Strange Noises In The Walls: It’s not what you think it is

Strange noises in the walls?  I, like every other pest control person that this customer spoke with thought that the strange noise in the walls would be from a mouse, rat or maybe even a squirrel.  In fact, I was so confident of this that I tried to sell the job over the phone.  Had I done this I would have had egg on my face as the strange noises in the walls was from something entirely different.

Here’s a little background about this home.  The home was built in roughly 1945 and is immaculate.  The homeowner is the type of person that fixes things when they’re broke, cleans things when they’re dirty and keeps up with all other general maintenance items.  The home also has had two previous pest control companies visit the property within the past 6 months.  Neither of these companies was able to catch what was making the strange noise in the walls.  In fact, both companies were so positive that this home had a HUGE mouse infestation that both companies set numerous snap traps, bait stations and glue traps.  All for a strange noise in the walls that they’d yet really been able to identify.

The plot thickens

Typically, these types of calls go rather quickly.  We arrive, confirm the issue,offer our services and schedule the job.  This job was destined to be different.  After I provided a full interior inspection of the home I found no evidence of mice, rats or squirrels and here’s the strange part; I heard the noise.  This peaked my interest because when a homeowner hears a strange noise in the walls it usually can be attributed to tree branches touching the home, animals, gutter leakage, carpenter bees or even carpenter ants in the wall.  I was able to rule some of these situations out immediately just due to the time of year and the neat landscape.

Problem found

After a full interior inspection I moved to the outside of the home.  As I walked around the home I could hear the same exact noise that I had heard inside.  By this time the source of the noise was clear.  The crackling sounds were coming from the expansion and contraction of the exterior insulation below the siding and the vinyl siding itself.

The sound was primarily on the sunny side of the home and mainly in the owners 2nd floor bedroom.  The crackling noise was clear as a bell both inside and outside.  I suspect that the below normal temperatures of the night before and the warm mid morning sun were the cause of the issue.

In closing, I guess the moral of the story is to be sure that a full inspection is performed and to remember that in the pest control business some things aren’t always as they seem to be.       Contact us