For many local families, the backyard used to be a quiet place to relax or play with the dog. Now, that peace is often broken by the constant roar of tires on asphalt. It can be very frustrating to try to enjoy a weekend barbecue when you have to shout over the sound of a passing truck.
Do not let the sound of traffic take away the joy of your home. To protect your comfort, make sure to work with a petrifiedfenceboise.com professional.
How Hard Surfaces Around Your Home Amplify Noise
The first reason your Boise backyard might feel so loud is because of the materials around you. Modern homes often have large glass windows and hard siding. While these look great, they act like a mirror for sound waves. When the noise from a nearby street hits your house, it bounces off the hard surfaces and reflects back into the middle of your yard.
This “bounce effect” makes the noise feel like it is coming from every direction at once. In a tight neighborhood where the houses are close together, the sound can ping-pong back and forth between the buildings. This traps the road noise in your yard and makes it sound much louder than it actually is.
How Yard Surfaces Can Make Traffic Noise Worse
The ground in your yard also plays a big part in how much noise you hear. In many parts of the Treasure Valley, the soil is very hard and packed down.
If a yard is mostly bare dirt or has a very large concrete patio, the sound waves can slide right across the surface. There is nothing to catch the noise or slow it down. It is like a flat road that lets the sound drive straight to your back porch.
Soft things, like thick grass or a garden with lots of mulch, can help soak up some of that sound. However, many newer Boise yards are built with “low maintenance” in mind, using a lot of stone and flat pavers. While these are easy to take care of, they do nothing to stop the rumble of the street.
How Boise’s Hills and Elevation Affect Road Noise
Being high up means there are fewer things to block the path of the noise. You are often looking down at the traffic, which means the sound has a direct line to your ears. This is why a house on a hill can sometimes be louder than a house right next to the road. It takes a trained eye to understand how the hills around your home are moving the sound into your private space.
How Wind and Evening Air Patterns Carry Traffic Noise
You might notice that your yard is very quiet in the morning but very loud during dinner time. This is often because the local air patterns change as the sun goes down.
The moving air picks up the noise from the busy evening commute and carries it right into your backyard. This is a hidden reason for noise that most people never think about.
Reclaim Your Quiet Time!
You worked hard to buy a home in Boise, and you deserve to have a backyard that feels like a getaway. Your home should be a place where you can hear the birds and the wind in the trees, not the sound of car horns and engines.
At Petrified Fences, the team of professionals knows how to find the spots where the road noise is leaking into your property. They will work with you to build a guaranteed plan that helps you get the quiet outdoor space you have been dreaming of.
