A common complaint among those who live in older homes is hot water pipes that produce loud, annoying creaks and groans. The good news is that you often do not have to be a professional plumber to fix this problem. If you would like to learn more about muting your hot water pipes, read on. As a Ridgewood Queens plumber, we see this issue quite a bit. Let’s discuss both the cause and the solution.
Why Pipes Hot Water Pipes Creak
This issue specifically afflicts those whose home contains copper water pipes. Here the problem is that, as hot water flows through the pipes, the metal tends to expand. This causes the pipe to rub and scrape against the metal hangers used to hold the pipe to the underside of the floorboards. This friction directly produces the noises.
Creaky Hot Water Pipes Solution
You will be happy to learn that attending to this problem is neither time nor a money intensive process. Also, a roll of felt stripping the kind with adhesive on the back side. In addition, you will also need to have the appropriate type of screwdriver to remove and then reinstall the screws that hold the pipe hangers in place.
Begin with the hangers nearest to the water heater and gradually work your way outward. Use your screwdriver to remove each hanger. Then wrap a small piece of the felt stripping around the pipe. You only need to apply stripping to the part of the pipe that passes through the hanger. This felt will cushion the pipe as it expands, thus preventing it from rubbing up against the metal hanger.
Once you have installed each piece of felt, reattach the pipe hanger. Work your way in this manner along the entire length of the pipe. You should now find that your noisy pipes no longer present a problem.
If you continue to experience odd sounds or other plumbing related problems, please contact the experienced Ridgewood Queens plumber, Kew Forest Plumbing.
