Give speedball1 and award!!

We had the humming noise and searched all over the house. We thought it was probably electrical. We then read this message thread, read the answer from speedball1 and checked. It was the toilet.

This saved us a tremendous hassle and cost.

THANK YOU SPEEDBALL1!!

Speedball1,

Does the humming that you described coming from a toilet only occur when the
Main water line to the house is on? I hear the humming even when I turn the
Water off.

I had the power company shut down the power. I shut off the water at the pump house. Still humming. Has been for a year now. Not a toilet or fridge or any appliance. Even removed batteries from anything that used them. Still humming. Cannot be heard outside, only inside. :confused:

I had / have a similar experience in my home when I first moved in... a rumbling, sometimes humming noise that sounded like a train a distance away. It turned out to be my turbine roof vents, totally wind operated. Just thought I would pass that along... house noises can come from anywhere!

For the past month, been hearing humming noise in the evening, also though it was a vehicle with its engine running but was wrong, ask neighbors and whenever people were in my house - nobody hears it but me, its not electrical, plumbing or rodents in the attic. Very faith humming noise. Sometimes think its someone playing music and I hear the bass, wrong again. Tried to ignore it, but cant. Check out this URL below, maybe my problem as well as yours?

Mystery humming sound captured - Technology - theage.com.au





QUOTE=diamdave]We have had this problem in Chicago for over three years now.
First we thought it was the frig, the turned off the power main, still hear it. Sounds like a truck idling outside, but go outside and its dead quiet. Go inside and its omnidirectional in the home.
We installed airport noise abatement windows in our bedroom. That muffled the cars and voices outside, but did nothing for this low hum.

Among the things we checked:

* Hum heard with power main 'off'
* No attic fan
* No sump pump
* Gutters are tight
* roof antenna tight
* Chimney has a cap
* Someone mentioned it might be wind over the toilet roof vents/stacks. I don't know, anybody ever hear of this?
* Hot water tank new... 3 years old, seems quiet
* Heard with heat or a/c off.
* Plumbing seems quiet.
* We have flat roof vents, but so do our neighbors, don't hear the sound
* 75% of backyard is concrete, but I thought concrete is a sound blocker, not transmitter.
* Had gas lines checked, all OK
* Had chimney cleaned, some nesting and a dead bird clay liner shifted slightly, but otherwise OK.
* We have an extension back room on our second floor. Has one gable vent, separate from attic. Also has its own independent gas heater, we never use, but has its own vent stack on roof.

We are at a loss. Bothers me more than my wife. NOt loud, but low, fan and ear plugs do not mask it. ANY remedies you can offer? Solve this and I'll fly you in and treat you to any meal in any restaurant in Chicago you want. Really. Please help, Dave[/QUOTE]

You said "nobody hears it but me"... ever hear of tinnitis? I used to go to a lot of rock concerts... the humming was always there... it goes away in 10- 15 years.

Thank you for your response, thought at first it may have been tinnitus but its not, very low grade vibration humming only hear at home, its not constant, fades and returns - only in the evening, after reading other blogs it maybe transformer or pool pump. However, when I go outside it disappears.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jwalker2007

Hello, I hope you folks can help me.

Recently, we have been hearing a loud, low frequency "hum" throughout our house. I have turned the main power off to determine whether it's electrical. It's not. The noise does sound like a "fog horn" going off several blasts at a time and the noise level is constant in every level/room.

I think this is a water pipe humming problem like other people have described. However, I have turned the water main off and the problem does not go away! A quick check of indoor faucets and toilets didn't really turn up the culprit.

I recently got a lawn sprinkler installed. I can't really check its pipes. Could this be the source of the problem too?

Before I call a plumber, is there anything else I should try? Attic/roof inspection? Gas line? Structure?

Any suggestion would be appreciated. This noise is very annoying.

Cheers.

---

I have the same problem. It's a humming noise that started a couple of months ago and is only heard at night. It doesn't bother my wife but its very annoying to me. I turn the power off and check out side and the humming noise is only inside. Very confusing.. have you found anything on your end?

slkot,
Suggest that you purchase a engine stethoscope from automotive parts store and use it to check plumbing. Sound can be transmitted through the pipes even thought the water is turned off. You can do the same thing with a short piece of hose or even a short piece of pipe. Place one end of the hose to the water pipe coming into the house and the other to your ear. You could use this method to check various places or items in you house to isolate the source.

Hey, I suggest you check if your windows are open while this happens because it could be anyone outside walking by, driving by,etc!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jwalker2007

Hello, I hope you folks can help me.

Recently, we have been hearing a loud, low frequency "hum" throughout our house. I have turned the main power off to determine whether it's electrical. It's not. The noise does sound like a "fog horn" going off several blasts at a time and the noise level is constant in every level/room.

I think this is a water pipe humming problem like other people have described. However, I have turned the water main off and the problem does not go away! A quick check of indoor faucets and toilets didn't really turn up the culprit.

I recently got a lawn sprinkler installed. I can't really check its pipes. Could this be the source of the problem too?

Before I call a plumber, is there anything else I should try? Attic/roof inspection? Gas line? Structure?

Any suggestion would be appreciated. This noise is very annoying.

Cheers.

---

Hearing humming noise based on my search is from either the sounds of planet moving caused by electromagnetic forces. Some people can hear it, and they are called "HEARER". Several years ago Japanese scientist look for the noise source, and could not find the source except the above COSMOS noise.
I hope this help.

I haven't read all of the posts so I don't know if this is relevant to you (maybe you tried this already). We had a low frequency vibration in the house for the past month (that only I could hear) and finally today, I think we've tracked it down. Our water softener has a bypass mode so we turned it to that mode so that water would no longer be diverted through the softener. Suddenly, no more noise. We took it off bypass and soon, I heard the noise again. We'll probably have to replace the softener and hope we don't have the same problem with the new one. Good luck.

I too have had the humming noise and recently vibrations. A variety of contractors have checked the entire house out and did eliminate some noise, but the humming continues. What I believe the humming and vibration noise is coming from is seismic/earthquake activity. I live in an area where earthquake activity is not common so I never considered it, but recently I found out that there was a 3.9 earthquake 2 hours east in the last 6 months, and the USGS installed a broadband earthquake monitor an hour west of our house (in an area which has never had an earthquake). I have been monitoring the humming noise with the earthquake monitor which is on the internet (see link below) - the monitor is real-time, and the noise level corresponds with the earthquake activity.

Seismic Network Operations

The "Heliplot" tab shows the seismic info.

Here is another link for Texas seismic info: TexSeis Home

(click on the "Recent Helicorder Displays" to show real-time earthquake readings)

I'm having the same problem my husband has a reward in place to anyone who can solve this mystery noise.We moved in May of this year to a 21 year old home did all the renovations had all sorts of trades in here. And every body is at a loss! Here's the best part this rumbling noise that last approximatley 10 to 20 seconds is non exsisting on the weekends.Stop at 5:00p.m Fri. and starts up Mon. 8:00 a.m.
Anyone please help!

I had a third pest control person out, and this one said that it could be mud dauber(s) in the wall because they flap their little wings and can cause a lot of noise. He said the humming definitely was not bees or wasps. We are going to plug the weep holes with copper wool so that they cannot come & go, & plug other cracks, etc. Apparently the mud daubers are hard to see in action because they come & go every 1/2 hour.

Any chance you could call the previous owners and see if they had this issue? Maybe they can offer some help in finding out what the problem noise is. And as far as insects, I don't think they take weekends off. Do you hae any timers which control pumps or attic fans? Any trains near you that could run on different schedules on the weekend? Just grasping at straws here, but if you have a timetable it's likely a timed event, either mechanical or human affected.

Has anyone installed Ridge Vents on their roof? They are causing the humming. I have just discovered that when using ridge vents for attic ventilation you must close off the gable vents, turbines, & louvers. More importantly, you have to allow sufficient soffit airway passage in order for the ridge vents to work properly. Along with the constant humming and wind variance, I believe my ridge vents are creating a negative pressure and are bringing in the traffic noise during rush hour and at night when trucks travel the freeway. Here are a couple links with info:

On The House with the Carey Bros. & Rebecca Cole. : Attic Ventilation -> Weekly Project

Air Vent: Troubleshooting Tips

Unfortunately, the roofing contractor who replaced the roof does not know how ridge vents work and how they interact with soffits. I am calling another company to fix the mess. Wish there was a ridge vent class action -- or there should be.

Do you have a programmable thermostat, alarm system, water heater timer, any kind of timing device that might be set one way during the week and another during the weekend. You say the rumbling last 10-20 seconds, how long between rumblings.

Hi,

I just read your letters regarding the humming problem you have or have had in your homes. I noticed that the letters were posted back in 2007. I was just wondering if you have had any luck locating the source of this humming noise.

Unfortunately for the past month I too have been experiencing the very same type of noise in my home. Like you no one else in the house can hear it. I too am at my wits end. I cannot get any sleep. It is the most annoying, exasperating noise I have been experienced. It is a low frequency, vibrating, mechanical, fog-like, intermittent noise. I can also hear it everywhere in the house. I too am considering selling my house and moving on. I just cannot tolerate the constant, irritating noise any longer. Again, ear plugs make it worse.

I like you have tried everything possible. Stopped whirly birds, called PUC to check water lines and turn off electricity, called the gas company to turn off gas. I just had a college professor come over with a special monitor for low frequency sounds and it definitely shows a huge difference from regular noise to low frequency noise, but cannot identify exactly where the source is coming from as it is everywhere in the house.

My family is going insane because I am driving them crazy. It is very upsetting that no one else can hear it when it is like having my head inside of an engine.

I know that there has to be a logical explanation, but I don’t know what else can be done at this point.

I would appreciate any suggestions you may have. As I stated above, I have already done everything suggested in the replies you previously received.

Thanks again.

Stumped in Canada

Hi Again,

I think we may have solved our mysterious humming noise and I hope this may help you. I was away for the weekend and when I returned home on Sunday night, the noise was gone. It is something totally interesting.

Do any of you by any chance have climbing vines on your homes? While I was away, my husband cut 300 to 400 feet of climbing vines from the side of our home. The vines had intertwined into the eaves troughing. The vines of course came from the ground to the roof. It seems that the vines were creating some sort of contact electrode. We all know that there is always vibration in the ground and by the vines touching the ground were picking up some sort of vibration and carrying it to the eaves troughing and causing the humming sound against the aluminum and then throughout the whole house. I don't know if this will be of help, but I do hope so. As stated in my last letter I know how annoying and frustrating this noise is especially because no one else in the house can hear it. I was at my wits end and ready to put the For Sale Sign up. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Hopefully no longer stumped in Canada