I moved into a townhouse in October. In the last three days there has been this very loud vibration behind the walls it seems. It shakes the walls and everything. It is getting louder and going longer. When you turn on the faucet or flush the toilet it goes away until you turn on water again. The upstair toilet now runs alot more and longer than it used to. Being my first house, I have no idea what this is or how to fix it. I have a 1 year warranty on the house, but I have $100 dedutable. HELP ME.... it is very loud and disturbing.
2007-04-09 02:50:17 · 5 answers · asked by mpbclutch33 2 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
This link describes what is happening. If you can't get to the pipes to find out where they need anchoring you will have to install an air chamber to absorb the shock. This is usually a section of pipe above the water line that is filled with air. The air compresses to absorb the shock. What you have is called water hammer.
http://www.plastomatic.com/water-hammer.html
2007-04-09 02:56:32 · answer #1 · answered by frozen 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In the long run, the arrestors are the proper answer, but try this first. Trapped air may be making this worse:
Turn off the main water shut-off valve. You’ll find it next to the water meter. Then turn on cold water faucets on both the sinks closest to the water meter and farthest away from the meter. This drains the cold water line.
After the sinks have stopped dripping, turn off the faucets and turn the main water shut-off valve back on. Now, turn on each of the faucets on all the sinks, showers and bathtubs, then flush all the toilets in the house. Doing this will reestablish the air cushion on your house.
Now, call a licensed plumber and get the arrestors installed.
2007-04-09 10:06:57 · answer #2 · answered by fluffernut 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You are most probably on city water and your water pressure is plain too HIGH.
There is, on all new water meters, a pressure reducing valve called a PVR valve. It is adjustable.
Contact your water department and get the pressure reduced to about 45 PSI.
A second possibility is that your water heater is pressurizing your water system. Those new water meters do not allow for back flow of water.
So when your water heater heats the water it expands and increases the pressure to a very high level. You will need to install a bladder type expansion tank to fix this problem. They cost about $40 at Lowes and can be inserted into any water line. Thisis a very common problem and it is easily eleviated by the installation of that bladder expansion tank.
2007-04-09 11:12:25 · answer #3 · answered by James M 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Same thing happened in my house. We had a bad pressure reducing valve. Hired a plumber to cut off the old one and weld a new one in place. Depending upon where you live this job is probably around $175 so the warranty will help a little.
2007-04-10 14:12:30 · answer #4 · answered by luna340340 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Both of those answers are correct, BUT... there's a reason you bought a new twnhouse... so you wouldn't have these issues. Call your warranty rep, let him hear the problem, and then fix it. By the way, it could be as simple as having your pressure regulator set too high. The fact is , this definitely qualifies as a warranty issue, and that's the best way to handle it.
2007-04-09 10:14:17 · answer #5 · answered by Jeff L 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋