Will secondary glazing stop traffic noise on my video calls?

Yes. Reducing the level at the window by 25-30dB removes the noise before it reaches the microphone, which works on the impulsive events — sirens, drills, motorbikes — that noise-cancelling software consistently fails to suppress.

How quiet should a home office be?

Around 40dB gives you a steady background floor rather than a series of attention-grabbing events, which is the condition that supports sustained concentration.

Can you fit secondary glazing to a loft dormer office?

Yes. Dormer windows take lift-out or sliding panels from around £430, and treating a dormer often makes a bigger difference than expected because loft rooms have very little other acoustic mass.

Will it make the room warmer in winter?

Noticeably. The window U-value drops from roughly 5.0 to 1.8 W/m²K and the cold downdraught by the desk disappears, which is usually the first thing people report.

Secondary Glazing for Home Offices

No more apologising for the sirens on your call.

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40dB

Target working level

54dB

Achievable reduction

£480

From, per window

2-3 hrs

Single-room install

A London home office has two noise problems. Outbound: the traffic, drilling and sirens your microphone picks up and broadcasts to everyone on the call. Inbound: the constant background that measurably degrades concentration on complex work.

Research on open-plan offices puts the cognitive cost of unpredictable background noise at a measurable drop in performance on tasks requiring sustained attention. The same applies at home — and a spare bedroom on a bus route is often noisier than the office you left.

Call quality and microphone pickup

Noise-cancelling software handles steady background hum reasonably well but fails on the impulsive events London specialises in — a siren, a pneumatic drill, a motorbike. Those get through, and they get through loudly.

Reducing the source level at the window by 25-30dB removes the problem at its origin rather than relying on processing to hide it.

Sirens: 1-2kHz, blocked effectively by acoustic laminate
Drilling and street works: broadband impulsive
Motorbikes: high peak, short duration, defeats noise cancellation
Steady traffic: reduced to inaudible under the room noise floor

Concentration and the noise floor

A working target of around 40dB gives you a room where the background is a floor rather than a series of events. That is what makes deep work possible: the brain stops orienting to each new sound.

Winter comfort in a converted room

Home offices are frequently the coldest room in a London house — a rear return, a box room, or a loft with a single-glazed dormer. The thermal effect of secondary glazing is often the change people notice first, particularly the removal of the cold downdraught if you sit at a desk in the window.

Home office specification

Target level: Around 40dB working background
Glass: 6.4mm standard, 10.8mm on main-road elevations
Cavity: 100-150mm
Opening style: Sliding — ventilation without leaving the desk
Thermal: U-value from ~5.0 to ~1.8 W/m²K
Install time: 2-3 hours for a single-room fit

Pricing guide

Specification	Price	Notes
Standard home office window, 6.4mm	from £480	Residential streets
Main-road office, 10.8mm	from £620	150mm cavity
Loft dormer panel	from £430	Lift-out or sliding
Free acoustic sound survey	Free	Working-hours measurement

All prices supplied and fitted in London, inclusive of survey and 25-year warranty. See the full secondary glazing price list.

Case study: Home office on the Marylebone Road corridor

Marylebone, NW1

Problem: 63dB working background with frequent siren events audible on client calls.

Solution: 10.8mm acoustic laminate slider at a 150mm cavity on the single street-facing window.

Result: Working background at 36dB; sirens no longer audible on recorded call audio.

Frequently asked questions

Get a fixed quote for secondary glazing home office

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