How to Stop Banging Pipes in Your Home

What Causes Banging Pipes?

Many of the banging pipe noises that you hear in your home are caused by water hammer which are the destructive forces, pounding noises and vibrations that can develop in a piping system when the flowing water is abruptly stopped. This abrupt stoppage, caused when a valve suddenly closes, creates a shockwave that passes back and forth throughout the water pipe at roughly 4,500 feet per second, like a mini tsunami, causing the vibrations known as water hammer. Abrupt stoppages of water in your piping system usually occur with clothes washers, dishwashers, toilets, and faucets that can be closed very quickly. Homeowners can re-learn how to close their faucets and do so more slowly, but this won’t work with appliances. Dishwashers and clothes washers are the most common sources of water hammer because they come with fast- acting solenoid valves that close quickly and cause this shockwave.

How Much Damage Can Banging Pipes Cause?

Damage can occur to your home’s water piping from this mini tsunami. Sudden shaking of the pipes with expansion and contraction can occur all along the water pipes and cause poorly soldered or joined fittings to leak. When leaks occur, a minor annoyance can suddenly become a major catastrophe. If you have copper water pipes in your home the noises may be more severe than if you have plastic water pipes. Copper water pipes are more ridged and less forgiving than plastic water pipes which are more pliable and can absorb some of the shockwave.

How to Eliminate Banging Pipes?

The only way to eliminate water hammer from your home’s water piping system is with some form of “ shock arrestor”. The two types I have used are the “home made” and the manufactured kinds. Home made “shock arrestors” or air chambers are made on the job site using a piece of 3/4 inch water pipe approximately 18 inches long with a cap on the end of the pipe. These air chambers or stand pipes are then connected to the faucet piping or appliance piping with a tee. These air chambers are a short term solution as the pipe eventually fills with water rendering them ineffective. When this happens, the air chamber for the faucet or appliance in question must be drained of water and once again charged with air. The other type of “shock absorber” is the manufactured or engineered water hammer arrestor. These water hammer arrestors never lose their air and effectiveness like the air chambers do, and are really the only true and permanent solution to water hammer problems within your home. They must however be permanently connected to your home’s water piping and as close to the offending faucet or appliance as possible. The best place for any “shock arrestor”, home made or manufactured, is in the water supply pipe as close to the offending faucet or appliance as possible.

How Can Safari Plumbing Help?

I have also heard noises in home’s plumbing systems caused by faulty toilet parts, loose shut off valve stems, broken and loose faucet washers, loose pipes, and a multitude of other worn or broken plumbing parts. I always recommend that before adding water arrestors to your home’s water piping, you locate and find the source of the noises. Knowing the cause of the noises, will allow you to determine the correct course of action to take to fix the problem once and for all. If you are having difficultly determining the source of the piping noises within your home or would like to have them eliminated professionally, call us at Safari Plumbing.