Central Hearing + Banging Pipes (Contraction)

[Ed_Zep]

I live in a house is kind of longer and narrower than a typical semi. After the heating cools down the pipes begin to bang rather annoyingly. Obviously it's contraction and the fact that pipes have to go from one end of the house to the other only exacerbates the vibration.

What's the best way of dealing with this. I know it's going to mean taking up floorboards but is it worth getting a plumber in to fix this?

Thanks, Ed.

[Andy Hall]

The solution is simple but tedious and certainly DIY. The reason for the problem is that the pipes are trapped in notches in the joists etc.

All you need to do is to lift the floorboards and wrap a piece of insulating material around the pipes at each joist so that the pipe is free to move.

Usual caveats to watch out for cables and pipes when fixing down the floorboards again.

[Derek Geldard]

I'd doubt a plumber would take it on. They'd rather deal with someone who's got a leak which needs fixing pronto or their house will suffer a lot of damage, so they can charge large amounts of cash.

A solution would involve exposing the pipework and sleeving it ((good quality foam pipe insulation will do) at every point it is secured, (in my house by nails bent over around the pipes).

DG

[Ed_Zep]

Thanks for the replies.

Ed.