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Home Decorating Windows Design Dilemma

Will installing window film behind glass help reduce echo?

8 months ago

Hi all, so my livingroom has high ceilings so it's very echoy. The master bedroom is a loft room that overlooks the livingroom. The open portion of the loft has a huge glass window installed over it. Ideally I would put a curtain over it on the livingroom side to help reduce echo but it's so high up that I'd probably need to rent scaffolding to do it. I was wondering, if I put some kind of privacy window film on the otherside (from inside the bedroom), will that help at all? Or will it do nothing because the glass facing the livingroom is still smooth? I don't know very much about how sound waves work but I read that film will help to absorb some noise. Just not sure if it matters which side it's on.
I already have rugs, soft furniture, and am working on covering the walls. Just trying to figure out what else I can do. It's really bad when the dog barks. It drives me insane since the sounds travels through the entire house and there isn't a single room where I can escape it.

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Comments (8)

millworkman
8 months ago
Window film does nothing for sound attenuation.
apple_pie_order
8 months ago
What absorbs sound is mass. You need heavy curtains, rugs with pads, and so on. Acoustic panels may help. Replacing the loft's window with a real wall and door with acoustic insulation may help, but safety (egress) comes first. In the meantime, consider keeping the dog in a comfortable location with better sound insulation in that room. There are a lot of good websites about reducing noise in houses, condos with shared walls, and other types of homes.
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Susie .
8 months ago
I can't imagine that window film would help much, especially if you've already got soft furnishings and rugs. Acoustic panels would help - you'd want to hire a pro to design and install them for you. I would look into replacing the window with a solid wall if it were my home.
mytwo cents
8 months ago
The problem might be the stairs. Do you have decor on the stairs or is it essentially bare floors and bare walls?
la_la Girl
8 months ago
^ agree - wonder if a runner would help?
mytwo cents
8 months ago
I'm thinking sound absorbing art panels.

Hen W - Might be helpful if you posted a picture of your interior, showing the staircase and whatever else is open to the downstairs, and take a picture from the downstairs of the staircase
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
8 months ago
Rugs drapery soft furniture all help to absorb sound and this is one more reason to not have super high ceilings . The loft same ting nice soft bedding and for sure hang drapes on the inside of the window at lest for nightt ime not sure how attractive that woudl be all the time . A rug on the floor . I find even my bathroom gets echoy when i take a ll teh towels the shower curtain and rugs out to wash. So add lots of soft stuff.
chispa
8 months ago
Acoustic art panels might help ...

https://www.gikacoustics.com/product-category/acoustic-art-panels/

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