PDA

View Full Version : Need help hunting down a muffled rumbling sound in my house



George Farra
12-30-2015, 9:29 AM
Hi All

Over the past few weeks I have noticed a muffled rumbling sound in my house. I hear it in every room, the basement and even the garage with the door rolled down. At night I notice it more than during the day and I can hear it over the TV. It changes pitch and sounds like a machine motor that is on but not engaged to run whatever it is connected to.

I do have a standby generator (Generac with an auto transfer switch) and have checked both and neither seem to be making any noise. I have killed the power to my house by flipping the main breakers (interrupting electrical service into the panel without causing the generator to turn on) and the sound was still present, so I do not think it is electrical.

Any thoughts on what else I should look into?? I am going to have a friend come by this weekend to see if he can hear it. I don't hear it while at work or at other people's house so I don't think its tinnitus, but ya never know. The 2 things that seem to overcome it is the sound of airflow, or the sound of water coming out a faucet. Water flowing through a pipe doesn't overcome it....if can still hear it in the basement when someone upstairs is using water.

Any thoughts would be appreciated

Thank you

George

Shawn Pachlhofer
12-30-2015, 10:19 AM
this might sound silly, but...

take a broomstick, on one end, press it flat against your ear.

walk around the house, and touch the other end to walls, floors, ceilings, etc...the stick will conduct sound to your ear and help pinpoint where the sound is coming from.

John K Jordan
12-30-2015, 10:24 AM
My first thought was electrical, maybe HVAC, then plumbing. A slow leak can cause noises. I had an air compressor that made low-level noises, but not a rumbling. I sometimes use a stethoscope to help pinpoint sounds.

Anything industrial nearby? Sounds can be transmitted by the ground, a long distance by rock. I've heard of sounds from mining some distance away and of course railroads or highways. I hope you don't live on a fault line or over a dormant volcano!

JKJ

Paul Lawrence
12-30-2015, 10:33 AM
If you want to eliminate tinnitus, try to record the sound.

I've read of sounds from industrial motors causing havoc in whole neighborhoods.

I'm wondering if your next door neighbor hears it, or if you hear it at their house.

I'm wondering if it went away during the holidays?

Chuck Wintle
12-30-2015, 10:41 AM
there is not by chance a tunnel boring machine passing beneath your house?:D

Wade Lippman
12-30-2015, 10:56 AM
If you want to eliminate tinnitus, try to record the sound.



Or better, put on ear muffs. Tinnitus remains.
If you shut off the water as well as the electricity, that won't leave much that can cause noise, except the wind.

Have a child come over; their hearing is rather better than ours.

Garth Almgren
12-30-2015, 11:03 AM
Eliminating power and water, I was thinking wind as well. Perhaps a whirleybird on the roof with a bearing that is going bad?

Kev Williams
12-30-2015, 11:21 AM
I was just thinking the same thing, a rotating attic vent, or a wind-speed turbine for a weather station? I have one attached to a sewer vent pipe and it's very noticeable when it's turning- although I wouldn't call it a rumble...

Speaking of sewer vents, however unlikely, it is possible they could be 'rumbling', when air passes over them (like blowing across a Coke bottle), or they could be picking up vibrations from sewer flowing thru the main line. If you're on a septic tank, maybe something's going on in there causing a reverberation...

To test the vent pipes you could put empty plastic glasses or soup cans over them and see what happens?


Maybe you have a neighbor growing pot in the basement, and HIS generator is what you're hearing? ;)

Jerome Stanek
12-30-2015, 11:59 AM
A ceiling fan or attic fan

Rich Engelhardt
12-30-2015, 12:14 PM
Call a pest control company to come out and inspect the house for termites or carpenter ants.
Both can generate that sort of sound as they chew on the framework of the house.

glenn bradley
12-30-2015, 1:07 PM
Kill the electrical main; if the sound stops, at least you know it is something running. If not . . . Turn off the water at the source; if the sound stops, you know it is water related. If not . . . eliminate any passive systems like roof turbines, gable vents, etc. If it is none of those, at least you know its not you :)

George Farra
12-30-2015, 4:34 PM
Thanks everyone for the help. I live in Northern NJ (25 miles to NYC). Outside I can hear traffic from a nearby roadway but that has a swooshing sound and I was never able to hear it indoors.

This, is more like a low deep drone, hum, or rumble and it does change pitch like a pulse. It is louder at night, but when I hear it at night there is no noticible change in volume as I walk around the house trying to find its source. Its like the sound is in the air around me. The only reason I don't think it tinnitus is because I only hear it in my house. I don't hear it at work, my sister's house, in the car, or my in-laws house.

I don't think its electrical or anything run on electricity in my house (circulator pumps, refrigerators, etc) since I turned off the master breakers in my service panel and still heard the sound.

I will try turning off the main water supply and see if that eliminates the sound. If turning off the main water doesn't do it, should I run a faucet to release pressure in the plumbing??

I am considering buying a stethoscope to help hunt down the source, or maybe a sound level meter and see if the dB reading during the day is any different than at night. After that I am making a doctors appointment to check my ears

George

George Farra
12-30-2015, 4:36 PM
I guess I can also put earplugs in my ears and see if I still hear it. If I do.....I guess I would have found the source :(

Mark Blatter
12-30-2015, 5:41 PM
Could the wife or kids be trying to drive you crazy?

Have you looked at the water heater? Perhaps it is rumbling some due to water pressure or other issue. Shutting off the water may not help immediately. Try shutting off the water, then letting the lowest hot water tap run for a few minutes and see if it stops.

Jerome Stanek
12-30-2015, 6:08 PM
If you have a smart phone down load a free sound meter app

John K Jordan
12-30-2015, 6:10 PM
I don't know what a professional sound meter would do, but the inexpensive one I have is better at loud sound. With very low sound the readings are inconclusive. I think your idea getting some other people to confirm the sound is a good first step.

JKJ

George Farra
12-31-2015, 8:49 AM
Thanks everyone for your help. Last night while parked in my driveway with the car turned off I was hearing the same humming/rumbling sound that I hear inside my house. So its either my ears or something outside that is making its way inside.

At this point, I am going to see a doctor. I am overdue for a check up anyway. If its not my ears, there is a transformer sitting on a concrete pad across the street from my house. I can also call the utility company and have them check their transformer, but I am doubting that is the cause because when I stand outside I don't her the hum/rumble sound. It's only when I am in something quiet and enclosed.

Happy New Year all!! Good health to you and your loved ones.

George

Prashun Patel
12-31-2015, 9:11 AM
Do you hear the noise away from your house? It seems like it's only around your home, so I'd think it's something there. Do your neighbors or other family members hear it?

I have mild tinitis, and the sound is there ALL the time. And it's a high pitched ringing, not a low rumble. I have a few friends with tinitis and they all say it's high pitched sound they hear.

Assuming it's NOT your ears, I would suspect a loose attic fan if you have one. They vent outside, so it's not unheard of (sorry!) to hear it from your driveway if it comes loose in the housing.

George Farra
12-31-2015, 11:26 AM
Thanks Prashun. I was going to ask my neighbor if anyone in his household has noticed it. I don't notice it at work, nor on the subway or NYC streets....but all these environments are much noisier that my neighborhood and my house.

This is going to be one of those things that bug me until there in an "OMG" moment :)

George

Jerome Stanek
12-31-2015, 2:23 PM
It's probably just a little Chinese boy trying to dig to the US like when we were little and tried to dig to China