We’ve all been there: You’re watching a scary movie, and suddenly you hear a creak on the staircase behind you.
Or, you’re working in your home office, and the door slams shut all on its own. And what about that pocket of cold air you passed through on your way to refill your morning coffee?
You don’t need to see a ghost or hear maniacal cackling coming from your attic to suspect your house might be haunted. Even the most cool-headed homeowner might get the jitters when they hear, see, or feel creepy occurrences within their house.
But before you run out and hire an exorcist or turn to smudging and sage sticks, there may be perfectly reasonable, non-supernatural explanations for these startling phenomena.
Just ask Jon Christensen, founder of Bidmii, which connects homeowners with contractors. He once had a side hustle overhauling older homes with his wife.
“Renovating these century homes taught us that almost all ‘hauntings’ have logical explanations,” says Christensen.
Ready to feel a little less freaked out by those unnerving noises and other happenings? Here are some frighteningly familiar sounds and the not-so-scary reasons they occur.
Banging behind the walls
In one of the first century homes the Christensens renovated, they often heard loud banging noises coming from behind the walls, especially in the evening.
“It was unsettling, to say the least,” he says. “After some investigation, we discovered it was due to a water hammer effect. The antiquated plumbing system in combination with our washing machine caused sudden stops in water flow, creating shock waves that made the pipes bang against the walls. Installing water hammer arrestors resolved the issue and saved us from many sleepless nights.”
Creaking floors and phantom footsteps
Over time, wood expands and contracts due to changes in humidity and temperature, explains Mike Wall, CEO of EXP Realty/ EZ Sell Homebuyers.
“Nails loosen and wooden floorboards rub against each other, leading to that creepy creaking noise,” says Wall. “It’s an especially common occurrence in older homes. If you ever hear footsteps coming from an empty room, it might be due to an expansion of hardwood floors or settling noises in the structure. These sounds can resemble footsteps, especially in homes with larger open spaces or attics.”
Doors that open or close on their own
Christensen recalls working on a Victorian-era house where certain doors would slowly creak open of their own volition.
“It felt like a scene from a horror movie,” he says. “The reality was less dramatic but still interesting—the house had settled over time, causing the door frames to become slightly off-kilter. Gravity did the rest. Rehanging the doors and adjusting the hinges fixed the problem.”
Differences in air pressure caused by open windows can also push doors to swing open and closed.
Flickering lights
Flickering lights were almost expected in older houses because electrical wiring wasn’t always up to modern standards, notes Christensen.
“In one case, we found knob-and-tube wiring that was causing inconsistent power flow,” he says. “Rewiring the house was a significant investment, but it eliminated the flickering and made the home much safer.”
A loose bulb can also cause this issue, Wall adds. Nevertheless, he always recommends homeowners have it checked out by an electrician since faulty wiring can lead to bigger problems down the road.
Cold spots in certain spaces
If you have a cold spot in a room, then the odds are the insulation in the wall closest to the outside is nonexistent, failing, or damaged in some way, says Al Ruggie, of ASAP Restoration, LLC.
“Many times this happens because builders didn’t fully seal that section of wall with house wrap, the insulation wasn’t installed properly or at all, or water has gotten into the area caused mold on the insulation, and degraded it’s thermal capacity,” says Ruggie. “Other times people just have gaps and cracks in their windows, or even their siding that is letting in more air than they realized and causing a cold spot or draft.”
Improved insulation and sealing gaps can make the rooms more comfortable, advises Christensen, who adds that similar gaps pasing through old chimneys can could create eerie noises.
“Sealing cracks and installing chimney caps helped reduce these sounds,” he says.
Scratching in the basement
As months grow colder, pests can start to skitter into your home through openings in your crawl space and cause a variety of problems, says Matt Wojciechowski, of Groundworks, foundation and water management solutions company.
“The bacteria from any waste or carcasses left in the crawlspace also can become airborne and present toxic health hazards to you and your family,” he says.
Instead of Ghostbusters, a pest control service should be able to rid your home of this issue.
Appliances turning on by themselves
Empty toaster oven suddenly heating up? There’s also a reason for that.
“Old wiring or faulty outlets could cause appliances to behave erratically,” says Christensen. “Updating the electrical system resolved these issues.”
Rumbling furnaces
Old furnaces can make all kinds of unsettling noises — rumbles, bangs, or even what sounds like groans.
“This is often due to delayed ignition, where gas builds up and ignites all at once,” says Wall. “It might sound like a ghost in the basement, but it’s usually just a furnace in need of maintenance.”