Joe wrote:
Hello,

I live in a condo that was built around 1992. Unfortunaltely, when I
bought the condo I did not realize that the water pipes banged when
abruptly shuting off the water (from sink or flush one of toilets).
The water heater is on the third floor (3 level condo, not including
underground private garage). Is there way to fix this without
removing sections of walls?

TIA
J
There are several things that will cause this.
1. Poor installation / bad pipe strapping-isolation. (unfortunately
common) Condo's are "piece work" jobs. Bang it out as fast as possible.
2. Too high pressure. Should be between 40-80 psi.
3. Electric solinoid valves. (close quickly)

Short of tearing open walls to re-strap the pipes, there is not much you
can do for this aspect of banging pipes. Make sure the pressure is not
too high. Add shock dampers in several locations. Also called "air
hammer" devices. Check your local plumbing supplier. I think Arrow
Head makes several versions. There is also one called "ShokTrol". They
are a bit spendy ($75) but work well
Good Luck