Thermal expansion advice

[Sunnyday]

Hello, been in the house 15 years. Every winter hear tapping in wall between bath and kitchen. Noise sounds on the higher side of wall. Starts after hot water has been running a bit, after the waters off the noise begins to taper off as well. You may have noticed but it’s been summer and well the noise has hung around. It’s happening when using the dishwasher, sink, shower and bath faucet, even the washing machine if run on hot (which is directly under the wall we hear the noise at ). Still hearing it at same area in wall, the wall that all these things share. We have looked everywhere for water and see none. Even pulled down the insulation in the cellar to check the wood - nothing. Any one have any ideas? Originally we thought thermal expansion but now that it’s summer it’s really thrown us.

 

[Jadnashua]

It could be the hot water line expanding and later contracting, but it could easily also be PVC or ABS drain pipes doing the same thing. The plastics expand and contract more than the copper. If anywhere it goes through or against something is tight, it will 'jump' a bit once it overcomes the friction often making a ticking sound in the process.

The solution is to make the through hole a bit bigger so it doesn't stick and/or, clamp it better. For copper pipe, there are some plastic sleeve clamps that allow it to slide through while holding it in position that work, but if it's going through a drilled hole in a stud or something, that can be harder to fix.

 

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[Themp]

Have had a ticking noise from the master bath for over 30 years, no matter what the season. When it stops during a shower or bath, I know the water that has reached the bath room is at full hot. Time to get in the shower. For some reason it does not do it on cool down. I have learned to live with it.