It’s the middle of the night. You’re peacefully sleeping when it happens. You’re awoken by a persistent knocking sound that isn’t coming from your front door—it’s coming from inside your walls!
When you first hear it, you may think you’re just imagining things. Or perhaps you’ll think your house is haunted (spoiler alert: it probably isn’t). But eventually, the noise will become so annoying that you just can’t ignore. And what could very well be happening is that your pipes are knocking.
Read on as we uncover what causes this, why it’s a problem, and what solutions are available. And if you’re concerned about anything plumbing related, please don’t ever hesitate to reach out to our team.
The Cause of Knocking Pipes
In most cases, the culprit of knocking pipes is variable water pressure occurring in the main supply water line coming into your home. This may sound scary, but actually, this pressure is important. It keeps water moving freely between your pipes and into your faucets.
However, when the air used in pressurizing those pipes leaks, then water moves suddenly and violently, creating that knocking sound you hear as it travels through the length of your plumbing system.
“Is There Anything I Can Do About It?”
Yes!
First, alert the members of your household that you’ll be turning off the water supply, then find your main supply valve and shut it off. Next, flush the lines by opening all the faucets and flushing all the toilets in your home. With the main supply valve switched off, water can still leave your home through drainage pipes and your sewer system, but ensures that all the supply lines are empty.
Once you’ve flushed all the water out, you can turn your main valve back on. It’s important that you do this slowly, since the air chambers around and between your pipes need time to refill before the water rushes back through them. But once you take this step, the knocking sound should subside.
“Wait, You’re Not Going to Tell Me to Call a Pro?”
There are many reasons you may need to call a plumber for repair or maintenance work in your home. But if you follow the guideline we outlined above, there should be no reason for you to need to. Of course, plumbing mishaps can happen no matter how careful and diligent you are—so if you are unsure if you need to call a professional plumber or not, it’s probably a wise choice to go ahead and do it.
An additional reason you may want to call a professional plumber is so that we can ensure that nothing else is out of place with your plumbing system that could be causing that “knocking” noise you hear. It could be something like a clog disrupting water flow or a loose pipe connection somewhere along your plumbing system.
For expert plumbing service, installations, or maintenance contact Reliance Plumbing Sewer & Drainage, Inc. Our knowledgeable plumbers serve the North Shore and Northwest Chicago suburbs. Rely on Reliance for professional Des Plaines, IL plumbing service!