This is known as Harmonic Vibration. Its usually due to high water pressure combined with partially open valves. Sometimes it can also be caused by pipes that are too small and/or too many bends.
Turning the Stop tap down a bit can reduce the problem.
Banging When Water Is Turned Off
A single sharp bang, sometimes followed by a shuddering vibration, may occur when a suddenly closed valve forces flowing water to stop abruptly. For example when a washing machine finishes filling.
You should take action to Stop Water Hammer as soon as possible. This is because each time it occurs the pipes are being subjected to the fatigue of several waves of high pressure which can result in leaks in pipes and fixtures.
See Settling In for more information about when you move into your new house.
Wood can be the Most Expensive………..or the Cheapest heating available for your new home.
It all depends on your level of commitment.
Most Expensive
Buy firewood at the service station and burn it in an open fire and it could easily cost $20-$30 for a few hours in the evening.
Cheapest
Use a slow combustion wood heater, collect and split your own wood, and it can be less than $10 for a week of continuous heat.
How Much Wood Do You Need?
From my experience of heating a 180sqm home I reckon about ten 6×4 trailer loads (around 10 cubic m) is enough for a typical winter.
Another way of looking at it is what a friend of mine says “All you need to heat a house is to pick up three logs every day of the year”. I would say that’s about right.
Low Cost Sources
Nature Strips, Free, I often see piles of branches outside suburban homes. Here is around three night of heat recently seen on a Nature Strip! Be careful some councils don’t approve of removing stuff left for council collection.
Friends, Free If you make it known you are willing to collect wood you can quite often get asked by friends take aware tree branches. WARNING Don’t offer to cut down trees, that should only be done by licenced, and insured, tree fellers
State Forests and Public Land, Free – $25/trailer. Each state has their rules in Victoria its free but only at certain times of the year. In NSW it ranges from $8-$25 per cubic m.
Timber Companies, Free I often see skips of free firewood outside factories but be careful that you only pick up untreated wood. The fumes from burning treated wood can be extremely toxic.
These cures relate to general rattling or banging when you turn the tap on.
The various reasons for these noises, and their cures are:
Air in Pipes
Typically occurs in new systems, or after some plumbing alterations. You need to purge the air from the system. To do this
Start at the lowest tap or valve and slowly turn on to full. If there is some spluttering leave on until the water runs smoothly then turn off.
Go to the next lowest tap and repeat the procedure, continue working your way around the house until you reach the highest outlet.
Don’t forget outside taps, toilet cisterns and shower heads.
Steam in Pipes
Can affect solar hot water systems and hydronic heating. Generally means the system is running too hot.
For solar systems the first thing is to reduce the temperature for the circulation pump start. This will take the hot water from the panels at a lower temperature. If that doesn’t work it may be the storage tank is too small for the area of panels. If you can’t afford a bigger tank shading the panels on summer days can help.
For Hydronic heating systems you will need to lower the boiler thermostat.
Insufficient Fixing of Pipes
Affect all sorts of plumbing systems. May need a combination of four different approaches
Pack around any loose pipe clips.
Install additional clips between existing clips.
Install pipe insulation.
For pipes in cavities push foam tube insulation along the pipe so it stops the pipe banging on the walls.
If the problem is a bang when you turn the tap off then you need to see the post on Water Hammer.
Guest post by David Limburg of Online Garden Design
With most new houses, the garden is often the last aspect of the new build that is considered. Often the soil is left in a terrible state by the construction process. Below we outline how to improve your soil after the builders have gone.
What’s Needed
Improving the quality of the soil is necessary for healthy plant growth. Making certain that the soil is of good quality will provide the necessary nutrient for roots to grow which depend on the soil quality.
Soil of very good quality is often denoted as loam; it contains sandy and clay partials in such case, the soil has enough porosity and drainage such that it can hold fertility, nutrients, and moisture in abundance.
Improving The Structure
A nice friable loamy soil is achieved through two main functions:
Good, thorough aeration of the compacted soil.
Addition of LOADS of organic matter such as compost.
Organic matter will not only improve the soil structure, but it will also enable the soil to retain more moisture and nutrients and provide an excellent medium for plants roots to thrive.
Testing The Soil Quality
Testing the soil is to determine the pH level and nutrient content, factors essential for good quality soil. Too much or too little nutrient, such as phosphorous or potassium, is detrimental to plants. The correct quantity is necessary for best plant growth.
The pH offers an indication of the concentration of nutrient in the soil and has values from 1 (most acid) to 14 (most alkaline).
Testing the soil to determine whether it is perfect for the type of plants that you want to be growing in your garden is very simple by the use of test strips.
Generally vegetables and ornamental prefer soil that is little acidic with a pH of 6 or 7.
Soil that does not have the correct pH prevents plants from acquiring the necessary nutrient, even if they are present in the soil in high amount. Low pH may also increase the solubility of certain minerals to toxic levels like magnesium.
Online Garden Design custom made unique landscape designs – Landscape design packages and do it yourself landscape guides. Landscape designs/garden plans for new house builds. Online Garden Designs Australia wide including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Darwin, Hobart
If you are getting water hammer in your new house it can be really annoying.
As the problem is caused by fast flowing water being stopped suddenly here are some options to cure it.
Slow the overall speed of flow down
Pressure, which affects the speed of water flow, does vary depending on your location. By turning down valves you will counteract the high pressure and slow the flow down.
These are both no cost options which are worth trying first.
To the whole house
If you have got very high pressure at your property you may be able to turn down the external stop tap to the house, while still getting plenty of flow to your taps.
To the washing machine and dishwasher
These appliances have separate supply valves which can be turned down. The machines will take a little longer to fill adding a couple of minutes to the wash time………..but how many of us are in that much of a rush!
Don’t stop the flow as fast
Lever action taps are the worst kind of taps for causing water hammer because they can be shut off quickly.
Softer slowing of flow, rather than a sudden stop will reduce water hammer.
These are three options to achieve a softer flow cut off in, listed in order of increasing cost.
Slowly turn off taps.
The no cost option……….but doesn’t always work if you have got children, or just have fast ‘lever action’ taps or mixers.
Fit anti- hammer tap valves
These replace the Standard valve inserts with a unit that includes a spring. The spring allows any pressure surge to escape past it and means the tap need more of a turn, and thus longer time, to fully close.
Typically they cost around $6 each plus fitting.
Not suitable for the more complex mixer units.
Fit a surge arrester
This device is fitted to the pipe before the valve. The cylinder has a piston that separates the water from compressed air in the top.
When the valve shuts some of the water (and the pressure surge) is diverted into the arrester pushing the piston up and compressing the air. It acts a bit like car ‘shockers’ to slow the water flow.
There are several sizes of arrester depending on your system with prices starting at around $70 plus fitting.
If you have a sloping drive it can be difficult to install a gate.
One option is to install a sliding gate which rolls to one side. These although expensive can work quite well if the whole of the front is level and you have plenty of room between the driveway and the path to the front door.
As you can see with the above installation the roller gate will block the pedestrian gate.
Not enough room, or want a lower cost solution, then you can use conventional gates with offset hinges which allow the gates to swing up as they open (See below)
These hinges will need to be made to suit the slope of the driveway so you may need to buy the gates from a specialist gate company rather than from your local DIY store.
The sight of this Norfolk pine towering over this single storey house caused me to stop the car!
And the tree is only half grown.
It breaks RULE 2 of suburban tree selection – “Don’t get a tree that grows to more than 50% taller than your house.”
(Rule 1 is “Read the label”)
Getting Rid of Unsuitable Trees
Removing dead and unsuitable trees and stumps safeguards your landscape so that you can replant and redesign the space as you please.
To ensure you are working with a healthy landscape, ensure you have inspected the area and identified all trees or stumps that may need to be removed.
Tree and Stump removal requires a high level of expertise and is not recommended as do it yourself.
Enlisting a professional removal service like Daryl’s Tree Care and Surgery is essential to identify potential hazards in your garden and to safely undertake the removal process without disturbing the rest of your landscape.”
Here are some pictures of the last garden we developed that has neither. We planted the garden near the house with clumps of native grasses, succulents and flaxes along a dry stream bed.
Further back, along the fence we used native shrubs and some palms.
When we plant I water the plant in and then water about a week later,. After that its on its own……if it dies it gets replaced with something hardier.
In case you think this is in a tropical area you would be wrong.
It’s in Werribee the driest Melbourne Suburb (40% less rain than than eastern suburbs).
The garden was planted in 2006 and the photos were taken in 2010 after 4 years of Victorian drought.
