this tapping sound is making me crazy

[sumbride]

this is a "home" question... I should probably go to a "fixit" board, but PS is my world...

So there''s this tap tap tapping sound under my living room floorboards. It''s between the basement ceiling and the living room floor. And it only seems to happen when the heater or AC or on. It''s not exactly rhythmic... I can''t dance to it or anything, but it happens pretty regularly. DH swears he can''t hear it, but I think it''s more that he isn''t listening for it, and it''s been driving me crazy for, well, about a year now. I think it might be the ductwork for the vents... I don''t think there are any pipes under there. But sometimes it almost sounds like a dripping. I''m THIS close to either tearing down the ceiling or ripping up the floor! ceiling would probably be easiest to fix...

I also can''t quite isolate the sound... sometimes it sounds a few feet away from where I heard it before. This could be messy...

anybody successfully tracked down a mysterious sound and fixed it? Am I doomed to go crazy? know what it is? aieieieiieieeieiieieie

 

[katebar]

Date: 2/23/2008 5:09:45 PM
Author:sumbride
this is a ''home'' question... I should probably go to a ''fixit'' board, but PS is my world...

So there''s this tap tap tapping sound under my living room floorboards. It''s between the basement ceiling and the living room floor. And it only seems to happen when the heater or AC or on. It''s not exactly rhythmic... I can''t dance to it or anything, but it happens pretty regularly. DH swears he can''t hear it, but I think it''s more that he isn''t listening for it, and it''s been driving me crazy for, well, about a year now. I think it might be the ductwork for the vents... I don''t think there are any pipes under there. But sometimes it almost sounds like a dripping. I''m THIS close to either tearing down the ceiling or ripping up the floor! ceiling would probably be easiest to fix...

I also can''t quite isolate the sound... sometimes it sounds a few feet away from where I heard it before. This could be messy...

anybody successfully tracked down a mysterious sound and fixed it? Am I doomed to go crazy? know what it is? aieieieiieieeieiieieie

sumbride could it be the wood of the floor or ceiling joists expanding with the heat and making that creak noise?
Jus a thought and obviously nothing you can do about it though

 

[somethingshiny]

Found this:

Heater tapping

 

[ang3199]

What kind of heat do you have? Forced air?

My parents have hot hot hot water that goes through registers in the floor boards in their house and it makes a tapping ticking sound.

 

[sumbride]

I''m guessing forced air? It''s a typical furnace heater, I suppose. Only about 2 and a half years old. Not oil or water heat.

 

[ang3199]

How is it powered? A propane tank outside? Electric? Natural Gas?

I hear it occasionally in our house. Like tap tap tap. Sounds like expansion in the heating ducts.

Try not to let it drive you nutso!

 

[VRBeauty]

Hot water pipes or water softeners sometimes do that. Apparently it''s a question of air trapped in the pipes or a water pressure valve issue. Are there water pipes near where you tend to hear the noise?

 

[sumbride]

I think it may be the ducts expanding after some googling. It''s gas powered, I think. There may be a water pipe somewhat near there, but it would be our supply line and thus cold water. I remember my house had a "water hammer" for a while when I was a kid and it was much more annoying than this, but I think the mystery is what is really making me crazy. The "WHAT IS THAT?" part of it. I think I''m starting to understand it''s just part of the ductwork and there''s not a lot I can do... that may help. maybe!

 

[lyra]

Well, is this a *NEW* sound, or something that''s always been around, or was around last year, etc.? It may be nothing more than expansion of the heating duct pipes or plumbing pipes. Our front load washer causes the water pipes in basement ceiling to bang really loudly even though it uses a lot less water than our previous washer, which didn''t make the pipes bang at all. No big deal. Could be air trapped in a plumbing pipe if you''ve had to shut off the water recently. I doubt it''s anything to worry about. If you have a warranty on your furnace, you could call the company and ask, but beware of any repairmen trying to tell you it''s something serious without getting several opinions. Good luck!

 

[sumbride]

I don''t think it''s new. I know it''s been at least a year, but it may have been happening since we moved in. I can''t remember the first time I heard it... I think it took a while to notice.

 

[sumbride]

Thanks for convincing me that I wasn''t crazy... I chose to believe that it is the ductwork expanding and contracting since there aren''t any pipes near there... and after a full 24 hours of thinking that, it''s bothering me less and less. I think it was the worry that something was wrong getting to me... but now I feel better. So thank you to everyone!

 

[dianne]

OMG! This happened to me right after I moved into my house. No one can find water or moisture in the floors or walls but I hear dripping and it drives me nuts. I used to sleep with the TV on so I wouldn''t hear it...now that I''m married DH sleeps with a fan blowing so hard it should peel back his eyelids so that drowns it out. Everytime anyone goes under the house I ask about water but there has never been any. I was starting to think I was crazy! I guess the sound is still there but I try to not let it get too quiet--don''t want to hear it--I get obsessed too easily and want to rip the wall apart and take a peek.