Engine in my walls?

Hi all,

I live on the top floor of an apartment building. I've lived in this apartment for 1.5 years. About six weeks ago, this awful rattling noise suddenly appeared in between my walls, specifically the walls of the bathroom. When I put my hand to the wall, you can definitely feel a strong vibration in the wall, as if there were an old school engine that just magically appeared there and runs randomly. Additionally when the rattling gets particularly strong, the pipes bang against my wall and make a pretty loud noise, which has been waking me up at night. After investigating on my own, I figured out that it has to do with the cold water line, when the tenants living in the apartments below me are using it, the rattling/engine begins.

I asked my super to come check it out, and he said that probably when the contractors were renovating my apartment they did not tighten the line which ends with my apartment and now it was rattling. I told him that I found that really strange since I've been living here for a while, and this noise just suddenly appeared 6 weeks ago, and also seemed to coincide with when they turned the radiators on (I live in a prewar building in NYC that uses steam heat). I asked him if it was potentially an issue with the boiler -- our building has had a lot of issues with the boiler -- and he said no and that to fix the problem, he would have to break my bathroom wall and deal with the piping -- a response that he gave me with a very deterrent tone (he's not the best super). Well, I just don't believe him. I'd like to know if anyone out there has any idea if this is a problem that can be fixed without breaking into my wall. I don't know how to attach a video of the noise, but please let me know how. If it turns out that he's right, well I guess I'll deal with the wall-breaking but the noise really did appear out of nowhere. I feel like if the line was indeed loose, the noise would've appeared more gradually.

Thanks everyone

I am not saying it is this, but it can be.

a building is like a living thing, it moves, because of the foundation, and the wetness of the ground or dryness

the ground either smells up or dries out.

either way, what is sitting on the ground moves when it does.

over time, this movement, back and forth, will make stuff that was tight, become loose.

IT MAY be that the strap in the wall holding the pipe has become loose, and now the pipe is viberating against the wood

sounding like a friggen train going down the track.

It can also be cause by a pipe being to TIGHTly strapped.

to fix it. the wall will have to b opened up and the pipe restrapped

just my opinion.

check out a site called Daily motion, http://www.dailymotion.com/us

you can upload video with sound, then post the llink on forums or blogs

my opinion and $1.00 might buy you a cup of coffee

I'm wondering if the sound could be isolated, then you could punch a 3/8" hole and shoot some expanding foam into the hole?

it could also be a ceramic washer in your faucet..or neighbors faucet gone bad

my kitchen sink washer went bad..i thought the pipe was going to jump out of the wall.

its the viberation..

really need to hear it

Hi everyone, thanks for all the responses so far. Upon request, here are a couple of videos of the noise. It's really driving me crazy!

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3bum5p

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3bum5q

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9We2XsVZfc[/ame]




around here, these are the ghost busters,Matt,phishfood,David, speedbump, havasu ? jump in Guys, can I have your opinions?

Pipe is loose in wall (sound like a water line) ,a plumber is needed to investigate and find the best and cheapest way to solve your problem .

Does not sound like a loose washer like Frodo mentioned, but I wouldn't rule it out.
I am not familiar with steam heating systems but a similar noise is created when a fin/tube type water heater does not have proper water flow when the burner comes on and it starts to boil the water in the tubes. But IF all the safety controls are functioning like the High limit then that would shut down the boilers burner.

That is more than just a loose pipe in the wall.

You said you have steam heat. Is that system on now? Is it always on?

When you here the noise do you try to open any water faucets to see if it changes the noise?

If you can DEFINITELY relate the occurrence to the neighbors using water, than I would suspect the loose washer.