“I can hear the road from inside my house”

Sound gets through a window three ways: through the glass, through gaps in worn seals, and through the frame. A modern window attacks all three at once — which is why replacing a tired 1990s unit often quiets a room more than people expect, even before any acoustic upgrade.

If your garden backs directly onto a parkway or the A1, glazing softens the roar; it does not delete it. Noise also comes through walls, roofs, vents and the moment you open a window in summer. For the most extreme cases, well-fitted secondary glazing — a second, separate pane inside the original window — can actually outperform replacement because of the deep air gap, and our advice article covers when that unfashionable answer is the right one. We would rather set that expectation at survey than have you discover it after the install.

A survey with the windows shut and the road doing its worst. We listen room by room, then specify per opening: standard A-rated units where the noise is modest, asymmetric or acoustic laminated units on the facades that face the source, and honest advice where glazing is not the binding constraint. The quote itemises every window, so you can see exactly where the acoustic spec went and why.