• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Contact | 360-778-1266

Center for Hearing Loss Help

Help for your hearing loss, tinnitus and other ear conditions

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Reference
    • Glossary of Ear Terms
    • Drug Pronunciation Guide
    • Looping Information
    • “Learn About Hearing”
    • Useful Links
  • Museum
  • Blog
  • Shop
    • Alerting Devices
    • Assistive Listening Devices
    • Books
    • Loop Systems
    • Speechreading CDs
    • Telephones, amplified
    • Visor Cards

Does a Room Loop Work Better On/Under the Floor or Above the Ceiling?

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A man explained,

I am remodeling my house and want to add one or more rooms loops. Both the floor and ceiling are being redone so I could put the loop above the drywall or below the new oak floor. Will a loop work in either of these positions, and if so which one would be better?

In your specific situation, I think either position will work as well as the other.

However, there are some situations where one is better than the other. For example, if your floor is on a concrete slab, the metal rebar or wire mesh in the concrete will negatively affect the loop signal. In that case, it might be better (and easier) to put the loop in the ceiling. Otherwise, instead of putting in a perimeter loop, you might have to use a square figure-eight configuration, or even a triple figure-eight (what we call a snowman because of the three sections just like in a snowman) and/or you might have to use a larger loop amplifier.

If your floor is not on a concrete slab then putting the loop either on or under the floor will work great. When I looped my house, since I had an unfinished basement, I stapled the loop wire to the floor joists and ran the loop leads up through a small hole in the floor to my TV. I did much the same in the crawl space under my new office. Both loops work great!

Conversely, if there is a lot of metal in your ceiling—for example, a dropped ceiling—then again, all that metal will negatively affect your loop signal. Thus, putting the loop on/under the floor would likely be better. If, as is your case, you just have the standard drywall ceiling and not much metal up there apart from the house wiring—then the ceiling location will work just fine.

Note, as with metal in a concrete floor, if you have to put a loop in a ceiling that has lots of metal in it, you may have to use the square figure-eight or snowman loop configurations and/or use a larger loop amplifier.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Hearing Loss Research & Resources

Free Visor Cards

Download your free Visor Cards for hard of hearing or deaf people here.

Loop Systems

Loop your home or meeting room. Discover how you can hear wonderfully clear sound again when listening to the TV/radio, etc, or when listening to a speaker at a meeting.

Loop systems are one of the best-kept secrets in town. To learn more about Loop Systems and what they can do for you, click here.

Take Control of Your Tinnitus—Here’s How

If your ears ring, buzz, chirp, hiss, click or roar, you know just how annoying tinnitus can be. You do not have to put up with this racket for the rest of your life. This book teaches you many things you can do to help bring your tinnitus under your control so it no longer bothers you.

Learn More | Add to Cart—Printed | Add to Cart—eBook

Sounds Now Too Loud for You?

Hypersensitive to Sound front coverIf some (or all) normal sounds seem so loud they “blow the top of your head off”, or make you wince or jump, or cause you headaches or ear pain, or affect your balance, or result in fear or annoyance of sounds so you feel you have to avoid these sounds, this book is for you!

Learn More | Add to Cart—Printed | Add to Cart—eBook

Hearing Phantom Sounds?

When hard of hearing people begin hearing phantom voices or music, they immediately worry they are going crazy. It never crosses their minds that they are sane and are just experiencing Musical Ear syndrome.

To learn more about the strange phantom sounds of Musical Ear syndrome and what you can do about them, click here to read a comprehensive article about Musical Ear Syndrome.

Or get the book—Learn More | Add to Cart—Printed | Add to Cart—eBook

Glossary Navigation

  • Full List of Glossary Terms
  • A to Z Index

Footer

Center for Hearing Loss Help

Neil G. Bauman, Ph.D.

1013 Ridgeway Drive, Lynden,
WA 98264-1057 USA

Email: neil@hearinglosshelp.com

Phone: 360-778-1266 (M-F 9:00 AM-5:00 PM PST)

© 2025 Center for Hearing Loss Help – Help for your hearing loss, tinnitus and other ear conditions

"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life [which also includes perfect hearing] through Jesus Christ our Lord." [Romans 6:23]

"But know this, in the last days perilous times will come" [2 Timothy 3:1]. "For there will be famines, pestilences, and [severe] earthquakes in various places" [Matthew 24:7], "distress of nations, the sea and the waves roaring"—tsunamis, hurricanes—Luke 21:25, but this is good news if you have put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, for "when these things begin to happen, lift up your heads [and rejoice] because your redemption draws near" [Luke 21:28].