Your never going to reduce the noise. If you like opening the windows and sitting outside then I would say no.

Can anyone tell me how to share a photo of the house here? I am having a hard time with the windows web-based platform allowing me to share a photo.

Besides the noise depending on how busy the road is you will find all of the cars increase the amount of dust in the air. While not a problem for most if anyone in your family has breathing problems such as asthma or dust allergies I would pass. No matter how much you like the house if this is a concern pass.

Location, location, location. It is the one thing you can't change about a house, no matter how good the price is.

A MASSIVE Concrete wall (as tall as the house) that goes all the way around the house. And yes, that is a little tongue in cheek, but no I am not kidding (weird right?).

I'm sure you have seen LARGE solid fence-like walls running down the sides of a highway/interstate? Especially if there is housing somewhere in the near - yes? OK. The reason those obstructions are there are to reduce the NOISE from the highway from disturbing the peace of the neighbourhood. That's the type of thing I'm talking about.

That's just about the only way to get rid of the road noise from the OUTDOOR space. Some condos have used glass walls to stop wind AND noise from interfering with the life style of the penthouse owner. These are type of solutions that would work to REDUCE the noise but not get rid of it completely.

The tricky bit is the ZONING laws will not let you envelope your home with a 12foot sound barrier. And that means the house is always going to have noisy outdoor living conditions. There is nothing you nor any other homeowner can do unless you pay someone to reroute all the traffic/streets around the home. And if you have that type of money, you probably could afford a different house in a better neighbourhood.

If it is a potential bother to you now, it will be an even bigger problem in a few years. And even if you think the insulation will shut out the noise, you'll still hear it when the house is quiet and you're trying to go to sleep. The first house I bought was on a sleepy little street in an urban area and it probably had no more than one car per minute going by at the busiest times. Years later, the street had not been enlarged but there had been additional building in the neighborhood and changing traffic patterns that had cars zipping by in large numbers at all hours, to say nothing of the trucks. I finally couldn't stand the noise any more and sold it. It was a very desirable neighborhood, but it took me six months and several price cuts to sell it, and one of the reasons was what had happened to my sleepy little street. The house I bought is at the end of a cul de sac, and it's wonderful.

Pictures are being extra glitchy today. Try using the Houzz photo tab instead of the Photo tab, wait until the photo is uploaded fully before you hit submit, then be very patient until it completes. Someone said to put pics in an ideabook first and post from there works better.

How do you live? Tv or music on most of the time? Conversation and other "people" noise? Do you hang out outside? I've been in my '70s house located about 100 yards from a freeway sound wall for about a year. Most of the time, it is background noise. Now and then it seems very loud. While I don't regret buying this house because of all the other attributes, the noise is my one regret. I'm an early riser and I remark each morning. Once my household is up and about, I never think of it again.

I am in the same position we live up above a highway not a super hwy but busy our house is very quiet with triple paned windows and good insualtion the only time it is an issue is sometimes in the summer when we are trying to watch TV out side

"Can anyone tell me how to share a photo of the house here?"

Reduce the size of the picture before attempting to upload it. Your photo may be large because you took it wiith a cellphone whose camera produced an enormous image file. If you don't have a program to do this, download and install PixResizer. A photo whose largest dimension is 1024px will upload in two seconds.

It is what it is. We did a backyard in Chevy Chase that backs up onto Connecticut Ave and you heard the traffic noise and a little from 495. They had a 6 ft fence and sat higher than the road, they had plants, you still heard the cars. They were used to it and still loved being outside, so it really comes down to whether you can get used to it or not.

I'd not only be concerned about the noise. Poor air quality would be a more important issue health wise. I wouldn't touch it.

Turn on the ac and don't sit outside. Know that the price of the house considers the locale and the noise. Plant arborvitae. Also note, that folks live in cities where the noise from horns to trucks, buses,, and trains is 24/7. Fact is, after a while they don't notice the noise, the rare QUIET is far more noticeable. : )

Yes, sooty concrete dust and dirt will permeate open and screened windows. Nothing will change that fact. Nobody can decide the issue, but YOU. The farther from traffic noise you go in DC, the more KA CHING involved. ..............and the more time you will spend sitting in traffic on those roads. Welcome to the eastern corridor of the USA. From Maine to Florida.

have you ever lived in a similar neighborhood before? That's the only way to tell if it would bother you. I grew up in NYC. Fire trucks, ambulances, police, cars honking, etc. And that was before air conditioning throughout. Doesn't bother me. Now it's really not a problem because of central a/c.

I live in NYC. There is constant noise even though it’s considered a quieter neighborhood. Funny thing, I can tune out the city noise and still enjoy listening to the birds. We have a backyard, live across the street from a park, and are a block away from the East River so it helps.

My brother bought a house out in the country. Right next to a busy road! When I visited there, the road noise annoyed the heck out of me! I expected peace and quiet!

Paticia Colwell, you WATCH TV OUTSIDE? That would be worse than a having pool next door, or a highway!

When we visit my SIL in the summertime and there’s a baseball game on, that tv is set up on the deck! Dedicated fans!

We once considered buying in the Forest Glen neighborhood until we visited and heard the Beltway. Would never buy there for that reason.

kitasei-

Good point. I forgot that one has to worry about neighbors, as well as traffic ;-)

I live in the UK ...I live not far from a Motorway (Interstate) ..I can hear it most of the time ..but I miss it when the wind blows the noise the other way !

I'm 1.5 miles down a dirt road off a 2-lane paved main local road and I can hear the traffic in the distance occasionally, I can't even imagine the amount of noise coming from a larger, busier roadway, right next to it no less. Not to mention the exhaust and all that. Definitely would be a hard pass for me. (that being said, dirt roads have their own set of problems -- but at least it's quiet way down here...)

This is what we call an "incurable defect". While you might get a great deal on the home now, you will have trouble selling in the future for the same reasons you are doubting now. All the folks here who are fine with their current noise level now, will certainly be surprised when they go to sell. (Well, except those living in the city where buyers expect noise and can't avoid it.)

But you are buying in MD suburbs where there are lots and lots of quieter choices. This isn't a kitchen remodel or carpets that need replacing. This one can't be fixed and you'll have to live with it. I'd suggest looking around more.

I'm going to say it again because I think it's so important. Noise nuisance is as nothing to the multiple health risks from air pollution near roads. I would forget about this property.

Presumably, the location being less than desireable is reflected in a substantially lower price - and only you can decide whether its worth it to you. Have you thought of what nuisances you can put up with and what you cant. I decided that I could put up with the noise and vibration of periodic trains that go close to my house....but I didnt want constant loud car traffic + the smell of exhaust, nor could I take strong food processing odors (which permeated another lower cost area I looked at.) My same house if it was 5 or 10 blocks away in a quieter, more desireable area would be at least a good 100K more. I am moving for other reasons - but not the trains!

I lived in the city, near a busy road. Had it been a freeway, I think I would have dealt with it better. The noise was intermittent, so if we were sitting outside, I would hear a truck, tense up, and wait for it to approach, then accelerate away. It was really aggravating (not to mention filthy. It was a bit creepy to clean the patio table, knowing I was breathing that same air)

I think now, if I were buying, no noise pollution would be my number one priority, followed by a view.

Our daughter-in-law from Chicago visited us in our NJ suburb and was up all night because she couldn’t sleep with the ‘noise’ of crickets and frogs. Now we moved to a busier area where we’re getting used to the sounds of the trains and ambulances.

Gerry-

Well, she should be able to sleep better the next time she visits then. ;-)