Retiring to the comfort of your home after a hard day’s work is always something to look forward to. Unfortunately, noisy water pipes are an unwelcome distraction that can make your home inhabitable. For that reason, identifying why your water pipes are noisy and fixing the problem is not an option in this case. Here are some of the reasons your water pipes are noisy.
1. Worn Out Washers
Faucets or valves within your home with worn out washers may result in squeaky pipes or can cause whistling in your water pipes. In most cases, the source of the squealing is in the valves connecting to your washing machine.
Solution
If your washer produces a squealing sound when it is on, you can quickly fix the problem. First of all, you need to shut off the valve and assess the washers in the hose. After that, you should consider replacing the washers if they are worn or cracked. In case everything is intact after such an assessment, shut off your home’s water supply and repair the faucet.
In the process, you may realize that the washer in your faucet or valve is worn, which forces water through a smaller opening, thus the noise in your water pipes. Replacing the washer should address the issue.
2. Water Hammer
When water is rushing through your pipes and out of the faucet, it moves with force and speed. Shutting the faucet abruptly at such a time brings the water flow to a halt, but the energy in the water needs to go somewhere. Usually, there is an air chamber behind the wall of every hot or cold faucet, which is about ten inches of pipe with vertical soldering.
That implies that stopping rushing water instantly will push the vertical pipe, causing it to hit a cushion of air in the pipe preventing the force from the water from causing rattling or hammering in the pipes. Nowadays, commercial air cushions attached to water pipes that perform the same function are available.
Water hammering develops due to the loss of air in the little vertical riser over time, suggesting that there will be no cushioning effect.
Solution
You can eliminate water hammering by shutting off the main water supply, opening all faucets, and draining your entire home from the lowest faucet. Once you restore water, it will push air into the risers that prevent water hammering.
3. Loose Pipes
If there is a loose pipe within your home, you will most probably experience noise when water passes through it. The reason is that the water you flush down such a pipe moves fast and in large volumes, which can cause a pipe to sway and, in turn, set up a rattling effect.
Solution
Since drain pipes remain suspended from the floor joists under your house, a little stabilization may be the only thing you need to do to take care of the noise. So, prepare yourself or find someone to crawl under your house with a flashlight while someone is flushing the toilet to identify where the noise is coming from by listening and checking the pipes underneath.
Once they trace the loose pipe and fix the same, the noise should end.
Conclusion
Other causes of noisy water pipes around your home include your toilet and the main shut off valve. In the case of your toilet, you may hear a rattling or bang at the end of the filling cycle after flushing. The implication here is that the ballcock assembly that controls the filling process is worn and requires replacement.
Overlooking noisy water pipes in your house can lead to plumbing problems. In that case, arresting the issue before it escalates by making necessary repairs or replacements is a wise idea.