OT - Reducing noise from plumbing

Re: OT - Reducing noise from plumbing

Bill Earl

>Kevin,

I had the same issue. There were multiple drain lines running to a stack that went down one wall. I packed all the cavities with insulation & it cut the noise quite effectively.

Your idea of an extra layer of drywall under the cavity would probably help further. It certainly couldn't hurt, so you might as well do it while you have access.

Re: OT - Reducing noise from plumbing

Lee Gordon

>This may not be a practical solution, but if your drain lines are PVC you can greatly reduce the noise by replacing them with cast iron.

Pipe wrap

Jim in Burlington On

>You can buy sound deadening pipe wrap. Going to cost a few bucks but dead silence is soo sweet

insulation

bill tindal, E.TN

>I solved this very problem by wrapping pipe with insulation like what went into the walls. works for around shower too.

Re: OT - Reducing noise from plumbing

Glenn Madsen near San Francisco

>My folks bought new homes, for the most part, for most of their lives. Dad would always insulate all of the interior walls and ceilings, as much for sound deadening as for heating/cooling control. It makes a difference.

Now we, on the other hand, have always purchased homes that were owned by others first, for a whole buch of reasons. When I open walls, for any reason, they usually get foam or fiberglass, whenever we can get it done, for sound deadening.

And Tommy Silva, on TOH, always sprays that expanding foam, for quiet, as much as anything else. For your use, buy a couple three cans at the hardware store, and quiet those pipes.

Re: insulation

Norman (Ottawa, Ont.)

>I second the insulatin option. When we built our home here I went crazy with extra insulation around pipes for sound deadening...

I used roxul.. sound deadening inuslation.. Had some left over from the shop partition walls.

You can still hear the pipes draining a little, but I hate to think how loud it would be w/o any insulation...

Norman

Re: OT - Reducing noise from plumbing

Kevin H

>Thanks guys for your help. I'm also going to look into something called Quiet Rock. It's drywall which is very dense, thus it is suppose to really cuts down on sound transmission. The stuff is pretty expensive though.

Thanks

Kevin

Great question—and a common issue in remodels when upstairs plumbing runs over high-traffic living areas. Doubling drywall can help with soundproofing, but you're right—doing it across a large ceiling is a big job. Your idea of creating an insulated enclosure around the drainlines between the joists is actually a very effective and practical alternative.
Filling the cavity with acoustic or mineral wool insulation will help absorb the sound before it transmits through the structure. Then, boxing out the drainlines with cut drywall (or even better, soundproofing boards like QuietRock or similar) can create an additional barrier. Just make sure to seal all gaps with acoustic caulk or expanding foam to prevent noise leakage.
At Clean Stream Plumbing, we often work on plumbing noise reduction during remodels in Ottawa, and we've seen great results with this method—especially when combined with rubber hangers or pipe insulation to reduce vibration transfer.