What's up with my pipes?
December 8, 2010 7:40 AM Subscribe
My pipes have become loud and groany. Should I be worried about this?
I live in a 25 year old townhouse. We bought it five years ago and it was clear that nobody had bothered with any sort of proper maintenance for many years. However, everything seemed to be in good shape at the time. Over the past year or so, though, the pipes have started groaning when one certain toilet is flushed. It started out minor but the noises seem to be growing louder and lasting longer.
Is this something I should be worried about? And if so, is there some way to fix it ourselves or do I need to call a professional?
I live in a 25 year old townhouse. We bought it five years ago and it was clear that nobody had bothered with any sort of proper maintenance for many years. However, everything seemed to be in good shape at the time. Over the past year or so, though, the pipes have started groaning when one certain toilet is flushed. It started out minor but the noises seem to be growing louder and lasting longer.
Is this something I should be worried about? And if so, is there some way to fix it ourselves or do I need to call a professional?
We get groaning in our pipes - house built in '55. Galvanized steel plumbing. I upgraded about 80% of the plumbing to copper about 3 years ago...
Anywho - near as I could tell, our groaning was simply due to the natural expansion/contraction of the pipes as they change temperature as the water flows and where the pipes make direct contact with wood or other material.
Pipes move - plain and simple. Not much, but water pressure, temp changes, etc. will cause slight wiggles here and there and that's normal.
Colder weather means colder fresh water entering the system. And if you have well water, it's even colder.
IANAP - but groaning by itself isn't indicative of a problem per se. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Though if it would help you sleep better at night, it would cost you about $100 to have a pro come out and give an inspection.
posted by thatguyjeff at 8:32 AM on December 8, 2010
Anywho - near as I could tell, our groaning was simply due to the natural expansion/contraction of the pipes as they change temperature as the water flows and where the pipes make direct contact with wood or other material.
Pipes move - plain and simple. Not much, but water pressure, temp changes, etc. will cause slight wiggles here and there and that's normal.
Colder weather means colder fresh water entering the system. And if you have well water, it's even colder.
IANAP - but groaning by itself isn't indicative of a problem per se. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Though if it would help you sleep better at night, it would cost you about $100 to have a pro come out and give an inspection.
posted by thatguyjeff at 8:32 AM on December 8, 2010
I had something similar happen a few years ago and it turned out the ballcock in the toilet needed to be replaced. If that's the problem, you can do it yourself - there are lots of videos on YouTube that show the procedure.
posted by metarkest at 8:40 AM on December 8, 2010
posted by metarkest at 8:40 AM on December 8, 2010
The potentially serious issue might be if pipes are groaning because of sediment build-up in the hot-water system, in which case the boiler/heater would have to be flushed out. But you'd notice that a lot more when you were running hot water than when you were flushing the toilet, so I am on Team Nothing Much To Worry About here.
posted by Sidhedevil at 9:52 AM on December 8, 2010
posted by Sidhedevil at 9:52 AM on December 8, 2010
I had the same thing happen and I posted about it here. eventually, in the face of no real clear information and massive amounts of procrastination, it went away. Occasionally it still moans a little, but when I asked it was happening all the time and was quite obnoxious. Leaky valves (especially the toilets and sinks) and abnormally high water pressure were the most suggested causes. I changed none of that.
posted by ydant at 10:37 AM on December 8, 2010
posted by ydant at 10:37 AM on December 8, 2010
Our dishwasher was groaning and it turned out that the hot water valve was not fully open. Check the valve to the toilet and make sure it hasn't gotten turned partially off.
posted by tamitang at 6:47 PM on December 8, 2010
posted by tamitang at 6:47 PM on December 8, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Gilbert at 8:01 AM on December 8, 2010