How to hunt down a low rumbling noise in my house
Hi All,
I realize this is not a home building/remodelling question, but I am hoping that someone may have some ides to help me out.
I have a muffled humming/rummbling sound in my house. Its in every room and even the basement. Basement is a walkout so there are exterior exposed walls. The house is a centerhall colonial.
I have walked the entire house and have not noticed a change in pitch or volume to help me pinpoint it origin.
I have ruled out a motor running and electical as I threw the main breaker and did another walk through and still heard the sound. So I am stumped as to what would be causing it and how to trace its origin to remedy it.
At first I thought it was me, but I asked my wife if she heard a muffled rumble and after focusing for a minute she said yes she heard something humming.
Any thoughts?? Could it be plumbing related, airflow related??
Any thoughts would be appreciatted.
Happy Holidays and healthy New Year
George
Replies
It's the Medellin drug cartel digging a tunnel under your house.
(Seriously, is there a factory or even a large farm (with grain elevator, etc) near you? Could be coming from a mile away.)
thoughts.
1. At the same time you shut off all the power, shut off the water. Is the noise still there? When the pump was going bad on my hot water boiler, it vibrated all the pipes throughout the house. It was loudest furthest away from the boiler.
2. Plug a set of headphones into a smart phone and start recording. Move about the house and listen again for a change in pitch or volume. Or, get a SPL (sound pressure level) app for a smart phone, which will display volume graphicly. IIRC, Radio Shack used to sell a cheap SPL meter, perhaps you can find one on CL?
3. Is the noise present 24/7? Can it be heard outside at 3 am when things are quiet? If you can't hear it outside in the dead of night, my money is that it is in the house.
4. Can you feel vibration on any solid surface that matches the sound?
Good luck.
How old are you? even had 'ear rocks' ?
About 5 years ago (at 66 YO) started thinking I was hearing the computer hard drive even at the other end of the house -very faint.
Turns out that it is my inner ear, apparently failry common as one ages. Comes and goes for 1/2 hour at a time, but really only ever 'hear it' when laying in bed and everything quiet.
Like Dan says, could even be the neighbor's heat pump or old refrigerator ?
Yeah, I've had tinnitus since I was about 20. Mine is a high-pitched whistle, though.
Go to the kitchen and wait a half hour. Might as well eat something tasty. Exit the kitchen and see if the noise is gone. Works for me sometimes.
Hums are hard to find though. Wind blowing through a rooftop tv ariel can create noise. Wind blowing on overhead wiring can do that too.
I've thought about inventing an electronic pitch changer so the low noises can be heard on headphones at a lower or higher pitch. There are devices similar to that made for finding bearing noise etc.
Tough One...
... but a diary or log may help pin it down.
How long you lived there? In an urban, suburban or rural setting? Anything changed nearby after which this noise became more apparent?
The log idea's to get some info on what's changing (temp, wind strength & direction, time of day, anything else you think adds value) so that after some time's passed you can review it & see if there's a pattern somewhere.
Problem is sound waves travel until something gets in the way that then starts to move. It's that movement you're hearing but the source could be close or far.
As for tinnitus... I'm afflicted, have been for 50 years or more. 'Sound of Silence' is just the name of a tune; to me it's a constant whistling / keening that obliterates most any other sound like conversations.