Home Improvement

Fitting secondary glazing in addition to the existing double glazing. It entirely eliminates "normal" traffic noise (as in - you see cars driving past but don't hear them) and people walking past. You still hear excessively loud exhausts, but they're significantly diminished to not be a "jump out of your skin" annoyance.

An added benefit I've noticed with the recent sunny weather - a significant reduction in unwanted solar gain. Usually, I have to put up exterior solar mesh screens to shade the windows from April to September, but so far this year, they haven't been needed. I imagine it's a combination of both the UV-blocking properties of the secondary glazing (soft-coat low-e and laminated glass) and having the regular window blinds between the normal windows and secondary meaning that much of the energy gets reflected straight back out again before entering the room-side of the secondary glazing.

You couldn't call it a sub-$1000 investment if doing the whole house, but doing just a bedroom or living room fits and the quality-of-life improvement if on a noisy busy road makes it worthwhile.

But also, solar mesh screens especially on south-facing windows - they're a nice cost-effective way of controlling the summer sun.