Infamous Dry -- Dripping sound

After going crazy for a few monhts and a few Internet searches, I've diagnosed my problem as pipe contraction/expansion.

It is most noticible in the basement; which is 3/4 finished. From the unfinished room where the pipes are exposed I can see the length of the basement where the pipes run between the finished basement ceiling and the floor from the room above. The drain pipes run separetly from where the water pipes run, and the sound is most noticible from the copper pipes.

It is a steady dripping sound -- but after almost a year there is still absolutely no sign of moisture (which I noticed and would have expted to see after the first week; so I've basically ignored this curiosity fora while).

So the question is: how can I fix this, or is this one of the joys of owning a home? The pipes do make some 90 degree turns if that helps.

Also, can somebody confirm my diagnosis?

Thanks

noise

The 90 degree turns have little to do with it, other than possibly securing one end of the pipe so as to force the expansion to move in one direction. The problem is a pipe that is being forced against the side of a hole or bottom of a joist and causes the noise as it expands. There will also be a similar noise when it contracts, but since it heats up faster than it cools down, that noise is much less noticeable.

Excellent. It's nice to at least know where it is coming from. So the fix is to space the pipe so it is not as close to the wall/support beams? The pipes rest on plastic clips nailed into the wood. Any suggestions on how to mitigate this?

plastic clips

well if you can gain access to some or most of the pipeing,
and you got plastic hangers holding the pies to
the wood,

just take something like a flathead screwdriver or
pliers and loosen some of those straps up to relieve
the tension between the wood and the pipes..
and see what happpens...

maybe it will make it go away, or maybe the pipes
will become louder.....

try it and see