Wall Water Features

Trickling sounds in my wall/ceiling?

My husband and I just moved into a two story house. Above my computer room/studio, I can hear a very distinctive trickling sound when hubby is doing he dishes upstairs. It sounds like one of those small portable fountains. This is an addition to "normal" plumbing noises you might expect to hear. Does this necessarily mean we have a horrible, expensive leak in the wall to fix? We haven't noticed any water damage through the process of buying the place, and there isn't any apparent damage at this time.

Public Comments

1. There are three sources for a noisy plumbing system, the supply lines, the drain lines, or a leak, hehehe. Since you've not noticed any water damage from a leak, and believe me, if you had a leak you could actually hear happening, you'd see it pretty quickly, then that leaves the supply and drain lines. Simple test -- have your husband fill a sink with water, and see if you can hear the trickling noise as it is filling. Then have him turn the water off, and slowly drain the sink, and see if you can hear it then. My first guess is that what you are hearing is the drain line - probably the water he is running while rinsing dishes, if he is doing them by hand. So, you shouldn't hear it while he is filling the sink. Draining an entire sink at once will probably make more noise than the trickling sound you normally hear, if he is in the habit of letting the water run, while rinsing. IF this is the situation - you could add some sound absorbing insulation to the cavity space with the drain line to help reduce the noise. Good Luck