Bathtub insulation?

[SH140]

In an earlier post I was asking advice on what brand/model of tub was reccommended. I think I'm going with an acrylic tub from American Standard. (I liked the americast, but thought the 160 lbs would be an issue going upstairs into an alcove). It's been over 20 years since I installed a tub and don't want to get in over my head..............Anyway, I was wondering what to do to underneath of tub to insulate and sound-deaden it? Would it be some kind of spray application? I know that it should be set in a mortar bed, but unsure on the insulation. Thanks for the expertise guys, so far I've picked up a lot of tips from reading your posts.

[SH140]

I seem to be having trouble getting feedback for this question. On another Forum, I've been getting the wrong info, so let me re-phrase the question....The tub will sit in a bed of mortar for support, but does anyone put some form of insulation into the underneath "cavity" (of the sides) to help keep the water warm longer? It seems like a good idea to me, but maybe I'm "all wet" on this one. Anybody got anything on this?

[LLigetfa]

First off, I don't bathe, I shower. I cannot stand the thought of soaking in my own filth, and certainly not for such a long time that the water would cool. I'd think that soaking for that long would leave you looking like a prune. I really think that heat loss is a non-issue.

Noise might be an issue and that's where cast iron is better. That said, setting the tub in mortar should help to deaden the sound.

[SH140]

Thanks LLigetfa, but I'm not really interested in your bathing habits. I am interested in finding out if anyone has ever insulated the cavity of their tub before install. The bathtub shares a wall with living spaces in an open floor plan. When the shower is in use, it creates more noise than I prefer. I'd like to lessen that noise if possible while I have the bathroom torn apart. I am concidering insulating the wall if necessary. But what about the tub.............any ideas?

[johnfrwhipple]

We have a couple times shoved in some Safe'N'Sound bat insulation.

Pretty hard to make a nice job of it.

Not sure I noticed a difference.

I saw this lady on Dragon's Den or Shark Tank that sells these tub blankets. Some light weight foam insulation that floats on top.

You will find most likely that the tub will be hard to insulate after installed. Perhaps the floor joist cavity and wall cavities are a better option.

Upgrade your door to solid core would also help some.

JW

[cacher_chick]

I would consider soundproofing the walls, but would not bother trying to insulate the tub.

[hj]

I have never had anyone try to insulate around a tub, although some "jetted" tubs come encased in "spray foam" because they realize that the user may be in the tub for an extended time. Insulating the walls may, or may not, reduce the sound of water flow through the valve, since a lot of the sound may be transmitted through the wood studs, which will NOT be insulated.

[jadnashua]

There's a lot of science in soundproofing anything. The technique depends a lot on which frequencies you want to stop. Depending on the frequencies involved, the techniques differ quite a bit. Stopping low frequencies requires one thing, stopping higher frequencies another. Decoupling and high mass is often required to totally stop things like lower frequencies. Higher frequencies can be muffled with things like foam and dense fiberglass. You can buy drywall panels with embedded lead sheets. It's not cheap. You can use a double layer of drywall, which works best with something like a special clip to separate them, or a special goop of rubber that holds them apart. A little hole can act like a horn and direct the sound from one side to the other. In sound proofing, a typical studwall with drywall on it is not your friend as everything is well coupled to act like a speaker cone and transmit sound from one side to the other.