My water pipes are banging, handyman advice needed!
By dragon54u
@dragon54u (31633)
United States
March 23, 2009 9:35am CST
I turned on the washer just now to do some laundry and it sounded like someone had wrapped a piece of cloth around a pipe and was hitting it--not really hard but it was loud. I turned the washer off and the noise stopped. It only happens when I turn on the washer--when I use water on the first floor it doesn't happen.
Do I have a malfunction somewhere? This has never happened before. My house is 86 years old but in excellent repair. I followed the noise and it's all through the pipe to where it connects to the outside somewhere. Any ideas?
2 people like this
2 responses
@Aussies2007 (5336)
• Australia
24 Mar 09
Not 100 per cent sure...
But I think this might be cause by an air bubble inside the pipe.
When the council turns the water off in the street to do some repair... air usually gets into the system. That air usually comes out by letting the water run out of the tap for a minute.
If that air does not come out when you run your washer... I would suggest that you disconnect your washer from the tap it is connected to... and let the water run freely for a minute... to see if the noise stop.
You also need to figure out if the air bubble is in the cold water pipe or the hot water pipe. If you don't know... disconnect the hoses from both taps and run both taps for a minute. Or you can start the washer on cold water only. And then on hot water only. And find out which one makes the noise.
@dragon54u (31633)
• United States
24 Mar 09
I will try it tomorrow (it's 11PM here now, too late) and let you know how it goes. You're so helpful! 
1 person likes this
@derek_a (10873)
•
23 Mar 09
It sounds as if one of the pipes have worked loose from it's mountings somewhere along the line. We had that happen to our central heating pipes, but it turned out to be air that had become trapped in the pipe. When we released the air, it was fine. - Derek
- Derek2 people like this
@derek_a (10873)
•
23 Mar 09
We have small valves attached to radiators and at the top of the system. These have a small square-shaped screw in them. When we loosened these screws (didn't take them right out) the air hissed out of the system and the banging noises stopped. We have to do this about once a month so that air doesn't build up in the system again. - Derek
- Derek1 person likes this
