 sj |
||
|
||
BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be
|
|
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: GUEST,Stilly River Sage Date: 24 Oct 03 - 02:45 PM I vote that it is an acoustical trick, that the noise is coming from somewhere else and just focuses in that area (bouncing from this point). What is directly outside this part of the house? SRS |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: Rapparee Date: 24 Oct 03 - 12:44 PM Are there unexplained, dark stains that can't be washed out? At night, do you hear chains dragging? Are there blue mists in the halls at night that are cold when you walk through them? Do you hear groans that don't seem to have a specific source? When you arrive home after dark, are there lights in windows where lights shouldn't be -- and they go out as you approach the house? Are there lights in windows where there aren't any windows? Does Anne Boleyn drop around, her head underneath her arm? Seriously, pinpoint the spot as closely as possible and then lightly touch it. See if you can feel vibrations. If you can, the problem would seem to be in the boards themselves (e.g., Death Watch beetle). If not, consider that the acoustics are lousy and that the noise is coming from elsewhere. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: Stilly River Sage Date: 24 Oct 03 - 11:51 AM Tell it to go toward the light. . . |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: GUEST,Sibelius Date: 24 Oct 03 - 11:50 AM LadyJean, I don't know the Lovecraft story. As for the previous residents, the last, who left five years ago were a couple with a toddler. They tried to sting me for £700 for carpets they hadn't even bought. Why do you ask? Seriously, the tapping's getting worse if anything. Louder. I've been under the floorboards and can't find anything, and I'd say the noise is more distinct above than below. It's distinct enough that you can pinpoint where on the floorboard it's coming from, within a couple of inches, but there's nothing there, dammit! |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: GUEST,Floorboard Monster Date: 24 Oct 03 - 11:36 AM Yeeuucchh!! Scrawny tasteless thing. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: Stilly River Sage Date: 24 Oct 03 - 10:14 AM Ohhh, that reminds me of a story that was on American television many years ago. Had David Carradine in a staring role. I think it might have been on one of the later iterations of The Twilight Zone. He and his wife lived out in a desert area with a lot of junk cars and stuff around their remote home. They had an old-fashioned well, the kind you lowered a bucket into. I forget how, but one day something fell down the well and a note came back up with the bucket saying "tasted good" and included a small fortune in golden objects. Evidently some underground population of creatures had access to this loot and wanted to trade for food. He was greedy and would send down food and loot came back. Finally he couldn't resist and went down himself to see if he could steal the rest of the loot. . . you guessed it: the last note the wife got in the bucket filled with treasures was "Tasted good, like chicken." :) SRS |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: Dave Bryant Date: 24 Oct 03 - 04:25 AM Sibelius, do you mean I got the gender wrong, or that it was somebody else who called you Sibelius. Incidently the composer was christened Johan, but decided to call himself Jean, because he was somewhat of francophile. I realised what you were insinuating in your previous posting but one - I was just waiting for a posting from Guest: Floorboard Monster saying BUUUUURRRRRRP - delicious ! - tap - tap - tap - Hurry up next meal. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: LadyJean Date: 23 Oct 03 - 11:52 PM Do you know the H.P. Lovecraft story, "Rats in the Walls"? Do you know anything about the people who lived in your house before you? |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: GUEST,Sibelius Date: 23 Oct 03 - 07:17 PM I can imagine an alarm cloock would be very annoying. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: Megan L Date: 23 Oct 03 - 04:04 PM Ah I wondered what happened to Michael Flately! Reminds me of an incident when we moved into our old house. Every night about midnight we could clearly hear tapping, just like morse code. Of course being half asleep at the time we never quite managed to locate it before the noise stopped. What could it be? Many of the old houses in our area had been used as billets during the war, was it perhaps the ghost of the nightshift radio operator? Alas no all was revealed when we had visitors and new hubby and I moved to sleep in the sitting room, the lovely little mantle clock my cousin had given us for a wedding present turned out to be an alarm cloock with the most annoying morse like ring. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: GUEST,Shel Silverstein Date: 23 Oct 03 - 03:38 PM Given your last post, it can only be one of two things, either a Boa Constrictor, or a Slithereedee. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: GUEST,Sibelius Date: 23 Oct 03 - 03:10 PM Very good, Dave Bryant! Hey, whaddya mean "calls himself..."?? That truncated last post of mine was supposed to look like I'd been swallowed whole by The Thing That Came From Under The Floorboards, just as I brought my torch to bear (think about the captain of the Nostromo, crawling around in the air shafts in 'Alien'). There's no fooling you lot, is there?! Maybe suspense thrillers aren't my strong point. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: Rapparee Date: 23 Oct 03 - 12:56 PM If it's not kobolds or tommyknockers, have you considered that someone on the other side of the world has dug a REALLY deep hole and is politely asking to be let out? |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: Raggytash Date: 23 Oct 03 - 11:52 AM Anyone seen that David Blaine fella ? |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: kendall Date: 23 Oct 03 - 09:12 AM About 30 years ago, a friend of mine was being driven nuts by a "pinging" sound near his bed. It turned out to be his watch winding itself. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: s&r Date: 23 Oct 03 - 04:31 AM Years ago as a television engineer I was sent to investigate a whistle from the TV. This wasn't uncommon and was difficult to eliminate completely; in this case it never showed when I was there. The man never complained, but his wife was driven to distraction. I went one day when the man was in bed, and there on the top of the tv was his deaf aid, not quite switched off and feeding back like crazy. Every time anyone called he put his deaf aid on to hear what was being said; the rest of the time it lived on the TV No help I'm afraid, but it just brought back memories |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: Dave Bryant Date: 23 Oct 03 - 04:23 AM Of course, since he calls himself Sibelius - it could be TAP-iola ! |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: Bill D Date: 22 Oct 03 - 07:51 PM borrow a stethoscope and/or small drill...perhaps also a fiberoptic viewer with camera...enquiring minds want to know... |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: alanabit Date: 22 Oct 03 - 01:10 PM My uncle is an ex policeman. He tells the story of an old lady who complained that she was being woken up every night by loud knocking on her front door. My uncle kept an eye on the house and found no reason to suspect anyone of disturbing her. A chance meeting with her doctor led to the discovery that she had a mild irregularity in her heartbeat. She was woken up by a knocking sound, which in actual fact was her own heartbeat. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: GUEST,Sibelius Date: 22 Oct 03 - 12:14 PM Okay okay, there's clearly some of you who aren't going to be satisfied unless I lift the floorboards and see what's in that dark void below, where no living thing has been for decades. Hang on... I'll just lever up this corner... there... I'm just peering uncertainly into the dark.... wait a minute, what's that?....something moving....I'll just shine my torch and see if I can see wh |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: muppett Date: 22 Oct 03 - 10:22 AM could be a Bogart |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: Allan C. Date: 22 Oct 03 - 10:09 AM On the chance that it might have anything at all to do with expansion or contraction of the floorboards, sprinkle a generous amount of talcum powder onto the floorboards in that area and then work it into the cracks with a brush or cloth. It has worked for me in some of the older houses where I've lived. (If this should happen to cause whatever it is to sneeze, you may want to consider a different approach.) |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: kendall Date: 22 Oct 03 - 08:59 AM If you find that it was a moose, I'd like to know how the hell it got into such a small place? hehehe (Sorry John) |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: Dave Bryant Date: 22 Oct 03 - 04:37 AM I agree with the suggestions that it's the central heating or the plumbing. Is there a radiator near the corner that the sound comes fromn ? - do you get the noise just after the system has kicked in ? Our heating system definitely produces expansion noises in the morning and on of them is a sort of knocking as floor or skirting boards expand. It could also be air in pipes as has also been suggested - you could try bleeding the radiators (should be done a couple of times a year anyway) to see if that makes any difference. Why not lift up the floorboards and have a look - mind you just to be on the safe side make sure that you've got a crucifix, some garlic, a pistol with a silver bullet, a wooden stake and hammer . . . . . . |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: Jim McLean Date: 22 Oct 03 - 03:58 AM I would suggest water pipes, I get it all the time. If you have radiators, try 'bleeding' them to let any build up of air escape. Last year, every now and then I used to hear a sound like a modem and finally traced it to next door neighbour's central heating! |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: LadyJean Date: 22 Oct 03 - 01:31 AM Sibelius, we have black squirrels in one city neighborhood, here in Pittsburgh. It is called, appropirately, Squirrel Hill. Could it be foxes, I know they live in English cities. You might want to look up The Bell Witch, as long as you're looking into hauntings. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: Ebbie Date: 21 Oct 03 - 10:50 PM Does 'it' tap when you're standing right over it? When you lay your palm above the affected area can you feel the vibration/pulse? If not, is it possible that it's actually occurring somewhere else and the sound carries to a different spot? The Death Watch Beetle sounds very much like what we call carpenter ants. They differ from termites primarily in their affinity for damp wood, I understand. The exterminator told me that southeast Alaska has an ideal climate for carpenter ants- cool, moist, lots of trees, lots of houses made of wood. There are many horror stories of the effects of neglected carpenter ant infestations- houses that have turned to shells that implode and collapse in upon themselves. A building I know had one wall ruined by them. The exterminator treated the nearby areas for the critters, the construction contractor put in a new wall. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 21 Oct 03 - 10:23 PM RATS!!!
|
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: Stilly River Sage Date: 21 Oct 03 - 08:50 PM Hmmm. . . Blowzabella, would that "Death Watch Beatle" be named George? |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: Blowzabella Date: 21 Oct 03 - 06:14 PM Didn't they have Death Watch Beatle to contend with in The Archers a couple of years ago? Any Archers addicts out there who might be able to help? |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: Penny S. Date: 21 Oct 03 - 05:42 PM Remember those earthquakes? Could your house have settled a bit? Setting up heater or wood drying noises you haven't heard before? But check out the beetles. Also Death's Head Hawk Moth. Don't they bang a bit? Could be way off beam there. Record them, and find an entomologist - local Wildlife Trust, University, whatever. Or talk to it in Irish. Penny |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 21 Oct 03 - 05:31 PM Death Watch Beetle aren't actually that rare in Britain. Not that common in modern houses, but in old buildings it's one of the things to worry about, especially for roof timbers, particularly oak. Normally the critters live in the wild, where they do a useful job in helping dispose of fallen trees and suchlike. Most timber in modern houses isn't the type of wood they like, I gather - if it's not oak it doesn't suit their lifestyle or something. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: Mr Red Date: 21 Oct 03 - 05:09 PM Forgive me for acting the engineer and all that but wood expands and contracts with the heating and nails in floorbaords can give slightly in spurts. Of course it might be the TV aerial or the cable in the wind, it might be telephone ditto and one of the clips has rusted through. Get out those binoculors and start looking at the chimbly. It might be flashing (noun not verb). |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: GUEST,Sibelius Date: 21 Oct 03 - 05:07 PM I have no firewood stored in the house, pdq, although I'm sure the thought has crossed the minds of many who have heard me play my guitar. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: Raptor Date: 21 Oct 03 - 04:05 PM Its David Blaine and this is his next trick! Raptor |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: GUEST,pdq Date: 21 Oct 03 - 03:21 PM As rare as it is for me to agree with McGrath, the Death Watch Beetle is a good possibility. The species mentioned, Xestobium rufovillosum, is European. The term comes from the beetles tendency to make a "ticking" sound when they bore through wood. The beetle is quite small, approx. 3/16 of an inch (or 5mm), usually less. The sound is very faint, hence the name. The sound was not noticed until late at night when ambient noise was very low. Several closely related families such as Bostrichidae, Lyctidae (Powder Post Beetles), and Psoidae all make some noise when actively chewing in/on wood and can also be considered suspects. Do you have firewood stored inside? If so, listen in the vicinity of the wood or move it to an outside storage area and see if the sound stops. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: open mike Date: 21 Oct 03 - 02:30 PM i heard that many years after the fox sisters and family moved out of their house there was a skelton found under the foundation!! |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: Mrs.Duck Date: 21 Oct 03 - 01:50 PM 'a little mouse with clogs on' :0) |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: GUEST,Sibelius Date: 21 Oct 03 - 01:46 PM Gimme a break, McG, we don't have those here do we? |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: HuwG Date: 21 Oct 03 - 01:41 PM Following requests, I must correct my earlier post. For ".. no rodent in my house ever had ambitions to become a drummer. ", read, " ... no rodent in my house would ever sink so low as to become a drummer. " Apologies to Jerry, Dangermouse, Hammy the Hamster and any others affected. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: Rapparee Date: 21 Oct 03 - 01:35 PM My serious guess is insects. My unserious guess is that someone was buried in the ground beneath the void by a former owner and they are rapping to be let out, their boney fingers will fasten around the throat of whoever opens the floor, dragging the poor chap down to eternal perdition or at least scaring the poo out of him or her. The first is more probable, but but the second is way cooler. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 21 Oct 03 - 12:28 PM But do check out the Death Watch Beetle possibility, seriously. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull Date: 21 Oct 03 - 12:27 PM Its a tiny little bodhran player, but he has dropped his bodhran, doesn't want to get out of practice, so is tapping on your floorboards, till he finds it. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: Dave Bryant Date: 21 Oct 03 - 12:16 PM I can remember being woken up on the narrowboat, by a clang, clang, clang sound, it was quite loud and very scary - perhaps a WW2 mine bashing against the hull - OK perhaps not that likely in the Grand Union Canal. I jumped out of the bunk and searched the boat with the aid of the other friends aboard plus the dog which belonged to one of them. The noise had stopped and we couldn't find anything. Went back to sleep and was woken up yet again by the noise - I grapped the torch which I'd left by the side of the bunk and shone it in the direction of the sound, only to find that it was the dog wagging it's tail in it's sleep and hitting the grill of the (unlit) gas heater. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: GUEST,Sibelius Date: 21 Oct 03 - 12:14 PM No, I'm still here McGrath o.H., as is the house and the damn noise! Just come in from work (16:30 BST) and there it was, greeting me like an enthusiastic terrier. By the way McG, no moose in Manchester? You ever walk down Deansgate late on a Friday night? Yes LadyJean, there are squirrels round here, lots of 'em. Horrible scrawny grey things descended from, er, a US import if I'm not mistaken! I doubt if they're the cause. They prefer being outside in the trees. Generally, I'd have thought rats, mice, even squirrels, would make scratchy scraping noises, rather than a sharp tapping. And if it is an animal, well it's been there in exactly the same place for five days now, clinging to the underside of the board, just tapping. Tapping, tapping..... Bear in mind that there's an 18-inch deep void under the floor, so it's unlikely to be an animal trapped - unless it's big enough to get trapped in a space that size, and if it's that big, it ought to be making more racket than a sharp tapping! Guest ("Like, durr...") - I would have followed that great piece of advice, except there's a small access door to the void from the cellar, through which you can shine a torch and see the whole of the underside of the floorboards and the void, and there's nothing to see but earth and rubble. The boards can stay put. Yes there are hot water pipes, but they are several feet away from the source of the tapping and have always been in the same place. They do make some noise, but it's recognisable and only really occurs when they're heating up or cooling down. Yes, the central heating's on, but it's been on for a month or so. It comes on and off during the day with the timer, but the tapping noise is there regardless. Rapaire, I did wonder whether I could put the tapping to good use as a metronome, but whatever it is, it can't keep time to save its life. Ah, now maybe you're onto something - could it be a bodhran player? Maybe not; there are too many pauses.... |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: Peterr Date: 21 Oct 03 - 11:09 AM Must be rats who have read Beatrix Potter about the Roly Poly Pudding. Did you used to have a kitten that's gone missing? |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: Stilly River Sage Date: 21 Oct 03 - 09:42 AM Yes, I know that. I should have added a smiley face to that post. ;-D |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: Amos Date: 21 Oct 03 - 08:47 AM SRS: On Henrietta's Wedding the mystery is :"Who can it be. who can it be?" at least as i recall it -- a real oldie from Joseph Marais and Miranda! Thanks for the nostalgia! A |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 21 Oct 03 - 05:48 AM No more news from Sibelius. Maybe the house has fallen down... |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Floorboard tapping noise: what can it be From: HuwG Date: 21 Oct 03 - 04:27 AM If you leave it alone for a few years, and your house falls down, it was Death Watch Beetle. Squirrels are found in parts of Manchester (there are also parts where they wouldn't be seen dead). My house is roughly the same vintage as Sibelius's; I have been troubled with mice in the ceiling and floor spaces once or twice, but only in hot months. One the other hand, no rodent in my house ever had ambitions to become a drummer. |
