when i flush my toilet it makes a noise like a ships horn quite loud sometimes and not so loud other times, ive been told it might be an air lock which would entail lifting up my floorboards up PANICING!!!! please advise

Rachel, December 2008

Thank you Plumb Repairs - Yorkshire. Solution no1 worked for me. :-)

Gillimot, December 2013

It can be 4 things: n.o.1 :Air in the pipes to resolve this bleed all of your radiators n.o.2 Water Pressure To High To resolve this: 2 things lift off your lid off the toilet and then where the ballcock is screwed in take the bolt off then turn the screw which will slow the refill or speed it up n.o.3 If you have 2 toilets you have a leak between them you'll have to get a plumber to check that out n.o.4 If there is a straight pipe leading into you toilet there should be a screw on it if you turn that it will alter the fill speed and try and settle it down. Hope Its Fixed

Jackyboy, April 2011

Shouldnt be an air lock but if the noise is when cistern is re-filling I would have a new water inlet valve fitted to the cistern
These can be fairly simple if an in-line valve is in the supply pipe ( quite like a washing machine feed valve )
However if you dont have one you can usually stop the water supply by closing off mains supply stop cock
All depends on the system but a good DIYer or reasonably priced plumber will fix this in 30mins

pc6493, December 2008

If you lift the lid on the toilet you will see inside the water rushing in after the flush. There is sometimes a plastic tube, similar to a glove finger at the point where the water is coming out and refilling the system. Mine had disintegrated causing a lot of noise "known as water hammer". This may be the cause, so therefore do as I did. Cut a finger off a rubber glove and put it over the outlet.

ALAN, December 2008

I had the sam problem some time back. Not sure if yours is the same but... some toilets have a soil stack pipe close to them with a one way air value. This is to allow air to be sucked into the system when flushing to prevent a blow back, oh yea you want to avoid that! this pipe is usually higher that the toilet system. The Value usually attatches to the top of the would be open pipe. When this needs changing (just a couple of quid from your DIY store it makes a noise of a fog horn. This is just the air pressue trying to equalise and the vent trying to suck air, only cant and so makes a tune!
Hope this helps

Ady from Portsmouth, December 2008