vibration and knocking in floor and walls

[ChrisMK]

Hi there

I've just been over to my daughter's flat as she was woken to vibration again this morning. It's never happening when I'm around there but she said it's early morning when people are getting ready for work. It ruins her days off as she's woken repeatedly from 4 am.

It sounds like water hammer or something to me. She reports that she feels the vibration and then she hears like a switch in the wall which seems to turn it off. Sometimes she doesn't hear the switch but a knocking sound in the top of the wall. The wall is a party wall between her and her neighbour, both of them are on the first floor. I said it's got to be your neighbour using hot water or something but she said he's usually the one gone to work the earliest. It was obvious due to the thin walls that the people in the flat below her neighbour were in, and of course she has a neighbour below her too but she said that person is in all the time and she's not getting it every day.

Just wondering most likely where we would expect this to be coming from, next door? Next door and down? or person directly underneath? Then I'll go with her to approach them as she's already mentioned it to each neighbour in turn and they've laughed it off as 'ghosts.' My daughter is very quiet and she doesn't want to approach anyone again unless we can be clear the most likely flat.

Thanks for any help, I'm willing to fork out to sort the plumbing, so it would be a friendly conversation with the neighbours but my daughter is reluctant to approach at the moment.

 

[sircerebus666]

If it's only early morning it could be a shower , maybe a shower pump, also could be a toilet when it refills

You need to be there early morning and have a listen at each wall to see if you can hear it

 

[ChrisMK]

Thanks sircerebus666

I'll do that, but she says you can't tell if it's the flat on her level next door, or the one under next door. What, in terms of plumbing, pipes, etc, would be the most likely?

She doesn't want to approach anyone again until she's pretty sure which flat it has to be coming from. Thanks!

 

[sircerebus666]

No way to tell with regards to pipework.

She will have to start doing some investigations, i.e. sticking her ear to the wall to find out where the noise is loudest , finding out which neighbour is up at that time etc etc

I'm leaning more towards a shower as if it was a toilet she would hear all the time not just in the morning

You really need to go around and hear it for yourself , is your daughter a light sleeper is she sensetive to vibration?

 

[denso13]

What, in terms of plumbing, pipes, etc, would be the most likely?

Ball valves, fill valves, taps, stopcocks etc.

 

[ChrisMK]

Thanks, we went round there this morning. She's right, it's like a buzzing coming up through the floor, it's in her bedroom and living room and it's fairly gentle if you're awake, but I couldn't sleep on a bed with that happening. You could hear that all neighbours were up, but she didn't want me knocking on doors. The only thing that's clear is it's the side of the party wall mainly and there's a rumbling in the wall if you put your ear to it. She wants to know which flat it's coming from so she can get the building management to support her in approaching whichever neighbour it is, she's talked about it before and they've blanked her and it seems, don't want to talk about it. She's not very assertive, yet, I hope she'll talk to the management soon or she'll need to move.

 

[gasbanni]

How long does the noise last ? I believe you've being given the correct answer probably a wc cistern fill valve they can vibrate when worn.

She should just ask the neighbours, when your loo is filling up is it noisey ?

 

[ChrisMK]

How long does the noise last ? I believe you've being given the correct answer probably a wc cistern fill valve they can vibrate when worn.

She should just ask the neighbours, when your loo is filling up is it noisey ?

Thanks Gasbanni, she tells me she never sees them, and when she does they don't seem to want to talk.

I've told her to speak to the management of the building as it's got to be breaching the terms of the lease for those flats. Meanwhile she's told me it's been going as a low level all day today while she's been home working. At one point it seemed to build up and she looked out into the communal garden to see if she could hear anyone in the bathrooms. She heard the toilet lid be banged down, that's all, for the property on the ground floor, next door (she's on the first floor), so someone was possibly using the toilet, or flushing. But it's curious she says it's been going at a low level, even showing using a glass of water.

I think it's a case of moving her on somewhere else as she can't sleep or concentrate and it's not a friendly block anyway. But if anything I've described points to anything, I'd be grateful to hear. Re your question how long does it last, she said in the morning if someone is getting ready for work it can be ten mins, to 40 mins and then dies down and they leave. But then other times, like today, there's a lower level vibration permeating the building and the person she suspects (on her level) is actually out all day, but people are in on the ground floor.

I'm useless re anything plumbing, but would a worn wc cistern value vibrate for long periods of time? And then I wonder why would other times it just be around half an hour while someone is using water and getting ready for work? Thanks for reading.

 

[ChrisMK]

Also, a worn cistern in a ground floor flat, would vibration travel up a party wall and vibrate the flat that's not directly above, but above and next door?

If so that may be the answer.

 

[bernardgreen]

Constant vibration, and occupants that are seldom seen and not wanting to talk ?

Maybe I am over suspicious but it might be a grow room cultivating some plants, the fans vibrating and the resident gardeners having little if any English language skills.

 

[ChrisMK]

Constant vibration, and occupants that are seldom seen and not wanting to talk ?

Maybe I am over suspicious but it might be a grow room cultivating some plants, the fans vibrating and the resident gardeners having little if any English language skills.

They are English, but yes, we have thought of that. No smell of it though, no condensation on the windows..

 

[bernardgreen]

No smell of it though, no condensation on the windows..

For obvious reasons I will not disclose how but smell and condensation can be disposed off so as to be un-noticable

 

[ChrisMK]

apparently the windows are open for that property in all weathers, even when all others are closed in the other flats. Apart from one window.