Why Is My Water Line Is Vibrating The House?

Pipes bang sometimes. They bang, rattle, knock, whine and hammer. While these noises might occur because of a very minor plumbing problem, over time the banging can get annoying and destructive, doing damage to pipes and causing leaks. In this post, we’ll walk you through the potential causes of your noisy issue, and then we’ll suggest potential solutions.

If Your Pipes Bang While the Water is Running

Potential Solution #1: Loose pipe

Here we start with the simplest explanation first. Suppose the problem is a pipe that has become loose and needs to be secured to the wall.

While a partner turns on and off the noisy faucet, try to locate the pipe by looking in the access panels or in your basement and crawl space. When you find the pipe, clip it to the nearest beam of wood with a strap.

Take a look at the process of securing pipes here:

Potential Solution #2: Trapped Air

If you can’t find a loose pipe, it’s possible that the pipe is somewhere behind a wall you can’t get to. Before you start cutting through dry wall, you should consider the possibility that there’s trapped air in your pipes. If this is the case, you’ll need to purge your pipes of all water. To do this, follow this procedure:

1. Turn off your home’s water main.
2. Open up the faucet farthest from the water main at the top level of the house. If your house has only one story, open up the faucet farthest from the water main on the ground level. Drain the faucet.
3. Proceed to open up every single faucet and flush every toilet in the house and drain them, one by one, working your way closer and closer to the water main as you go, until you’ve opened every drain.
4. Close each faucet in the house starting with the one closest to the water main and working your way back.
5. Turn the water main back on.

Potential Solution #3: High Water Pressure

The other potential solution is that your water pressure is too high. The water pressure in your faucets should be no higher than 80 PSI. You can measure the pressure in your faucet with a water pressure gauge if you have one. However, if the pressure is too high, then you’ll need a professional plumber to install a regulator for you. If you’ve gotten to this point and haven’t found the solution yet, we suggest just calling the plumber.

If The Pipes Bang When The Water is Shut Off

Potential Solution #1: Water Hammer

A water hammer is what happens when the water inside the pipes hits the valve when you close the faucet. You can see a helpful diagram of this phenomenon here. Water hammers can be very loud and very disturbing, but you’ll only hear a water hammer after you’ve turned off the faucet. If you suspect you have a water hammer, drain the pipes as described above. If that doesn’t work, call a plumber.

If you live in Pittsburgh and you can’t fix your banging pipes, call us at Terry’s Plumbing. We’ll be happy to fix your problem and you won’t have to buy a pressure gauge or pull apart the walls looking for a knocking pipe.