Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Jul 05, 2012 1:41 am Hi all, I'm currently in the process of finalising plans with a builder for a new house, but struggling with a question at the moment, so would love to hear some opinions or first-hand experiences if possible (and this forum has been so valuable in that regard!). The house plan has a small powder room, and we're trying to decide on the exact layout of the vanity and toilet. Because of the compact size of the room, we already know that we would like a wall-hung toilet with an in-wall cistern. eg. the Caroma Cube pan (http://www.caroma.com.au/bathrooms/toilet-suites/cube/cube-wall-hung-invisi-series-ii-suite) with the Caroma Invisi Series II cistern (http://www.caroma.com.au/bathrooms/toilet-cisterns/invisi-series-ii-cistern/invisi-series-ii-cistern). But one of our preferred layout options has the toilet up against the wall that adjoins the home theatre room - ie the cistern would be located in that wall. (Would be a standard 90mm timber stud wall with plasterboard.) So my worry is that you can easily hear the toilet flushing from the adjacent home theatre room. Does anyone have any opinions on this? In particular: 1. Are in-wall cisterns generally quieter, or would they really increase the audible flushing noise in the adjacent room when compared to conventional toilet suites? 2. Would acoustic plasterboard (eg. Gyprock Soundchek) and/or acoustic insulation help? Obviously the insulation can't be installed where the cistern is, but it can be installed around it. Personally I doubt that the insulation would be effective if used in this manner, but then again I'm no expert. Any thoughts/opinions from anyone here? Thanks in advance! Re: Are in-wall cisterns noisy for adjacent room? 2Jul 05, 2012 2:35 pm Quote: 1. Are in-wall cisterns generally quieter, or would they really increase the audible flushing noise in the adjacent room when compared to conventional toilet suites? By having a conventional wall mounted cistern you can use one layer of acoustic sheeting like soundcheck on the powder room side , acoustic batts in the frame then another layer of soundcheck on the home theatre side. When the toilet flushes you probably won't be able to hear it at all from the other side. Just wrapping batts around the cistern won't do much good at all. We've got around this situation in the past by building a false wall in front of the existing wall and whacking in as much acoustic insulation as possible - more expensive but quiet . Stewie Re: Are in-wall cisterns noisy for adjacent room? 3Jul 05, 2012 3:07 pm Thanks for the reply. Stewie D By having a conventional wall mounted cistern you can use one layer of acoustic sheeting like soundcheck on the powder room side , acoustic batts in the frame then another layer of soundcheck on the home theatre side. That's exactly what I was thinking as well. Stewie D We've got around this situation in the past by building a false wall in front of the existing wall and whacking in as much acoustic insulation as possible - more expensive but quiet . A good idea, but in our situation would defeat the purpose of using an in-wall cistern in the first place, by taking up valuable space in the powder room. Hmm... so it sounds like I'm faced with a tough choice at the moment, between: (a) save space in the powder room by using in-wall cistern, but audible flushing in the home theatre room OR (b) minimise noise penetration into the home theatre room by using conventional toilet suite, but tighter space in the powder room Was kinda hoping there was a way to have both! Re: Are in-wall cisterns noisy for adjacent room? 5Jul 06, 2012 12:51 am Stewie D What about building the second wall on the home theatre side ? That's a good suggestion, thanks for that. Though if I do that, maybe I might as well just make the home theatre room smaller and the powder room bigger, then fit a conventional toilet suite. Will be more straightforward for all and result in the same outcome. Any others want to weigh in? I'm beginning to think that maybe I should have posted this in the Bathrooms forum... Re: Are in-wall cisterns noisy for adjacent room? 7Jul 06, 2012 11:37 am Quote: That's a good suggestion, thanks for that. Though if I do that, maybe I might as well just make the home theatre room smaller and the powder room bigger, then fit a conventional toilet suite. Will be more straightforward for all and result in the same outcome. You could get away with one frame at 70mm timber , a 20mm gap then a second 70 or 90mm frame size. All up just another 90mm off the room sizes. I doubt you would notice any reduction in either of the room sizes at all. Stewie Re: Are in-wall cisterns noisy for adjacent room? 8Jul 09, 2012 9:33 pm Thanks for the further replies guys. 1sthome What about raising the cistern above head height? Do you mean locating the cistern inside the ceiling? Or mount it on the wall above head height? Ceiling placement would be difficult because the powder room is located on the ground floor of a 2-storey house. The latter is technically possible, but wouldn't that look a bit unsightly? I dunno, haven't seen any nice-looking installations of a cistern up on the wall. Happy to be proven wrong though. Stewie D You could get away with one frame at 70mm timber , a 20mm gap then a second 70 or 90mm frame size. All up just another 90mm off the room sizes. I doubt you would notice any reduction in either of the room sizes at all. That's true, a pretty minor reduction in the grand scheme of things. I guess we were reluctant to make either room smaller than what they are now, but I agree, definitely an option worth considering. Re: Are in-wall cisterns noisy for adjacent room? 9Jul 10, 2012 6:56 am How often would you be using both rooms simultaneously? If people are in the home theatre room watching a movie, is there going to be a constant flow (excuse the pun - I could have said "steady stream"!) of people using the powder room throughout the duration of the movie? I live in a two person household, so for me it wouldn't be an issue at all - but even if you have a number of residents, couldn't you just make it a "rule" that the powder room toilet is not used when the theatre room is being used? After all, you will have another two toilets upstairs (ensuite and main). I understand that you are planning for all eventualities now while you can, but it might just need a behavioural solution rather than a design solution/compromise. 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