What's that sound inside my wall? (1 Viewer)

[Michael_K_Sr]

I've had a weird problem going on for a month or two now. I'll be home watching TV or reading and all of a sudden, I hear a single loud knock from inside my living room wall. Not scratching, just a knock...as if someone punched the inside the wall with a fist or rubber mallet. Usually I'll only hear it once a night, although sometimes I've heard it two or three times in a single evening. I don't think it's an animal...I don't hear any other scratching or movement.

Just before Thanksgiving, I bought a new TV and had it wall mounted. I had an electrician come in and install a new outlet about four feet up the wall. He also cut two access holes for running the HDMI and optical cables. He did comment that it was strange the wall had no insulation because it's an exterior wall. Anyhow, the sound I hear from the wall is generally a foot or two to the right of where the TV is mounted.

I don't think the sound is water hammer...there is no plumbing in the wall. I've read noises can sometimes be caused by HVAC systems cycling on or off. There is a floor mounted vent, but no return along the wall. I had a ton of exterior work done two years ago...new roof, siding, gutters, etc. The area underneath the living room was once a dirt crawlspace, but I had it sealed with concrete and a sump pump installed. I've never had water down there.

Other than the bogeyman or a poltergeist, any other guesses at what I'm dealing with?

 

[TJPC]

Woo-OOO-ooooooooooooo!
Is there an ancient Indian graveyard in the area?

 

[Clinton McClure]

I have no useful input but perhaps now is a good time to call this guy.

 

[Alf S]

I vote Poltergeist!

 

[Paul D G]

Can we make this thread about unexplained noises? There's something in my kitchen which makes a soft POP! sound. Like popping your finger out of your mouth. It's completely random, happens at different times of the day, and only occasionally. We might go days before hearing it. No idea what it could be.

When I was a kid I would occasionally hear a ticking in the corner of my bedroom. It would go on for ages but I could never trace it back to where it was actually coming from. I found out many years later that my mom thought we had a ghost in the house. (not that I believe in ghosts. my mom said even after all the kids had moved out she would hear footsteps in the attic)

 

[Michael_K_Sr]

Ha...no graveyards (ancient or otherwise) within a few miles!

 

[questrider]

 

[Stan]

I had mice a few years ago. Climbed up the foundation, under the siding and moved in under my dishwasher. My cat would sit there for hours staring at things. I could hear things in the walls, but never figured out what it was.

They finally chewed through the cabinet, the floor, dropping a bunch of sawdust in the basement and I discovered what was happening.

A couple of traps, some peanut butter, a really gross disgusting bloody mouse that got caught, but three of them died one by one. The final one realized his buddies were disappearing and he left on his own

The sound could be your furnace. Took me a long time, but my A/C unit was shrinking the duct work and there would be this weird sound inside the wall. Figured out it was the A/C since it only happened in the summer. Possibly the same thing in reverse with your heating system.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Ha...no graveyards (ancient or otherwise) within a few miles!

That you know of!

 

[Mike Frezon]

Can we make this thread about unexplained noises?

I live in a 110 year old (or so) home in the northeast. And there is this noise I cannot explain.

It sounds an awful lot like my wife sighing. This noise only happens (often on Tuesdays) when I get a package from Amazon.

 

[Clinton McClure]

I live in a 110 year old (or so) home in the northeast. And there is this noise I cannot explain.

It sounds an awful lot like my wife sighing. This noise only happens (often on Tuesdays) when I get a package from Amazon.

 

[The Drifter]

Interesting thread - I just discovered this. Though the OP's post is old, I don't have an explanation for this. My first thought was a pipe's water hammer - but since there are no pipes in the wall that the noise is originating from, that's out as a possibility (thankfully).

My home is several years away from being 40 years old (though I haven't lived here that long), and I am always hearing the house make unexplained "settling" noises. I believe that as houses get older, the foundation tends to shift/settle. I also agree with an earlier poster than having the heat/air conditioning on may affect the duct work.

Or, maybe it's a ghost - LOL.