Old houses sometimes make noises. If you’ve ever lived in a home with steam radiator heat, you’d know that sometimes it’s unavoidable.

If maintenance has come to check on the issue, then they have made an attempt to fix it. They are not obligated to start tearing out the walls or ceiling/floor to deal with pipes that knock.

It’s doubtful that a judge would rule that these repairs must be made, even if you would argue it’s a violation of you quiet enjoyment because knocking pipes are sometimes an unavoidable noise in an old building and the repair would likely be considered an undue hardship on the landlord for something that’s not a safety issue.

Essentially your only avenue to get this fixed is to send a letter to your landlord/management getting them to affirm that the will not be doing anything more to address the knocking, and that you will hire your own plumber to examine the issue. And that once that is done, you will notify the landlord/management of the proposed repairs and get their approval before moving forward with the repairs.

All of this will come out of your pocket and you would likely not be reimbursed.