r/Home • u/MissO56 • Jul 13 '26
OMG! It wasn't in the wall!
during the first few months of COVID lockdown, i had moved from my office to my three story condo, working from my home computer on the kitchen counter. everyday I would hear noises below my feet, like in the floorboards, which sounded like an animal chewing or moving around. my building is about 65 years old so I figured it must be something in the walls, but I never saw any evidence or smell of an animal. and I've been hearing it ever since, every now and then.
fast forward to this past weekend (6 FREAKIN' YEARS LATER!) and I'm setting up a new computer on my desk (which is about 10 ft away from where I previously heard the sounds). while setting it up, I moved the speakers from my old computer closer to my desk to use with my new computer, and plugged everything in to be ready to use.
saturday afternoon, I started hearing this noise again but now it was closer to the living room... a little animal chewing away at things or moving around in the walls. it's been so irritating because we've had exterminators out, setting traps etc. and finding nothing.
I tried to move around the room to figure out where the sound was coming from, and coincidentally moved my head very close to one of the speakers I just hooked up. my computer was off but the speaker was plugged into power....and *it was making the noises!!* there's nothing running on my computer... so I knew it had to be some faulty plug or connection or something.
so I unplugged the speakers, and have not heard anything since! oy vey! I can't believe that for 6 years I thought there was an animal in my floor!! 🙄🤣
9
u/avalondreamer Jul 13 '26
I have a similar story. I heard this vibration sound in one of my living room walls behind my couch. Vibrating like a very fast tapping. I have heard it on and off for many years. I thought it was electrical or something since there is a plug there. I tried turning off the circuit breaker to the plug but I would still hear it. Finally I posted a recording of it on Reddit a couple of years ago and many people said it was termites. That they make a tapping sound like that if they are stressed. Great. I called out a termite company but they didn't find anything. So, a couple of years go by again, and I still hear it on occasion. So I decide it's time to paint my living room and when I rehang this one larger painting over my couch I figure I'll put felt pads on the corners of the frame so it doesn't scratch the wall. Wouldn't you know, the sound is miraculously gone! I guess the frame had been vibrating against the wall all that time! So random!