Strange Noise Under Floor

[Terry S.]

I bought my small one-story house in 1996. It is now about 26 years old. There is no basement, but there is a crawl space under the entire house that I store a lot of stuff in. The pipes for the house's plumbing and the electrical and cable wires are all visible in the crawl space.

Recently I started hearing loud clicks coming from under the floor in the living room. I assumed they were coming from the crawl space, but when I went in it I heard nothing. Now the clicks have turned into what sounds like a noisy motor..

My oil furnace is in my garage and there's no sound coming from it. I've gone back into the crawl space and checked it out from wall to wall and still heard nothing, but when I go back into the living room the sound is still there.

Any ideas as to what's going on?

[Jon Danniken]

Sounds can travel in odd ways through buildings depending on a variety of resonant materals and spaces (and the combination of them). My suggestion would be to listen to the house itself by putting your ear on a solid material (like a wall or a floor), and follow the sound to the source as the volume increases. Take a variety of readings (several dozen) in one area to get a better idea of what's going on, and increase your data sample.

For more sensitivity, use a mechanic's stethoscope or an inverted drinking glass.

My guess would be a forgotten sump pump that is buried somewhere under there.

Jon

[Fatter Than Ever Moe]

Now you know why it's called a crawl space. Get a good flashlight and happy hunting. If you see glowing eyes looking at you while under there it's probably not a good thing.

[Earl]

There is some ghoul living in there.

[bob haller]

while the noise is occuring turn off the main breaker........

if the noise stops try isolating the noise to a single breaker...

if the noise does not stop then it might be a animal living under your home.

either way this diagnoses whats going on..

use care if its a animal

[TKM]

Clicks and motor sounds usually come from insects. Such souonds can be quite loud (think crickets). Looks for something small under there.

TKM

[joevan]

If all else fails, call Ghost busters.

[Mikepier]

Does it happen when you have the heat on? Could be the pipes expanding which is normal.