How to Solve 7 Strange Noises in Your Home

Strange noises in your home may be creeping you out, but they don’t mean your home is haunted.

Does your home pop, hiss, groan, creak, and knock? Are you worried it may be haunted? Just because your home makes ghastly sounds, it doesn’t mean your home is haunted. It’s simply trying to tell you it needs some attention. Here are seven strange noises and what you can do to put an end to their creepiness.

Strange Noises #1 – Knocking or Clanking

If you hear moaning and groaning the first time you turn on your heating system in the fall, you’re not hearing the ghost of a tortured soul. When it heats up, it expands and rubs against the frame of the house. If your heating system is baseboard hot-water heat, you’ll hear clinking and knocking each time the circulator pump moves hot water through the pipes. The circulator pump or pumps should be silent when they run. But if the boiler makes knocking or clanking sounds, your circulator pump may be getting ready to give up the ghost.

Solution #1

Call the ghostbusters of Blue Frost Heating & Cooling at (630) 444-0860. One of our repairmen should check it out without delay.

Strange Noises #2 – Scratching

Scratching sounds behind the walls coming from places where no one lives in your house, may cause you to go out of your mind with fright. Again, your home is not haunted. You could have mice, squirrels, raccoons, or even bats in your attic. Critters can carry rabies and spread Hantavirus, tear up insulation, or chew through the siding and electrical wires.

Solution #2

If you suspect tiny intruders, set traps. If the critter or critters are large, stubborn or feisty, call an exterminator.

Once the reason(s) making scratching noises have been removed, prevent them from happening again.

• Seal up their entrances into your house with steel wool, metal sheeting, caulk, and/or hardware cloth.
• Cover vents and chimneys securely with mesh or a grille, so those spaces can still breathe.
• Put garbage in sealed, secured metal cans that can’t be tipped.
• Bring your pets’ foods inside.

Strange Noises #3 – Running Water

If no one in your home is using water, why are you hearing the sound of running water? Instead of ghouls, you could have a broken pipe in a wall, under the floor, or outside in your irrigation system. Now that’s scary, and water running where it shouldn’t be running will cause damage that can be very costly!

Solution #3

Shut the water main off. Did the sound go away? If it did, you’ve got a leak that needs fixing. Call Blue Frost Heating & Cooling. Our plumbers fix leaks.

Strange Noises #4 – Bubbling or Cracking

Hearing the bubbling sound of a black cauldron? Water inside a gas-fired water heater is heated until it reaches a set temperature and is ready for use, much like a boiling pot of water. Eventually, sediment builds up at the bottom of the hot water tank and forces the burner to work harder. The bubbling sound you hear is the layer of sediment. Your water tank is fatigued and ready to throw in the towel prematurely.

Solution #4

Flush out your hot water tank. Ideally, your hot water tank should be drained every few months. Because it’s kind of a pain to do though, nobody does it. Beware! If your water heater is already making these scary bubbling or cracking noises, the damage has already been done. Draining may help it last a short while longer, but it’s time to seriously consider replacing your hot water tank.

Strange Noises #5 – Whistling or Sucking

If it’s whistling or sucking sounds that are creeping you out, it’s most likely your furnace. And your poor furnace is working too hard. It’s trying to pull in air from around a dirty air filter.

Solution #5

Strange whistling or sucking sounds are an easy fix. Change and install clean filters regularly. Blue Frost Heating & Cooling recommends changing filters every month or two.

Strange Noises #6 – Regular On-and-Off Clicking

Day or night, if you hear regular on-and-off clicking sounds, it’s not a ghost. It’s a problem with a well pump, sump pump, or maybe a leaky toilet. Excessive turning on and turning off causes wear and tear on well pumps and sump pumps which leads to premature failure. A leaky toilet causes the holding tank to drain and refill continuously.

Solution #6

Check for leaks first. Then call Blue Frost Heating & Cooling for a plumber who is familiar with well systems and sump pumps.

Strange Noises #7 – Hissing

A strange hissing sound could indicate a gas leak. If your home has gas heat, a gas stove, or a gas light post, a gas line could have corroded. You should be able to smell a gas leak. Again, this strange noise is honestly scary and needs immediate attention.

Solution #7

If you smell gas, don’t mess with the gas shutoff. Evacuate the house immediately and call the gas company.

Is your home creeping you out? Rid your home of strange noises and the reasons for them. Call the heating and plumbing specialists of Blue Frost Heating & Cooling at (630) 444-0860 today and free your home of haunting noises.