Pipe noise/banging

[dasherman]

Whenever I flush the loo or use the cold taps in my house the pipes always bang.I've got the floorboards up and clipped the pipes to the joists to stop them vibrating but they still bang,and I can sometimes hear vibrating even when no taps are not in use.The pipes are firmly clipped from the upstairs bathroom right down to behind the kitchen cupboards.

I've tried opening and closing the stop **** in the kitchen and that has some affect but is it a proper solution or is it anything to do with the stop tap in the road?

[gasman]

This is what we call 'water hammer' it is caused by a loose washer or jumper and can sound very serious and frightening sometimes as the pipes amplify the sound and resenate it all over the house. Try replacing the washer or jumper to the rising main stop tap. It can be difficult to trace the source of the problem so you my end up doing all the Taps and loo's before you come across the culprit. But as it happens when you use any tap or loo in the house then the most likley cause would be the main stop tap. The external tap in the road would not cause the water hammer due to the deadening of sound Lead or Plastic pipe via the surounding earth etc.

[dasherman]

Thanks gasman

I actually had a new stop tap fitted in my kitchen earlier this year because the old one leaked and I've a new kitchen and new bathroom fitted aswell but the banging still happens.Could it be anything to do with the water pressure?

[kwicky]

Sometimes this can be caused by the ballcock in your tank and is caused by fluttering. You can buy these plastic stabilisers to fit to the ballcock from any good DIY merchants.

[greenrook]

It wouldn't hurt to turn the mains pressure down a bit. Also, if the cold taps in question are the bath and basin taps, they may be fed from the cold tank in the loft, as might be the WC cistern, so it could indeed be the tank ballvalve. For the price of a new one or even a new equilibrium valve, I wouldn't bother monkeying with the old one.