New double-glazing unit fitted, road noise much louder than before

crayola234

I had my whole house fitted with PVC double glazing in 1996. The units were manufactured by a reputable company and the glass carried engravings showing the brand and the dates manufactured. The seal between the glass panes failed on one unit at the front of the house a few weeks ago and it was replaced by a local glazing company which supplied and fitted a replacment sealed unit. The new unit has no engravings etc.
Both my wife and I have separately noticed that the road noise from traffic passing the house is considerably louder since the new unit was fitted. Is this really possible? We never noticed the road noise before but now it's like the traffic is just outside the window.
Is there a difference in glass thickness, or quality or anything about the nature of the space between the panes? Is there meant to be a vacuum between the panes? If so, I would expect this to be quieter since there are no air or gas molecules to transmit sounds?
Any advice is welcome, as we are going to contact the glazing company concerned but need to have some homewpork done first.....

Buford T Justice

The new pane of glass is not reducing the noise levels like the old one, thats all you need to know really. Perhaps they just stuck in the cheapest thing they had

Carlow52

I would think there is an air tightness issue due to the new panel not fitting properly.

Is it the right thickness for the existing frame?

kitser

was it from the opening window or the fixed pane? if the OP, check the top of the frame and see if the corner looks dropped and when the OP is closed - is it closing tight at the hinge side at the bottom usually. if its the fixed pane - it could be that the unit is not as thick as the old one. hard to tell without seeing it. call the fitters back

dathi

the engraving on the glass is to show that it is toughened glass. if the new glass does not have engraving its ordinary 4mm glass. the space between the panes is filled with air, or argon gas on better units depending on the height of the window above floor level the toughened glass may be necessary for safety

crayola234

Thanks for the responses.
It's a fixed window and I've checked the thickness, seals on both sides etc and all looks OK. The new unit is fitting exactly as it should. I'll contact the company that put it in and see if they have any thoughts on it.