When to Call Plumbers in Melbourne FL About Your Pipe Noises

Hello again, Brevard county! Houses, both new and old, make all sorts of strange and interesting sounds. Sometimes, these sounds are natural creaking and settling, but other times noises can mean more. This is especially true with plumbing noises. In most cases, these sounds aren’t just bothersome. They’re also an indicator of problems that could leave to plumbing repairs. Pay attention to your pipes’ squeaks and groans because they can be the key to knowing whether to call one of our plumbers in Melbourne FL. Are your plumbing noises benign or do you need help from a service technician with a water heater or broken pipe? This month we’re looking at some of the more interesting noises you might be hearing in your residential or commercial building. And the best news? Anchor Plumbing is equipped to help with those more serious sounds!

Drip, Drip, Dripping

Why It’s Happening: Dripping is never a good thing, whether you can see the leak or not. In fact, NOT being able to find your leak is even worse, especially if you can definitely hear it. Leaks and drips are some of the more common  Dripping means that you probably have a leak in your pipes or your plumbing item – whether that’s a faucet or a toilet. If you can find where the water is dripping, then you know exactly where the problem is. If you can’t find the leak, then your problem is probably in the walls.

What To Do About It: If your leak is outside the walls, the news is pretty good. You may have a simple, easy-to-fix problem. Do some research and see if you can fix the problem yourself OR call one of the professional plumbers in Melbourne FL or Brevard. However, if the problem is hard to pinpoint or you think it’s in the walls… Well, that’s a little trickier. You certainly want to call someone who conducts plumbing services so that you can get your issue fixed as soon as possible; don’t wait. By delaying, you may run into several issues including a high monthly water bill and mold or water damage inside your walls. Quality work on the part of your plumber can help you with all of these problems.

A Hammering Sound

Why It’s Happening: Hammering? That’s not really a noise that everyone associates with water and water-based appliances. However, a loud banging sound can be indicative of high water pressure, which can lead to pipe problems in addition to just being annoying to deal with. This chattering or banging noise is called a “water hammer,” and it occurs when water running through pipes causes the pipes to shake when the water hits a hard stop. In most cases, the hammering occurs when water is running through the pipes at high speeds and then comes to a hard stop when the valve is shut off, like turning the faucet off, or you have water in the air chamber of your pipe valves.

What To Do About It: Have a plumber come out to clear the air chamber of your pipe valves if that’s the problem. However, if you look at the pipes while water is running and see that the shaking is at the joints of the pipes, you have a few options. The main problem is your water pressure, here. You can turn down your water pressure or secure the pipes. Water pressure should generally be between 40 and 80 psi (pressure per square inch), and if your water pressure is high it will shake the pipes as they move through and hit turns and bends in the pipes. This violently shakes the pipes and will cause the joints, valves, and metal to bend and weaken.

More Than One Fix for Water Hammers: What’s The Right One for You?

Alternatively, if the shaking isn’t too bad, you can always secure or pad the pipes. However, you may want a professional to come out and pinpoint exactly the best way to combat water hammers. Water hammers can be tricky because there are so many reasons for why they happen (as well as a plethora of solutions to those reasons). There are antihammer chambers (air chambers) that you can install as well as other simple and complicated solutions.

Whistling Toilet Troubles

Why It’s Happening: Whistling and hissing from the toilet is something that many Brevard residents are familiar with, and customer service calls can often happen where homeowners are trying to understand why their toilet won’t stop whistling. A good reason for a hissing, whistling, or even gurgling toilet is going to be in the tank. Either the ballcock valve or the flapper is giving you issues. Usually, you can fix the problem without the help of a plumber, luckily!

What To Do About It: One major reason for hissing and gurgling coming from a toilet? The valve opening in the tank isn’t being covered properly by the flapper. When this occurs, the main problem switches from the annoying noise to the state of your water bill. A bad flapper will let the water keep running and rack up the dollars on your water bill. Replace the flapper for a quick fix. Another reason for whistling could be the ballcock valve, which is part of the same mechanism as the flapper. If the water fills the tank and then the whistling stops, this is probably a ballcock valve issue and can be fixed with a replacement of the whole mechanism.

Sudden and Sharp Screeching Noise

Why It’s Happening: A horrible screeching sound, like a bad sound effect from a horror movie, is something that eventually happens in every household unless you’re very lucky. If you turn on a faucet and this noise suddenly fills your ears before the water comes out, you know that it’s time to help your dying faucet out. There is clearly a valve, ring, or something loose in the faucet. The screeching is your faucet’s way of letting you know that it’s time to fix whatever that something is.

What To Do About It: The answer is quite simple. While it may seem more economic to try and tighten whatever is loose, most folks will decide that the fastest and most efficient way to do a great job of fixing up the faucet is to just replace the whole darn thing. Easy, right? Here is a guide from Anchor Plumbing: it will help you with installing a new kitchen faucet, and guide you in setting up any faucet.

 Bumping or Clanging Water Heater

Why It’s Happening: Do you just kind of let your water heater be the water heater without any maintenance? Don’t worry, you’re certainly not the only person! Most families will tend to ignore their water heater until it starts making noise or stops heating water. Water heaters making noise is often a sign of neglect in terms of cleaning and preventing sediment build-up on the tank and heater. Not only does this sound terrible and alarming, it can make your water heater far less efficient – meaning longer waiting times for hot water and higher bills with the drop in efficiency.

What To Do About It: The best thing to do is to have proper water heater maintenance in the first place. But, we aren’t all perfect so I don’t blame you if you have to deal with your water heater problems after the noise has started. In order to get your water heater working again, schedule water heater maintenance with one of the professional plumbers in Melbourne FL to get it fixed.

Easy Fixes for Your Plumbing Sounds

These are some of the most common plumbing noises, and as you can see, they tend to be easy to fix. About half of the problems, if you figure out the source, are fixable with DIY guides. For other problems, simply call a local plumber. They will be happy to help and can fix your issue quick and cheap. Having issues with any other banging, chattering, hissing, or gurgling? Talk to your local plumber and make sure your pipes are healthy. Save money and time with good plumbing tips!