How to mute water drops on a glass canopy?

Question

I live in a small building (3 stories), and the ceiling of my kitchen is a glass canopy with rain water pipes just above (about 8 meters above).

One of the pipe is directly above a small aluminum thickly thermal-isolated pane. When it rains, the water goes on the pipe and big droplets fall directly on the aluminum pane, which makes a loud noise. It always falls on a specific point, within 20cm.

The pipe belongs to the building, so there's no way I can move it. It's in a perfect state as it has just been replaced.

How can I muffle the sound of that droplet so I can sleep quietly when it rains?

Answer 1

Invite building management over next time it rains. Demonstrate the annoying noise and mention that, should there ever be an icicle form off that pipe in the winter, it could break loose and potentially come right through the window. Ask them nicely to fix the pipe so it's not dripping directly over the skylight.

Answer 2

A very low key solution would be to glue (or tie with a string if the setup is suitable) a sponge (the kind used for washing dishes) onto the aluminum pane on the spot where the drops hit. Such a setup probably would need to be replaced every couple of months but a drop of water falling onto a sponge should be silent.

Answer 3

If you aren't able to solve the problem from the outside by convincing the building management to redirect the water somehow, you can at least try to solve the problem from the inside by adding mass to the glass roof.

Adding mass to the panels by applying a window tinting film to the glass panels or a vinyl film to the aluminum support beams should at least help to dampen the noise and lower the frequency (by which I mean the pitch, not the number of drips per minute) of the sound.

There are films designed to prevent glass breakage on ground-floor windows and doors that also have a beneficial side-effect of reducing resonation generated by striking the pane. It's not going to silence someone knocking on it, but it should help to dampen the noise generated something so small as a water droplet. Depending on how nice your building management is, you might even be able to get them to pitch in since it could be spun as a security improvement to the structure.

Answer 4

I second the idea of a single roof shingle.

Or else... I had a similar issue with my upstairs neighbor's AC unit dripping onto mine. I solved it by folding/wadding up some window mesh and attaching it where the water was falling. Just a couple of layers would likely be sufficient. Alternatively, maybe an attachment of some sort (screw, binder clip, etc) on the end of the spout with a rope tied to it. That way the water would drip/fall down the rope instead of falling through the air to land from a great height.

Answer 5

It would solve the problem if you get a Styrofoam sheet or block and attach it so the rainwater drops on it instead of the aluminum pane. Styrofoam has plenty of elastic squishiness and thus deafens the impact sounds a lot, is cheap or even free (try asking for it in hardware store, or anywhere it is used in packaging) and it is very light so you won't have any problem whatsoever in carrying a 20+ cm sized chunk from the hardware store. It is also more hydrophobic (makes water bead up and fall of instead of soaking in), and thus it is a solution superior to sponges and pillows (those will soak up water much more easily and potentially create a spawning point for harmful molds).