DOMESTIC NOISE

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 136, 10 June 1937, Page 19

DOMESTIC NOISE

STANDARD OF ENDURANCE

SUGGESTIONS IN ENGLAND

The pronouncements by Dr. Davis, of the National Physical Laboratory on the subject of noise in buildings is some measure of a general feeling against the increase of noise due to the incre lse of mechanical invention, states the "Manchester Guardian."

d There is not only the person overhead ' c to be coped with, or the man who knocks out his pipe on the party wall w every evening at exactly half-past ten, >s but there are everybody's cars, every- *• body's radios, and everybody's prefer- '" ence for the small hours in which to demonstrate at their noisiest. Soon •- there will be everybody's aeroplanes 3> to add to the general pandemonium. The chief difficulty is to find a stand- ,.' ard of noise against widen a sufficient - number of people may. protest. Some " people feel cold unless the radio is on ■ from early morn, to early morn again; ■ to. others this 'is torture.' 'Some find every Continental town unduly noisy, while Continental towns find London among the noisiest towns on earth. This is because one is used to one's own noises but not to those of other people. Some people can stand any amount of traffic, while suffering agonies from the man who coughs next door. Some feel exhilarated by the melodies of a motor-bicycle; to others this is sheer exasperating selfishness. And so the noise plaint goes on. Granted, however, that noise above a certain amount is detrimental to everybody, what is being done about it? FRANCE AND GERMANY. In Paris noise has at least been,taken in hand in such a building as the Salle Pleyel. This, is built rather like the body of a ship, to give musical instruments the opportunity to be heard at their best. It does this, but a cough or the scrape of a root is also heard at its best. Nevertheless sound has | deliberately been made the most of and therefore has been coped with. In Germany, in some of the, new towns, sound has been, dealt with by insulating the floors. In some cases the insulating means have worked, but by no means in all. Recently layers of shells wsre discovered between the floors and ceilings of some houses built by Cubitt, and they proved ideal sound-deadeners. At a recent exhibition the National Physical Laboratory demonstrated means of sound-proofing which, if they really corresponded to the examples, -were very effective indeed. Double doors and double windows make a greal difference. The conclusion of Dr. Davis, however, that a complete solution of the noise-in-houses question is only to oe found by making each room as a sort of inner box floating upon insulating materials. This is beyond most people, and it does not cover the problem of the open window- or door.

In the increasing number of blocks of flats much more might be done against noise by individuals. There might be more insistence in leases upon proper carpeting of rooms and stairs— this in the absence of any. other insulating material. The French "paper" their walls sometimes with linen, and this also has a deadening effect. Radio could be disallowed above a certain grade of noise and after or between certain hours. In Germany, for instance, piano-playing used not to be allowed after ten o'clock. Some people treat their walls with felt. Much, too, might be done on the subject of landlords if tenants insisted on a night in a flat before taking it. Flats are like shoes; they only develop tHeir qualities when you get home.

It really comes to this, that if an intricate subject like income tax can be dealt with, or if means can be devised by which money relief is awarded, it ought not vto be beyond the powers of the expert to devise standardised methods against noise which are not beyond the means either of landlord or o* tenant. A noise-assessor would be a boon to any country.