How do I reduce street noise on my rooftop deck?

Daw17343801
by Daw17343801
  3 answers
  • Add large pots with a trellis in wash one with fast growing vines. Acts as a wall and buffer from the street noise below. Another idea is to build some sort of structure to add curtains made from drop cloths, shower curtain or any length of fabric. Make them with tie backs to attach to posts on breezy days.

  • Jonah Quinn Jonah Quinn on May 13, 2018

    Agree with Naomie Moore answer. If your rooftop deck can support plants & their heavy soil (make sure it's okay), plants are good at breaking up sound waves. Sound travels in waves, (like water waves), and anything that can physically block them, break them up, or redirect them (bounce them back to the street, etc) will help with the sound up there.


    But think of it like building a wall, on the street side, to try to bounce those sound waves back to the street. That is why she said a trellis or curtain (try to find noise reducing outdoor type), to create a wall of sorts. If your deck cannot support all the soil you might need to build a wall of plants (how big is your street side (& maybe some of the corners on the street side), then a lighter weight wall structure might be possible.


    If you cannot physically block the sound, you can try to cancel it with your own sound waves (yes sound waves can bounce other sound waves around, think of starting waves in two different places in water, when they meet they affect each other). This is often why noisy fountains are so popular in crowded areas. The noise from the water, is far more soothing than traffic, but it is still a constant sound so it can help bounce some of the 'bad' noise away.


    You could combine things, to make a little park up there (if it is large enough). Put some plants up there, add a noisy water feature, maybe add a song bird feeding station (away from furniture to reduce poop & mess), because the birds singing is also a pleasant sound to help disrupt the street noise.