Your home is a heaven to you, where you seek peace and calmness. But the noise from outside can interfere with your basic need. How do you deal with it? Can we make it a noise-less or noise-free life?
Yes, it is possible. You can make several changes to your home to experience the results, starting with your landscape. You can build it to control the sound of traffic or other things. Also, you can invest in equipment that is highly functional and not noisy. Think of something as simple as a garbage disposal system under your sink, for instance.
Installing a sink garbage disposal unit equipped with anti-vibration and soundproofing technologies help reduce unwanted and unpleasant sound in the house. So, all you need is to create an ecosystem in your home that blocks or reduces the sounds, which can affect your health negatively.
According to the Hearing Health Foundation, abrupt noises can make your body feel stressed, causing the release of a stress hormone called cortisol. If you become too stressed, your sleep and heart health suffer while your overall life quality takes a nosedive.
You cannot escape outdoor noise, especially the direct and intense kinds. You can wear your earplugs for brief distraction, but they will prevent you from experiencing beautiful sounds of bird songs, nearby streaming brooks, and more. Therefore, it makes sense to plan your house well. As mentioned, it can begin with landscaping.
Landscaping hacks to control outdoor noise impact: Some of the landscaping hacks you can follow are:
Plants
Some shrubs, trees, and vines absorb noise waves due to their height or the rustling sound of their leaves produced by the breeze. Do you know that some vegetation can help you improve your life by controlling the noise? Professional landscapers say that building a forested area with shrubs and trees can help. You can rely on thick and low-maintenance evergreen growth for this job.
However, not all evergreens are like that. If you treat them well, their green foliage will entertain your needs, no matter the weather. Some best picks include pine trees, spruce trees, American holly trees, etc. Apart from them, choose bushy leaves and thick bark types of plants. If you live close to busy streets, some great options include boxwoods, laurel, ivy, and viburnum.
To benefit from them, you must know how to grow them well. Planting the chosen species adjacent to the noise source will be better. To avoid noise penetration, create a mixed row of shrubs and trees for thickness. However, ensure these plants and trees don’t damage the nearby property as extreme weather conditions can play a spoilsport.
Fences
Everyone knows fencing is crucial for property safety, privacy, aesthetic health, and pest control. But if you choose the right fence, you can also keep the noise out of your home. You get specially-designed options for this. Look for acoustic barriers to experience the difference. Or, you can even rely on traditional choices. The thicker varieties can help with this.
When you select fences for this particular reason, you want something with no gaps and cracks between them. They should be a solid barrier. Popular materials for this include vinyl, stucco, red cedar, concrete, stone wall, or composite. You get many options, so don’t worry about finding the right style for your house.
Berms
You can avoid hardscape features, such as fences, if you use berms – a highly concentrated soil barrier. Those who need noise-canceling landscaping can benefit from its length. You can add sound control vegetation to this structure. However, make sure the soil quality is good for plant growth.
Pergolas
These landscape features deliver excellent aesthetic appeal by leveraging their wood and other materials. The tent-frame-like structures usually have exposed sides and roofs. But they are superb at blocking some sound impact when combined with sound-absorbing tiles. If you install fences, you can include pergolas, also. Since you get customization options, they can match your house’s aura the way you desire.
Other soundscaping features
You can add a feature that helps muffle the outside noise or create a soothing soundscape. Fountains and ponds can be some great additions to your outdoors, for that matter. The continuous flow of water caused by the recirculating pump will help build pleasing white noise. Even simple things like wind chimes with low vibrational sounds can also do well with them.
Some people use ornamental grass for this reason. Or, like others, add a music system in your yard and play soft tunes. If you are a bird lover, it can be a good idea to attract these flying species to your outdoor space through birdhouses, feeders, and baths. Their songs will fill the atmosphere with heart-quenching sounds.
Bedroom and other areas for relief from noise
You can do so many things – get acoustic curtains, seal your windows well, install window plugs, etc. Some houses use three-pane windows in high-traffic areas to block the unwanted sound of honking cars. If there are cracks in the walls, you can apply an acoustic sealant to make them soundproof. Then solid and thick doors are also a fantastic way to find some relief from the noise.
If your bedroom faces a busy street, it can be challenging to avoid the noise. One simple trick to handle this is to arrange your furniture against the wall so that it becomes an additional layer. Blackout curtains, thick wallpapers, and others can also help.
You cannot let your mental and physical health suffer just because your house is a part of a busy street. You deserve to enjoy peace inside your home. However, if there are too many sounds, you must check them. Landscaping and a few interior tweaks can work wonders. You can also talk to a designer or interior expert to learn more tricks to eliminate the noise problem.
Or, it should not steal your good night’s sleep and day’s comfort. Nowadays, you have plenty of options. So, don’t worry about that. At the same time, the budget will be manageable, especially if you want to upgrade the landscape sparingly.
