Tapping noise coming from ceiling

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?

timthumbni

Probably a starling has got into your attic from under your roof. Can cause awful noise for a while. Could ye not go up and investigate? Maybe catch it and let it out.

Otherwise house noises. Heat, cold etc causing wood in the roof to cause bit of noise.

Either that or you've got ghosts of course. Good thing. Record them and you would make more money than a Panama offshore account.

on_my_oe

We had tapping in our ceilings and walls - pipes popped off their clips, heating went on and tap, tap. Some of lovely folk in Plumbing suggested what the problem was - took the plasterboard off where the noises were, went OTT with extra clips to avoid it happening again, and we are 'all good' now.

FizzleSticks

This post has been deleted.

pablo128

Borrow a cat and fire it up into the attic for a couple of days.

timthumbni

pablo128 wrote: »

Borrow a cat and fire it up into the attic for a couple of days.

Do you mean set it on fire in the attic or leave it it up there for a couple of days?

pablo128

timthumbni wrote: »

Do you mean set it on fire in the attic or leave it it up there for a couple of days?

As much as I don't like the sly little b@stards, I don't think I could bring myself to actually burn one!:pac:

Nah just put it in the attic with a bowl of water and give it 2 days up there. Let it leave its scent up there too to put other critters off.

Capt'n Midnight

Have you tried a seance yet ?