⭐ Why Do I Have Vibrating Water Pipes When I Flush The Toilet?
Whether it sounds like a vibration, a rattling, or a straight-up jackhammer, there’s no question that hearing a strange sound coming from your walls after you flush the toilet can be slightly unsettling.
So why would your toilet be making such a sound? And does this constitute a plumbing system emergency?
To be clear, this is not a significant emergency and results from a malfunction with your toilet’s fill valve. However, it can be an issue with your home’s plumbing inside the walls. For example, if your indoor water pressure is too high, that can do it too.
Whatever the problem, it’s essential you don’t ignore it. For example, you can experience catastrophic flooding damage if one of your pipes suddenly bursts in your home.
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⭐ How to Troubleshoot Vibrating Water Pipes
To fix your plumbing problem, you must understand precisely what happens when you hear the vibration or rattling in the walls.
For example, is this rattling sound only coming from your toilet?
Or can you also hear this when you quickly turn off your faucet?
It’s always a good idea to narrow down such unusual or vibrating sounds as it can help plumbers properly and quickly diagnose the issue before they take to your wall with a saw, only to realize the noise is not coming from where they thought it was.
🛠️ The Toilet’s Fill Valve
When you flush, the most common cause of vibrating noise is an issue with the toilet’s fill valve – specifically, its diaphragm gasket.
When this minor part wears out, it becomes stiff and less flexible.
So when it tries to shut off, it bounces up and down, causing the vibrating sounds you hear.
You can check this for yourself.
First, remove the toilet tank lid and lift the fill valve float arm slowly and gently.
If you don’t hear the vibration, you have confirmed that the fill valve is the issue, and you need to replace the entire fill valve soon.
🛠️ Loose Pipes
Sometimes, the toilet is not the problem; it’s a loose pipe in the wall cavities.
This is a pretty easy fix once you have access to your walls.
All you need to do is secure the offending water pipe to the wooden frame of your home with pipe clips.
If at any time you don’t feel confident doing this, call a licensed plumber for assistance.
🛠️ The Water Hammer Effect
A vibration in your walls can also result from something called the “water hammer” effect.
When you have a water hammer, the water in your pipes is smacking up against a valve that is shutting off too quickly, causing the “hammering effect.”
For example, this often happens with toilet fill valves and other faucets.
There are several ways you can take to fix the water hammer problem.
For this one, you can hire a reliable plumber to attach a water hammer arrestor to your vibrating pipes.
Unfortunately, this is a highly invasive process that requires a plumber to cut into your walls.
So instead, a more straightforward fix may be to replace your toilet fill valves with slower closing fill valves.
These valves are surprisingly called “slow-shutting fill valves.”
🛠️ High Water Pressure
The average water pressure for a residential home should not exceed 60 pounds per square inch (psi).
Normal water pressure is between 40 to 60psi, with most homeowners preferring their water pressure to be around 50psi.
Water pressure over this number can seriously affect all of your plumbing fixtures and result in vibrations.
🛑 If you suspect high water pressure, you can attach a water pressure gauge to a hose bib and check out the result.
If it’s 80psi or higher, you have a serious problem and need to fit a pressure-reducing valve into your water supply.
🛠️ Random Vibrations
If you hear random vibrations from your toilet, and not just when you flush, the issue might lie with your toilet’s flapper valve.
When this flapper wears out, water can leak into the toilet’s bowl, which results in a slow leak in your tank.
Then, when the tank refills, it creates a vibrating noise.
Toilet flappers wear out faster if you use chemicals regularly to clean your toilet.
⭐ If You’re Experiencing Plumbing Vibrations, Phyxter Can Help
If you’ve tried fixing your vibrating plumbing and still hear vibrating sounds, or you are not confident DIYing yourself out of this situation, then it’s time to call a licensed plumber.
At Phyxter Home Services, we have plumbers ready to help you with your plumbing issues.
We proudly provide our local customers with a 100% satisfaction guarantee on every installation and repair we do.
We are punctual, efficient, and clean. We show up on every call on time and leave your home as clean as we found it.
We service several locations throughout the Okanagan Valley, so if you’re experiencing a plumbing emergency, don’t wait – call us now!
Or, if it’s not a plumbing emergency, you can fill out a contact form on our site, and we will set up a service appointment to visit your home.
Want to learn more about your home’s plumbing system? Feel free to check out our other Plumbing articles!
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