I live near Miami. My house is about 60 years old. It has aluminum-frame casement windows. The hinges are at the outsides of the frames. Each frame contains two windows. Each window is about four feet high and one foot wide and contains four separate panes of thin glass. The frames are only an inch or two thick, from the exterior of the house to the interior.

These windows are the worst. The aluminum doesn't react well to age, and they get hard to open. The crank mechanisms strip. They don't seal well; even lizards can get in. The real problem, however, is noise. I have a neighbor who has three shrieking dogs, and he regularly plays salsa in his yard late at night.

I have been looking at ways to decrease the noise in my bedroom. I would rather not blow thousands on new windows. I am wondering if installing thicker glass would do any good. First, I want to know if it will reduce the noise. Right now I can clearly hear loud conversation in my neighbor's yard, over fifty yards away. Second, will I have problems putting thicker glass in these terrible old frames?

Thanks.