How often have you woken up in the middle of the night to creepy sounds in your house? Sometimes it’s easy to tell yourself that it’s just an old house settling or strong winds outside. But too often there’s something more sinister beneath the surface. The flickering lights and rattling pipes should scare you.
Is your house haunted? Is a ghost digging through your laundry room for a fresh white sheet? Are poltergeists rattling the pipes? Short answer: Maybe. It’s more likely that your house could use some repairs. We may not be able to advise on exorcisms, but the home repair is our expertise.
So before you call a priest and set up the ghost cams, let’s go down the list and see if we can eliminate some possibilities first.
Flickering Lights
Are your lights flickering? Tv turning on in the middle of the night?
Sure, it could be a serial killer trying to cut off contact (from inside the house?!?!?) or a ghost that wants to stay well informed about the 3 AM news report. More likely, your wiring is loose or just old. Aluminum wires, in particular, are notorious for going bad over time and tend to turn randomly on and off at the end of their life. This is especially true if the weather changes a lot in your area: temperature, humidity, and wind can all cause those loose connections to move just enough. The same thing can happen with copper wiring, but it’s not as common.
If your electronics are developing a life of their own, check your wiring. You may just have some loose connections, which a contractor can fix without a lot of hassle.
Slamming Doors
Ghosts that mess with your doors are just looking for attention; if they can move through walls, it’s not like they need to let themselves in. But that’s not the only explanation.
Maybe the door wasn’t hung properly or the hinges are unaligned or old. It’s very common for a door to be installed slightly out of plumb or level, which means it’s leaning one way or another and gravity is going to want to pull it in that direction all the time.
Try putting a level on the hinge side of your door frame and see if it’s plumb in both directions. If it’s not, you can look at adjustments. Sometimes the hinges themselves can be bent a little bit to fix the problem or even moved slightly on the door or frame. Other times the door jamb itself needs to be reinstalled.
Howling Sounds and Cold Drafts
Creepy noises and cold spots are the openings of any paranormal documentary, and the perfect sign to call the ghostbusters.
Or maybe you need extra insulation around your windows and doors.
Especially here in the Windy City, seasonal changes in the wind can make some wicked sounds as they pass through tiny cracks in your house. This not only sounds scary, but it’s also gonna raise your heating bills like zombies.
Footsteps in The Middle of The Night
There is a very common explanation that doesn’t involve the spirit world: the rodent world. Squirrels, rats, mice, and bats are all middle-of-the-night attic noisemakers. They can be almost silent or they can be downright rambunctious.
If that’s the case, do a very thorough inspection of all of the potential access points from outside, and close them up. Then get a professional to bust those ghost mice. The last thing you want is for the intruder to perish in some inaccessible place in your attic or walls.
Missing White Sheets
This one… I don’t have an explanation. If stuff is missing or tables are floating or the walls start bleeding, you need to call your realtor immediately.
Happy Halloween! 😀
