At Benicia Plumbing, customers will often tell us about strange sounds that come out of their showerheads and ask them for solutions.
In this blog, these high-pitched sounds aren’t just annoying – they can be signs of a plumbing issue in your home. In this article, we’re cover the five most common causes of a whistling shower.
Showerhead needs to be replaced – Sometimes, the easiest solution is replacing an old showerhead. Over time, minerals in the water can build up and clog the small nozzles. It’s fairly easy to swap out your showerhead for a new one and see if that solves the whistling problem.
Clogged showerhead pipe – As water flows the through the pipe that comes out of your wall and to the showerhead, it has to pass through a small hole. If the pipe gets clogged up by any mineral deposits, the water may make a whistling sound as it tries to squeeze through. To fix this issue, remove the showerhead and cleaning out the showerhead pipe.
Worn out shower valve – The shower valve is the part that you engage when you move the main handles of the shower. It controls the flow and mixture of hot and cold water. When the valve wears out, you may notice a few signs such as leaking or whistling.
To replace the shower valve, you’ll need to get to the plumbing behind the shower, which usually means opening up an area of the wall. Because of this complexity, it’s usually better to leave it to Benicia Plumbing to do the work.
Blocked shower cartridge – Another area that may be clogged is the shower cartridge, which is located in the shower valve. However, this part is trickier to get to and may require you bring in a licensed plumber to replace the cartridge.
Faulty diverter valve – Ever wonder how the water changes from coming out the tub faucet to the showerhead? That would be the work of the diverter valve. Check to see if the whistling sound changes when you pull the handle of the diverter. If it does, this may be the part that needs to be replaced.
What tune is your showerhead singing today? Hopefully it’s “The Sounds of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel as opposed to “Makin’s Some Noise” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.”
About Benicia Plumbing
At Benicia Plumbing, Inc., we’ve been serving our clients since 1975 and always looking to utilize the latest technology in today’s plumbing world. By providing complete plumbing services to businesses, industry, homebuilders and homeowners throughout the northern California Bay Area, we’ve been able to stay at the forefront of this industry and succeed at a high level.
Sources: Content Plus and AARP
