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Jojo Thomas
Jan 18, 2006, 04:52 PM
We do have a strange loud vibrating noise from our home. Its reasonably loud and is originating inside the house between walls. The duration or each occurrence is 30 seconds to one minute. Its hard to show to some one as this sound cannot be recreated.

Location where it could be heard real loud
Bathroom located downstairs.

Any tip will be gratly appreciated

Tom

labman
Jan 18, 2006, 05:21 PM
Is there a water pipe in the wall, and does it happen when water is shut off? If so, go the plumbing page and post, or just do a search there on ''water hammer''. Another Tom has given a good explanation on fixing the problem there mor than once.

fredg
Jan 19, 2006, 07:23 AM
Hi, JoJo,
If there is a water pipe in that particular wall, it's probably the pipe(s) rattling. I have heard this in older homes, especially when the water is shut off, as another answer said.
Two water pipes might even be touching each other.
Here is a link with some good explanations, and some suggestions as to solve the issue:

http://www.factsfacts.com/MyHomeRepair/PipeNoises.htm

I do wish you the best, and good luck.
PS; Welcome to this site, and thanks for posting a question here. It's a great site!

speedball1
Jan 21, 2006, 02:17 PM
We do have a strange loud vibrating noise from our home. Its reasonably loud and is originating inside the house between walls. The duration or each occurence is 30 seconds to one minute. Its hard to show to some one as this sound cannot be recreated.

Location where it could be heard real loud
Bathroom located downstairs.

Any tip will be gratly appreciated

Tom

Tom, Water hammer does not vibrate. It hammers once or twice when you close a faucet suddenly. A long time ago I had a call with symptoms like yours, Only this one kicked in at 3 in the AM and scared hell out of the customers. They thought their house was haunted. It was hard the track down because the water picked up the vibration and carried it throughout the house. We call that sympathetic viberation. Take your hand and run it around the flat part of the flapper. Are the edges a little wavey? If so you have found the culprit. What's happening is the water seeping past the flapper lowers the water level in the tank and the ballcock attempts to compensate. In time the water seeping out and the water coming in will balance out. The ballcock can't shut off and the sound you hear is the washer vibrating against its seat. The repair is simple. Replace the flapper. A few installation tips. The linkage between the flapper and the flush lever should have 1/4" of play when the flapper's seated. The water level should be 1/2" below the top of the white overflow tube when the tank is filled.
Another thing that would cause the ball cock to vibrate is if the water level in the tank was so high if overflowed into the white overflow tube. This would kick on the ballcock and between the water seeping out and the ballcock attempting to equalize the vibration begans. Check the downstairs toilet first. Good luck, tom

Jojo Thomas
Jan 23, 2006, 09:48 AM
Hello Speed,
Thanks for your reply. In fact I was able to pin point the root cause last week. You are right too in analysis. It was from the flush tank (downstairs). While the vibration was going on, (It lasted for 2 minutes) I opened and closed all faucets upstairs and downstairs. The moment I flushed the down stairs flush, it stopped. This was further reconfirmed by doing the same operation again. I did buy a new flapper but not installed yet.

Man - It's a hell of a noise - Like a horn (Ship Horn /Fog horn) causing the whole house to vibrate.

Thanks and appreciate all your help

Tom