What's up with the noise?

July 1, 2010 3:04 PM

Why do the pipes in my house make a groaning sound when the front sprinklers turn on in the morning?

This morning I was awake (long story) at 5:30 when the front sprinklers went off. Never heard this before, but the pipes (?) under the house were making a groaning sound as soon as the sprinklers started up. I got up and looked out over the front yard, and the sprinklers were doing fine. The sound was actually less in the front yard. But about 15 yards away, where the bedroom is, I could hear a distinct groaning sound coming from under (?) the house. It stopped as soon as the front sprinklers went off and the back ones went on. What was that sound? Is it something I should be worried about? Sprinkler hardware is all about 8-10 years old, I think.

posted by Spyder's Game to Home & Garden (3 answers total)

Probably the rate of water flowing through the pipes set up a resonance that vibrated the pipes.

My back hose bib does that if the water is on *just* so. When I turn it on higher, this stops. You likely would not be able to change are sprinkler flow in that way.

Having said that, I would go on to say that a visual inspection of the pipes, preferably while this is happening, is in order.
posted by Danf at 3:08 PM on July 1, 2010

If the sound has just started without any change in the plumbing, it may be due to air in the pipes that came in through a leak someplace and wound up stuck at a high point. At least that's the explanation I've heard from plumbers for certain noisy pipes.
posted by contraption at 4:08 PM on July 1, 2010

Water Pipe Noise and Things that go Bump in the Night.
posted by Rhomboid at 4:56 PM on July 1, 2010