You shouldn’t notice the plumbing in your home as you go about your daily routine.\u00a0 But sometimes those noisy sounds that go bump in the night (or day) are from the pipes inside your walls.\u00a0 That may be just a minor annoyance — just a little noise and vibration — or it may indicate a serious problem you need to attend to.\u00a0 Here are the four most common issues with noisy water pipes, and what needs to be done about them.<\/p>\n
The loudest sounds generally occur when a valve such as for a sink or in a toilet is quickly closed, causing a water hammer effect.\u00a0 The the water moving in the pipe comes to a sudden halt and jars the pipe.\u00a0 That along with\u00a0a spike of pressure causes more than noise and vibration.\u00a0 It puts more stress on joints, making them more likely to start leaking.\u00a0 Loose pipes make the sound louder, and even more damaging.\u00a0 So if you hear pipes banging when you shut off a faucet, an appliance shuts off, or the toilet tank stops filling \u00a0it’s time to call a plumber.<\/p>\n
Homes built since the 1960s should have arrestors that act as shock absorbers, reducing or eliminating the water hammer effect.\u00a0 They rarely fail.\u00a0 Older homes may have a vertical section of pipe that traps air and serves as a cushion.\u00a0 From time to time it’s necessary to drain that pipe to re-establish that air.\u00a0 If your home has neither and you’re hearing those bangs then\u00a0it’s time to have an arrestor installed.\u00a0 Another solution can be retrofitting a toilet with a slow-shutting float valve.<\/p>\n
If your pipes\u00a0sort of hum or vibrate it’s likely that the pressure is too high.\u00a0 Depending on who you talk to home water pressure should be be 35 to 55 psi (pounds per square inch), 40 to 60 psi, or 40 to 80 psi.\u00a0 There’s clearly a\u00a0problem if the pressure is above 80 psi.\u00a0 Most homes today have a pressure regulator to keep things from getting out of hand.\u00a0 It’s not just a matter of the noise.\u00a0 Excessive water pressure can damage dishwashers, washing machines, ice makers, water heaters, and other appliances — voiding their warranty as well.<\/p>\n
Rattling and similar sounds are a good indication that there’s a loose or poorly mounted pipe.\u00a0 Plumbing sometimes runs through holes drilled through wooden structures in a wall or suspended from fasteners beneath a floor.\u00a0 If you hear thumping as faucets or appliances turn on or off that could be a pipe knocking around.\u00a0 And that could eventually lead to a leak.\u00a0 Our you might hear a faint squeak as pipes (especially copper) expand and contract with temperature and rub against the structure or fasteners.<\/p>\n
Fixing this doesn’t necessarily mean cutting through drywall to access the plumbing.\u00a0 Simply turning the water heater thermostat down a little bit may be enough.\u00a0 Or it might be possible to add some padding foam at each end of the pipe.<\/p>\n
Noticeable gurgling from a drain or after flushing a toilet isn’t normal, despite how often you might have heard it in a cartoon.\u00a0 It usually means that there’s some sort of obstruction in the line — some foreign object, debris, build-up, or mineral deposits.\u00a0 A drain and sewer inspection is a good idea.\u00a0 If you hear a noisy sort of sucking noise, that suggest that the vertical vent that sticks out of the roof is restricted which may lead to sewer gas making its way into your home.<\/p>\n
We’re A+ BBB rated<\/a> and have been serving San Diego since 2001. Learn more<\/a> or contact us<\/a> any time.<\/p>\n [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_tagline_box backgroundcolor=”” shadow=”no” shadowopacity=”0.1″ border=”1px” bordercolor=”#666″ highlightposition=”left” link=”tel:7607448489″ linktarget=”_blank” buttoncolor=”blue” button=”(760) 744-8489″ title=”Noisy Plumbing Issues?” description=”Call Now for Prompt and Professional Service” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″][\/fusion_tagline_box] \t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You shouldn’t notice the plumbing in your home as you go about your daily routine.\u00a0 But sometimes those noisy sounds that go bump in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12217,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-slab-and-water-leaks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asapdrainandplumbing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asapdrainandplumbing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asapdrainandplumbing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asapdrainandplumbing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asapdrainandplumbing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.asapdrainandplumbing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asapdrainandplumbing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asapdrainandplumbing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asapdrainandplumbing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asapdrainandplumbing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}