I’ve got a question that is a little bit out of the ordinary. I am about to build a couple of units on some “bargain” lots I purchased a while ago. One of the reasons the lots were so reasonably priced is that they are next to the railroad tracks. Other than the usual solutions to noise reduction (double or triple paned windows, lots of insulation, solid core doors, good weatherstripping, etc), I’m looking for other construction details that will reduce vibration coming into the units from the ground and the noise coming through the air. Any ideas or references to sources would be greatly appreciated. Somebody once mentioned putting rubber between the stemwall and the sill plate but I don’t have any detailed info on that plan.
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Look into SIPS for sound low sound transmission. Also limit the openings on the loud side of the house. As for vibration no idea for cheap. Did see a cool article back in school about some earthquake proof designs for large structures. One of the neatest was a set up with shallow bowls on the top and the bottom and a ball bearing in the middle. Might want to look into other 'quake construction.
Good Luck.
i'd pour all of my footings on 12" of 1.5" crushed stone as a bond breaker
You've got questionable marginal lots and that makes the units hard to sell. You definitely don't want to have an abundance of money tied up in it.
That means you want to do this on the cheap.
I vote for ice block walls with concrete to use the mass to absdorb noise and foam to buffer it.
Excellence is its own reward!
Is there a marked for a new home next to active rail line which hauls hazards material. How much money are you going to spend to insulate the house from vibration and noise.
Do you think some one that can afford to buy a new house for -75K - 100K - 150K will buy a new one next rail line? I can see some one buying a house next to tracks if it would go for twice or more the price some place else.
reminds me of the TOH (I think) show or Bob Villa in germany or Austria.
Same deal - lower priced house on train tracks. Had teeny rooms, furnace in a metal "phone booth' (fire codes). All stainless plumbing mounted on a manifold in the basement, and every wire detailed on a plan at the town office - could not move a wire without a permit. Starter home - cost in the $300-400,000 range.
We is lucky here being mericans.
We're building a subdivision of brand new, nice homes right up on a railroad line. I started a thread about it. Beautiful, huge garage doors. I don't think prospective owners will see the rail line in their backyard for the tree line we left (wooded lots!)
Back when I was a mechanical (division 15) guy, I sold the Navy a spring-isolated floor. It had really sophisticated vibration control in it and cost a mint. When we got down to the install, nobody would tell us what the building was for - classified. It had a lab component with 480 3-phase run over the lab tables and about 5 different gas lines run down each each lab table with lateral tie-ins - unmarked as to what kind of gas. I figured green was oxygen.
The anti-vibration platform went into an adjacent room that had 100' high dual steel doors about 40' wide. I assume the room had lots of sophisticated stuff installed. Someone mentioned that it was for satellites, but am not sure.
Anyway not much to add. Just rambling.
remodeler
How fast are the trains going when they pass your location? We used to live across the street from a busy railroad, not over 100 feet from our front door to the main track. I don't remember any vibration transmitted through the ground, but we were right in town, and the trains were seldom going any more than 10 or 15 MPH past our house.
Sound was a different story. Pulling out of town was up hill, and they did put the throttles to the firewall going that direction. The high school was also right across the street from the railroad, and my freshman algebra class was interrupted every efternoon by a long coal train with six locomotives on the front and four in the middle starting up that hill. We just suspended operations for a minute or two until it got far enough away. It may not have been as loud as a jetliner taking off, but we were a lot closer than I've ever been to the outside of a jetliner taking off.
Very good question. There was a case somewhere here in Southern CA where there was a subdivision at the bottom of a hill, and a train ran away due to an error in reporting the weight in some cars, and brake problems. This took out several blocks of the subdivision and killed some people. Then during cleanup, they put a backhoe thru a gasoline pipline, adding explosion and fire to the mess.
-- J.S.
I think ICFs (insulated concrete forms) are your best option to reduce sound and vibration from nearby tracks. The walls as well as the foundation could be built from them.
You can help some, too, by orientation of the building on the site, and how you arrange the rooms (i.e. bedrooms facing away from the tracks, closets on outside walls, etc.).
The soil matters, too. Wet, clayey soils will transmit vibration more than dry crusher run. A phone call to a geotechnical engineer may be worthwhile.
Does anyone out there live in an ICF home in a noisy neighborhood?
And when the houses are built and on the market, advertise them with the local railroad clubs.
You never know.
And when the houses are built and on the market, advertise them with the local railroad clubs.
I'll second that, railfans are everywhere and not everyone thinks trains are bad. I would go out of my way to get a piece of property with some serious rail traffic. Just like the sound of the flanged wheels rumbling through the night, kind of music to ma ears.