We have a secret and it’s a rather noisy one!
Last year, amongst a load of other projects, we attempted to tidy the upstairs hallway. Whilst it is looking better than before (yes, we still need to finish stripping and painting the last bit of dado and skirting), there’s something much less pretty hiding underneath our newly sanded floorboards.
It’s our heating pipes and they’re sooooo noisy! Or at least they were, as we’ve finally managed to sort the problem and it couldn’t have been easier!
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This is definitely a project that falls into the category of – OMG why didn’t we know about and do this years ago/I can’t believe how cheap and easy it was/why, oh why didn’t we do it sooner.
I know you think we’re exaggerating, but for us, this has made a difference that’s almost beyond measure.
Gone are the cold nights where we’d turn off the heating at night because the noise from the pipes was just too loud to allow us to sleep. I’m not joking, on really cold nights, where the heating would be on a lot, we’d be woken up every half hour or so just because the pipe noise was so bad.
If you think that sounds bad, the mornings were even worse. Because the heating had been off all night, it was sometimes so cold that we could actually see our breath!
Now if you’re wondering about our amazing, expensive and high-tech solution… it’s a roll of felt. Yep, a £7, roll (this is the felt we used which actually came in a pack of 3 rolls) of pipe felt.
I honestly can’t believe how simple and easy this solution was. If we’d known we would have done it years ago!
These are our 3 Steps on How To Stop Your Heating Pipes Making Noise
- Lift your floorboard (always be careful because of the pipes and cables that are underneath them)
- Everywhere a pipe touches a joist or another pipe, just squash some felt around it. Be careful not to move your pipes too much, you don’t want to loosen any connections, damage the pipe or cause any leaks! It has to be a snug fit, so if the space around the pipe is already tight (as it was in our case) just cut open the tube of felt, so that it’s a bit thinner and easier to squash around the pipe.
- When you’re happy that all noise has gone, just put the floorboard back (again being careful about the location of pipes and cables)
Told you it was easy!
In just under an hour we managed to solve a problem that had been bugging us night after night for over 4 years. As we stood there, in complete blissful silence, we were both stunned and slightly frustrated at the same time. If only we’d known it was that simple.
Now, I’m not saying this will solve all of your heating/pipe noise, as there can be other problems that could also cause noise, but honestly, for £7 and a bit of work, it’s definitely worth a try.
In our case, there is still one old radiator (in our as yet unfinished bathroom) that makes noise, but other than that, all ticking, banging and noise has disappeared! If only we’d know sooner!
Have you ever had a house related (or any other kind) problem that you managed to solve which was so much easier than you’d expected? Do you have noisy heating pipes? How did you manage to stop your heating pipes from making noise? Or do you have any other noisy house problems? We’d love to know!
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Kathy says
Common Sense prevails!! I love it.I appreciate people who use the brains God gave them and, for free. Thanks again for sharing.?!
Christine says
Thanks, Kathy!
Cx
Dan Taylor says
Thanks for the great article. I just did this fix on the noisy pipes in our bedroom., It was super easy and the pipes are now silent. Finally I can sleep! :D
Christine says
That’s amazing, Dan! So glad our easy fix worked for you, too!
Cx
Colleen Mitchell says
Thanks so much for posting this as there’s very little practical information online. We were so tired of being woken up early in the morning by the loud clanging and banging. We had also tried everything including bleeding the radiators (which did help with some of the noises). We haven’t completely gotten rid of all the noises but they’re better! I ended up cutting an old wool thermal top up I had and using that since it was lockdown.
Christine says
I can totally relate to just how annoying it must have been for you, Colleen! So glad it worked for you, too (even if the noise isn’t completely gone). Hopefully, you’ll manage to find the remaining noisy spots over time, too.
Cx
Christina Williams says
definitely going to try this, my bedroom radiator is driving me crazy and have been quoted silly figures (which i havent got) to fix it. Fingers crossed for me please
Christine says
It’s definitely worth a try! Just remember to be really careful with the pipes. We tried everything else (like having the system flushed, bleeding radiators, etc) but this is the only thing that worked for us.
Keeping my fingers crossed for you!
Cx
Friendly Canadian says
Have you a way to remove any air from the pipes, like a bleed valve? I don’t have this type of flooring but once had radiators that needed to be attended to by opening the valve and letting air bubbles out.
Christine says
Yes, we did that and even had the whole heating system cleaned. Nothing helped other than physically stopping the pipes banging against the joists. I’d always recommend bleeding radiators as a first step, though!
Cx
Paul Webster says
Tried the noisy pipe solution on our new Georgian home, it worked a treat. Thank you for the tip. Definitely and A+ from us.
Christine says
Yey, I’m so glad it worked for you, too! It’s such an easy and cheap thing to do – I just wish we’d done it sooner!
Cx
Jake Chambers says
Hi Christine, thanks so much for sharing. I love how years later from when you first posted it people like me are still it helpful! At any rate, my wife and I just bought a new house and it’s the 2nd night we’ve stayed in the house and we are experiencing all the noises you and others have described above; it’s pretty terrible and definitely hard to sleep. Unfortunately, we actually have carpet floors and a baseboard heating system which sounds like the noises are coming from/through the walls. Do you, or anyone else might have a solution for this type of situation? Any and all suggestions would be so appreciated! Thank you!
Christine says
I really feel for you, Jake! I know how annoying it can be, we have a similar (although much less severe) problem in our new home. It’s always difficult to know where the problem is. We had our system flushed to try to get rid of the sound – maybe that’s something that will help you? I’d probably recommend getting it checked by a professional as sometimes it can be as easy as adjusting the pressure in your system or, like I mentioned, having it cleaned.
Sorry, I can’t be more help! I’ll keep my fingers crossed that you manage to get it sorted soon!
Cx
John M says
Yes it can be Very Annoying. Some Newer home systems run the the Ceiling and then down to a baseboard type radiator that runs along the floor. If you take the endcap of the radiator off at the unit you can see the Copper Pipe that runs along there creating the heat and the Noise. Alot of the time you can follow that pipe up to the Ceiling along the wall as you can feel the heat thru the wall of the pipe and Where the Pipe comes down the Wall AT The Ceiling point the Pipe most likely is soldered at a 90 degree angle down the wall from going across the ceiling to the floor. AT That point a hole is Drilled thru the Joists and the pipe soldered and run thru it and AT That Point it Rubs against the Wood and Creates the Noise you hear all thru the room, wall, and ceiling. The pipe probly runs thru both ends of the pipe and back up to the ceiling but maybe only one is making the noise. You can try to pin point it by taking a stick, rod, pole, broomstick handle and putting the end of that on the wall or ceiling where you think the noise is coining from and your ear against the pole to listen to where it is the loudest. Then cut a hole in the ceiling probly first and see if you can access the pipe to use a foam type insulation or something to insulate it against the wood so its not touching it and making the noise. You may have to cut a hole in the Wall if you cant get to it from the ceiling, then patch and mud the hole up to hide it. I did that with my rental unit in a Closet which was hard to pinpoint and track down but I finally did. Not a should from it anymore in that room but…i do have another pipe in the Living room doing he same thing so I will do that one the same too. CAREFUL: Cutting the hole as the pipe is run just over/under the drywall.!!
Mary Turner says
My problem may be a little more difficult to solve. I live in a complex that used to be on a communal heating system but now isn’t. Now when the heating comes on in the flat above mine some of my radiators make a metallic pinging sound, knocking, plopping, you name it these make it. Wasn’t bad when I moved in in the summer as heating not needed particularly at night but since the cold nights have come it has been hell. The chap above has his heating coming on at all different times of the night and every time the radiator in my bedroom starts its musical rhythms which wake me and then drive me nuts. The droning noise of the boiler which I can also hear does not seem to penetrate my sleep nor does it bother me during the day. The only radiators I hear making their annoying sounds during the day are my own and my heating is never on at night. Plus I have always said noise is much less penetrating when within normal daytime noises but night-time it’s a whole different ballgame. I have tried pushing wax earplugs down as far as they will go into my ears and wearing furry ear muffs over them at the same time but it is still not enough to drown out the noises. It’s no good getting in touch with the council as they don’t even happily respond to emergency repairs and treat you as though they are doing you a favour just putting a roof over your head. Now I AM JUST DESPERATE for an answer to the problem. I tried bleeding my radiators but they are a funny type with like a groove across the middle of the metal fixing where you place the key and a tiny nozzle type thing in another part attached to it which squirts the water out in all directions when I try to do it. Is there a knight in shining armour who can give me a solution to this dilemma like in the story books or am I to take this to the grave when my time comes (it probably won’t be that long because I am no spring chicken). I desperately hope so. HELP PLEASE.
Christine says
I really feel for you, Mary! It really sounds awful. I’m sorry to say, that I don’t know what would help in your case. Our problem was relatively easy to solve but yours sounds much more difficult. Other than bugging the council until they react, I’m not sure what else to suggest.
Hopefully, someone else reading this will know how to solve your problem!
I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you that it gets sorted, soon!
Cx
Rob says
Great solution, going to try this soon as I think I have the same problem which is driving me up the wall! Can I ask how you first located the pipes? I’d like to avoid taking up the whole floor if possible.
Thanks :)
Christine says
We could feel the heat through the floor, so they were easy to find.
Maybe you could use a pipe locator to help find them?
Cx
Sean says
Not true. If pipe work has been fitted then the T&G flooring will have been taken up and either nailed or screwed back down and you will see where the floorboards have been cut, the tongue will be likely missing where the floorboard has been pulled up so should be easy enough to lift without damaging other boards (buy a small pry bar from a diy store)
samm says
Great solution, will try I think I have the same floor boards as you guys, can you explain a bit more in detail how and what tools you used to life the floor boards and remove the nails.
Thanks
Christine says
It’s honestly one of the most effective and easiest project we’ve ever done! We just used a crowbar to lift the floorboards. I found this video that explains the process in quite a lot of detail https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0kdfXnsAeE.
Hope that helps!
Cx
Randy says
Unfortunately this solution above is not practical or feasible when you have stapled/nailed in place tongue and groove hardwood flooring without subflooring. The photos above show only nailed in butt ended floor boards which are not T & G and are therefore easy to individually pry up and re-install without damage to surrounding floorboards. Not so with tongue and groove flooring installed on a subflooring. To remove and re-install only one floorboard at a time is virtually impossible without significant damage to surrounding boards and subflooring.
Christine says
Any project will always depend on how things have been done in a home as there are a lot of different ways to tackle problems. Everyone’s home is different and it’s all about finding the right solution for the problem. This worked perfectly for us and hopefully it’ll be helpful for other people who are in a similar situation, too.
Cx
Sian says
Hi, thanks for sharing. I woke up this morning to the dreaded clinking sound you mentioned…just as the heating was coming on so I knew it was something pipe-related. The pipes run under our bed so as soon as I got up, it went away! Got back in bed = annoying noise!! I think I’ll take a look this evening at what’s going on under there – hoping to have the same inexpensive solution!
Christine says
I’ll keep my fingers crossed that it works for you, Sian! It was by far one of the cheapest and most rewarding improvements we made to our home!
Cx
Jackie B says
I have this problem, we live in a semi and my neighbours heating or water is timed to go on at 4 minutes to 5 every morning !!!!!! Ear plugs no longer work since this has g gradually getting louder over the last two years.. I haven’t plucked up the courage to ask them to do something yet but it is starting to affect my health now as very tired. Now it looks like I’ve found a simple inexpensive solution I can mention it to them. Thanks for sharing.
Christine says
Wow, that sounds really annoying, Jackie – it must be so loud in their home, too.
It can be difficult to talk to people about something like that, especially when you still have to live next door to them and don’t want to cause any problems, but if it’s affecting you that much a chat with them is probably inevitable. Having an easy possible solution to mention should definitely help smooth things – fingers crossed that a bit of felt does the trick for your neighbours, too. You never know, they may be grateful to you forever because you told them how to stop their heating making a noise!
Cx
Lucy says
How I wish I’d read this the day it was posted! Only yesterday we had someone come out to fix the woodpecker like noises we’ve had in our bedroom (which went from mildly annoying to full on rage inducing once we had the 30 yr old central heating system updated to a new combi boiler). Luckily he was able to sort it in a couple of hours so it wasn’t the big expense we feared. Being able to go to bed last night, and wake up to only the alarm this morning was lovely! So glad you’ve sorted yours out – it’s bliss isn’t it!
Christine says
Oh no, bad timing Lucy! Totally agree – it’s pure bliss!
Cx
Mike Francis says
We had EXACTLY the same issue in our little terrace. I would drive me mad, leading to hours of lost sleep – it would wake me up every night we had the heating on. We got to the point of shutting the heating down. Then I thought I may as well rip up the floorboards and see what was going on. I took a timelapse video of the pipe and turned the heating on. We could watch the pipe expanding along its length. Imperceptible little movements at real time became obvious when sped up and you could understand the problem. I got some 10 year old felt from my dads workshop and popped it under the pipe. Problem solved! I’ll put the timelapse up soon. Such a big problem, such a little solution!
Christine says
Thanks for sharing, Mike! I’m so glad to hear that we’re not the only ones that suffered with this problem. I’m sure people think that we’re exaggerating, but noise really was unbearable. Looking forward to seeing your timelapse video!
Cx
Stacey @ Dohiy.com says
When we were living in a flat in a converted Victorian terrace house, the heating pipes for the unit above us ran through our bedroom ceiling. They made a loud clicking noise when the heat came on that could be heard even through earplugs. The landlord’s solution (which, fortunately, our neighbors were ok with) was coordinating their heat with our (and their) sleeping hours. Not an ideal solution–glad you were able to take care of it!
Christine says
Haha, love it – sounds like you had the same problem! The landlords solutions is kind of what we’ve been doing up till now. The first two winters in our home were particularly cold and, whilst we tried to coordinate heating our home with our sleeping pattern, the heating would inevitably start up through the night… certainly wasn’t any fun! Still can’t get over how easy the problem was to fix!
Cx