Loud banging pipes in apartment

beanzo · December 2013

Hi all,

This is my first post on the forum... so... an official hello! I am a new resident in Crown Heights and am a tenant of the notorious #73 on the Worst Landlords List provided by de Blasio.

To make a long story short, my second-floor apartment has been cursed with an inexplicable banging sound coming from the kitchen/bathroom area of my apartment. There are three heat pipes (I don't know the official terminology) that go through the living area (two in the kitchen, and one in the bathroom). The banging is super random, and sounds like a jackhammer going through the building. It has happened twice since I have moved in two weeks ago.

I got about 3-4 hours of sleep last night because I thought a war was going on between the floors. Is there any way this can be taken care of without a landlord? I have a super but he speaks very limited English, and essentially I think there is nothing that can be done as the pipes run through the kitchen and bathroom.

Also, one last note: There is a cigarette/gas-y type smell that comes from a corner of my bedroom where the radiator is located. I shut off the radiator to stop the banging, and thankfully my room is well-insulated, but a cigarette smell crept through there last week, and then I awoke to a gas-y smell this morning. I tried to use a odor deodorizer but that makes it smell worse.

Any and all suggestions would be helpful!

Best,

Beanz

homeowner · December 2013

Sounds like two different problems. The first (loud banging) is probably a result of excess air/water in the pipes. If this is indeed the case, it can be resolved by bleeding the closest radiators (which may or may not be the ones in your apartment). There is a certain amount of knocking/banging that always occurs in a steam system as the pipes warm up and the pressure regulates, so overall this is something you may have to get used to, but the excessive jackhammering noise can definitely be reduced.

You might be able to resolve it yourself by getting a plumber to bleed the ones in your apartment, but if its another radiator along the line that has excess water, bleeding the one in your place won't resolve the issue at all. Better to have the landlord/super deal with this.

I'm not sure about the second problem. The only thing I could guess is you may have a neighbor that is a smoker and you're getting smoke in your place through space where the pipe enters your apartment. Again, this is something that you'll need some assistance in troubleshooting. If that is the case, you'll need to figure out exactly where the smell is coming from so you can determine where its seeping and then try to figure out how to block it.

Or I could be completely wrong and your apartment could be haunted by a chain-smoking construction worker...

gio · December 2013

Good luck if cigarette smoke is seeping into your apartment. I had that problem in an old apartment I had and basically what are you going to do - tell the person to stop smoking? Perhaps you should look for any holes that you can stuff with steel wool. Maybe someone else will be able to help you with that particular issue but you can try that.

gio · December 2013

Good luck if cigarette smoke is seeping into your apartment. I had that problem in an old apartment I had and basically what are you going to do - tell the person to stop smoking? Perhaps you should look for any holes that you can stuff with steel wool. Maybe someone else will be able to help you with that particular issue but you can try that.

Loud banging pipes in apartment

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