We just had some kitchen renovation done, adding lighting cans to the
ceiling. The contractor had to reroute some of the waterlines that
were run up there to make room for the lighting fixtures. Only thing
is, now the pipes make a kind of loud shudder when the kitchen faucet
is turned off. Didn't used to happen. What's the cause of it and
what can we do about it?

On Dec 5, 6:21*pm, Fleemo wrote:
We just had some kitchen renovation done, adding lighting cans to the
ceiling. The contractor had to reroute some of the waterlines that
were run up there to make room for the lighting fixtures. Only thing
is, now the pipes make a kind of loud shudder when the kitchen faucet
is turned off. *Didn't used to happen. *What's the cause of it and
what can we do about it?

was the kitchen faucet replaced with a different unit? or just the
can lights?

add water hammer arrestors at the hot & cold angle stops under the
sink

turn the water off more slowly when using the kitchen since

have the contractor property restrain the re-routed pipes

cheers
Bob

was the kitchen faucet replaced with *a different unit? *or just the
can lights?

No other plumbing was touched except for the pipes that needed to be
rerouted. They were cut, moved, resoldered. Now they shudder.

have the contractor property restrain the re-routed pipes

What's the best way to restrain them?

Thanks.

Fleemo wrote:
was the kitchen faucet replaced with a different unit? or just the
can lights?

No other plumbing was touched except for the pipes that needed to be
rerouted. They were cut, moved, resoldered. Now they shudder.

have the contractor property restrain the re-routed pipes

What's the best way to restrain them?


Cuffs and leg irons?

On Dec 5, 6:52*pm, Fleemo wrote:
was the kitchen faucet replaced with *a different unit? *or just the
can lights?

No other plumbing was touched except for the pipes that needed to be
rerouted. *They were cut, moved, resoldered. *Now they shudder.

have the contractor property restrain the re-routed pipes

What's the best way to restrain them?

Thanks.

are the pipes accessible? ie in an attic?

if they are accessible I would use a stock tubing clamp

cheers
Bob

On Dec 5, 9:52�pm, Fleemo wrote:
was the kitchen faucet replaced with �a different unit? �or just the
can lights?

No other plumbing was touched except for the pipes that needed to be
rerouted. �They were cut, moved, resoldered. �Now they shudder.

have the contractor property restrain the re-routed pipes

What's the best way to restrain them?

Thanks.

clamp them down, some wrap rubber around the lines at the clamps

wrote:
On Dec 5, 9:52�pm, Fleemo wrote:
was the kitchen faucet replaced with �a different unit? �or just the
can lights?
No other plumbing was touched except for the pipes that needed to be
rerouted. �They were cut, moved, resoldered. �Now they shudder.

have the contractor property restrain the re-routed pipes
What's the best way to restrain them?

Thanks.

clamp them down, some wrap rubber around the lines at the clamps

No, don't drive a nail through the pipe to secure it. *snicker*
I've seen it done and the culprit was very puzzled by the result.

TDD

On Dec 5, 8:21*pm, Fleemo wrote:
We just had some kitchen renovation done, adding lighting cans to the
ceiling. The contractor had to reroute some of the waterlines that
were run up there to make room for the lighting fixtures. Only thing
is, now the pipes make a kind of loud shudder when the kitchen faucet
is turned off. *Didn't used to happen. *What's the cause of it and
what can we do about it?

I think what you have is called air hammer or pipe hammer?, Its common
to extend a piece of capped pipe up 12" at the sink plumbing area to
make a "air bumper" , ones you buy are mechanical and will eventualy
fail. A air bumper I think its called just cushions the shock of
turning off the water. Mine are behind the wall and standard to do by
a plumber here. You city code dept will tell you if its mandatory or
recomended so you wont have to pay to get it fixed. If you see its
going to cost you you can still get a permit and they will make him
fix anything that fails. Point is you paid for a good functioning job
and didnt get one. If a guy missed that I would want everything
verified as correct and to code. Getting a permit is always thought of
as a wastefull tax by homeowners, im a contractor, people I hire try
to rip me off every day and permits and free inspections catch what I
miss. A permit gets you free inspections to cover you from being
ripped off in the first place. Next job, get a permit and dont pay
till it passes, is normal business practice.

On Dec 5, 8:21*pm, Fleemo wrote:
We just had some kitchen renovation done, adding lighting cans to the
ceiling. The contractor had to reroute some of the waterlines that
were run up there to make room for the lighting fixtures. Only thing
is, now the pipes make a kind of loud shudder when the kitchen faucet
is turned off. *Didn't used to happen. *What's the cause of it and
what can we do about it?

If you didnt pay him yet dont, if you did stop payment if you can, you
paid for a proper job, you didnt get it.

On Sat, 5 Dec 2009 18:21:52 -0800 (PST), Fleemo
wrote:

We just had some kitchen renovation done, adding lighting cans to the
ceiling. The contractor had to reroute some of the waterlines that
were run up there to make room for the lighting fixtures. Only thing
is, now the pipes make a kind of loud shudder when the kitchen faucet
is turned off. Didn't used to happen. What's the cause of it and
what can we do about it?

Use more pipe straps and add a hammer arrestor. An expansion tank
will help to protect valves and pipes. Or, you can learn to turn the
water off slowly.

ransley wrote:
On Dec 5, 8:21 pm, Fleemo wrote:
We just had some kitchen renovation done, adding lighting cans to the
ceiling. The contractor had to reroute some of the waterlines that
were run up there to make room for the lighting fixtures. Only thing
is, now the pipes make a kind of loud shudder when the kitchen faucet
is turned off. Didn't used to happen. What's the cause of it and
what can we do about it?

I think what you have is called air hammer or pipe hammer?, Its common
to extend a piece of capped pipe up 12" at the sink plumbing area to
make a "air bumper" , ones you buy are mechanical and will eventualy
fail. A air bumper I think its called just cushions the shock of
turning off the water. Mine are behind the wall and standard to do by
a plumber here. You city code dept will tell you if its mandatory or
recomended so you wont have to pay to get it fixed. If you see its
going to cost you you can still get a permit and they will make him
fix anything that fails. Point is you paid for a good functioning job
and didnt get one. If a guy missed that I would want everything
verified as correct and to code. Getting a permit is always thought of
as a wastefull tax by homeowners, im a contractor, people I hire try
to rip me off every day and permits and free inspections catch what I
miss. A permit gets you free inspections to cover you from being
ripped off in the first place. Next job, get a permit and dont pay
till it passes, is normal business practice.

I've seen references suggesting that "arresters" are not code anymore. Is this
true? Anyone know why?

On Dec 6, 4:54*am, ransley wrote:
On Dec 5, 8:21*pm, Fleemo wrote:

We just had some kitchen renovation done, adding lighting cans to the
ceiling. The contractor had to reroute some of the waterlines that
were run up there to make room for the lighting fixtures. Only thing
is, now the pipes make a kind of loud shudder when the kitchen faucet
is turned off. *Didn't used to happen. *What's the cause of it and
what can we do about it?

I think what you have is called air hammer or pipe hammer?, Its common
to extend a piece of capped pipe up 12" at the sink plumbing area to
make a "air bumper" , ones you buy are mechanical and will eventualy
fail. A air bumper I think its called just cushions the shock of
turning off the water. Mine are behind the wall and standard to do by
a plumber here. You city code dept will tell you if its mandatory or
recomended so you wont have to pay to get it fixed. If you see its
going to cost you you can still get a permit and they will make him
fix anything that fails. Point is you paid for a good functioning job
and didnt get one. If a guy missed that I would want everything
verified as correct and to code. Getting a permit is always thought of
as a wastefull tax by homeowners, im a contractor, people I hire try
to rip me off every day and permits and free inspections catch what I
miss. A permit gets you free inspections to cover you from being
ripped off in the first place. Next job, get a permit and dont pay
till it passes, is normal business practice.

Mark-

Air chambers...a length of pipe extended some distance above the angle
stop location to act as a pressure pulse absorber have a couple
shortcomings;

They need to be rather tall to retain useful air space, when they go
from atmospheric pressure to system pressure they can lose over 75% of
the initial air space depending on system pressure.

the air in the air chamber eventually gets absorbed into the water &
the air gap goes away requiring them to "drained" ....an easy process
but most homeowners wont do it.

"mechanical" water hammer arrestors do eventually do wear out but the
piston style ones made by Sioux are guaranteed for the life of the
plumbing system and were tested to verify life beyond 500, cycles
without failure and are rated for concealed installation. Despite
this guarantee and testing, I prefer to install them such that they
can be easily unscrewed and replaced.

air chambers or water hammer arrestors all aim to add "distributed
compliance" to the plumbing system; a "soft element" not unlike a
car's shock absorber or an energy absorbing bumper.


OP- I would suggest that before you get too heavy handed with the guy
who did the work......just give him a call and see what he says about
the problem. If he's a stand up guy and you didnt hire him solely on
price (did you?) and you didnt beat him down on price as
well.......I'd bet that he'll take care of the problem.

If the piping is sealed up into a space with no current
access....well, then this might be a bit more problematic.

please let us know how this all resolves

here is is a pretty good discussion of water hammer & the remedies

http://www.ole-eng.com/blog.htm

scroll down about 1/3 of the page & click on Water Hammer topic

cheers
Bob