What is that constant noise coming from my neighbor's house?
Mystery disturbances often present as a constant humming in the backyard or a metal-flicking sound randomly turning on throughout the night. This constant annoyance ruins the peace of a home and leaves residents unsure of what to do if it never stops.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
What is that constant noise coming from my neighbor's house?
- 1Introducing yourself to the neighbor and asking them directly about the soundDid this help you?
- 2Trying to diagnose the sound visually or audibly as an HVAC unit, fan, or radon mitigation systemDid this help you?
- 3Using a piece of garden hose as a makeshift stethoscope to isolate the origin of the soundDid this help you?
- 4Logging the times the noise happens to see if it matches heating or water use schedulesDid this help you?
- 5Stuffing rubber or foam insulation between pipes and wood framing to muffle the soundDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“There is this noise in my ceeljng(I am in the basement, randomly turning on throughout the night, and I don’t know why. Please help it is really annoying”source ↗
“it sounds like someone flicking a metal pipe(not sure why) every few seconds, turning on and off every few minutes.”source ↗
“If it’s totally constant I don’t know what I’ll do, it’s not my idea of a peaceful backyard”source ↗
“I recently moved into my new home and it has a gorgeous peaceful back yard… except for this weird humming sound that has been coming from my neighbors house!”source ↗
“It’s constant and has been going on for the past 2 days. It wasn’t there when I toured the house and spent time in the backyard.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 5Why does my car make a clunking noise under load or when turning?
- 149How to explain an intermittent car noise to a mechanic