Bathtub Faucet and Sink Faucet noise questions

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Carlie

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Hello,

I just joined but have been reading website on and off for a couple of years. Have been reading extensively now for over a week.

I have a moaning noise issue behind the bathroom wall when hot water is turned on (bath tub and sink at the same time). No noise with cold water.

When only one faucet is turned on hot. No noise. When either is turned on hot and the other cold, no noise.

At times, the sound will occur when kitchen sink faucet is on hot.

No noise when washing machine is run on hot.

Recent work, new gas water heater installed one year ago. One month ago it was serviced (drained etc..). About 2-3 weeks ago, the hot water pipe (from the wall to the heater) was replaced because that pipe was very old and corroded (wasn't recommended to be replaced on hot water heater install,

A couple of days later, when bathroom sink faucet was turned on (any temperature), pipes and faucet clanged. That went away. Now it is the moaning sound.

New sink faucet replaced this week in bathroom.

Plumber will be out next week again, he feels it could be the hot water flex tubes are too long and could be causing the sound. But is not for certain.

Does that sound like a possibility?

Does anyone have an idea what could be happening?

Thank you
 
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Jeff H Young

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A good place to start is check water pressure plumber should have a gauge and it is so easy.
If its galvanized you likely have severe rust inside when water rapidly flows causing turbulence.
When plumber comes find out those 2 things if nothing else what pipe you have? and the pressure?
 

Carlie

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A good place to start is check water pressure plumber should have a guage and it is so easy.
If its galvinized you likely have severe rust inside when water rapidly flows causing turbulance.
When plumber comes find out those 2 things if nothing else what pipe you have ?and the pressure?
Thank you for your reply

House was built in 1958, I'm thinking either galvanized for water pipes and cast iron for drains.

I will have him check the pressure and ask him what kind of pipes.

When the pipe from heater to the wall was replaced, it was extremely difficult to remove, rusted/corroded etc. A lot of
banging, sawing etc was done (same wall/opposite side as the bathroom).

No doubt, rust etc was pounded loose.

My huge concern is, will this noise/turbulence cause major damage (leaks etc)? If its left.

I can live with the noise (I don't need to turn both faucets on at once).

Thank you
 

Jeff H Young

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if the piping is 64 years old and some of it has failed some how and its rusted heavily I'd say its well past its half life .
I don't want to concern you overly but 64 years is pretty darn good life , some ( many or most) houses have their entire water repiped and some last longer maybe you can get 5 , 10 more years
 

Carlie

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if the piping is 64 years old and some of it has failed some how and its rusted heavily Id say its well past its half life .
I dont want to concern you overly but 64 years is pretty darn good life , some ( many or most) houses have thier entire water repiped and some last longer maybe you can get 5 , 10 more years
Thank you once again for your answers to my questions.

For the time being, instead of having the entire water repiped, is it possible to have only the hot water line/pipe replaced from the hot water heater to the bathroom sink and tub/shower?
 

Jeff H Young

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Absolutely, you can do a partial !! but I don't want to rush to judgement on the urgency. There are situations where doing a small portion works out and some where it makes no sense he should be able to advise on your particular need
 

Carlie

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Absolutely, you can do a partial !! but I don't want to rush to judgement on the urgency. There are situations where doing a small portion works out and some where it makes no sense he should be able to advise on your particular need
Plumber was out today. Water pressure is 85. I forgot to ask what kind of pipes, but he did say after attaching the shut off valves today for the bathroom faucet, the copper pipe behind the drywall he removed looked real good.

We discussed the possibility of placing a prv by the water main in alley, outside of the fence. He said the pressure could have always been at this level or maybe it's a flucuation. I think I should buy a test guage and see what it reads for a few days,

The pipes he said are also very secure from the water heater inside the wall. The moaning was fixed by installing shorter flex pipes today on the water heater. Apparently when the hot water pipe was replaced a week or so ago, there was a kink made and that caused the moaning.

A few days ago (always on a Friday night...), I noticed a small drip on an old (never used) plastic valve on the waterline (outside of house) for evaporative cooler and hose bibs in back. He replaced all of those pipes to copper (was pvc) . All was working great.

Four hours later, the house was warm..blowing warm air from evaporative cooler vents. Called cooler people, water pump went out. Cooler is on its third season, water pumps of this kind, last ...yep three years. Had that replaced, all is well again.

Do you think I should keep an eye on the pressure or just go ahead and schedule for a prv? Was reading about expansion tank for water heater if you have a prv, that something I should have installed also?

Long day here...
 

Jeff H Young

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I don't know what to tell you , plumber needed to open up the wall to change an angle stop and found copper? Why open wall to do that? but you had rusty pipes elsewhere that were replaced?

I think before doing anything determine or get an Educated guess on whether you have 60 something year old pipes in the house or not and whether any Galvanized is apparent.
85 PSI I'd be considering a PRV and Expansion tank in future not tomorrow or next week but thinking about it.
The gauge I'd buy one next trip to hardware store or within a week price increase I think I paid 12 or 13 because again I needed one and my gauge I just bought a month ago wasn't with me . I'd do a series of tests different times of day ,
 

Reach4

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The pressure gauges that have a tattletale/lazy hand record the max pressure seen. They can jump up due to vibration, but still worth considering. Just don't get too excited if you see the indicted max higher than 150. In that case, you might take a slow motion movie of the gauge overnight.

Pressures in some places peak in the middle of the night.
 

Carlie

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I don't know what to tell you , plumber needed to open up the wall to change an angle stop and found copper? Why open wall to do that? but you had rusty pipes elsewhere that were replaced?

I think before doing anything determine or get an Educated guess on whether you have 60 something year old pipes in the house or not and whether any Galvanized is apparent.
85 PSI I'd be considering a PRV and Expansion tank in future not tomorrow or next week but thinking about it.
The gauge I'd buy one next trip to hardware store or within a week price increase I think I paid 12 or 13 because again I needed one and my gauge I just bought a month ago wasn't with me . I'd do a series of tests different times of day ,
He had to remove the sink and pull out the vanity to get to the area, then cut drywall. He wasn't able to use "normal type" parts to attach, he'd said something about using stronger/longer attachments. That was the only area opened up and mentioned the copper was good. The hot water pipe above hot water heater did have some rust on it and around the joints. My guess it's a mixture of pipes in this place.

The water pipes under kitchen sink, coming out of the wall to me look galvanized. The pipes coming out of the brick wall in laundry room (across the house from water heater/bathroom area) look galvanized to me.

I will get a pressure guage and do some tests.

Thank you for your help and suggestions.



Thank you
 

Carlie

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The pressure gauges that have a tattletale/lazy hand record the max pressure seen. They can jump up due to vibration, but still worth considering. Just don't get too excited if you see the indicted max higher than 150. In that case, you might take a slow motion movie of the gauge overnight.

Pressures in some places peak in the middle of the night.
Thank you for your recommendation on guages, will see what is available and thank you for information on different peak times.
 

Jadnashua

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When he opened up the pipes and was banging around on things, he likely loosened up some rust. The hot water lines tend to rust out faster than the cold when galvanized is used. Those loose rust particles can get in seals, mess up a pump and cause seals and cartridges to get clogged up or leak.
 
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