I live on a busy thoroughfare and so far am unsuccessful in finding a renter that will sign a lease on an apartment that is noisy. I need to cut the sound coming through the glass that faces the street. In addition to the large windows, there are wraparound sections of panes of glass that surround a large window.

Dimensions for these sections of panes are around 1' x 5'. There are a total of six of these sections.

See picture of windows on either side of front door. Pix of house is top most picture: Here is a link to a page; the top pix on this page shows the windows on either side of the front door.
http://home.comcast.net/~davevarga/1.htm

I was thinking of cutting pieces of plexiglass or glass to those dimensions and securing them with trim from the inside of the house. They would be a few inches from the original panes of glass. I think it would look OK aesthetically. In this way the sound from the street would have to not only go through the glass, but go through the plexiglass. Hopefully this will cut the sound.

Questions:
Does this sound like it would be effective in cutting sound?
Should I get the thickest that I can find?
Will plexiglass over time yellow from the sun?
Should I get glass instead?

 

Plexiglass will discolor over time. A UV resistant polycarbonate won't. Glass would probably be cheaper.

Two problems with your idea.

First, unless you get VERY lucky and are able to get an air tight seal all the way from the exterior side of the outside pane of glass to the interior side of the inside glass, your windows will fog up -- just like an IG unit when a seal fails.

Second, working on the 1' by 5' section and ignoring the rest of the window won't make a bit of difference as far as the noise is concerned -- at least not enough that you'll notice it.

A better solution would be to simply replace the whole thing with a dual pane, vinyl framed window. It'll save you a lot of work, it'll reduce the noise level, and it'll save your tenants (when you find some) money on their utility bill (which will make it easier for them to pay the rent!)

 

Lefty,

Do you mean to replace the entire area (windows plus the wraparound paned sections) with a singular large dual paned replacement panel? If not, I am thinking of:

Replacing the main windows with doublepaned double glazed replacement windows.

Now, about the wraparound panes, shown in the pix attached that I need to address. That is the weakest point in terms of sound.

I HAVE to come up with a solution to cut down the sound through here, what if I:

-installed the large pane (approx 1' x 5') of 1/4 glass on the OUTSIDE of each of the existing pane SECTIONS, placing it an inch away from the existing glass, loosely sealing it, maybe placing a hole at the top and the bottom of each section, for air flow? It is not so much the temp insulation during the winter I am addressing, it is the sound problem. By placing the glass on the outside of existing glass, there may not be moisture?

OR

-Replacing each pane of glass in the wraparound sections (about 10" x 14") with 1/4" thick glass.

I am trying to come up with a solution to cut the sound, with spending not a large amount of money, that will hopefully conserve the look of those windows, which makes up the charm of the house.

 

dvarga,

I couldn't get to your pictures (the program simply won't respond, for whatever reason).

Yes, replace the entire thing -- windows and "the wraparound paned section".

Whether you put the pane of glass or plexiglass on the inside or on the outside, you will still run into condensation problems. The outer most surface will be exposed to the outside air, and the innermost surface will be exposed to the interior air. The differential between the two is what will lead to condensation. Leaving an air gap is exactly the wrong approach -- dual pane windows are a SEALED unit, and they don't fog up until the seal BREAKS!