Humming sound coming from an exterior wall
 

HELP! I'm at the end of my string!! We have been struggling with a
sound that we hear in our wall. It just happens to be the bedroom
wall...so it makes sleep difficult at times. We are hearing a humming
sound...it honestly sounds electrical. Originally, I thought I'd
chased the sound to the outside power meter. We had the Power Company
come out...TWICE...they checked the meter and all was well with that.
We began shutting off power to the house room by room....still heard
the sound.....we just shut the whole breaker off...STILL WE HEARD THE
SOUND! It's been going on for weeks and I'm super concerned that it
could cause a fire. I'm not sure what to tell an electrican if I call
one...gee, there's this sound that comes from my wall...sometimes it
does it and sometimes it doesn't. ??? I have been reading online that
it could be water pipes....or from the hot water heater...the hot water
heater is not far from this wall, but it's an exterior wall...so I
don't think there is pipes running in it....When I put my ear up to the
wall, it sounds like a toaster oven's hum...or almost like something is
shorting out....We've even shut the power an tightened up any loose
connections from the breaker box. HELP!!! SUGGESTIONS?! We are first
time homeowners (with a new baby and short on cash) and are at a loss
as to where to go from here! My personal email is .
I joined this group to ask this specific question, but I'm not sure
that I know how this group thing works...maybe I can figure it out
better than I can figure out the humming wall sound! (no bees or the
like, no doorbells...all those have been checked!)

Humming sound coming from an exterior wall
 

In article . com,
wrote:

We began shutting off power to the house room by room....still heard
the sound.....we just shut the whole breaker off...STILL WE HEARD THE
SOUND! It's been going on for weeks and I'm super concerned that it
could cause a fire.

Most likely, if it was going to cause a fire, it would have
happened by now. More likely this is mechanical. Sometime
is putting energy into that area, and something else is loose
and able to vibrate at just the right frequency.

There are two ways to go about finding this thing. One is to
go around with a stethoscope. The other is to tear into the
wall. You likely will have to go into the wall anyway, so
why not start there?

-john-

--
================================================== ====================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ====================

Humming sound coming from an exterior wall
 

If you shut the power off and it still hums, then maybe it's something
that has a battery ? I agree with the stethescope idea, narrow it down
as much as you can and cut a small hole in the wall. Repairing drywall
is easy and cheap (though you may not have matching paint).

Do you have a radon blower ?

wrote:
HELP! I'm at the end of my string!! We have been struggling with a
sound that we hear in our wall. It just happens to be the bedroom
wall...so it makes sleep difficult at times. We are hearing a humming
sound...it honestly sounds electrical. Originally, I thought I'd
chased the sound to the outside power meter. We had the Power Company
come out...TWICE...they checked the meter and all was well with that.
We began shutting off power to the house room by room....still heard
the sound.....we just shut the whole breaker off...STILL WE HEARD THE
SOUND! It's been going on for weeks and I'm super concerned that it
could cause a fire. I'm not sure what to tell an electrican if I call
one...gee, there's this sound that comes from my wall...sometimes it
does it and sometimes it doesn't. ??? I have been reading online that
it could be water pipes....or from the hot water heater...the hot water
heater is not far from this wall, but it's an exterior wall...so I
don't think there is pipes running in it....When I put my ear up to the
wall, it sounds like a toaster oven's hum...or almost like something is
shorting out....We've even shut the power an tightened up any loose
connections from the breaker box. HELP!!! SUGGESTIONS?! We are first
time homeowners (with a new baby and short on cash) and are at a loss
as to where to go from here! My personal email is .
I joined this group to ask this specific question, but I'm not sure
that I know how this group thing works...maybe I can figure it out
better than I can figure out the humming wall sound! (no bees or the
like, no doorbells...all those have been checked!)

Humming sound coming from an exterior wall
 

wrote in message
ups.com...
HELP! I'm at the end of my string!! We have been struggling with a
sound that we hear in our wall. It just happens to be the bedroom
wall...so it makes sleep difficult at times. We are hearing a humming
sound...it honestly sounds electrical. Originally, I thought I'd
chased the sound to the outside power meter. We had the Power Company
come out...TWICE...they checked the meter and all was well with that.
We began shutting off power to the house room by room....still heard
the sound.....we just shut the whole breaker off...STILL WE HEARD THE
SOUND! It's been going on for weeks and I'm super concerned that it
could cause a fire. I'm not sure what to tell an electrican if I call
one...gee, there's this sound that comes from my wall...sometimes it
does it and sometimes it doesn't. ??? I have been reading online that
it could be water pipes....or from the hot water heater...the hot water
heater is not far from this wall, but it's an exterior wall...so I
don't think there is pipes running in it....When I put my ear up to the
wall, it sounds like a toaster oven's hum...or almost like something is
shorting out....We've even shut the power an tightened up any loose
connections from the breaker box. HELP!!! SUGGESTIONS?! We are first
time homeowners (with a new baby and short on cash) and are at a loss
as to where to go from here! My personal email is .
I joined this group to ask this specific question, but I'm not sure
that I know how this group thing works...maybe I can figure it out
better than I can figure out the humming wall sound! (no bees or the
like, no doorbells...all those have been checked!)


Could there be duct work or a vent in this wall? What about an alarm system
or cable or telephone equipment? I've seen houses with water and heating
pipes running in exterior walls (bad design). If it is driving you nuts,
then I agree with John A. Weeks that is time to cut into the wall and see
what is making the noise. You can always repair the wall.

Humming sound coming from an exterior wall
 

wrote...
HELP! I'm at the end of my string!! We have been struggling with a
sound that we hear in our wall. It just happens to be the bedroom
wall...so it makes sleep difficult at times. We are hearing a humming
sound...it honestly sounds electrical.

Termites, bees, or ants?

Humming sound coming from an exterior wall
 

wrote in message
ups.com...

HELP! I'm at the end of my string!! We have been struggling with a
sound that we hear in our wall. It just happens to be the bedroom
wall...so it makes sleep difficult at times. We are hearing a humming
sound...it honestly sounds electrical. Originally, I thought I'd

Get a digital recording of this noise.
1. It will prove the sound is there and not just
inside your head (ringing in the ears.)
2. It will have a waveform that you can analyse
on a home computer (frequency, volume in
decibels etc.) People who know noise may
be able to recognize if it resembles something else.
3. You can compare waveforms recorded at
various points inside and outside the wall, at
various heights above ground etc. Differences
may suggest
3-1 whether the noise is constant or varies: e.g.
hum from an electrical panel would be confident
whilel hum from a refrigerator compressor would
stop and restart as the fridge cycles off and on;
3 - 2 whether the noise originates inside your house
or outside.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

Humming sound coming from an exterior wall
 

GREAT suggestions! I'm not sure about the radon blower...I'll have to
check with my husband on that one. I'm hoping to find something out
soon. Last night I had to sleep on the sofa because it was driving me
nuts. My husband can only hear it when he listens for it...in other
words it does not disturb his sleep. Let's see...between getting up
with THAT sound a new baby...yeah, I'm a happy camper with all the
sleep I'm getting! :)

Humming sound coming from an exterior wall
 

GREAT suggestions! I'm not sure about the radon blower...I'll have to
check with my husband on that one. I'm hoping to find something out
soon. Last night I had to sleep on the sofa because it was driving me
nuts. My husband can only hear it when he listens for it...in other
words it does not disturb his sleep. Let's see...between getting up
with THAT sound a new baby...yeah, I'm a happy camper with all the
sleep I'm getting! :)

Humming sound coming from an exterior wall
 

wrote:
GREAT suggestions! I'm not sure about the radon blower...I'll have to
check with my husband on that one. I'm hoping to find something out
soon. Last night I had to sleep on the sofa because it was driving me
nuts. My husband can only hear it when he listens for it...in other
words it does not disturb his sleep. Let's see...between getting up
with THAT sound a new baby...yeah, I'm a happy camper with all the
sleep I'm getting! :)

Another possibility is . . . bees. You could probably test that one by
knocking on the wall where you hear the sound and see if the sound
changes. -- H

Humming sound coming from an exterior wall
 

Heathcliff wrote:
wrote:
GREAT suggestions! I'm not sure about the radon blower...I'll have to
check with my husband on that one. I'm hoping to find something out
soon. Last night I had to sleep on the sofa because it was driving me
nuts. My husband can only hear it when he listens for it...in other
words it does not disturb his sleep. Let's see...between getting up
with THAT sound a new baby...yeah, I'm a happy camper with all the
sleep I'm getting! :)

Another possibility is . . . bees. You could probably test that one by
knocking on the wall where you hear the sound and see if the sound
changes. -- H

Wooops, I didn't see the part where you ruled that out, but now I do.
Mea culpa. -- H