How to insulate classic Perth homes from highway hums and aircraft noise without replacing your original timber sashes.
Heritage homes in Perth—whether they are Edwardian villas in Subiaco or limestone cottages in Fremantle—are often located in vibrant, densely populated areas. Unfortunately, vibrant neighborhoods often come with a high degree of noise pollution—including rumble from heavy freight trucks, railway tracks, bus routes, or aircraft flight paths. Because original heritage sash windows contain thin, fragile 3mm float glass, they act like acoustic drums, vibrating in sympathy with noise and transmitting it straight into your home.
The traditional response to noise is double glazing. However, standard modern double-glazed units (DGUs) are typically 24mm thick, constructed of thick glass panels separated by wide argon-filled spacer bars. These bulky units are physically impossible to retrofit into historical timber window frames, which were designed with thin, delicate 10mm glass rebate grooves (muntins). Ripping out historic sashes to fit fat modern frames ruins the property’s aesthetics and often violates conservation guidelines.
Our solution is upgrading the glass within your original frames. The most efficient treatment for traffic hum is high-performance acoustic laminated glass (such as SoundControl or ComfortHush). This glass consists of two panes of high-quality glass sandwiching a highly dampening, clear polymer PVB interlayer. This flexible interlayer acts as an acoustic sound dampener, disrupting and absorbing the acoustic energy waves of low-frequency road rumbling, reducing noise transmission by up to 10-15dB—making your home twice as quiet.
For clients who demand absolute thermal performance alongside noise control, we offer slimline heritage double-glazed units. These specialized units utilize advanced micro-spacers filled with specialized thermal gases (krypton or xenon). This allows us to construct fully insulated double glazed panels that are only 10mm to 12mm thick, fitting cleanly into the original 35mm timber sash frames without needing to split or modify the delicate timber rails.
To preserve the authentic historic appearance, we bed these upgraded glass panes onto specialized sealants and hand-sculpt traditional linseed-oil putty lines. This ensures the sash window maintains its beautiful, classic hand-applied putty lines from the street, while your interior enjoys a quiet, dust-free thermal barrier that matches the peaceful sanctuary of a modern architectural home.