Noises in the Wall

From time to time, I get requests to identify the cause of noises in people's walls. The problem, besides my being miles from the location of the problem is that noise by itself is a very poor diagnostic tool for identifying wildlife damage.  It's like going to your doctor and saying you have pain in your knee. It only tells him that you have a problem not what the problem is as it could be strain from basketball, arthritis to cancer etc.

Here are a few things to keep in mind.
1. Noise can only be heard when you are around. Saying you hear the noise in the morning doesn't necessarily help if you are gone all day at work. The point being you could only hear it in the morning or at night because you are otherwise, unavailable.
2. Noises of a consistent repetitive (over days) nature are typically mechanical. Animals are not clocks. While they may make noises at similar times of the day, daylight and weather are constantly changing so their noises will also change. If it doesn't then think mechanical.

I suggest visiting http://icwdm.org read our literature on how to inspect your home. Takes about 45 minutes to take the course. It's free. Then you will have some basic skills on how to id this problem.


Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, ACP