Plumbing in the Home/water pipe noise

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Expert: Carolyn - 7/18/2004


Question
recently my water pipes rattle about 20 senconds after flushing either of 2 of the 4 toilets in my house. My house is 7 years old. I have lived here 6 months. the problem started about 1 week ago. I do not see any problem in the pipes in the utility room. I have mainly plastic pipes but the vibration is felt in the copper pipes in the utility room. thank you
John

Answer
Hey John,
What you are experiencing may be called water hammer and it is caused by normally high water pressure. If you have city water you should have a pressure valve somewhere near your hot water heater which you can adjust a little to see if it helps but if not you need to call someone out to see if they can put in a loop at the end of the line to prevent it. This will in time place too much pressurer on your lines if you let it continue and possible damage to seals in you dishwasher and appliances. I hope this helps some and good luck,
~Carolyn~  

Plumbing in the Home

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Carolyn

Expertise

I have worked in Electrical Engineering for 30 years in power distribution and am now a Senior Electrical & Instrumentation Designer, but I am a handy homeowner more than anything else and have a lot of skills when it comes to home repairs. Bathroom remodeling, flooring, painting, reconditioning old wood items, plumbing, car repairs and troubleshooting most problems. I think of myself more of a teacher than someone that is going to tell you exactly what you have to do, but I will share as much info as I have to help get your problem fixed, so if you are not interested in learning then don't ask me a question or rate me if you don't like my answers. To me, it is all about the journey so lets share the trail for a short ride and see where it takes us! I also want to give thanks to both my Mom, who has passed and my Dad, who raised us with the "Can Do" attitude and instowed such confidence in not only my life but everyone that ever came in contact with them. You can do anything that you set our minds too if only you can break it down into pieces and just tackle one piece at a time, for the rest will fall into place.

Experience

My greatest accomplishment was finishing my first bathroom upgrades in my first home which helped me to sell my home is less than 3 days by myself with a For Sale By Owner sign and no more. Plus I got $10,000 more for it in just 4 years of owning it, now that is great equity.

Education/Credentials
Nursing School, 1 1/2 years of a 2 year RN program, 1976 US Army, Intelligence School, Image Interpreter, 1977 Thomas Nelson Community College, Mechanical Drafting, 1980 Newport News Shipbuilding, Designer Training Program, 1981 School Of Hard Knocks

Awards and Honors
Certificate of Achievement, Graduated with Honor's from Military Intelligence School, Award from Planning Research Corporation for a Job Well Done, Hand Selected to be an Internal Auditor for an ISO 9000 Certification Program for one of my longest employers, Mutable Letters of Appreciation

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