I was caulking the bathroom in a small rental house and there was a random noise. I wonder if any has any clue as to the source.
It is a short 1-3 sec BRRR. Like maybe a fast impact wrench or a slow hammer drill. I have heard loose faucet washers make similar sounds, but only as the water is running. And metal weather stripping in heavt winds.
But no water was running and no wind.
Some times the sound would repeat 3, 4 5 times in a minute or 2. Other times you might go 30 minutes without hearing it.
1940’s 2 bedroom,1 bath, basement.
No PRV on the water and not water running. It was not the toilet and the no ice maker.
There is a basin pump tied to a launder sink in the basement, but no water running into it.
No sump pump. No condenstate pump.
No wind turbine.
The noise sounds like it is coming from the basement directly under the bathroom.
But of course it never made it when I went down there.
No other motors except furnace/AC and it made the noise both when the AC was running and when it was off..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Edited 7/20/2008 5:36 pm by BillHartmann
Replies
someone at the door? :)
Poltergeist.
maybe the house was built on an old chicken coop,,,
poultryguist!
Luckily, there's a fix. Call in the eggsorcist!
sorry,, dave
I had a noise like that once, couldn't figure out where it was coming from but turned out it was the water heater in the basement, right before it started leaking and I had to replaced it, sorry but I don't know which part was making the noise.http://woodsshop.com/
after the ghost hunter crew is done go look for a critter....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
pressure/temperture changes in the duct work or a loose duct fitting...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"
pressure/temperture changes in the duct work or a loose duct fitting.."I though of P/T changes in general. But those would not last as long as this. And we noticed it for the last couple of days that we have been working in it.And for the HVAC there is no timing with the AC running or not..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
sometimes a dryer vent will make some noise
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001AZ7Q88?smid=A9HNR4I8RXLVW&tag=nextag-tools-tier4-20&linkCode=asn
That may be a possbility. Just outside is the dry vent and the pipe just comes inside the basement right below the bathroom and nothing connected to it now.Don't think that there was enough wind to cause it, but maybe..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Cell phone on vibrate
The awful thing is that beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and the devil are fighting there, and the battlefield is the heart of man.
- Fyodor Dostoyevski
in the days of pagers....
one was under the couch on the wood floor....
anoying noise till it was found....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
That is the right kind of sound, if it was maybe laying on the floor.But it was not that of either of the people that heard it.The old tenet might have lost one. But the noise was never long enough to be more than one ring..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Carpenter bees.
Jeff
Termite I could believe in that house..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Didja fart and not know it? Damm, you are getting old. (G)
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
You gonna play that thing?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32Ln-SpJsy0
Toilet refilling, probably old float type ballcock, check for leaking flapper valve.
Or, a sillcock with vacuum breaker/backflow preventer and the faucet was left on. I had that happen here once, 'bout drove me crazy trying to find it. Whenever the house pressure dropped a little the pressure in the rubber hose would force water back against the backflow preventer.
Edited 7/20/2008 7:22 pm ET by 802Mike
Toilet refilling, probably old float type ballcock, check for leaking flapper valve
That would be my guess also, water hammer during refill and old loose valve.
Well the toilet does use an old "style" ballcock. But it is realatively new. Whole new toilet was put in 2 1/2 years ago.And that was the first thing that I checked the when I heard it."Or, a sillcock with vacuum breaker/backflow preventer and the faucet was left on. I had that happen here once, 'bout drove me crazy trying to find it. Whenever the house pressure dropped a little the pressure in the rubber hose would force water back against the backflow preventer."VERY INTERESTING.No vacuum breaker and the outside faucet is just a plain sipgot with an inside shut off.Now there is a hose connected to an faucet in the basement. Again a plain spigot so I don't know how that would make the noise, but I will check it..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
I first thought this was some crackpot...then I saw It was Bill...must be fo'real as I respect his opinion. The wind will do this to me. Gets in somewhere and exits making a buzzing sound. Open some windows wide and see if it goes away.
"I first thought this was some crackpot...then I saw It was Bill...must be fo'real as I respect his opinion. "Boy do I have you fooled.I have heard similar with wind before in old house with the metal weatherstripping.However, the wind hasn't been over 5 mph..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Condensate pump on the AC?
No condensate pump..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Any chance that there's some kind of internet camera following you?
(seriously)
No.
Why would you ask that?.
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
A motor moving a camera makes a small grrr noise each time it moves.
But I just reread your original post and I'm guessing it's a much broader noise, hence the reason you can't find it.
Sometimes toilet leaking can be REAL subtle ... unnoticeable. It's not continuous [noise] but it always flows and once in a while it will let in more water and then you hear it. They make a dye you coat the bowl with to detect such subtlties.
Well, mebbe iffin you stopped callin' the house "strange" it would stop making rude noises at you . . .
<g,d,&r>
If this was happening around 1960, then I could tell you what the strange noise was and from where it came from. A developer built some bungalows right in the middle of a field where we played ball. We did not appreciate losing "our" field, and took it out on the new homeowners. Just after dark, I would take a two foot loop of steel wire and a wood rasp and sneak up to the back of a house. I placed the the wire loop over the house's hose bibb and placed my foot in the loop to create a little tension. I lightly drew the rasp across the wire, ala using a bow on a violin. All the pipes in the house would respond with a great groan! EVERY time the homeowner would turn on the basement lights, come running down the basement stairs, run to the water heater and look at it. From the watertank they would move to the furnace and then check the plumbing and any appliances. Looking through the basement window I knew not to do anything until the sap went back upstairs. I would wait a couple minutes and start the symphony again. I am sure it played h311 with the plumbing, but I had to avenge our ballfield loss.
Now, on to your problem. I REALLY feel strange suggesting this to YOU of all people, but could it be a circuit breaker? I had one buzz when an electric waterheater cycled.
If you have the time and the curiosity, shut off the water and see if the noise stops. If not, kill the power and listen. It should be easy to isolate it if it is from one of these.
Lastly, it is NOT me at the outside faucet with my trusty rasp.
Good luck and thanks for all the lessons and information you have provided on electricall issues. You have helped me a lot over the years.
Daylight or at night? If it is during the day you may woodpecker or a flicker making music on the house exterior .
I was wondering if it could be a loose piece of metal on the fascia or soffit that was vibrating in the wind.
In the city, you can only see from horizon the horizon what man has made.
In the country, you can see from horizon to horizon what God has made.
vent blower on the furnace...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Maybe a Woodpecker, or a Flicker? I have had them at my house, and that is what it sounds like.
Did someone drop their cellphone down a HVAC vent? Low battery, maybe it only gets one ring before choking off.
jt8
"A little 'enthusiasm' and all problems seems small!"
LOL, is there a bank nearby? Maybe someone is tunneling to the bank vault. :)
jt8
"A little 'enthusiasm' and all problems seems small!"
Anybody ever figure this out?
It's terrorists tunneling under the house.
It is an ironic habit of human beings to run faster when we have lost our way. --Rollo May
That's what I thought...
Bill,
My last home had a metal chimney for the woodstove, and it made this noise sometime when the wind blew across it just right. The stainless cap would vibrate at a certain harmonic, and the pipe carried the sound into the house.
Bill
I have a metal chimney that attracts the flickers sometimes. They'll rap on it to attract mates, if I'm not mistaken.
I'd check for birds. We have lots of them here and they make a variety of noises on and around the house.
Any chance the noise is actually coming from the sewer line?
oh great....
another sci-fi movie in the making...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Yup. Serious H. P. Lovecraft type stuff.
"Any chance the noise is actually coming from the sewer line?"Until I find something else that is the way that I am leaning.Or the water lines.I remember in anohter forum that someone had some problems with a strange noise. Don't remember the type of noise.It turns out that the city had a PRV valve in a manhole in the street that was defective. And those noise was transmitted through the water pipes.I know what woodpeckers sound like as I have them.Similar but the duration and repeats are much different.Many (but not all) of the other thoughts where good. Just not appropriate in this case..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
It's a bird, maybe woodpecker.
It's Hillary, and she knows where you lurk my friend.
I had a couple of tenants complain of something similar.
I have a fridge w/ice maker but no supply line. They tossed the Hot Pockets in there and banged the arm that turns the maker off.
The solenoid would call for water every (maybe) 20 minutes and make a noise like you describe.
Oops. Just reread your OP. You already ruled ice maker out.
You do mention a basin pump though. Bad check valve?
Edited 7/21/2008 8:18 pm ET by MSA1
Creature in the water pipe or waste trying to claw its way out. Send for an exorcist.
Hey, Bill,
Any chance of a battery operated smoke detector ? I know they usually chirp like a bird, but if it's on the almost-out-of-juice side, it might brrrpp instead. Just a thought.
Greg