Either Paranormal or Something Worse....

I have this problem in our condo and it's been going on for a few years now, but only during the late Fall, Winter, and early Spring months. It's kind of like knocking in the wall, in one corner of our bedroom - although every now and then it'll knock inside a window frame as well, but mostly the one corner of the room. The bedroom is on the 2nd floor and is - if i were to take the door assembly out - a loft style layout that is the 2nd floor on the place. The knocks are more like sharp snaps, but do sound like they are happening to 2x4s, as opposed to the drywall. I've never heard anything like these noise before, and they sometimes happen in quick bursts of 4 to 6 snaps, with the snaps evenly spaced - which causes me to wonder how they can be naturally occurring.

There are some other odd aspects that I need to note here, though. These are the things that have me confused as to what it could be, and why I'm not ready to call these "knocks" spirit communication, even though I can't seem to explain them as being "normal" either.

• The wall in question is a fire wall, and has no wiring at all behind it.
  
• The snaps happen only when the heater thermostat has been turned on - and only when the switch is on "heat", and not when the switch has been set to "A/C cool" - even though there's no requirement for the electric heater unit to be turned on. The heat is forced air and is electric, as is everything else (stove, water heater, etc.) in the place.
  
• All heating air ducts lie between the 1st floor ceiling and 2nd floor surface, and are at least 10 feet from that wall.
  
• The snaps are located" about 7 ft up the wall, and 3 feet from the corner where the outer wall (with windows and such) intersects. That section of firewall is also offset from the condo next door, so it also is an outer wall, although it is a firewall - meaning that it's much more isolated from the outside than a "normal" wall is.
  
• The snaps do not ever correspond to temperature changes inside or outside.
  
• They variate in volume from obvious to pretty damn loud, and (as I said) sometimes they repeat in rapid succession, with a definite interval consistency, and then go back to single snaps for a while.
  
• They rarely occur when no one's in the room - I've recorded the room (30 minute segments) with my laptop, and maybe one or two snaps will occur on some recordings. Also, no EVPs have been recorded during these sessions.
  
• I've had the maintenance guy from the condo association stand there and shake his head as he listens to them. He's got no idea what they are, and no idea what could be causing them.
  

They started about 3/4 of a year after a close friend of mine was murdered, so of course I "blamed" her for them, but the truth is that they don't seem as interactive as you'd expect from a paranormal source. To be completely frank, my concern is fire of some sort, but I can't figure out how anything "natural" could be causing these things - especially the rapid count snaps bursts that this whateveritis seems to have learned in the last year or so. In truth, it's actually getting more proficient, and even showing off (it seems) lately. Again, that doesn't really align with the idea of wood expanding and contracting, or metal in there somewhere whacking against wood (not that it sounds like either of those, but that's what you'd go to initially as an explanation).

I'm at a loss here. Any ideas - other than the usual troll stuff, of course - would be welcome. My worst nightmare would be that I let 3 years of clear warnings go by without fixing something that ended up burning the place to the ground, but the truth is that the wall itself is completely solid and blank. Nothing "inside" it at all, and even the super was stumped.

I don't know about where you are. But, where I live, you can contact your utility company to come to your home and inspect the wall in question. They do it for free here. You might try that if you have that option.

They can use a tester to see if you are having power surges in the line when turning on your heat.

Good Luck on finding the cause of the noise.

Hot water pipes knock???

I wonder if that snapping noise is caused by the tempertature changing and effecting the 2x4s or any other material around the A/C

Is it possible the sound is originating from
another location and it is heard as an echo
in the wall you described. What about
something on the other side of the firewall?
How old is your home?

Interesting, hope other members can
bring forth some info to help you out.

"The snaps happen only when the heater thermostat has been turned on - and only when the switch is on "heat", and not when the switch has been set to "A/C cool"

That would seem to be a big clue and while it doesn't necessarily negate a paranormal explanation, it does start to suggest the possibility of a more earthly Occam's answer.

The other item that caught my attention was your feeling that the "knocks" are irrelevant of you.

So, I'd be more fearful of the "fire hazard" possibility.

Annoying, I'm sure. Hope it works out.

Could it be the house expanding? Every now and then certain areas will creek making various noises and I am pretty sure it can be very concentrated into specific areas. When I go to sleep I hear all sorts of taps and knocks in my loft though I think its just the structure itself.

when was it built?

anything less than 15-20 yrs.

growing/settling 'pains'.

even beyond that

expansion and/or contraction of building materials.

depending upon the Quality of both materials And construction

they can make and account for Many an Odd and Oft 'recurring' noise here and there.

It is entirely possible that there is a hole somewhere in your duct work and there are critters calling it home... and when the heat is turned on, they don't like it and escape between the floor/ceiling/walls and into this corner of the home and make strange noises. It could even be how they get in and out. Just a suggestion..

I would still have it checked by the utility company, as a previous poster suggested.

It's worth getting it checked for the sake of your home and safety. The most obvious explanation is wood contracting/expanding due to temperature change (more common during winter), although if you are sure it's not 'that' and everything is fine...

Have you tried knocking back?

If you hear 2 knocks for example, knock on the same area yourself 2 times. See if you get a response... it might open up another explanation (whether paranormal or not).

Hmm...if I were really concerned about the possibility of a fire scenario, I would be tempted to take my little saw and go into the dry wall. I'd want to know what's behind there. I'm sure you've ruled out critters? I once had a squirrel in my attic. Sounded like Coxes army late at night.

Originally posted by BABYBULL24
Hot water pipes knock???

What water pipes? The entire plumbing network of the place is in the very center of the unit, and far from that wall. The snaps are very specifically located, and far away from anything that could normally make the sounds. At least, that's the view of the contractor who fixes the condo units in our sub-division. I figure that he'd know.

Expansion and contraction probably? We get these knocking noises every winter when the heating is on.

Its a bit like when you have had the TV on and after you switch it off and it cools down it makes a bit of a knocking clicking sound. It can also happen when its heating up.

I would definately look into the safety aspects of this before you dive into the whole paranormal area of it.

take care.

it being a firewall that, if i understood you right, was solid, it probably has some cinder block in between the wooden studs. The block would be more susceptible to temperature changes then the wood would be. I may be wrong about the block but seeing as brick and stone change temps quicker then wood does from ambient temps its worth wondering about.


But as an earlier poster suggested, try asking your electric company if they would inspect it for free.

Now as a Ghost Hunter, I'm going to have to ask you to use a digital recorder to try to get the evp's instead of your laptop. A laptop will have a heck of a lot more of an electromagnetic field around it then a smaller recorder would. Just my experience and my opinion.

I would check to see if the builders used steel studding for your firewall this may explain the noises.

Originally posted by The GUT

"The snaps happen only when the heater thermostat has been turned on - and only when the switch is on "heat", and not when the switch has been set to "A/C cool"

That would seem to be a big clue and while it doesn't necessarily negate a paranormal explanation, it does start to suggest the possibility of a more earthly Occam's answer.

The other item that caught my attention was your feeling that the "knocks" are irrelevant of you.

So, I'd be more fearful of the "fire hazard" possibility.

Annoying, I'm sure. Hope it works out.

If the snaps happened only when the heater and/or fan blower were on, then I wouldn't have any trouble associating the two thing, but these snaps don't need the heater unit to be turned on - just the switch to be set to that setting. I've tested this during the warm months to see if the snaps would happen when it was 85 degrees outside - and inside, of course. Sure enough, the snaps started up again, even though the thermostat would've had to be set at 90 degree for the heater unit to kick on. Clearly, the heater unit itself - nor the duct work - has nothing to do with this. Also, the thermostat wiring doesn't run anywhere near that wall. Certainly not 7 feet up that wall. It's a firewall. Nothing runs through that wall. Nothing at all.

A couple of thoughts,
Settling of the ground if this condo is fairly new and built on newly cleared, filled or had another building there before it.
Wind, temp varience,water intrusion, varmit intrusion, improper remodeling or alterations. All or some combined to compromise the engineered strength of the structure.
The reason for more noise when people are present could be due to the vibrations given of by walking, opening & closing doors(along with pressure changes) Just enough vibration and change to cause the built up tension of whatever the weakness is to slip (pop!)
Check your doors opening windows corners window sills etc for signs of uneveness, cracks, misalignments.
check the electrical outlets, cable line placements, light switch opening for temperature changes, breeze or air movement. Keep real or mental notes and keep checking these areas You may notice changes after a series of pops. Don't think your place was put together correct or according to code. A "Firewall" is only as good as the guy who built it and the other guys that drill holes through it or whatever.
What is the load of the units or area above you. Is an overloaded overhead area a contributing factor.
I wish I was there! I bet you I could figure it out for you and it would be a good adventure too.

Originally posted by electricalpup
I would check to see if the builders used steel studding for your firewall this may explain the noises.

Please explain. This might be important.

reply to post by NorEaster

My sister lived in a home that was like a spec home, and only a few were made for her area. It had steel studding that would make weird pings and knocks during seasonal shifts. You would swear her home is haunted.

There is a video here of the Death Watch Beetle:

www.arkive.org...

Does it sound anything like this? Apparently, the beetles make this knocking noise to attract a mate between March and June, but I'm wondering if the warmth in your house confuses them about which season it is.

If they generally stop knocking in June I imagine that coincides with the time you're likely to turn off your heating? And you say you don't get the noise in summer.