Sound insulation is not a single number at the bottom of the quote. It depends on what we put into the glass, how the unit closes and how it is installed. Here we set out what each one is worth, so that you do not pay for something that will not deliver in your case.
The sound insulation figure tells you how much quieter the sound is on the room side. The scale is not linear, though: a 10 dB drop sounds roughly half as loud to the ear, not ten per cent. That is why even an improvement of a few decibels is worth a lot, and why something showing twice the number on paper will not be twice as quiet.
ALWAYS ask for the figure for the complete unit, not just for the glass. A 42 dB pane in a badly closing frame is not a 42 dB window.
Acoustic glass is two panes of glass with an acoustic interlayer between them. The interlayer is barely visible but absorbs vibration. Its thickness and its material decide what it is worth. It also matters a great deal if the two panes are NOT of equal thickness: panes of the same thickness resonate at the same pitch, panes of different thickness do not.
Where air can pass, sound passes too. That is why several sealing planes and well-adjusted hardware are not a comfort question. A sash that has gone out of adjustment will undo even the most expensive glass.
The gap between the frame and the wall is the most common leakage point. Foam on its own fills the gap, but vapour-sealed tape installation also closes it. If sound insulation is the aim, it is worth asking for this separately.
The shutter box, the vent and the front door open into the same room. It is no use the window being 42 dB if the noise passes freely through a box next to it. We go through this at the survey.
Sound insulation does not add up; it leaks away at the weakest point. If the window in the room is 42 dB but the shutter box is significantly less, the room follows the box, not the window.
That is why at the survey we ask where the noise comes from and what kind it is. Continuous, low-frequency city traffic calls for something different from the screech of a tram or conversation on a neighbouring terrace. The same glass does not perform equally at different pitches.
| Whether there is a shutter box, and what kind |
| Whether there is a built-in vent in the frame |
| Which way the front door opens |
| How thin the wall itself is |
| Where the noise comes from: street, courtyard, above |
| PVC window or door, standard version | 32 dB as standard, up to 47 dB |
| Basic aluminium window | up to 45 dB |
| Premium aluminium window | up to 47 dB |
| Exclusive aluminium window | up to 47 dB |
| Timber-aluminium window | up to 46 dB |
These are the achievable maxima given on the manufacturers' data sheets. How much of it is realised in your room is decided by the installation and by the other openings in the room. We quote several glazing options so that you can see in forints what the next level costs.
Send us the sizes, or just how many openings there are. We come back within one working day and arrange a time for the survey.