Kitec replaced in apartment, new pipes noisy, was this installed properly? (Link to p

[ninian]

Hi all,

We recently had to replace the Kitec plumbing in our condo unit as Kitec is now a recalled product and people are having trouble getting insurance coverage and selling their units without certifying the unit is Kitec free. We are mandated to do it by end of year.

The work was done and now when the hot water is used in the ensuite bathroom I hear a lot of noise in my ceiling in the other main bathroom (they are basically side by side). I had them come back and they opened the ceiling back up and "tightened" the pipe, which meant tightening the zipties they used (the pipe is some other type of PEX plumbing, Uponor). However, the noise remains.

After they left I took some pictures and looked myself and the issue is clearly because the plumbing is just twist tied to the metal vent. When we run hot water it must move/expand a bit causing the rubbing on the metal vent creating the noise. When you run the water it is fine for about 40 minutes. Then when you run the water the noise returns (I am guessing this means its the hot water)

My question is, is this normal for an installation? (I understand its pretty tricky to re-run plumbing in a finished condo but wanted to get other opinions before I get back to them). Should there not be some type of buffer between the pipe and the vent? Anything that I can put there to stop the friction? I believe the old pipes were run through conduit but the conduit wasnt large enough to fit these and unless the took down all drywall they cant run more conduit. Thanks for any input.

Image here: https://imgur.com/a/2thKZ

 

[Mr_David]

zip tied to what? Air duct pipe.
Do they have legal recreational hemp in your area.
Maybe they had to much before they came to work.
I don't work with pex but I can see just from one photo that, that is not right.

 

[ninian]

Yes, that is the the duct from the bathroom fan.

I can see the old KiTec plumbing that was originally run behind but in fairness to them it would be impossible to do the same unless they gut out all of the drywall in what is basically the entire side of the apartment.

From looking it seems the noise is coming from the piping wrapping around the thin metal/tin drywall framing. They should've at least used some type of padding.

Im just going to add some padding myself and not bother getting them out again. And Weed is legal here in January so you never know.

 

[justin_dewan90]

Hot water lines expand with heat, your rubbing is definitely from that spot. Or any other place where it was tied to metal or wood. Need a buffer in there for the expansion. Any sort of insulation or some soft material between the two will work.

 

[ninian]

Yeah, the metal drywall studs are the culprit. Unfortunately I won't be able to fix all of it without opening up all the drywall but have used some insulation in all of the pressure points on the metal framing that I could

 

[Mr_David]

Yes, that is the the duct from the bathroom fan.

I can see the old KiTec plumbing that was originally run behind but in fairness to them it would be impossible to do the same unless they gut out all of the drywall in what is basically the entire side of the apartment.

From looking it seems the noise is coming from the piping wrapping around the thin metal/tin drywall framing. They should've at least used some type of padding.

Im just going to add some padding myself and not bother getting them out again. And Weed is legal here in January so you never know.

We still use copper to re-pipe, but when pushing it through a void and unable to strap it we like to push pipe insulation over it when possible.

Are you in Calif? I think a few states went legal 1st of the year.
I had my share of it back in the days. It doesn't interest me anymore.
Just makes stupid more stupid.