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Serious noise coming from apartment walls

dos5320
dos5320 Member Posts: 3
in Strictly Steam
I was hoping someone could help me. I recently moved into my apartment on and have come across some serious concerns. The heating system in my apartment has caused extreme banging in the walls.

I am being woken up at 3-4am in the morning to banging and my apartment shaking. I have expressed to my landlord and property manager that this has caused problems with my sleep and has hindered me to do my job.; since I work remotely but they keep giving me the run around.

I was hoping someone with expertise could tell me if this is safe to live in. I asked for L&I to come out and inspect my apartment because right now I don't feel safe but they will not be able to come out anytime soon. Please if anyone could help or add advice on what I should do, I would greatly appreciate it.

https://youtu.be/nJloCgndkT8

Comments

  • bburd
    bburd Member Posts: 997
    That sound is water hammer in the heating pipes. It means there is water where it should not be, probably due to incorrect pipe pitch (pipes can sag in old buildings) or improperly installed near-boiler piping that allows the steam to carry water up out of the boiler with it.

    Water hammer like that can break pipes and fittings, but it’s not likely to be physically hazardous to occupants. Usually if something breaks it will be on the horizontal pipes in the basement.

    Regarding the noise however, you have my sympathy. I lived in an apartment like that once and had the same problem. That one had really bad near-boiler piping.
    —
    Bburd
    dos5320
  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,248
    edited March 2022
    Do your neighbors hear this?

    The problem could be a long ways away in terms of piping.
    Pipes telegraph water hammer a long distance.

    They need a steam person to investigate.

    Who/what is L & I ?
    dos5320
  • dos5320
    dos5320 Member Posts: 3
    @JUGHNE thank you for your response, yes my neighbors hear it as well and have complained but nothing has been done. They seem to try to ignore it, but it's something that I can not live with. And L & I is the License and Inspection department of my city, they will come and inspect the apartment to make a determination. If they find anything wrong, the Landlord could be fined. But they could take a few weeks and I need recommendations asap.
  • dos5320
    dos5320 Member Posts: 3
    @bburd Thank you for responding and it's unfortunate Landlords will not disclose this information prior to tenant moving in. It almost feels like a scam. The sound is so scary and I just wanted to make sure I was safe. I am thinking about breaking my lease because a white noise machine cant block out that banging. Ugh
  • bburd
    bburd Member Posts: 997
    Unfortunately the noise probably does not violate code or rental regulations. You may have some leverage for getting out of the lease though, if they didn’t disclose it-as most landlords would not.

    Earplugs may help in the meantime.
    —
    Bburd
  • AdmiralYoda
    AdmiralYoda Member Posts: 666
    I'll add a thought....rather than breaking your lease which I imagine will cost some $$$, maybe if there is a steam expert local to you spend a couple bucks and give the findings to the landlord. Perhaps that will spur some action. Sometimes the fixes are simple (cheap), sometimes not. Do you have access to where ever the heating equipment is?

    But you at least will have something in your hands that proves there is a problem and you have a better ground to stand on if you try and break your lease and keep your money.

    How big is this building? A two family type setup or something like an apartment building with many units?

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