I live on a busy street that is separated from a highway by a restaurant parking lot, and I would like to replace my wrought iron fence with a wooden fence for both privacy and to block sound. I am able to build up to an 8 foot fence, but I'm concerned that it may not be enough to block the ambient sound coming from the street and highway.
Of course perfect silence is unobtainable (and I actually do like some city sounds) but it would be nice to have a little more solitude than I have now.
I'm wondering if there are any tips for making the fence better at blocking sound. For example, would a double-walled fence provide better sound blocking, or would the difference be negligible compared to the sound coming over the fence?
Best Answer
Solid is better than not solid. Thicker is better than thinner.
But at the end of the day, wood fences won't do much to dampen sound at all.
If you can, go with a solid fence of some sort (block, brick, etc.) but that'd be expensive and laborious, of course.
If you have to stick with wood, go with solid panels and then plant a lot of shrubs on both sides of the fence. That might help over time. But don't invest in this thinking you will see sound dampening of all that much.
That said, it does appear there are some products on the market to help with this. I know nothing of these and are merely mentioning them as possible things to investigate: