Hearing pipes making noise when water is turned on shouldn’t punctuate your mornings and evenings. These types of noises serve as alarm bells for something you can’t see in the plumbing. As a property owner, you can’t afford to ignore those noisy supply lines!
Noises could warn of an impending water disaster. What makes the pipes vibrate, bang, or thump? A qualified plumber like Expert Plumbing & Water Heaters, Inc. can silence your plumbing once they diagnose the problem, including those we’ve mentioned below.
Why You Should Address Pipes Making Noise When the Water Is Turned On
Your property’s pipes should generally operate quietly. Hearing the hushed movement of water flowing smoothly to your tap is okay. However, jerking, rattling, and other forms of pipe vibration indicate a potentially destructive disturbance.
A tangle of pipe lengths, bolts, valves, and connectors holds your pipe network together. Like any other hardware, rapid movements that produce noise can eventually wrench them loose. Still, all kinds of issues can cause noisy pipes, so let’s address the most common reasons behind the pipes making noise when the water is turned on.
The Water Pressure Is Too Strong
Do you know how horn instruments make noise by moving air through various pipes? Your plumbing network works much the same way – but it moves water instead of air.
When water travels at a normal or safe pressure level, the pipes don’t make much noise. High water pressure is a different story. At pace, water in pipes can produce repetitive buzzing sounds or loud tuba-like blares as the force pushes water hard enough to stress the pipe materials and connections.
You’ve Got a Nasty Water Hammer
Is only one fixture making a racket? You might have a water hammer on your hands.
Water hammers develop when water suddenly hits an impromptu stopping point, forcing it in a different direction. The change in direction creates a jackhammer sound as water constantly hits this obstacle until you turn the fixture off. If a water hammer is the reason behind your pipes making noise when water is turned on, it might indicate poorly installed piping or sediment buildup.
Maybe It’s an Air Hammer in the Pipes
Air gets trapped in the pipe network, too. When water moves through this space, it forces that air in all directions. As the air hits the pipes seeking an escape hatch, you might hear a startling banging noise.
While water hammers usually thump repetitively, air hammers make single stout, hard bursting noises. A plumber may alleviate this issue by fully draining your supply pipes to enable the air to escape. Installing air chambers to regulate air entrapment is another option.
Your Plumbing System’s Components Are Too Loose
Even when the water pressure is perfect and the pipes align well enough, loose channels and connecting hardware can ruin your peace and quiet by throwing a loud party in the pipes.
Electrical, plumbing, and HVAC networks produce subtle vibrations that you can’t hear. However, they can gradually loosen various hardware bits over time. Washers, nuts, and pipes start rattling as they slowly loosen.
Your Drain Developed a Gross Clog
What if the supply pipes are completely quiet? Then, it’s the drain pipes making noise when water is turned on.
Drainage systems don’t develop hammers or have water pressure problems, but they do clog with:
- The hair you shed when shampooing
- The skin cells you scrub off when exfoliating
- Slimy soap scum
- Mineral buildup
- Food particles not scraped into the garbage
The list goes on, and even if you practice caution when using your fixtures, things slip into the drains. Your property’s drain might produce gurgling noises as water filters past these plugs, creating air bubbles.
What Can You Do About Those Noisy Pipes?
Whether you hear soft rattling or punctuated banging noises, you need to address the reason behind loud plumbing. Audible sounds indicate additional vibrations that may eventually loosen a pipe completely from its fastenings.
What solutions might solve your noisy plumbing problem?
- Installing new faucet hardware
- Tightening fastener hardware and loose pipes
- Installing air chambers
- Cleaning the drain pipes
- Draining your water supply system
- Replacing stripped pipe hardware
If you miss enjoying a quieter home, it’s helpful to have a professional plumber find the sound’s source. Expert Plumbing & Water Heaters, Inc. can help.
Call Us To Silence Loud Pipes and Get Things Flowing Again
Are your pipes making noise when water is turned on? Expert Plumbing & Water Heaters, Inc.’s plumbers can silence your plumbing, reduce the effects of hard water, and replace corroded components. Call 831-480-6898 today!
