soundproofing under upstairs bathtub

[Stacy Bartolini]

We are in the planning stages of building a new house, and would like to avoid a problem we now have with our current house.  Right now we have a second floor fiberglass tub w/ shower.  Whenever someone is taking a shower up there, the noise of the water hitting the floor of the tub travels right through the floor (and ceiling below) to our family room.  How do we avoid this problem in our future new construction, bearing in mind that there will be a drain present in the same place as the soundproofing material?

[Boborther]

Stacy,

Yours is a great question and one that many of our readers will want to read. There is a material called mass loaded vinyl (MLV), that would be glued to the back of the shower pan or the bottom of the bathtub itself. You would use a waterproof contact cement to adhere this material to the shower pan or tub bottom, and then I would suggest that you glue a layer of closed cell vinyl nitrile foam (the thicker the better) directly atop of the (MLV). These materials used in tandum will help tremendously to absorb and block the impact noise of the high pressure shower spray as it hits the fiberglass tub or shower floor.
This is an easy install, and is something that is absolutely essential in any up stairs bathroom new  construction.
Thank you Stacy for this very interesting post, I look forward to hearing from you soon.


Bob Orther
(The Bob Vila of Soundproofing)
Super Soundproofing Sales/Technical Associate.
Ph: (760) 752-3030    FAX: (760) 752-3040
URL: www.soundproofing.org
e-mail: boborther@soundproofing.org
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When Peace of Mind is all that Matters!

[Laffcris]

Curious....we have the same problem but plan to replace the fiberglass shower with a tile sower. We know waterproof membrane and ceramic backer board but are there things we should do to make sure the noise of the water hitting the floor of the shower can't be heard in the den below.

[Randy S]

With a tile shower with cement board you should not be able to hear the water hitting the tile..but you would hear dropping of things like the soap.

Reducing impact noise would require decoupling of a surface , either floor above or ceiling below.

Which area can you accommodate the height change?

Randy S.