Noisy plumbing, any clues please?

Question

Every now and again we hear a deep vibrating noise in our water pipes which stops if you turn the cold tap on, anyone know what's causing this? How to stop it? (don't say turn the tap on!) If a plumber is needed how much should I be charged? Thanks.

Answer 1

It's called 'water hammer' and is caused by unsecured pipework , probably below the floor, solution is to fit pipe clips to unsupported pipe, almost certainly a 15mm/half inch mains supply pipe. Easy diy job.

Answer 2

Bad valve (internal) somewhere. Diaphragm/rubber worn and vibrates from water pressure spikes then gets worse until you hear it. May be the main valve/meter coming into house if you are on city water system. Call a qualified plumber and ask....

This type problem can cause damage to water pipes/system if let go.

Answer 3

well, i can only tell you my experience...first, we wrapped the pipes with a styrofoam wrap (can be found at any hardware/home depot store) which did muffle the sound some. But we could not figure out the cause until one day someone pointed out our toilet was constantly running. Once we fixed that the noises stopped.

Answer 4

u need to put air aressters on your main water lines cold and hot.cut a tee into the line than install a 1 ft long peice of pipe with a cap on it

Answer 5

this also happened to me and I had it stop by opening up the shut off valve behind the toilet, it had been open just a little before and made that banging noise, but the noise stopped after I just opened the valve a bit more, not even all the way.Might try this first.

Answer 6

plumber needed this is usually a blockage in hair and stuff stuck down the plumbing or it could be a traped bubble