We’ve all been there: You’re watching a scary movie and suddenly you hear a creak on the stairs behind you.
Or, you’re working in your home office and the door slams shut by itself. How about that pocket of cold air you passed on your way to refill your morning coffee?
You don’t need to see a ghost or hear maniacal jumps coming from the attic to suspect that your house may be haunted. Even the coldest of homeowners can be disturbed when they hear, see or feel creepy things inside their home.
But before you run out and hire an exorcist or turn to smudge sticks and sage, there may be perfectly reasonable, non-supernatural explanations for these surprising phenomena.
Just ask Jon Christensen, founder of Bidmii, which connects homeowners with contractors. He used to have a side hustle renovating old houses with his wife.
“Renovating the houses of these centuries taught us that almost all ‘hauntings’ have logical explanations,” says Christensen.
Ready to feel a little less freaked out by those disturbing noises and other happenings? Here are some familiar scary sounds and the not-so-scary reasons they occur.
Hitting the walls
In one of the first-century houses renovated by Christensen, they often heard loud crashing noises coming from behind the walls, especially in the evening.
“It was disturbing, to say the least,” he says. “After some investigation, we found it was due to a water hammer effect. The old plumbing system in combination with our washing machine caused sudden stops in the water flow, creating shock waves that sent the pipes banging against the walls. Installing water hammer clamps solved the problem and saved us many sleepless nights.â€
Creaking floors and phantom steps
Over time, wood expands and contracts due to changes in humidity and temperature, explains Mike Wall, CEO of EXP Realty/EZ Sell Homebuyers.
“The nails loosen and the wooden planks rub against each other, leading to that creepy creaking noise,” says Wall. “It’s an especially common occurrence in older homes. If you ever hear footsteps coming from an empty room, it could be due to an expansion of hardwood floors or structural noises. These sounds can resemble steps, especially in homes with larger open spaces or attics.â€
Doors that open or close by themselves
Christensen recalls working in a Victorian-era house where some doors would slowly open of their own accord.
“It felt like a scene from a horror movie,” he says. “The reality was less dramatic, but still interesting” the house had settled over time, causing the door frames to warp slightly. Gravity did the rest. Resealing the doors and fixing the hinges solved the problem.â€
Changes in air pressure caused by open windows can also cause doors to open and close.
Flashing lights
Flashing lights are almost expected in older homes because the wiring wasn’t always up to modern standards, notes Christensen.
“In one case, we found knob-and-tube wiring that was causing erratic power flow,” he says. “Rehabilitating the house was a significant investment, but it eliminated the vibrations and made the house much safer.”
A loose bulb can also cause this problem, Wall adds. However, he always recommends that homeowners have it checked by an electrician as faulty wiring can lead to bigger problems down the road.
Cold spots in certain spaces
If you have a cold spot in a room, then chances are the insulation in the wall closest to the outside is non-existent, failed or damaged in some way, says Al Ruggie, of ASAP Restoration, LLC.
“A lot of times this is because the builders didn’t completely seal that part of the wall with house wrap, the insulation wasn’t installed properly or at all, or water got into the area and caused mold in the insulation and degraded it.” The thermal capacity is,” says Ruggie. “Other times, people just have gaps and cracks in their windows, or even their walls that let in more air than they realized and cause a cold spot or draft.”
Improving insulation and gap insulation can make rooms more comfortable, advises Christensen, who adds that similar gaps running through old chimneys can create scary noises.
“Capping the cracks and installing chimney caps helped reduce these sounds,” he says.
Scratches on basement
As the months get colder, pests can start to break into your home through openings in your crawl space and cause a variety of problems, says Matt Wojciechowski of Groundworks, a foundation and water management solutions company.
“Bacteria from any debris or dead bodies left in the crawl space can also become airborne and pose toxic health risks to you and your family,” he says.
Instead of Ghostbusters, a pest control service should be able to save your home from this issue.
Self-igniting devices
Empty dryer oven suddenly heating up? There is another reason for this.
“Old wiring or faulty plugs can cause devices to behave erratically,” says Christensen. “Updating the electrical system resolved these issues.”
Roaring ovens
Old furnaces can make all kinds of disturbing noises — hums, whooshes, or even what sounds like groans.
“This is often due to delayed ignition, where gas builds up and ignites immediately,” says Wall. “It might sound like a ghost in the basement, but it’s usually just a furnace that needs maintenance.”
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