Noisy Pipes – How do I fix them for GOOD!

[Joe McIntyre]

We moved into our new home (3.5 yrs old) and after we shower the
pipes bang and knock for a few annoting hours. I’ve tried reducing
the pressure, turning the water off and opening all the
valves, closing them, then turning the water back on…t

his didn’t work.
How do I fix this with out ripping walls down. (the sounds seem to come from
the spaces between the first and second floors.
Joe

[Mark Crescitelli]

Joe,
The symptom you are describing is commonly known as ” water hammer”. This annoying situation is usually caused by two factors ; loose pipes in the house framing and/or water pressure slamming shut when the valve is closed. Although this is

enough to drive you to the realtors, don’t fret! First, try to secure all the accessible pipes to the framing. This may not be the cure, as the loose pipes may be located inside a wall space. If your water pressure exceeds 60psi, you should install

a device known as a shock absorber. (Don’t take one off the family car, it isn’t the same thing…) When all else fails, a local plumber can remedy this problem. SILENCE IS GOLDEN…Good Luck!
Mark Crescitelli

[JohnE]

Joe;
I doubt you have “water hammer” WH subsides within a few moments of a sudden valve closure.
Based on your description of “… bang & knock for a few annoying hours..” that it is caused by thermal expansion (contraction) as the water in the pip

es cool.
You don’t hear it initially, as the sound of the shower masks it.
Insulating the pipes will slow the heat loss & slow the thermal contraction.
Oddly, this can also be caused by excess pipe hangers.

Good luck & hope this helps.
Cheer

s;
JohnE

[Steve Lopez]

I agree that thermal expansion is likely the problem, but it may be the PVC drain pipes, not the copper supply pipes. I have the same problem in my house. Plumbers seem to have a difficult time getting the thermal expansion tolerance correct on PVC pipe

, which expands significantly when warmed. Most of my neighbors have the problem to varying degrees.

[cathy otto]

We moved into a rental house about 5 months ago. At first we didn’t seem to have any problems with the noisy pipes in our master bath, but the problem appeared when the weather got cooler and is now driving us crazy. It only seems to happen at night. Any help would be great!

[Jim P]

After moving into our new house we immediately began hearing what we thought were dripping noises coming from a supposed leak. After checking the attic repeatedly, we decided that it was our plumbing, and not a leak. A plumber also ascertained that we did not have a leak in any plumbing pipes under our house, as we are built on a crawlspace foundation. The plumber believes that these noises which may last for up to four hours after turning water on, are friction noises of pipes rubbing against wood. This is the same plumber who was instructed to watch for this during the construction of our new home, and also was instructed to insulate our pipes thoroughly. The plumber now says to repair problem we will have to tear out walls in our new home!

Help! Could it be possible to try to insulate or soundproof pipes which are exposed in the crawlspace area first, before knocking out wallboard? Also, will this “knocking” decrease as the weather warms up and improves? If this is a seasonal problem, we may learn to live with it, although the noise is keeping us awake at night!!!

Thanks for your help!

[Lionel Porta]

I have a new home 6 months old. I have a pipe(s) that make a banging noise

only when 1 faucet is turned on in my entire house (bath tub in one of the

bath rooms).

Do you think it is an anchoring problem? Banging stops when faucet is

turned off immediately and it doesn’t happen all of the time….got any

suggestions? Thanks.

[Steve]

I had this problem for over a month and searched all over the internet trying to figure out how to fix it. Usually, this problem would happen when someone would flush the toilet, but it would sometimes happen when the dishwasher was running or the washing machine.

One site mentioned that the most common cause was the fill valve in the toilet. I replaced it, but the problem still occurred.

Finally, I found a site that said that if air is trapped in the pipes, it could cause this problem. Since it wouldn’t cost me anything to try their resolution, I figured I’d give it a try.

First, I turned on all the faucets in the entire house and flushed all the toilets. Then one by one, I turned each faucet off, starting with the one closest to where the water comes into the house. When I would come to a bathroom, I flushed the toilet, waited a few minutes, then shut off the faucet there. When I got to the upstairs bathroom, I noticed that after I flushed the toilet, some air came out of the faucet.

When I finally got all the faucets shut off, I flushed the toilet a few times and noticed that the noise stopped happening. It has been over a week now with no more noises from the pipes.

Hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

http://discussions.tommmymac.us/wwwboard/messages/55.html

WATER HAMMER – Noise, created by a water surge or rapid flow change of water, in a steam system. When a change of direction is reached, by water being carried along in air, both at the same velocity, it cannot smoothly turn the corner due to its mass. When it strikes the pipe, it makes a hammering noise.

WATER HAMMER ARRESTOR – A device installed near a fixture to absorb the hydraulic shock caused by a sudden shutoff of water.

[Unregistered-AptMgr]

A resident is concerned about the loud noises that occur when the upstairs neighbor turns on faucets. How can I fix the problem?

[Author]

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