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Minor Strangeness (IHTM)

I've been hearing weird 'bumps' in the night again. It sounds as though it comes from the front of my bedroom (which is tiny), from just underneath the window. It happens when I'm awake, it's not a sound that wakes me up, although it's quite loud and it's a kind of soft creaking sort of thump.

I was thinking it was the dog, who sleeps outside my room on the landing, but I can't see how she would make this noise, I can't hear her moving (normally I can hear her get up to go downstairs, or twitching in her sleep), and it's the one single thump. Roughly the sound that would be made by a bottle or book falling from my chest of drawers onto the carpet, only there's nothing there.
 
catseye said:
I've been hearing weird 'bumps' in the night again. It sounds as though it comes from the front of my bedroom (which is tiny), from just underneath the window. It happens when I'm awake, it's not a sound that wakes me up, although it's quite loud and it's a kind of soft creaking sort of thump.

I was thinking it was the dog, who sleeps outside my room on the landing, but I can't see how she would make this noise, I can't hear her moving (normally I can hear her get up to go downstairs, or twitching in her sleep), and it's the one single thump. Roughly the sound that would be made by a bottle or book falling from my chest of drawers onto the carpet, only there's nothing there.
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I've had that for years at this place. Never found out what causes it. Happens every night.
 
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catseye said:
I've been hearing weird 'bumps' in the night again. It sounds as though it comes from the front of my bedroom (which is tiny), from just underneath the window. It happens when I'm awake, it's not a sound that wakes me up, although it's quite loud and it's a kind of soft creaking sort of thump.

I was thinking it was the dog, who sleeps outside my room on the landing, but I can't see how she would make this noise, I can't hear her moving (normally I can hear her get up to go downstairs, or twitching in her sleep), and it's the one single thump. Roughly the sound that would be made by a bottle or book falling from my chest of drawers onto the carpet, only there's nothing there.
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Mythopoeika said:
I've had that for years at this place. Never found out what causes it. Happens every night.
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Is there a radiator under your window?
 
catseye said:
I've been hearing weird 'bumps' in the night again. It sounds as though it comes from the front of my bedroom (which is tiny), from just underneath the window. It happens when I'm awake, it's not a sound that wakes me up, although it's quite loud and it's a kind of soft creaking sort of thump.

I was thinking it was the dog, who sleeps outside my room on the landing, but I can't see how she would make this noise, I can't hear her moving (normally I can hear her get up to go downstairs, or twitching in her sleep), and it's the one single thump. Roughly the sound that would be made by a bottle or book falling from my chest of drawers onto the carpet, only there's nothing there.
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There is relevant discussion of house noises on this thread -

Footsteps Across The Ceiling During A Trip To France
 
Mythopoeika said:
Except that the heating can be off all day and this sound still occurs.
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I actually wasn't considering that the heating being on was a factor, but that some radiators are quite loose ie you can move them if you wiggle them.
Nowadays you have plastic clips to put on the brackets before you hang the radiator, so that it's not metal on metal, but older ones don't have these.
I was wondering if the expanding/contracting through the climate (not the heating) was enough throughout the day to cause the rad to 'settle' back.
I agree that in your case with it happening every day, it's not likely, but just a thought.
 
Mythopoeika said:
Except that the heating can be off all day and this sound still occurs.
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Floyd1 said:
I actually wasn't considering that the heating being on was a factor, but that some radiators are quite loose ie you can move them if you wiggle them.
Nowadays you have plastic clips to put on the brackets before you hang the radiator, so that it's not metal on metal, but older ones don't have these.
I was wondering if the expanding/contracting through the climate (not the heating) was enough throughout the day to cause the rad to 'settle' back.
I agree that in your case with it happening every day, it's not likely, but just a thought.
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Yup, when the heating's off it's still a load of water standing around that's going to react to the air temperature. Some rooms will retain heat better than others.
 
escargot said:
In winter that mysterious sound would be my knees knocking together.
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Tiny house, the heat from downstairs makes its way upstairs and besides, I hate a warm bedroom! I've also got a logburner in the living room - if I light that I have to open all the windows because it makes the place so warm,
 
I’m trying to get to the bottom of a sound that I don’t think is ‘paranormal’ but has me puzzled.

It began in about May and happens maybe once a week or so.

We’re in a small cul-de-sac of quite a small and quiet estate which mainly sees cars and Amazon-type vans.

At the end of the cup-de-sac is a pedestrian path running along the side of a very steeply banked stream which is the edge of the estate, and beyond that is a wide grass area with a path/cycle track then a road.

There’s no road works or building works currently going on.

This seems to happen in the day around 12 noon to about three o ‘clock.

If anyone’s ever had a pigeon really wham! into a window the sound at its quietest is like that, and at it’s loudest sounds as if someone’s driven into the side of the house with a car. Not rammed it but maybe backed into it pretty hard.

At first I thought it was a bird flying into a window and checked and it wasn’t. You can definitely feel it — as if something’s whacked into the house. Where I used to live we had kids who would kick footballs at the side of the house so I know what that sounds like but it was louder and without that kind of ‘bounce’ after.

I was mildly concerned and confused for a few weeks and would go outside and look around but there was never anything, then I thought duh, look at the Ring cameras. There’s one at the side, one at the front and one affixed to the garden room/gym at the bottom of the garden facing up to the back door and between them they cover pretty much everyone coming and going and you can ‘rewind’ to see everything.

There’s nothing, yet you can feel the window in the kitchen (where I work) quiver and that kind of pressure that you feel when something has hit a wall. My partner checks the loft weekly since as we had rats up there he’s got cameras and motion sensors; there’s hardly anything up there at all and nothing’s displaced or fallen, nothing inside the house has fallen or moved.

I thought it might be next door but it’s happened when they’re both out and when they were away on holiday, when the cul-de-sac is perfectly quiet in the work week and no kids around.

I can only think that it’s something below the ground? Sound travelling from somewhere?
 
Fanari_Lloyd said:
I’m trying to get to the bottom of a sound that I don’t think is ‘paranormal’ but has me puzzled.

It began in about May and happens maybe once a week or so.

We’re in a small cul-de-sac of quite a small and quiet estate which mainly sees cars and Amazon-type vans.

At the end of the cup-de-sac is a pedestrian path running along the side of a very steeply banked stream which is the edge of the estate, and beyond that is a wide grass area with a path/cycle track then a road.

There’s no road works or building works currently going on.

This seems to happen in the day around 12 noon to about three o ‘clock.

If anyone’s ever had a pigeon really wham! into a window the sound at its quietest is like that, and at it’s loudest sounds as if someone’s driven into the side of the house with a car. Not rammed it but maybe backed into it pretty hard.

At first I thought it was a bird flying into a window and checked and it wasn’t. You can definitely feel it — as if something’s whacked into the house. Where I used to live we had kids who would kick footballs at the side of the house so I know what that sounds like but it was louder and without that kind of ‘bounce’ after.

I was mildly concerned and confused for a few weeks and would go outside and look around but there was never anything, then I thought duh, look at the Ring cameras. There’s one at the side, one at the front and one affixed to the garden room/gym at the bottom of the garden facing up to the back door and between them they cover pretty much everyone coming and going and you can ‘rewind’ to see everything.

There’s nothing, yet you can feel the window in the kitchen (where I work) quiver and that kind of pressure that you feel when something has hit a wall. My partner checks the loft weekly since as we had rats up there he’s got cameras and motion sensors; there’s hardly anything up there at all and nothing’s displaced or fallen, nothing inside the house has fallen or moved.

I thought it might be next door but it’s happened when they’re both out and when they were away on holiday, when the cul-de-sac is perfectly quiet in the work week and no kids around.

I can only think that it’s something below the ground? Sound travelling from somewhere?
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Is anyone doing basement work? Do homes in the UK have basements? I know some homes in the US don't.

I am assuming you are in the UK as most of our members are.

Your description reminds me of someone breaking up a concrete patio or floor. Though to continue doing this for months would be unusual.
 
@brownmane There’s no basement. The houses here were built in the 90’s and my partner moved in then, so they’re not that old. There have been no work vans around and no neighbours seem to be having any work done in the last few months, at least within the close itself. Everything’s been pretty quiet in fact. I wondered if the nearby stream might be amplifying or carrying sounds from somewhere, if that’s possible.
 
Fanari_Lloyd said:
@brownmane There’s no basement. The houses here were built in the 90’s and my partner moved in then, so they’re not that old. There have been no work vans around and no neighbours seem to be having any work done in the last few months, at least within the close itself. Everything’s been pretty quiet in fact. I wondered if the nearby stream might be amplifying or carrying sounds from somewhere, if that’s possible.
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Yes, sound does travel well underground and water amplifies it. Though if this were the case, you would think, you would have heard something like this more often. Though I don't know how urban your area is.

In the city, there is always construction here.
 
Fanari_Lloyd said:
I’m trying to get to the bottom of a sound that I don’t think is ‘paranormal’ but has me puzzled.

It began in about May and happens maybe once a week or so.

We’re in a small cul-de-sac of quite a small and quiet estate which mainly sees cars and Amazon-type vans.

At the end of the cup-de-sac is a pedestrian path running along the side of a very steeply banked stream which is the edge of the estate, and beyond that is a wide grass area with a path/cycle track then a road.

There’s no road works or building works currently going on.

This seems to happen in the day around 12 noon to about three o ‘clock.

If anyone’s ever had a pigeon really wham! into a window the sound at its quietest is like that, and at it’s loudest sounds as if someone’s driven into the side of the house with a car. Not rammed it but maybe backed into it pretty hard.

At first I thought it was a bird flying into a window and checked and it wasn’t. You can definitely feel it — as if something’s whacked into the house. Where I used to live we had kids who would kick footballs at the side of the house so I know what that sounds like but it was louder and without that kind of ‘bounce’ after.

I was mildly concerned and confused for a few weeks and would go outside and look around but there was never anything, then I thought duh, look at the Ring cameras. There’s one at the side, one at the front and one affixed to the garden room/gym at the bottom of the garden facing up to the back door and between them they cover pretty much everyone coming and going and you can ‘rewind’ to see everything.

There’s nothing, yet you can feel the window in the kitchen (where I work) quiver and that kind of pressure that you feel when something has hit a wall. My partner checks the loft weekly since as we had rats up there he’s got cameras and motion sensors; there’s hardly anything up there at all and nothing’s displaced or fallen, nothing inside the house has fallen or moved.

I thought it might be next door but it’s happened when they’re both out and when they were away on holiday, when the cul-de-sac is perfectly quiet in the work week and no kids around.

I can only think that it’s something below the ground? Sound travelling from somewhere?
Click to expand...

Consider ensuring that all the Ring cameras and your watch are set to exactly the same time. The next time the noise occurs, instantly note the time, then check the cameras for that instant. Something inconspicuous might be happening.

maximus otter
 
Fanari_Lloyd said:
I’m trying to get to the bottom of a sound that I don’t think is ‘paranormal’ but has me puzzled.

It began in about May and happens maybe once a week or so.

We’re in a small cul-de-sac of quite a small and quiet estate which mainly sees cars and Amazon-type vans.

At the end of the cup-de-sac is a pedestrian path running along the side of a very steeply banked stream which is the edge of the estate, and beyond that is a wide grass area with a path/cycle track then a road.

There’s no road works or building works currently going on.

This seems to happen in the day around 12 noon to about three o ‘clock.

If anyone’s ever had a pigeon really wham! into a window the sound at its quietest is like that, and at it’s loudest sounds as if someone’s driven into the side of the house with a car. Not rammed it but maybe backed into it pretty hard.

At first I thought it was a bird flying into a window and checked and it wasn’t. You can definitely feel it — as if something’s whacked into the house. Where I used to live we had kids who would kick footballs at the side of the house so I know what that sounds like but it was louder and without that kind of ‘bounce’ after.
Click to expand...
Someone shutting a roller shutter garage door? (Those things can be quite noisy).
 
escargot said:
We have a similarly-themed thread, The Strange Case Of The Rattling Door, which explores possible causes of house noises.

It came to mind because I remembered posting about living near a piledriver.
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With it happening at a regular time (ish) it makes me wonder if it is someone who has a routine of going out to do say, the 'weekly' shop or maybe a supermarket delivery to an house- people often have those at regular times/days.
 
Floyd1 said:
Someone shutting a roller shutter garage door? (Those things can be quite noisy).
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The closest garage is around the corner and about 500 yards away, I think. I used to live where we had those by the houses and they are noisy but never made the house quiver.

My partner’s going to check the ring cameras if we’re around when it happens.

There’s no construction nearby, or roadworks; a couple of miles away in each direction they’re building new-builds, which is why I wondered about the stream carrying the noise. Or even if it was a shift in the earth although it’s quite violent if so. But the stream carries all the runoff from the storm drains so it fills up fast. In 08 (I think) it flooded when there was a real monsoon rain (there had been a pollution spill from the new estate so plastic booms were put in the stream but of course no-one took them out after, and the water backed up and spilled over the banks) Cars were stranded all along the wide grass verge the next day. It was like something out of the Walking Dead!

(Along the path that borders the stream on this side there used to be a bench where people could sit but the council removed it and now you can’t even see where it was as the bank has slipped so much. In time the path itself will go, I think, it already cracks all the time and slopes toward the stream in some places).
 
Fanari_Lloyd said:
The closest garage is around the corner and about 500 yards away, I think. I used to live where we had those by the houses and they are noisy but never made the house quiver.

My partner’s going to check the ring cameras if we’re around when it happens.

There’s no construction nearby, or roadworks; a couple of miles away in each direction they’re building new-builds, which is why I wondered about the stream carrying the noise. Or even if it was a shift in the earth although it’s quite violent if so. But the stream carries all the runoff from the storm drains so it fills up fast. In 08 (I think) it flooded when there was a real monsoon rain (there had been a pollution spill from the new estate so plastic booms were put in the stream but of course no-one took them out after, and the water backed up and spilled over the banks) Cars were stranded all along the wide grass verge the next day. It was like something out of the Walking Dead!

(Along the path that borders the stream on this side there used to be a bench where people could sit but the council removed it and now you can’t even see where it was as the bank has slipped so much. In time the path itself will go, I think, it already cracks all the time and slopes toward the stream in some places).
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Any quarries that might be blasting? They tend to do all the blasting in one go to minimise disruption...
 
catseye said:
Any quarries that might be blasting? They tend to do all the blasting in one go to minimise disruption...
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No quarries, though there was one in Roman times in the old town, just a Quarry Road left to remember it.
ETA. Oh no, it was used or centuries up to the time of the Great Western Railway, but there’s no others near us.
 
Fanari_Lloyd said:
No quarries, though there was one in Roman times in the old town, just a Quarry Road left to remember it.
ETA. Oh no, it was used or centuries up to the time of the Great Western Railway, but there’s no others near us.
Click to expand...
Might not have to be that near, though? I'm not sure how far the sound of blasting would carry, but I know we used to know when blasting was carried out in the quarry that's around fifteen miles away, when the wind was in the right direction. Didn't make the house shake though.
 
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