Tapping noise coming from ceiling

Ally Dick

My mother in law is in a home and her house is unoccupied. My wife and I stay over about once a fortnight. Lately i've started to notice a sharp tapping sound on the ceiling below the attic. This sound happens in the morning only, and consists of four or five taps, a pause, then the same again. It doesn't last more than ten seconds in total. Could it be rats? I'm afraid to go and check!

Pac1Man

Does the heating get switched on at that time? It could be the pipes.

JustTheOne

It's Bart Simpsons evil twin Hugo.

maudgonner

This lady has obviously decided to move to Ireland.


(My money would be on the heating, as mentioned above)

Boom_Bap

Sounds like a ghost or some king of ghoul.
Burn the house down.

buried

Same thing was happening in Linda Blairs house before she ended up crawling down the stairs like a inverted spider vomitting the pea soup. Watch your back Ally

ixoy

JustTheOne wrote: »

It's Bart Simpsons evil twin Hugo.

Hugo wasn't the evil twin..

Deep Six

Rats on stilts or a murderous poltergeist are the only 2 possibilities.

Car99

Ally Dick wrote: »

My mother in law is in a home and her house is unoccupied. My wife and I stay over about once a fortnight. Lately i've started to notice a sharp tapping sound on the ceiling below the attic. This sound happens in the morning only, and consists of four or five taps, a pause, then the same again. It doesn't last more than ten seconds in total. Could it be rats? I'm afraid to go and check!

More than likely mice. Big f**king mice.

vicwatson

Car99 wrote: »

More than likely mice. Big f**king mice.

or bats, rats or birds:p

sjb25

Shotgun fire a few shots into the roof then go check

henryporter

Sounds like a rat that knows Morse code!

12Phase

If it's a tap, tap, tap noise it's just central heating pipes expanding.

If it's scurrying it's either birds in the roof or rodents in the attic.

Highly unlikely to be extraterrestrials, but you should take a look.

Mr. CooL ICE

Found it

gandalf

Two possibilities is its the pipes expanding if the heating has just been turned on or it is rats who have gained access to the attic because it is cold outside. The only way to find out is to throw a few traps up there and see if you catch anything.

Boardz Fiend

If you have any gaps at all in the roof ie degraded Fascia/Soffits then it could be a bird nesting. I heard the same thing in my house recently, tap, tap, tap .. only at crack of dawn. Initially I set rat traps before eventually figuring out it was a bird.

elefant

I listened to a radiolab podcast recently about tapping noises in old houses. It can sometimes be caused by Deathwatch beetles butting their heads on the rafters of houses while trying to attract mates.

Likely not the cause of your problem, but interesting anyway...

http://www.radiolab.org/story/hard-knock-life/

ahnowbrowncow

elefant wrote: »

I listened to a radiolab podcast recently about tapping noises in old houses. It can sometimes be caused by Deathwatch beetles butting their heads on the rafters of houses while trying to attract mates.

Likely not the cause of your problem, but interesting anyway...

http://www.radiolab.org/story/hard-knock-life/

Did it work for them? Cause I might give it a go.

Dial Hard

More than likely starlings nesting in the cavity. They are noisy fcukers and tap tap tap away like they're doing DIY

failinis

Dial Hard wrote: »

More than likely starlings nesting in the cavity. They are noisy fcukers and tap tap tap away like they're doing DIY

I suggest starlings, we had some as well - tap tap tap.
Could be deathwatch beetles but they sound like this though

Xaracatz

Is it somebody clicking their fingers?

Gator88

The building expands and contracts, well some of the building does anyway. Most buildings make noise. This noise could be the sun heating the attic a few degrees or as stated above most likely the heating pipes

corner of hells

Send your wife up into the attic to see what's going on , maybe throw a firework or two in there as well.

suicide_circus

Probably these individuals crawling around your attic

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/dd/b4/13/ddb4137e7d2fa90b61cf0c0b5fbe28da.jpg

maudgonner

Have you seen the film Shallow Grave? If not:

Good news: there may be a suitcase full of money in your attic.

Bad news:

Christopher Ecclestone may also be up there waiting to kill you with a hammer.

my3cents

A few suggesting its pipes expanding but the same pipes also make a noise as they cool down at night.

JupiterKid

As others suggested, probably the heating pipes expanding and contracting.

Either that or poltergeists.

rsh118

Can only be one of the two mammy explanations for house noises. Pipes or the house settling. Never anything else!

Ally Dick

I have heard the sound of pipes heating up and it is not this sound I don't think. It's like someone tapping a coin on the ceiling from the attic. More pronounced than heating expansion. Another thing is that it is only recent. Could it be to do with starlings nesting in spring????

granturismo

Ally Dick wrote: »

I have heard the sound of pipes heating up and it is not this sound I don't think. It's like someone tapping a coin on the ceiling from the attic. More pronounced than heating expansion. Another thing is that it is only recent. Could it be to do with starlings nesting in spring????

If only there was some way of recording the sound and posting it to this thread.

Let me just fire up my spiritometer. Yes definite readings of paranormal activity coming from the far right corner of the attic. Just beside the old photograph of a family who once lived there. The story goes that the husband went crazy and hung wife and four children from the big tree outside your window.

Oh wait something else is happening. The poltergage is firing up. Hmm possible evidence of poltergeist activity. They say that they are attracted to the disturbed minds of children in a house.

Just sayin'.

biko

It's a poltergiest. Hopefully it won't get violent.

rsh118

Have you checked for a long-lost sibling up there? One you never knew you had?

sconhome

my3cents wrote: »

A few suggesting its pipes expanding but the same pipes also make a noise as they cool down at night.

Most people have the heating off long before they are in bed yet have the heating come on before getting up so the water is hot for shower.

We get the same noise too, its the pipes shifting a bit when the circulation pumps come on, more a creak, creak, creak than a tap, tap, tap

DavyD_83

Ally Dick wrote: »

I have heard the sound of pipes heating up and it is not this sound I don't think. It's like someone tapping a coin on the ceiling from the attic. More pronounced than heating expansion. Another thing is that it is only recent. Could it be to do with starlings nesting in spring????

My pipes make a very pronounced tapping sound.
We had a lot of the house re-plumbed when we bought it 4 years ago, noises only started about 6 months later.
Fro a good while it was a softer noise, that we were worried was a leak which was only being aggravated by the system turning on and off (change in pressure or something).
After pulling up multiple floorboards and a lot of attic climbing I'm fairly certain it is not a leak.
For last year it is now a very definite tapping when heating kicks in, and a little less harsh when cooling down.

If there's a quick fix, I'd love to hear it.
I blame my a**hole plumbers.

screamer

If pipes have air in them they can be really noisy. Try to bleed some of the rads and see if any air is trapped in them could explain the noise.

brevity

Dial Hard wrote: »

More than likely starlings nesting in the cavity. They are noisy fcukers and tap tap tap away like they're doing DIY

Well hello Clarice.

Rega

Noises in the attic, eh?

Watch episode one of season three of Luther.

That'll sort it out

check_six

I'm not a full time ghoul-catcher, but I suggest you consider this report from the genuinely creepy things thread

ottostreet wrote: »

The most vivid thing thats happened to me is 'the crutches'.

I was about 10 or 12, and asleep in my bed, which was upstairs and across a hallway. I was woken up in the middle of the night by noises downstairs. The house is quite big, and based on the layout of the house, I would have been the only one able to hear it, the other bedrooms are in a newer part of the house.

The noises sounded like someone on crutches walking around. It was all wooden floors in the house at the time, and you can't mistake the sound of crutches. Just the sound of them clacking around in the hallway at the bottom of the stairs. I was very scared, since I knew noone was awake in the house.

But, it got worse. All of a sudden, the crutches just....flew up the stairs. I could hear them on the individual steps, but...the speed of them was just not possible. It was two seconds from downstairs to upstairs, and then...ACROSS THE HALLWAY!

It wasn't even attempting to be quiet, it just...exploded into my room. My door was closed, and remained closed. My door was a noisy creaky yoke, and it never opened. But, this thing, was in my room, and beside my bed.

Obviously, while the noise and crutches flew up the stairs and into my room, I had thrown myself under the blankets and was trying not to breathe with fear. I could feel something in the room. It clicked quickly around to the opposite side of my bed (the inner side) and...silence. I never looked, I never heard, but something was there, and looking at my bed.

I have no idea how long it went on for, but as quickly as it came, it flew back around my bed, and 'through' the door, and back downstairs. Silence in the house. I'm 90% sure I never heard it again.

I've actually had quite a few experiences, none as...definitive as that.

Sleep well!

blackbird98

Are you sure it's not outside on the roof? We sometimes get jackdaws picking at the moss on the roof

my3cents

sconhome wrote: »

Most people have the heating off long before they are in bed yet have the heating come on before getting up so the water is hot for shower.

We get the same noise too, its the pipes shifting a bit when the circulation pumps come on, more a creak, creak, creak than a tap, tap, tap

Like the OP I've recently been staying at my parents house. The house is the nosiest place you can imagine and they have the heating on until they go to bed. I can assure you that the pipes make a tap tap tap noise as they cool down at night, well actually its often a tap tap tap,,,,, bang as the contracting pipes finally get to bed themselves :mad:

Ally Dick

biko wrote: »

It's a poltergiest. Hopefully it won't get violent.

Is that similar to a poltergeist ?

Mourinho

Does it only happen when it's raining? If so could be simply a drop down (leak) from a cracked slate.

Ally Dick

Mourinho wrote: »

Does it only happen when it's raining? If so could be simply a drop down (leak) from a cracked slate.

No unfortunately. It happened yesterday morning at around 8am when it was sunny outside! The only other thing which could be relevant is that there was a hole in the roof a few years ago and rainwater got in and destroyed the ceiling. We had to get someone to repair the roof and flash the ceiling. No rain incidents since

Ruu

Did you sleep kidnap? Has happened to me, boy was my face red.

maudgonner

Ally Dick wrote: »

No unfortunately. It happened yesterday morning at around 8am when it was sunny outside! The only other thing which could be relevant is that there was a hole in the roof a few years ago and rainwater got in and destroyed the ceiling. We had to get someone to repair the roof and flash the ceiling. No rain incidents since

Did you see the roofer leave the building? Are you sure they didn't seal themselves into the attic by mistake? Or take the opportunity to get rid of an annoying apprentice?

Have you checked whether they're sending a message by morse code? 'Send breakfast roll, I'm famished'.

Custardpi

These people heard noises coming from the attic too. They didn't do anything about it. Will you make the same mistake OP?

Harry Palmr

Just go up and have a look!

Ave Sodalis

I lived in an old house whilst working in Limerick. Every night when it was dark, there was a sound in my room like a type writer. It was a very pronounced tapping. It freaked me out the first night as I was exhausted. Found out about a month after living there that a family of shrews had moved into the attic. Would never have thought it was rodents by the sounds they made but it was.

Custardpi

Hmmm, a sufficient number of shrews on a sufficient number of typewriters.... OK they're not chimps so that limits the standard a bit but I'm guessing you at least got a copy of Fifty Shades Of Grey out of the experience.

ToddyDoody

Ceiling cat?