when turning on or off a tap or flushing the toilet the pipes give off a loud hammer / buzzing noise. What causes this and how can I stop It. It has only been happening over the last couple of weeks.

Sam McBride, June 2013

Energy waves bouncing around in the pipework.

You can see something similar if you sit in the bath and slosh the water about - it hits the end wall - rises up high and rushes back towards you.

Electronic signal wires can suffer a similar effect with electronic reflections of energy back along a cable.

Wikipedia has an excellent article about water hammer. Before you try any solution just close the main water stop tap half a turn or so to reduce the incoming pressure.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_hammer



Good luck...

Peccavi, June 2013