HAUNTED HOUSE? 3

[structurebeton]

I have client describe the following happening at her house:

"I have the most disturbing noises inside the walls, it sounds like things are falling not just settling noises, bought the home 1.5 years ago after 5 months I heard strong noises and some are settling but these noises are out of the ordinary. Have had it thouroughly checked for rodents etc. Now I was told that it could be structural problems, insurance structural engineer was inconclusive so now I want my own engineer. I have a scratching behind the headboards in all then like something is falling.and knocking all the time."

The house was built in 2003, and is on slab on grade. Can anyone tell what should I look for to determine the cause of noises?

 

[graybeach]

Seems like you should spend time there and hear them for yourself. Bring some candles and a Ouigi board.

 

[dgkhan]

Place a voice operated sound recorder and than listen to the sounds.

 

[MadMango]

Look for bare windows. I've seen widows act like diaphragms and amplify outside noises, causing standing sound waves. If there are bare windows, have them hang curtains or move the headboard a couple of inches.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of these Forums?

 

[dgkhan]

By the way I bought a house in 2007 which was built in 2006 so pretty new I guess.
It’s brand new fridge in the kitchen when turns off, creates voices like ocean waves. They are pretty scary at night
Before we figured out what was the origin. Also the kitchen exhaust fan lid is loose. With strong winds it bangs on
Aluminium duct behind and creates noise that whole house is about to fall. See if you can find similar problems.

 

[MiketheEngineer]

I would still look for rodents, possums, racoons, cats, etc. They can come and go pretty much as they please.

 

[structurebeton]

what brand is the fridge?

 

[bootlegend]

Is it vinyl siding? This can make noises if it is installed too tight I think. Sounds like mice inside the wall.

 

[bones206]

Are there vent stacks in these walls?

 

[racookpe1978]

Plumbing (hot water pipes) expanding, then contracting against fixed supports that are too tight.

So the water in the pipe changes temperature, the pipe pulls for a while, then "jerks" into its new position when the movement is too great. As the pipe cools off (after the dishwasher finishes, or after the tub or shower is filled) then the "pull" is in the opposite direction, but at a different time. One movement might be against a stud or frame and cause nose, the other direction will be away from a stud and be quiet. Cold water lines might have water hammer problems, but seldom expansion problems - unless they go through an unheated slab or crawl space.

Drain lines were also noisy in my old house - same problem.

...

But we had some d*mn noisy squirrels in the attic last fall .... They didn't drop things though. Merely "scritched and scittered" around.

 

[drawoh]

structurebeton,

I have read some articles on skeptical investigations of poltergeists. Apparently, these almost invariably occur in houses that contain disturbed teenagers.

Can you rip out any walls?

I had a buy a refridgerator for my house. The manual has a section describing all the weird noises it is capable of making.

JHG

 

[SlideRuleEra]

racookpe1978's explanation of piping noise is very possible, but there could be more:

I had a client with similar problems, told her it may be poltergeist... The real problem turned out to be very poor (expansive) soil combined with tree root growth under the foundation. The result was the house was slowly moving "up and down" all the time. Her house was over 15 years old - the nails in many structural members had worked loose so movement caused a lot of squeaking. The movement had also caused plumbing piping to separate, HVAC ducts to buckle, and water intrusion thru siding cracks resulting in mold & mildew.

http://www.SlideRuleEra.net

http://www.VacuumTubeEra.net

 

[dgkhan]

Guys, my cold fridge is getting lot of heat here now. Let me remind thread is about something else.

 

[racookpe1978]

if your fridge is getting hot, I'd strongly recommend we IMMEDIATELY reduce the heat load (and your subsequent electric bill) ... by removing as many cold brews as soon as possible from the interior of said refrigerator.

Strictly in the matter of saving as much money as possible, of course.

 

[Ron]

Get a borescope and look into the wall where the noises are heard. If rodents, you'll see evidence. If termites and falling pieces of wood, you'll see evidence.

Usually these things have an explanation that when found gives you a V-8 moment (sorry for the US television reference, but I rarely find things like this that fit...so I'll use it!)

 

[vandede427]

whoever mentioned the vinyl siding is onto something. most new houses are brick in the front and vinyl on the other three sides. the rear of my house undergoes a lot of temperature differntial and the vinyl is constantly expanding/contracting and the noise are really loud POPS!

 

[structurebeton]

The house we are talking is in Georgia. Where is your house?

 

[Ussuri]

 

[SlenderBeam]

The ACI code currently covers this problem quite comprehensively - a building's resistance to poltergeists is proportional to the square of a typical wall's thickness.

You simply work out the wall's Ghoul-factor (t^2*gamma*H) where t=thickness(m),gamma=density(kN/m3),H=height of wall(m).

So measure the wall height and thickness, check the GF factor and make sure that GF > 0.7.

If this fails, you might just have to call Ghostbusters. I hear Egon is on the desk most days.

 

[JAE]

SlenderBeam - very nice....love it.