[mmhendrie]

looking for some advice...

I live in a 1930's CA bungalow, with the plumbing in the crawl space. Been in there about 6yrs now, for the first 5 I suffered with the original plumbing - very bad water pressure, took an eternity to get warm water etc.

I finally went copper a little over a year ago (CA only approved pex this year!). Water pressure is now great etc., couldn't be happier with that. One thing that is a step back, is I can now hear the plumbing! No rattles or squeaks or anything like that, but, no matter where you are in the house, if someone uses water somewhere, you can hear it flowing through the pipes in the background. Also, if it's a toilet flush, you hear the "thunk" when the water cuts off. This didn't happen before. Any ideas how I get rid of it??

thanks!!
-Matt

 

[kenmac]

find out (with a gauge) what the water pressure is after the regulator.

 

[mmhendrie]

looks to be around 68 PSI....

 

[brokenknee]

The "thunk" would be water hammer; this can be solved by adding an expansion tank. The sound of water running through the copper pipes is normal.

 

[kenmac]

If you can . you might try cutting pressure to around 50-55 psi & see if this helps.. As he said.. mabe be water hammer

 

[JDC]

I agree that the thunk is waterhammer. There are waterhammer arrestors on the market that can be installed that will help.

The sound of the water running in the system is normal. Something that will help though it may not eliminate the noise entirely is pipe insulation. The best insulation for sound dampening would be fiberglass pipe insulation not the black or gray foam/foam rubber insulation. Home centers dont usually carry the fiberglass...at least not around here. You may have to do some googleing or let your fingers do the walking to find a specialty shop that sells it.

Good luck