Background

I have a crawlspace under my house.
House is 6 years old


Problem,

when pipes have been sitting for a while, (few hours) the pipes make a lot
of noise when you open any faucet. particularly any hot water faucets.
The pipes make a ticking rubbing type sound that stops after a minute or
two, even if the water is still running.
I will be selling the house inside of a year an a half, and I would like to
stop this from happening as the noise is surprising the first time you hear
it, especially in the kitchen where the ticking / rubbing comes from right
under your feet.

I've been told that the noise comes from the pipes expanding as warmer water
runs thru them, and the pipes are rubbing on the wood joists.

does anyone have a good fix for a problem like this? all the pipes are
still accessible, thru the crawlspace, (though a little cramped)
if I loosen off the hangers will that take care of the problem?

one of the real problem spots is where the hot water pipe enters the
crawlspace thru the wall from the garage (where the hot water heater is)
is there some type of grease or ?? that I could stick on the pipes that
might work as I can't really enlarge the whole that the pipe passes thru.

Thanks

Dave

I saw a movie the other day and there were ghosts that were making the
noise but they thought it was the pipes but it wasn't the pipes it was
the ghosts and the ghosts got them and they chopped one guys head off
in the fireplace too.

It sounds like you've probably identified the cause. If you can
locate an area you can reach the easiest, and know for sure
that's one of the "ticking" areas,perhaps you could try using
spray Lithium or Silicon grease along that route. Another
possibility is one of those oil squirt cans with the pull trigger
to squirt the oil.

If you can get any confidence that' you found something that can
be applied to stop the squeaks, then you could use one of those
lawn sprayers used for bug sprays, etc., to squirt it far into
the reaches of the areas you can't easily get to. I know when I
pump mine up it'll squirt liquids a good ten feet or more at a
good flow rate. Saturate the areas where the pipes contact solid
materians. Be sure read the instructions for ventilation
requirements, and consider the volatility of whatever you plan to
use. Don't use anything that can explode or flames easily
(kerosene, anythiung like it).

Hot water pipes will be the worst culprits, but cold water can
also do that if they've been heated from the hot water pipes next
to them, and they shrink with the cold water draw.

Orrrr, you could ask around some of hte local plumbers/shops in
your area or the yellow pages, but it's best to do that in
person; they're more talkative.

HTH,

Pop


JimmySchmittsLovesChocolateMilk wrote:
Background

I have a crawlspace under my house.
House is 6 years old


Problem,

when pipes have been sitting for a while, (few hours) the pipes
make
a lot of noise when you open any faucet. particularly any hot
water
faucets. The pipes make a ticking rubbing type sound that stops
after a minute
or two, even if the water is still running.
I will be selling the house inside of a year an a half, and I
would
like to stop this from happening as the noise is surprising the
first
time you hear it, especially in the kitchen where the ticking /
rubbing comes from right under your feet.

I've been told that the noise comes from the pipes expanding as
warmer water runs thru them, and the pipes are rubbing on the
wood
joists.
does anyone have a good fix for a problem like this? all the
pipes
are still accessible, thru the crawlspace, (though a little
cramped)
if I loosen off the hangers will that take care of the problem?

one of the real problem spots is where the hot water pipe
enters the
crawlspace thru the wall from the garage (where the hot water
heater
is) is there some type of grease or ?? that I could stick on
the pipes
that might work as I can't really enlarge the whole that the
pipe
passes thru.
Thanks

Dave