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I have a small room in which a shower pump is located. This room is only separated from the rest of the house by a wooden door. The shower pump is located on top of some sort of vibration dampening material, which is itself located on top of a layer of plywood which is then placed on the wooden floor.

The pump makes quite a loud noise while in operation and is very annoying to anyone in the flat. It is a Salamander CT50 (or very similar). Here's the culprit:

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I want to somehow soundproof that door in order to reduce the noise. Considering the way the pump is placed, I would exclude the noise being transmitted through the floor. Hence I would assume there's only noise transmitted through the air.

I am renting the flat so changing the pump or making some sort of serious modifications is not an option.

I've already fitted a draught excluder under the door which can be seen in the picture as well. It is one of these.

I was thinking of also fitting some draught excluder tape on the side of the door frame and maybe some sort of sound dampening foam on the door but I'm not sure this is the way to go. There are about 3mm of space between the door and the frame.

How would you recommend to soundproof the door from the pump noises?

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I wouldn't completely rule out sounds getting through the floor, and the walls via the air.

But the door is certainly significant,and you're in the right track with sealing it. Is it solid wood or hollow? If the latter, filling it with foam filler might help, though the cardboard honeycomb in such doors may make it difficult or impossible.

There are self adhesive heavy foam sheets for reducing noise in vehicles. They aren't pretty but on the inside of an airing cupboard door that shouldn't matter. Some of the stuff sold in big sheets is lighter and less effective so be careful.

An acoustic hood would be a good idea. It would have to have some ventilation, and should be made of thick plywood or MDF lined with noise absorbing material. Normal foam would help but only a bit.

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  • Door's solid wood so can't do anything about that. The acoustic hood is a great idea but seeing how crammed it is I don't think I could make it happen. Do you reckon covering the door in this would make much of a difference? ebay.co.uk/itm/…
    – Vlad Schnakovszki
    Commented May 13, 2016 at 19:09
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    Along the lines of heavy foam sheets, mass-loaded vinyl is also used in vehicles to dampen sound. Acoustical foam tiles, like you linked to, won't help -- the purpose of foam like that is to scatter reflections so they sound better, but it won't really dampen the sound at all.
    – Robert Nubel
    Commented May 13, 2016 at 19:29
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    Pinning the rubbery sort of carpet underlay to the back of the door would be more effective than that sort of foam. I know what you mean about squeezing in a hood, but even a poor good may be more effective than anything else you can do.
    – Chris H
    Commented May 13, 2016 at 21:04

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