When I turn an outside faucet on, I hear a loud clanking sound. This noise is particularly loud to someone inside the house. Someone suggested that it could be air in the water line. What do you think might be the problem?

- Brenda

Brenda, this is probably due to some piping that is not adequately supported. With the water moving through the pipe it is creating some inertia which is causing the pipes to move and bang against the structure of your home. You’ll need to find the source of the noise, cut the wall and repair the problem by securing it with approved clamps.

-Brian

We replaced our hot water tank 5 months ago and since then, in the room behind the closet where the tank is located, we can hear a “ping”. It is almost rhythmic. We have turned the power off on the tank thinking it was electrical but the noise continued for one hour. We have replaced the thermostat, which interestingly enough made a slight difference in that it generally stops during the night but as soon as water is turned on it starts again and will go for hours afterwards. I think it sounds like water dripping from one pipe onto another, my husband thinks I’m a worry wart! No water appears under the wall (we are on a slab). The noise is extremely faint in the closet where the tank is but can also be heard faintly in the other bathroom quite a distance away. Any suggestions? The manufacturer of the tank said it may be a “singing” element and to replace those with a better quality but if that was the case, it would be quiet when the power was off would it not? Please, any suggestions?

-Rae

Rae, it is possible for home water heaters to become noisy less than a year after they’ve been installed. And many times you can only hear the noises at night, when the inside of your home is quiet and there isn’t much going on outside.

In gas heaters, the noise can be caused by the buildup of lime, other minerals, or sand on the bottom of the water heater’s tank. When the heater’s gas burner comes on, the heated water bubbling through the mineral formations and sediment creates the noise. Electric heaters can generate singing or hissing noises, they have heating elements that are immersed in the tank’s water, and lime or scale accumulating on the elements causes the noises. The elements can be removed and cleaned with vinegar, but in really bad cases the element may need to be replaced.

You might be able to cut down the noise by disconnecting the heater and flushing the tank. But, it may not be possible to remove all the mineral deposits from the bottom of the tank, so that when you hook the tank back up, it may just become noisy again. If you have hard water, a solution might be for you to install a water softener, to prevent mineral build up.

-Brian

I hear in the wall what appears to be a pinhole leak in a pipe, but, I have no water leaking anywhere. ( I cut out drywall next to one of the pipes where I hear) It’s DRY! With no water being used in the house, there is minute amt. registering on meter, (next to nothing). With the hot water pressure valve on top of water heater turned off, usage on the meter show NO usage, but, I can still hear hissing in wall.(Hissing stops when I turn off main water valve outside the house.) What’s up??

–Ellen

Ellen, it sounds (no pun intended) like you may have a leak. If you did have a pinhole in your piping system, chances are the water loss is too low to be noticed on a water meter’s readout (dial), and you would also have water showing up somewhere (unless you have lines buried below ground). The best thing to do is call a plumber who can come in and perform a hydrostatic pressure test -which is safer then a compressed air test.

-Brian

Our bedroom wall that is an exterior wall has pipes in it that creak, but they only creak when the wind outside blows. What could be causing this? This started a only a few weeks ago. We had a new heating/a.c. system put in a year ago. This is also the same wall as our chimney and was wondering if it could somehow be related to a crack in the chimney lining or something? We just have no idea where to begin or who to call.

-Jessica

Jessica, this is a difficult problem to try to diagnose without being there in person. The most common reason for noises coming from inside walls is the expansion of pipes when they heat up, either because the home is hot water heated or a hot water pipe is connected to a bathroom fixture. The “creaking” noises are generally caused when hot water is run through pipes causing them to expand in holes that were drilled too small. Typically you won’t find water lines in an exterior wall, but it’s not unheard of. Whether you do or don’t have pipes in your exterior walls, we recommend you consult with an expert in your area to help solve your pipe problem.

-Brian