Horrible plumbing noise coming from upstairs condo, what is it?

[zebrafish565]

Hi,

Last night we heard such a horrible noise coming from above, that it actually scared us. It sounded like someone had thrown an engine down into the space between the walls in our unit, and was loudly dying while it teared through walls. It was so bad the walls were vibrating.

This was in the kitchen area, near an upper kitchen cabinet. We were running around unplugging our kitchen appliances, trying to see if it was a problem with any of our appliances. It wasn't.

Shortly after, we were outside, and saw a worker guy come out, wearing a face mask, and carrying equipment the like of which I've never seen before. His van did not have any kind of signage on it, which commercial plumbers usually do.

I'd appreciate your ideas about what it could be, thanks.

 

[Teocalli04]

Perhaps it might have been "water hammer" in the lines ?
They make a loud noise for sure.

 

[phishfood]

It sounds as though he was using a drain snake to clean out a clogged drain pipe.

 

[ExtraMilePlumbing]

Lol yea that sounds like a drain cleaning job to me , also like a side job

 

[Mr_David]

It sounds as though he was using a drain snake to clean out a clogged drain pipe.

Good Call.

 

[zebrafish565]

Thank you, it was pretty damned scary - I'm glad there was no burst pipe.