We were silently snickering at the banging and squeaking we heard from the hallway, thinking that Dweezil had finally, and VERY belatedly, met Rosie Palmer and was having a one-man tryst in his bedroom.
In fact I thought he was having a full-on nonstop orgy with Rosie today - until I realized he wasn’t home.
Turns out, it’s the hallway bathroom. Every time it’s flushed, there is a VERY loud banging. It’s worse since we had the plumber in the other day (see other thread about a clueless guest flushing orange peel), but I think it was already developing. Now the clothes washer causes thumping, though not nearly in quite the same league as the robot in the bathroom.
We can’t see an arrestor anywhere but it’s possible it’s behind some insulation near the main shutoff valve. We tried to deal with it yesterday by turning off the main, then turning on all the taps etc to drain all the pipes, but that didn’t work.
It seems it’s just the powder room toilet, the kids’ toilet, and the basement toilet - all of which are somewhat vertical to each other. Our bathroom does not cause this, nor do the sinks or tubs in the other bathrooms or in the kitchen.
Is it possible the supply lines in the basement (if you have a basement) are loose and banging against a rafter? If the three toilets are on the same vent stack, could the roof vent pipe be plugged? If this is when you flush, could the waste stack be slamming against a vertical stud in the basement (or behind a wall)?
That’s what I was going to say. Yes, hammer arrestors can lose their charge, but I’m guessing you just have pipes slamming around. You didn’t say what the plumber was doing, but if they were re-piping anything, anything at all, they may not have anchored it correctly. Have someone turn the offending faucet on and off rapidly a few times while you move around the house and try to figure out exactly where the sound is coming from. If the pipe isn’t buried you’ll likely see it actually moving. From there, it’s just a matter of securing it.
That’s something you want to take care of sooner rather than later. Pipes that are moving are pipes that can break. Shutting the shower off and still hearing water running isn’t a good thing.
If you’re even a little handy, and you can see the pipe, it’s an easy job to tackle and it’ll cost about $5.
In the mean time, don’t slam the water off, turn it off gently. That’s basically what the hammer arrestor is doing for you.
Mama Zappa’s husband checking in. The hammering only happens when any of the 4 toilets are filling. As soon any toilet starts filling, we get the hammering. The hammering stops when the toilet stops.
I like the vent stack idea, but one of the toilets is in a different place than the other 3. The three are pretty much one over the other, but the 4th toilet is a couple of rooms over. Not so far they couldn’t be on the same vent stack, but they might not be.
I noticed the basement toilet was refilling on its own now and again. So I shut off the inlet valve for that toilet. The hammer still happens with the other 3 toilets. The basement toilet tank emptied itself, so that needs a new flapper valve. That is an easy fix I have done before and can do again.
We drained the lines yesterday - twice - and the hammering still happens. Only the toilets, not the sinks, the tubs, the shower, the dishwasher or the clothes washer.
I’d hate to call in the plumber again, as it’s expensive. What else can we do?
Hammering while the water is running isn’t hammering. Hammering is a noise that happens when you shut the water off. If you go outside and get a garden hose with a gun attachment, turn the water on, then use the gun nozzle thing to turn it on and off rapidly, you’ll see the hose move around. That’s ‘hammering’, but in your house, the ‘hose’ is copper line and it’s smacking around against things making racket. (You don’t have to actually do that, I’m sure you can imagine it).
What you might have is just copper lines contracting with cold water running through them. Wait, better, you might have a bad valve somewhere. I like that. A bad valve somewhere in the house can make a lot of racket when water moves through it and the washer vibrates. You’d be surprised how loud that can be.
See if you can find one valve the feeds all of the problem fixtures. Probably in the basement, probably right below the lowest bathroom. I’d wager a guess that it’s a valve that has a knob, as opposed to a ‘lever’ on it. You could start by making sure it’s all the way open. If it wasn’t all the way open, that can do it too.
Typo Knig called the plumber yesterday and the person said it sounded like the pressure relief valve. The plumber came today and checked and concurred. That’s replaced, and the robot is now very lonely and frustrated.