Soundproofing toilet

JuliusCaesar

The upstairs toilet is directly above the kitchen. Unfortunately if you are in the kitchen, you can hear all noises from the toilet. Not just flushing, but every tinkle and plop. So. Is there any way of soundproofing this? It's really embarrassing.

It's a standard wooden floorboard/joists/ceiling set up. Could I fill the gap between joists directly under the toilet?

Any ideas would be very welcome, cos the radio is driving everyone mad, and it doesn't hide the noises either. :rolleyes:

Thanks!

Spread

In the old days they put two shims half way up the joists ........ then fitted a roof slate on these and filled to the floorboard with sand/earth etc. You can get soundproofing cork filler that would do the same but getting the stuff in without too much disruption is the thing. Alternatively, screw another layer of 1/2" plasterboard on top of the ceiling, plaster 3/8" of bonding and skim it. That should alleviate most of the noise. I presume your ceiling is just taped and jointed with 3/8" boards.

JuliusCaesar

Spread wrote: »

In the old days they put two shims half way up the joists ........ then fitted a roof slate on these and filled to the floorboard with sand/earth etc. You can get soundproofing cork filler that would do the same but getting the stuff in without too much disruption is the thing. Alternatively, screw another layer of 1/2" plasterboard on top of the ceiling, plaster 3/8" of bonding and skim it. That should alleviate most of the noise. I presume your ceiling is just taped and jointed with 3/8" boards.

Are we speaking the same language?

Anyway, the kitchen is a very large room; the toilet is just a toilet so a tiny room - it's separate from the bathroom. (In case you're saying I should put another layer on the kitchen ceiling.)

So are you saying nail/screw little battens to the joists, put a roof slate (or another bit of wood?) on top, and fill the gap with the cork filler? I wonder would that spray-on stuff work? I've no idea what it's called but I saw it used to silence a burglar alarm in a robbery one time and it was very effective.

I'll lift the vinyl and have a look at the floorboards. Thanks for your suggestion and hope I'm understanding it correctly!

ted1

You could fill the floor with foam. The kind use for insulation.

johnwest288

Putting in extra toilet roll will absorb the impact and kill the water impact spout
I use the british flag set up, criss crossing at angles.


But in seriousness found this link

http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100428194400AANe1Uc

bbam

I'd say filling the void in the floor will be of little use.
Most of the sound will be transmitted through the physical timber of the floor, joyces and plasterboard.

Little toilet roll in first is best and cheapest answer.

Spread

Didn't realise that the toilet room was small. You can get sheet quilting (about 15mm thick) to put on top of the floorboards but you have to lay another sheet of 12mm ply on top before relaying the vinyl. The ply would be floating and not nailed through to the floorboards/joists. To silence the plop factor - you have to lay under the pan as well. This will give you a step at the door and you'll need to cut the same amount off the door bottom.
You could also consider a sheet of lead. This was widely used in recording studios.

Best of luck anyway.

paddy147

This is what to do.........................

Works a treat too,for sound reduction.

Trust me.:)

howamidifferent

JuliusCaesar wrote: »

I saw it used to silence a burglar alarm in a robbery one time and it was very effective.

paddy147

ted1 wrote: »

You could fill the floor with foam. The kind use for insulation.

Bio Foam 800 open cell is ideal for this.:)

writhen

Open cell foam or glasswool/rockwool/sheepwool is good for sound absorption and will alleviate reflections but will have little effect on actual sound transmission. Add some extra mass layers beneath the toilet area, seal well and then fill with sound absorption. What Spread is saying is heading in the right direction.

bbam

writhen wrote: »

Open cell foam or glasswool/rockwool/sheepwool is good for sound absorption and will alleviate reflections but will have little effect on actual sound transmission. Add some extra mass layers beneath the toilet area, seal well and then fill with sound absorption. What Spread is saying is heading in the right direction.

To do his the toilet will need to come out and go on top of the floating floor.. A toilet needs to be fixed down to prevent it falling over and I'm not sure if fixing it to 12mm ply is good enough... There may also be problems lining up the outlet with the sewer if it is raised 12-20mm

JuliusCaesar

JuliusCaesar wrote: »

I wonder would that spray-on stuff work? I've no idea what it's called but I saw it used to silence a burglar alarm in a robbery one time and it was very effective.

howamidifferent wrote: »

ted1 wrote: »

You could fill the floor with foam. The kind use for insulation.

paddy147 wrote: »

Bio Foam 800 open cell is ideal for this.:)

Yes, that's the stuff. A house down the road was robbed and this stuff used on the alarm - you had to be standing next to the box to hear it. (I'm presuming most thieves already know this, and the rest of us aren't going to take this as a handy hint to start a new 'career' :rolleyes:.)

Thanks all!

Tom Cruise

You must have noisy bowel movements.How about putting tissue down the toilet b4 you let the brown salmon out to swim?

writhen

bbam wrote: »

writhen wrote: »

Open cell foam or glasswool/rockwool/sheepwool is good for sound absorption and will alleviate reflections but will have little effect on actual sound transmission. Add some extra mass layers beneath the toilet area, seal well and then fill with sound absorption. What Spread is saying is heading in the right direction.

To do his the toilet will need to come out and go on top of the floating floor.. A toilet needs to be fixed down to prevent it falling over and I'm not sure if fixing it to 12mm ply is good enough... There may also be problems lining up the outlet with the sewer if it is raised 12-20mm

I was a bit unclear. I was referring to the area between the joists. You could approach it from the ceiling below ( extra layers of gypsum board) or from between the joists.

paddy147

JuliusCaesar wrote: »

Yes, that's the stuff. A house down the road was robbed and this stuff used on the alarm - you had to be standing next to the box to hear it. (I'm presuming most thieves already know this, and the rest of us aren't going to take this as a handy hint to start a new 'career' :rolleyes:.)

Thanks all!

It couldnt be the Bio Foam 800 open cell that was used to silence an alarm.

Because the thieves would have needed it to be at a 40 degree temp and have 2 massive mixing drums and a large compressor pump and a truck too.;)

Also thats why you put 2 "working" anti-tamper alarm bell boxes and Sabb cages on the house.

1 front and 1 rear or side.;)
I have 3 HKC anti tamper external bell boxes on my house and sabb cages too.

Spread

bbam wrote: »

To do his the toilet will need to come out and go on top of the floating floor.. A toilet needs to be fixed down to prevent it falling over and I'm not sure if fixing it to 12mm ply is good enough... There may also be problems lining up the outlet with the sewer if it is raised 12-20mm

Ever heard of a Flexi-Pan Connector?

If they feel that 12mm is not enough then lay 18mm.
The ply is held in place with 3/4" fixings through the quilting. The pan would be screwed in the same way. This quilting is semi rigid. Once you don't use fixings that go through it completely it won't carry the sound and is strong enough to give background strength to the ply.This is standard practice in 3 storey houses being converted to 3 flats in cities in England. Have done quite a few in my time.

L1979

You could also consider a wall hung loo!

johnwest288

L1979 wrote: »

You could also consider a wall hung loo!

Can you pump fresh numbers 2s into wall hung loos?