Water Hammer /air trapped in water pipes

[IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads]

We have what I think is called a "water hammer" inn our water pipes. Every time we use a tap/shower/toilet the pipes scream and shake for a couple of minutes.

Do we need a plumber? Or would it sort itself out by turning off the stopcock and running all the cold taps? @PigletJohn, can you help ?

Ooooo following!

WE have this too, would love to know what to do...it only happens over summer, winter it's all quiet...

Could you try bleeding radiators if youve got them that can take the air out of the system

It might not work but I found mine stopped when I turned off the outside tap. It's easy to try just to rule it out. If you have an outside tap of course!

Interesting we have this too! I assumed it was just our very old plumbing!

eh?

We get this quite often. Old house old pipes. It does run its course so to speak but we found that if when we flush the toilet, if we can turn the bathroom sink taps on at the same time full blast and the kitchen taps it makes it go away sooner. No idea of the logic but that's what happens in our house!

We've got this too. They don't do it for a couple of minutes, but it's very noisy when we use cold taps or flush the loos.

is it the cold taps or the hot?

have you got a cold-water tank in the loft?

it is nothing to do with bleeding the radiators.

Put your thumb over the hot tap in the bathroom, and turn it on. Can you stop the flow?

Now the cold. Can you?

turn everything off, wait five minutes, flush one WC (only). Does the noise occur? Do the same at other WCs if you have them. then each tap. Do it individually, one at a time, to create a map of which do/don't do it.

if you run a bath, how long does the noise continue after you turn off the taps?

is it worse in the early hours of the night than in the afternoon?

Has a bathroom or kitchen had its plumbing altered since the house was built? How old is the house?

Ask around for a wrinkly old plumber with years of local experience.

Are you in a town, or country?

Are you at the bottom of a hill?

have you noticed your neighbours taps doing the same?

screwing down the stopcock will hide the problem, but not cure it.

oh, and does the kitchen tap do it.

@PigletJohn, I have found and spoken to a wrinkly old plumber. First thing said was it was probably the ball cock.He is coming up look in the next couple of days.

Newish (25 years old) house, but rural. Neighbours houses nowt like ours.

Posted too soon....
Mostly upstairs, cold tap only, have indentified which toilet it's coming from.

and your thumb, on the bathroom taps?

it only happens when downstairs loo is flushed in our house

silvercurls

in your case, that is probably a worn out ballcock in the WC cistern, but what does the noise sound like?

Ibiza's may be different

btw a howling, squealing or tromboning noise is not water hammer.

water hammer is a fast banging noise.

We had what you are describing and it turned out to be the valve on the cold water tank in the loft. A friend came round one day and heard the noise, popped up into the loft and adjusted the valve and that was it sorted!

We have the howling, squealing tromboning noise (excellent description!) - what does that mean?

PS thank you for your input here over the years. I love reading your replies.

very likely a ball cock (fill valve)

older ones in the loft are usually brass

they last over a hundred years but the washer wears out after 30

a new washer costs a few pence but it is easier and quicker to swap in a new one

if you like tinkering, you can dismantle the old one on the kitchen table and re-washer it, and hang it up next to the tank ready for next time.

it must be a Part 2 valve which has a plastic bridge over the top to prevent contamination. if you can get the Pegler brand it is superior. An old one may not have the bridge.

in an ordinary house they are almost aways half-inch size. Bigger ones are available and quieter as they do not run at full blast.

in a WC cistern you can use a variety of more modern types that are quieter but unlikely to last a hundred years

Exactly the same when we moved into our current house - thought it was haunted house as it was really loud at night and the whole house used to shake! Turned out to be the stop cock for the water tank in the loft.

Is it a bouncing washer?

Plumber has been
Ballcock washers replaced
Didn't charge much
Pipes are now silent

I had the same problem. It seems to be kinda fun the first time, but then it got to be annoying. I have tried to do something by my hands but then decided to involve the professional from 24 hour plumber Sydney . The only bad thing I can say about them is that they charge such a small amount of money for the work they do. The plumber has done all the work for about an hour.
I really wish my comment would be useful. Have a good day!

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