I live near a small train railway that runs about 8 times an hour, with trains made up of 3 to 6 cars. The closest part of my house is around 25 meters away, and the farthest is 35 meters. There are some trees, a road, and a fence in between. While the noise of the trains isn't a big deal and sometimes I don't even notice it, the vibrations are a different story. I don't feel any vibration on the ground level or in my cellar, but once I'm on the 1st and 2nd floors, it becomes much worse. On the 1st floor, I can feel slight vibrations even when sitting on the sofa, but on the 2nd floor, the bed literally shakes. It seems to start vibrating even when the train is 100 meters away! I'm curious about why vibrations are more intense on the upper floors. Shouldn't it be the other way around? I'm also considering placing foam sheets around the house to help. Any suggestions? Cheers!
2 Answers
The ground beneath your building directly affects how vibrations travel up through the structure. The base absorbs some vibrations, but as they move up, they can change in frequency and become stronger. If you want to reduce these vibrations, using tall sheets of foam around the impacted side of your house might help. Here's a link to some info on vibration reduction if you're interested: [vibration research](https://www.matec-conferences.org/articles/matecconf/pdf/2018/70/matecconf_vetomacxiv2018_13007.pdf).
The issue with vibrations likely stems from how they travel through your house. As the building structure vibrates, those vibrations can amplify as they ascend. Make sure you don’t have any loose items in your rooms that could rattle — they might be making it feel worse. If it’s just the vibrations bothering you, maybe some earplugs would help, or consider moving.
I appreciate the advice! The sound isn’t really a problem for me; it’s just the vibrations that feel like a low-frequency massage on my bed for about 10 seconds. I don't have much furniture right now since I just moved in, but I want to minimize this issue.
Thanks for the link! I’ll definitely look into ways to reduce the vibrations.