Do noisy pipes in your home have your worried that something might be wrong with your plumbing system? Here to explain what could be going on is Barry Jolly, a self-employed entrepreneur and the owner of Jolly Plumbing in Northern Kentucky. Jolly has 31 years of experience in the plumbing industry, during which time he has just about seen—and repaired—it all.
A couple of things cause noisy pipes in a home. One of the most common things that causes pipes to make weird sounds — and people rarely realize this — is if you have a toilet that is not shutting off properly. Toilets that are not working quite right, and especially any toilet that is not shutting off all the way because the shut-off mechanism is malfunctioning for one reason or another, can definitely cause the water pipes throughout the house to make chattering noises.
Sometimes the fix for a problem like this is simply changing out a bad washer, since that might be what’s stopping the toilet from shutting off all the way. And especially if something like a bad washer is to blame, when the toilet is trying and failing to shut itself off, that will start a vibration and create a chatter in that washer which will continue and make your pipes chatter throughout your whole house. And this is all just because you have a toilet that is not shutting off properly or a bad washer in place. So problems with the toilets’ shut off valves are one of the most common reasons why people have problems with noisy pipes in their house.
Another common problem has to do with the way your pipes were installed initially. When your pipes were first put in, if the pipe hangers — which are the pieces that the plumber installs to support the pipes — were put on too tightly, then as the pipes change temperature between cold and hot, that may cause a squeaking or squealing noise to occur.
The reason for this is because the change in temperature makes the pipes expand and contract, and if the hanger has been put on too tightly, then that will result in an annoying noise when the temperatures are fluctuating.
So the tightness of the hangers would be something to look at if you are hearing noise from your pipes. And all you would need to do to fix it would be to find the spot on the piping where it looks like the hangers are too tight, and then just loosen the hangers to allow them to fit more comfortably.
If you are hearing a more distinct banging noise, then that could be the result of the water being shut off and your piping not having any place to expand with the pressure. When the water stops inside your home, if the piping doesn’t have any way to release that pressure, then you will get a banging noise.
To fix a banging noise-type problem, I recommend people get something called shock absorbers, which can be installed on your pipes. These shock absorbers are basically just air cushions. So in the future, when that water is shut off, the water has a place to just expand and bounce around in rather than just making the pipe jump up and down and bang.
There could be a number of reasons why the pipes in a home are making noise, and fixing this problem is usually simple. But unless you are a professional who has been doing this for years, it can often be tricky to determine what is causing your noisy pipes to begin with.
For the best chances of getting your pipes fixed correctly the first time, I recommend calling a licensed plumber in to help.
