course we still hear ambulance noises in the distance and aircraft noises overhead.
We have large oak trees at the back and sides of our property, our house is a 1950s Brick ranch style, and the windows are all new within the last 5 years- and I assume a big reason we don't hear anything is due to the type of windows.
Additionally, all of the neighboring properties are on 0.5 acre + properties, so this part of the subdivision is considerably spread out for suburbia and for the sizes of the houses. Also, none of our neighbors (a couple of young families like us, some empty nesters and a retired couple) are loud types so of course that's a big factor as well!
Roughly speaking, a sound source is perceived as half as loud if the distance to the sound source is increased by a factor of four. (Actually it's a bit less than a factor of four, and more than double).
Our ears have evolved to respond to a very wide range of sound levels. If you want to decrease a perceived sound level from loud to inaudible...you are talking about very large distances indeed.
This assumes there are no materials in the way. Trees, walls, etc. help a lot, a lot more than distance.
We are only on half an acre, but we don't hear our neighbors or traffic at all (and our street is kind of busy in the mornings and afternoons when parents use it as a shortcut to a nearby elementary school) Of course we still hear ambulance noises in the distance and aircraft noises overhead.
We have large oak trees at the back and sides of our property, our house is a 1950s Brick ranch style, and the windows are all new within the last 5 years- and I assume a big reason we don't hear anything is due to the type of windows.
Additionally, all of the neighboring properties are on 0.5 acre + properties, so this part of the subdivision is considerably spread out for suburbia and for the sizes of the houses. Also, none of our neighbors (a couple of young families like us, some empty nesters and a retired couple) are loud types so of course that's a big factor as well!
yeah my aunt's house was about 1/2 acre, and when I was living there I can barely hear anything, but the house was a nice house the window and house materials were probably pretty good. I think 1/2 acre is too big for me, I am thinking 1/4 to 1/3 acre..I guess I just need to look at some lots/houses to see what's up.
as long as it's not right next to each other I am ok, I hate it when houses are right next to each other I might as well get a condo lol. other than noises I would like privacy as well. thanks guys
I've lived in an apartment in Chicago that was more of a tenament, and never heard a peep. I've lived on an acre+ lot far away from the neighbors and heard everything. I don't think lot size will save anything.
What has worked best for me when I've been in houses on top of each other is understanding the layout of the adjoining houses. We spend most of our time indoors in the living room. The neighbor is on the other side of the driveway, literally feet away, and their closest room to our living room is their kitchen. So they are rarely in that part of the home while we are in our most commonly used part of the home.
You will need much more than any residential lot. I'm in the country, and there's a drunken neighbor who goes on rants at 5:00 a.m. who is probably five hundred feet down the road that I can hear; his barking dogs too. I can hear his girlfriend's kids screaming. Up the road, maybe a tenth of a mile, I can hear the chainsaws and running trucks. Sound proofing is great, but expensive. It does nothing if you want to enjoy a quiet evening outside on the deck.
^^^what he said. I have a similar situation. All the lots in our area are 2 acres and houses are are at least 200 ft apart. Inside the house it's quiet, especially with windows closed. But out on the deck we can't hear normal conversation but we do hear cars come and go, kids screaming, etc. That said, by any normal suburban or urban standards its very quiet indeed. FWIW, in summer the noise of cicadas (daytime), katydids (night) and crickets (all the time) is by far the loudest, and is really an amazingly loud roar at times. Katydids in particular are loud enough to mask neighbors yelling.
I live in typical new suburbia with 5' lot to house lines, so my neighbors are 10'away. I can't hear anything, 2005 house, except lawnmowers and sirens and the occasional dog bark, when inside. When outside, I can hear dogs and the occasional voice but not clear enough to understand the words. I think modern building energy standards make the houses more sound-proof.
hi guys for house lot size how big do you need to have a good distance from neighbor noises, like can't easily hear them talking (or yelling but not very loud), car driving in and out, and kids playing etc? I like a quiet house
if it's a known issue... go big.
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