Heating pipe banging
Sorry, posted this before but forgot to check to allow comments. Does anyone know about soundproofing heating pipes? I have a pipe the runs from my floor to ceiling, I guess it connects the boiler to the radiators in our building (a brownstone in Ft. Greene). Anyway, every time the heat cycles through the building…
Sorry, posted this before but forgot to check to allow comments. Does anyone know about soundproofing heating pipes? I have a pipe the runs from my floor to ceiling, I guess it connects the boiler to the radiators in our building (a brownstone in Ft. Greene). Anyway, every time the heat cycles through the building (once an hour) this pipe makes the loudest banging noises for about 30 seconds to a minute. Wakes me up every time. Gateway plumbing has come out five times, but can’t isolate the problem to fix it. I was thinking of building a small soundproof wall around this pipe (it’s against one wall in my bedroom)…has anyone done this? Have any idea who could do a job like this for me? If it would work?
Thanks! This problem is really ruining my life and I want to get it fixed before the fall.
i am having this exact problem which i why i am up at 5 am after working a night shift. Thank you so much for everyone’s ideas. I am definitely going to run them by my landlord. My pipes (risers) are so out of control. Starting around 5 am to 6am, the banging starts, like hammer on the pipe banging for about 10 minutes every hour.
prob is thermal combustion…steam clashing with cooler water..find the source of the noise and pitch radiator so no water is collecting. also need to ensure valves are not holding water. if source is boiler, need to ensure no elbow’s aren’t holding water, or clean boiler by firing up boiler and with water feeder running, attach and open hose and allow sludge to run out.. i’ve done this a thousand times and always solved the issue
My old Carroll Gardens Landlord would come around every fall, when the heat came on, and bleed all the radiators. He had a little key and an empty tomato can (to catch the water). One he did this, the radiators made practically no noise. After he passed away, his son-in-law took over the radiator ritual. But there would sometimes still be noise, as he didn’t have the old guy’s knack (or maybe it was that he didn’t have the magic tomato can ?)
Perhaps it would be fair that the original poster mention after adjustments made at my first visit to the building the banging was gone. Then the super “corrected” my adjustments.
In my report to the co-op it was made clear that there is no single reason for the problems in that system. There are many. Most notably a boiler grossly mismatched to the system it serves.
the problem is water falling down the riser pipe (the pipe that runs up through the building and connects all the radiators in the building)…this water is the steam condensating in the radiator and then collecting in the bottom of the radiators and then running back down the riser pipe. sounds like a radiator or maybe several are not pitched correctly…as in the side of the radiator closer to the riser pipe should be lower than the other side. if this pitch is not present the water will collect in the radiator and then drip out versus trickling out when the radiator is properly pitched.
sounds like you should ask the landlord to check the radiators in the whole building, but do know that with steam heat there will always be some “noise” but nothing that should be waking you up.
while he’s at it, he may also want to check the steam release valves on the sides of the radiators. these should hiss at first when the heat comes on, this is the cool air in the radiators being replaced by the steam as the heat builds up. if they are clogged (can happen when radiators are painted or just with age) then air will indeed build up in the radiator which can also cause noises with the air pocket created. it can also prevent the radiator from heating up properly.
lastly, if the water level is low in the boiler when operated, this can cause a tremendous racket, something along the lines of a hammer being hit on the pipes, but this does not come and go as you’ve described but may be worth asking about in case the water level is set too low. ask the landlord.
hopefully with some attention paid to the setup, your rude awakenings will be a thing of the past. good luck.
It’s not actually air, but steam cooling into water and then that water and steam hit each other or something..
Sounds like air in the pipes. I had that at my old coop. Have you had your boiler checked and cleaned? You should do that at before the start of the fall so when you fire the boiler up for first heat you are ready.
This should be fixable… some good people have been recommended in the past on the forum. I have definetely experienced a huge range of understanding of steam heat from plumbing professionals. We had some real banging at one point and got some bad recommendations to do major re-plumbing for big bucks, which thankfully we didn’t do. Then some old guy showed up, and after a few hours and a 100 bucks, all my problems were solved.
Don’t know if he’s still in business but if so you can try:
Joe at AAL Inc — 718-788-1860