Bath Tub Popping Noise
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Bath Tub Popping Noise
I recently had a bathroom renovated. Now there is a loud popping sound coming from the fibreglass bathtub every few minutes, up to three hours after it is used. It is like a super loud elastic band that can be heard anywhere in the three floor townhouse. (This never occurred with the old bathroom). After some diagnosing, and adding foam around the base of the tub, the contractor now thinks something with the floorboards is causing this. The floor outside the bathroom does creak when someone heads down the stairs. But what puzzles me is why this only happens in the new bathroom and not the old one. Don't contractors usually stabilize and check floorboards before installing a tub? I renovated because of water leakage and I know the floorboards had lots of water staining and pitting. Should the floorboards have been replaced? I'm just throwing out thoughts here, because I am not at all handy and am at my wit's end with this problem. (The noise is defnitely not the pipes, it is not 'hammer pipes', it is the tub. Definitely a fibreglass popping.)
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Another detail is that the noise comes from the middle to back of the tub. I can hear some creaking while in the tub, then the popping sound starts after getting out. Sometimes, a few hours later, there is a knocking sound that comes from inside the wall. It is brief, then the noises are over.
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It could be that the tub is touching or rubbing on something and expansion or contraction are causing the noise. Possibly the movement of someone in the shower helps jostle things loose so they move more freely. After a shower it cools and shrinks ever so slightly until it reaches a point where it finally breaks free and moves sort of like an earthquake. It could be the fiberglass insert or even possibly the wood framing that's the true culprit. It will just take some investigative work to figure out the cause and how to address it.
Key I think will be having access to the space under and behind your tub. Hopefully it backs up to a closet or someplace where you can make an access opening. Shine a flashlight in there and look for places where the insert touches the wood and might be able to rub. You can try inserting thin plastic sheets or strips and see if that takes care of the noise.
Key I think will be having access to the space under and behind your tub. Hopefully it backs up to a closet or someplace where you can make an access opening. Shine a flashlight in there and look for places where the insert touches the wood and might be able to rub. You can try inserting thin plastic sheets or strips and see if that takes care of the noise.
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Thank-you for the ideas. The contractor did make a hole in the wall to diagnose. I'm not sure how much can be seen now, because there has been a lot of foam added around the base.
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The contractor came and nailed some floorboards under the tub. There are still popping noises coming from the tub and now there are snaps in the room next to it. I have no idea what is going on, because my house never had strange noises like this before. He keeps saying it is the structure of my house, but I find that hard to believe since I never had any noises like this before the reno project.