Secondary glazing

[237SJ]

I have a house with hardwood sashcord windows. It is at the top of a hill on a junction so cars rev up and it can be quite noisy. There are secondary upvc windows on the inside. I want to replace the windows. I can`t have doubleglazed hardwood windows because the place is listed so will have to do something along the same lines as the secondary glazing for noise reduction. Is there a `nice` way to do secondary glazing instead of the horrible upvc or some other way of reducing the noise?

[The Builder]

Always a problem 237. Something I've done before, is to make up traditional shutters inside the window. Decent, hardwood shutters would look terrific, but would, obviously keep out the light as well.
So, how about shutters made with a simple frame, and then glazed. (If they can take the weight, 6mm toughened or laminated glass is pretty good at sound insulation.)
I'm thinking of something like a cabinet door you would have on a glass fronted display cabinet. Hinges, knobs, fixings etc .......... all to your taste.
Positioning would depend on the depth of the reveals and position of sill etc.
The inner face of the wall usually looks best, rather than being tight up to the window frame.
You'd have to fiddle with position of curtains etc. Personally, I'd not have curtains, just a blind fixed right in front of the window.

[The Builder]

........... also meant to add .............. I'm thinking of pairs of shutters rather than one big one for each window. :o)

[ChuckFickens]

I sympathise with your problem, I also live in a listed building and it's a pain not being able to do some things!

Hope you find a solution.

[237SJ]

Thanks for your answers both of you. The Builder - I was hoping you`d come along! I did think about internal glass shutters as a friend of mine in a listed place has them with nice cast iron catches. She has open out windows on the outside though, so having a central bar/strut for the internal ones to close against is in keeping. I thought it might look a bit odd as mine are sashcord. The place is empty/on the market at the moment (I rented it out) and if it hasn`t sold soon, I will keep it and do it up. There are a few issues with the place and I might be needing your advice in the future! Thanks for your time x

[The Builder]

ooer ............ sliding sash windows .......... sorry, I missed that :o(
and I guess you don't have a vertical bar in the glazing that would "line up" with where the shutters meet?
OK .......... more thought needed ............

[237SJ]

No I don`t. Do you think a council would be amenable to me asking to put double glazed sashcord windows in? Are they really that stubborn when it comes to like-for-like or could I plead with them?

[The Builder]

That is well worth a shot 237. There are more and more "conservation" style windows being made these days. They'll be leakproof and probably fitted with 24mm glazing units. A great improvement on what you have. They don't even need cord anymore. They have an adjustable spiral balance system that's a dream to use.
Ironically, I've often found Conservation Officers to be much more approachable than regular Planning people.

[237SJ]

Thanks Builder. I`ll make a note of the windows you mention and see how I get on if it comes to it (and I have a feeling it will). I won`t even start on the skylight window situation (that`s a whole other question)!