Advice Needed, pls - house humming and vibrating 3 years now - What is it?

FamilyHistoryMad

This is a desperate cry for help. We are at breaking point.

We have a humming/vibrating noise that has been going on over 3 years that makes it impossible to sleep and causes great distress. The beds vibrate and drive us mad. There are cracks appearing around the house.

Over the years we have been investigating the possible source of the noise/vibration. All the experts that have visited have concluded that the source of the noise/vibration is from outside of the property.

We have:

Moved the connecting bars between our house and the neighbours - we live in a detached 1930's house built on old farm land.
Had the water meter changed
Had the stopcock in the street changed
As a result the water people repaired leaks and replaced the meter at another house in the street - they thought this would solve our problem - the sound did change after this but we have been assured that water is not the cause of the problem.
Had the electricity board in to check the electricity supply to the house - they changed electricity meter and the fuse where the electricity enters the property and earthed the electricity pipe.
We have had the kitchen sink replaced.
We have had the old radiators replaced.
We have had the bathroom ripped out and all the piping cut back and replaced.
We have had an upstairs toilet removed and a downstairs toilet put in.
We have had the boiler checked by an engineer who said that it could not be the cause of the problem
We have turned the water off both in the house and in the street and we can still hear and feel the virbrating.
We have turned the electricity off at the mains and we can still hear and feel the virbrating
The TV aerial was fitted after the noise had been there for a long time - so we don't believe it is the wind blowing on the aerial causing the vibration. The noise is also too consistent for that.
We have had the electricity people out again on the someone's advise to get a rubber put between the meter and the wall but the guy that came out said it wasn't needed as it was on wooden boards which have the same effect that that even if it was making a noise the noise wouldn't reach the other side of the house.

It is worse at night when the background noises from the world outside the house is quieter.

It is almost impossible to sleep with the humming noise. We are like walking zombies and do not know how we are going to cope with the future.

We have had the environmental health in and they recorded the sound but insisted that it was snoring or traffic noise but no one was asleep at the time of the recording and it was in the early hours of the morning and there was no traffic. They would not let us listen to the sound recorded. They claimed that the recording did not match the criteria that they have for what constitutes a noise. As a result they did not want to help us but I appreciate that the noise is not like noisy neighbours or something which is what they are probably there to deal with.

I appreciate that we may have become sensitive to the noise and that it is harder for men to hear than women. But the water man that came round said he could hear it too but couldn't work out where it was coming from given that the electricity and the water was turned off at the time.

I have searched for hum/vibrating on the internet but it brings up the earths hum/vibration which, whilst I appreciate that the symptoms suffered by us are the same, I don't believe that that is the source of our noise.

Do any MSErs have any idea what we could look at next? Is there anyone we could employ - would a building surveyor help, or a structural engineer? Is our problem the kind that they would investigate and be able to help with?

Here's hoping someone can solve our mystery because we just haven't got a clue where to turn next.

FHM

brownbake

This could be ancient land lines that move. Alternatively it could be an anceient burial site and the spirits are stirring.

Try digging a large hole to see if you discover any bones / treasure. When the dead are disturbed they tend to rattle which could be causing the hum.

The last option is that it is an original scientolgy crypt and that the Thytans are emerging. Be afraid be very afraid!!

cheeks

I'm sorry, i don't have any suggestions, but a couple of questions.
At night, when all else is quiet, have you wandered around the house to see if it is louder in some rooms than others? Perhaps if its louder downstairs it could be due to pipes or something which run under your property? Could you get plans from the council to find out which services run directly under your house?
Can it be heard outside or just inside?
Does anyone else in the street have the same noise?
Is it constant or does it come and go?
I hope you manage to solve the mystery, let us know if you do.
Best of luck x

msmicawber

A couple of things that come to mind that could cause this are: overnight work on railway/tube lines, and wind turbines. Are there any of those within a few miles of you? I live quite .25 miles away from a railway line and sometimes overnight trains and/or repair work sounds as though it's happening in our street and shakes the walls and makes the windows hum.

I heard a radio program a few years ago about houses that vibrate/hum, but all I can remember now is that it was said that all houses vibrate just some more than others, and that some people are more sensitive to it than others. Sorry to be so vague. I'll see if I can find out any more about this.

FamilyHistoryMad

cheeks wrote: »

I'm sorry, i don't have any suggestions, but a couple of questions.
At night, when all else is quiet, have you wandered around the house to see if it is louder in some rooms than others? Perhaps if its louder downstairs it could be due to pipes or something which run under your property? Could you get plans from the council to find out which services run directly under your house?
Can it be heard outside or just inside?
Does anyone else in the street have the same noise?
Is it constant or does it come and go?
I hope you manage to solve the mystery, let us know if you do.
Best of luck x

Thank you for your reply.
The noise is all around the house - there isn't a room that doesn't get it - whether you are at the front of the house or the back or upstairs or downstairs. You can't home in on the sound and try to follow where it is coming from as it is all around.
Could you get plans from the council to find out which services run directly under your house? - they told us we had to go to each individual service to find out. We have had the water board, electricity board and telephone people in but all say it is not their services causing the problem. We haven't seen plans but will certainly add that to the list.
It can only be heard inside the property.
We have asked the neighbours either side and they can't hear it in their homes.
It is constantly there but is quieter during the day which we have, may be wrongly, put it down to the background noises not being there at night.
Today it is very loud and I can feel the vibrations under my feet as I sit at the laptop.
Kind Regards
FHM

FamilyHistoryMad

msmicawber wrote: »

A couple of things that come to mind that could cause this are: overnight work on railway/tube lines, and wind turbines. Are there any of those within a few miles of you? I live quite .25 miles away from a railway line and sometimes overnight trains and/or repair work sounds as though it's happening in our street and shakes the walls and makes the windows hum.

I heard a radio program a few years ago about houses that vibrate/hum, but all I can remember now is that it was said that all houses vibrate just some more than others, and that some people are more sensitive to it than others. Sorry to be so vague. I'll see if I can find out any more about this.

Thank you for replying.

We do have a train station near by and can sometimes, very rarely, hear the trains go by if it is very quiet. The noise has been going on for 3 years so I don't think the trains would be the source surely others would hear it too? I don't believe there are any wind turbines about.

I am really hoping that it is not that the house naturally vibrates and we are just sensitive to it - but of course it is a possibility. We need to believe that someday we will escape this noise.

Kind Regards
FHM

jellymid

Gosh, you sound desperate.

There is a company near us, Derbyshire, called Acoustic Design Technology who are 'Noise and Vibration Consultants' www.acousticdesign.co.uk. They seem to deal with quite big projects so I don't know if they can help, but I'm sure it would be worth an e-mail. I don't know what part of the country you are in? I know someone who works there and I know they do night surveys with highly sensitive equipment.


Sleep deprivation is terrible - you have my sympathies. Good luck.

bryanb

Do you live near electricity generating station or transformer sub station? I don't understand the connecting bars to neighbours house?

asp746

although your neighbours say they're not experiencing it everyone's hearing etc is different. Are you able to ask if when you are able to hear it in your house if they would mind if you could go in their house to see if although they can't hear it maybe you can?

it sounds like a fridge is buried under the property or something - you know that kind of brrrr it makes.

it would drive me mad too. Keep up the research and i hope you find out what it is soon.

asp746

http://www.scientificexploration.org/jse/abstracts/v18n4a2.php

this seems interesting.

CFC

1) Can other people hear it, and does it seem loud to them? As another poster said, get your neighbours in when it is loudest and ask them what they think.
2) Have you tried recording it yourself? Tape recorders are NOT expensive.
3) Did it suddenly start, or has it been happening since you moved into the house?
4) If you have cracks appearing in the house, you need to get a builder or surveyor or even your insurance company to come and assess the damage.