Noisy pipes whehn bathroom basin taps turned on

[jamesn6]

We have had our bathroom suite for just over a year and fairly recently I have noticed a banging in the pipes shortly after the basin taps (ceramic mixer) are turned on. Tends to be with the hot but the cold causes bangs too. Tends to be when taps are on relatively full and only when they have not been used for a little while. There are two or three bangs after a few seconds. The bath taps dont do this. I cant tell where the bangs are coming from - ie under the floor or in the cylinder/loft. If the likely problem is loose pipes under the floor I am in a mess becasue the floor is tiled.

In Jan I had a blocked loo and I kept on flushing it hoping it would clear. After numerous flushes it wasnt going to do so so I ended up using some sort of power plunger thingy. It worked a treat but shortly after I got water hammer after the toilet had filled up after flushing. We tried not to use the toilet too much whilst we worked out what to do. We lowered the water pressure and finally simply reassembled the valve which seemed to work.

I am wondering, though, if the water hammer loosened the pipes and hence the noise we now get when we turn the basin taps on, or if messing about with the water pressure has introduced air? I cant understand why the bath isnt doing the same though.

I get anxious every time I turn the taps on and have visions of water leaking through the bathroom ceiling. Do I need to be so worried?

 

[Nige F]

"lowered the water pressure" on a normal stopcock?........you just restricted the flow a common misconception.......... mains pressure to WC and basin cold tap............. Storage cistern and copper cylinder for hot?

 

[jamesn6]

I see what you mean. Yes, we just turned the tap in the loft a bit to reduce the flow of water - but just for the cold water - thinking it might stop the water hammer from the toilet. For some reason this became a trickle over time so we had to turn it back up again. The hot comes via the cylinder as you say.

Im not at all sure if the banging doesnt happen abritrarily though - whether its the hot, the cold or a mixture. Ive just come in and turned the tap on and got about 5 bangs after a few secs. Then, when Ive turned it off and turned it back on again I dont get the bangs.