Noisy Toilet Plumbing: Ideas for Soundproofing and Eliminating

LESLIE: Charles in Iowa is on the line with a plumbing question. What’s going on, Charles? You’ve got a noisy toilet?

CHARLES: Yeah, I do. You know, my wife and I bought this house about four years ago. The house is about seven years old. And right above our – the room that we have a fireplace in, so it’s a nice room to sit in and talk and socialize, we have our – a restroom above that, on the second floor. And any time that toilet is used, whether it’s flushed or whether somebody is literally using it, you can hear the water being displaced.

And it’s kind of right above one of the can lights for our fireplace and so I’m not sure if that’s the reason why it’s really loud. But I’ve never heard water being displaced before, dripping down the pipe. And I know that I don’t have any leaks. I’m just wanting to know 1) was it plumbed right, 2) if so, what can I do about it?

TOM: Kind of ruining the ambiance of that fire, isn’t it?

LESLIE: Right.

CHARLES: Yeah, it is. Yeah, the fireplace doesn’t carry the peaceful setting that it’s supposed to, when that happens.

TOM: I’ve got to tell you that – well, first of all, is it plumbed right? It probably is. Is it plumbed in a way that makes a lot of sense? Probably not. Because we find, often, that upstairs bathrooms are run through inappropriate areas, like dining rooms where you have to listen to it while you’re sitting and having dinner or in your case, your sitting room. Plumbers should take better care to make sure that those pipes don’t go into areas where they’re going to disturb people.

What can you do about it? Well, I mean there are different ways that you can soundproof walls and ceilings, with varying levels of effectiveness. A very easy way to do the ceiling – and this would require, since you mentioned you have high hats, some reconfiguring of those lights, though – would be to put a layer of Homasote on the ceiling as an isolation barrier and then another layer of drywall over that. And that will make that ceiling much quieter.

I wonder, though, if this is a situation where it’s really just a situation where you have to get used to it.

CHARLES: Well, I appreciate you guys’ help and I enjoy your show. So, thanks a lot.