SHUTTERS TO SHUT OUT THE NOISE

On a visit to Paris   I couldn't help but admire the French windows featured in the older city apartments. Look them up on Google images. You will see that they open inwards, towards the inside of the room. They are very pretty, often with window glass that comes very close to the floor. Lots of light, and a control of ventilation that typical American-style windows lack. But also, French windows are excellent at controlling noise while still allowing air into the apartment.

This is because of the reverse-megaphone effect, whereby noise is lessened by the V angle of the two shutters.

I decided this was the answer to the noise problems in my own apartment: I would build interior shutters (or volets as the French would say) to shut out the noise.

Let me share this as a visual woodworking plan. As you can see, my shutters are in 3 tiers. The lowest houses my air-conditioner. The second tier is the large shutter doors to let in the most light and air. The top tier is to vent from overhead.

Shelves separate each tier to further isolate the noise.

On the top shutters I added translucent plexiglass windows.  I would have included more windows, but cost was a big concern.

I would go into detail about how to build and mount the shutters, but every window is different. Also, there are many choices in shutters. 

 Here is the enclosure for the air conditioner.  The heavy door keeps out noise while it is not in use.


As you can see in the photo (right), I made a cutaway to allow the power line (and my DSL & phone cables) to feed out.




Perhaps my project will inspire you to design your own solution.

Here is the full set of shutters.  Like I said, this post is about the benefit of interior shutters. To sound proof a room with windows is not an option, but sound reduction is possible with shutters. Full length shutters instead of three sets will provide sound reduction even more efficiently. I chose to construct three isolated tiers simply to give myself more ventilation options.

If you have problems with noise and dirt,  interior shutters like this are worth considering. Nothing can shut out all of the noise, but these shutters have made the warmer months much quieter in this noisy city where I live.


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