Pipes are Buzzing Loudly

[jebber45]

Hello Everyone,

I have an issue that has been very difficult to diagnose. We moved into our home in September, and have had heard on several occasions a loud humming/buzzing/vibration noise coming from in the wall between our master bedroom and master bathroom. In the past, we would hear it for about 30 seconds, and it would stop. I never thought too much of it. The timing of the sound was pretty random- we would hear it maybe once or twice in a week, and then not again for 3 weeks. The sound would go on after using the shower ususally, after the shower was turned off .. and last for about 30 seconds.

Recently, we have been hearing it more often. We have also been hearing it in another spot of the house - underneath the kitchen floor near the powder room. This spot begin buzzing this week and lasted over 30 minutes.

Turning on a faucet would muffle the sound a bit, but once you turned it off, it would come back on.

I went to the basement and was able to get the noise to stop when I closed the cold water valve that was supplying the kitchen & powder room. When I would open up the valve, it would start again. Interestingly, closing the entire house main did not stop the noise.

We have had a plumber out, but unfortunately did not get anywhere - because we are not able to replicate the noise. Some days I'll get out of the shower and it will start buzzing .. most days though, it won't. The only thing I notice is that when it does start humming, is usually at a time where I just stopped using water in that area.

It does not sound like typical pipe banging from unsecured pipes. And there have been stretches where the sound has lasted 30 minutes.

At this point it is a nuisance, but I'm concerned a bigger problem could be around the corner.

Thank you so much for any help you can give me. We don't have the money to have someone cracking open walls to "fix" things we aren't sure are the problem.

James

 

[havasu]

I had a similar problem when my refrigerator was up against the wall. I'm not saying this is your problem, but usually humming is associated with an electrical appliance, so start doing some searching.

 

[jebber45]

Thanks, I guess I should say it is louder than a humming. It is like a very loud humming .. it sort of sounds like there is a vacuum cleaner motor that is on it's last leg. The pipes are vibrating .. hard to tell where it is originating from as it causes most of the pipes (assessible to me in the basement) to vibrate.

 

[johnjh2o]

It sounds like a bad pressure reducing valve. It may need rebuilding but the best solution is to replace it. It should be on your main water line before it connects to any fixtures.

 

[jebber45]

Thanks John. Someone at my work mentioned that too, but I cannot seem to find it. My basement is not finished and the plumbing is pretty visible. Guess I can keep searching.

 

[Caduceus]

I'm sure you will find that there will be numerous opinions as to what can cause this noise because there actually are so many.
Please be patient with us, these problems can be frustrating for plumbers and home owners alike.
The regulator is a good start if you have one. If it's not visible on the water service inside the house look to see if you have a meter pit outside. Sometimes the regulator is there.
From what you have already said, it almost sounds like expanding hot water pipe(s) behind the wall. After using a fixture, if there are tightly strapped pipes or pipes that are in too small of a bored hole through the wood, you can get a sound like you described. A few actions that you mentioned would typically rule this out, though, such as closing the cold valve to the kitchen. Like I said, only a guess, but keep it in mind.
Also, if you do not see a regulator, maybe the problem is high pressure affecting the single handle cartridges. Maybe picking up a pressure gauge that screws onto a hose connection would be cheap enough for you and help with eliminating possibilities. A 200 psi spring gauge is usually available at home improvement stores unless the plumber you had over already checked.

 

[camaroderrick73]

Sounds to me like expansion or contraction in the pipes. Could also be an angle stop not opened fully.. Check all hour angle stops and if they are fine it's expansion contraction stated above. Really not much you can do for it other than open all the walls and restrap an bore bigger holes. That really your only choice and not a very good one.. Lots of money and really not any guarantee to remove the expansion/contraction. Goo luck to you

 

[jebber45]

So I bit of an update...

I never did find a pressure relief valve in the basement. I went outside to pop my head in the catch basin (house is 120 years old) but didn't see anything other than drain pipes.

I went around and made sure all the angle stops were open.

I also went back to the cold water valve that most affected the noise. Its a valve not right by the main, but a valve that controls the cold water going to the affected areas (kitchen, powder room, and rear of the house). I noticed that when in open position it was not totally parallel with the pipe, but up above the pipe.. so I actually pulled it down slightly which in turn seemed to actually open it more. I don't know if that did anything at all, but it was interesting on this valve had the most control over the noise.

Needless to say, I haven't heard the noise in almost a week. I think last week Tuesday was when my wife mentioned it was making a racket during the day.

I should also mention that my powder room on the main floor sits above a crawlspace. Well, a cellar bulkhead entryway.. but it isn't heated. These are the only pipes that run in a cold area. The entryway is pretty well insulated. I actually added a lot of insulation myself. There is a really old valve on the pipes that run from the basement to supply the powder room. It looks like just a shut-off valve, but I'm not sure why it would be there. It's pretty aged, and only controls water to the powder room. Would this have anything to do with anything? and why would this valve be there?

 

[jebber45]

Sounds to me like expansion or contraction in the pipes. Could also be an angle stop not opened fully.. Check all hour angle stops and if they are fine it's expansion contraction stated above. Really not much you can do for it other than open all the walls and restrap an bore bigger holes. That really your only choice and not a very good one.. Lots of money and really not any guarantee to remove the expansion/contraction. Goo luck to you

This is what I suspected early on when the noise never lasted for longer than 30 seconds. But there have been at least 2 occasions where the noise lasted 20-30 minutes. Could noise from expansion/contraction of pipes carry on for that long?

 

[IFIXH20]

I ran to a similar ghost noise problem. After serval plumbers had been out I went out and the problem was a bad toilet fill valve. Not saying this is your problem but you should check them when the noise start.