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Original poster

What is going on in my loft?!

17 replies

emogoo · 07/12/2018 07:44

DP and I moved in together earlier this year into a small, mid-terraced house (our first house!)
Just recently, within the last month of so (possibly due to heating being on?) I have heard a frequent banging sound coming from the loft above our bedroom. It only seems to occur at 5am and we have only heard it around 3-4 times, maybe around once a week? It's definitely not a daily thing nor does it happen at other times.
Of course I sent DP up to check we have checked the loft out and have only seen what could be 1 rodent dropping. However we did find a broken mouse trap with Nutella on it (DP thinks it looks touched/eaten but I didn't think so). We can only assume the previous owner left it and we somehow didn't see it when we initially put stuff up there when we moved in.
The most concerning thing is the banging. It sounds like something is being played with, or picked up and dropped... but I cannot hear shuffling feet or anything else which would make me assume a rodent, plus the "banging" sounds quite heavy - not sure if a mouse or rat would have the strength to make a sound like that?
As it's a terraced house the lofts are all adjoined. It's quite a spacious loft, you can walk almost all the way around it. No evidence of gnawing however there are a lot of wooden beams etc so granted haven't checked all of them. The boiler is also up there so I guess the pipes would be warm for a small animal to nestle up there. DP has since laid down 6 traps with peanut butter but nothing as of yet.

I'm just at a loss as to what it could be! Either a rodent or a ghost! Hmm Anyone have any ideas?

OP posts:
Original poster
emogoo · 07/12/2018 07:45

Oh the strikethrough didn't work :( you get the jist! Grin

OP posts:
CasparMum · 07/12/2018 08:10

A banging sound is more likely to be a rat or squirrel than a mouse, but you would have heard them running about (it sounds like they have heavy boots on).
Could just be the pipes banging if there is air in the system. Do you have inhibitor in your heating system and have you bled any air out?

Original poster
emogoo · 07/12/2018 08:30

CasparMum I did think of the pipes but it sounds like something being dropped onto the floor repeatedly and just above our bedroom where there are no pipes so I don't think it's that?

OP posts:
Heismyopendoor · 07/12/2018 08:34

When I was little there was a man in our street who somehow got into his next door neighbours loft (semi detached) and would store his stuff in there! I don’t think he was spying on them. This reminds me of that! 😂😂

In reality it’s probably a ghost. Totally kidding, I don’t believe in ghosts.

NancyDonahue · 07/12/2018 08:35

If it's a regular time of day can you be up there when it happens? Most likely pipes but you need to rule out zombies first.

Original poster
emogoo · 07/12/2018 08:45

Heismyopendoor Oh crikey, don't say that! Our neighbours are all very friendly and there doesn't seem to be anyone else's belongings in there... (other than some carpet, paintpots and a dismantled bed the previous owner left behind Hmm)
NancyDonahue that's a really good idea, I will try that! Hopefully no zombies although that would be awesome

OP posts:
Ballbags · 07/12/2018 08:51

Rats. We had them running along the lofts of a row of 4 terrace houses. Nightmare to get rid off, they were running up the wall cavities from the drains. Water co sorted the drains in the end.

NotAnotherFeckingMuftiDay · 07/12/2018 08:54

Do you know anyone with one of these that you could borrow?

JeremyCorbynsBeard · 07/12/2018 09:01

Could birds be getting in somewhere? We have a magpie that regularly taps on the window in the early hours of the morning which scares the shit out of me!

noenergy · 07/12/2018 09:03

Probably mice or rats, make sure you use strong traps not flimsy ones.

The first time I heard about shared lofts was on mumsnet and it's actually quite creepy to think anyone else has access to your loft.

Totally off track but do those of you who have shared lofts lock access into your home?

superking · 07/12/2018 09:04

Looks like I'm going to be the first to tell you not to watch Luther Grin

Original poster
emogoo · 07/12/2018 09:18

Sorry I didn't mean that all the terraced houses share the same loft, we all have our own individual ones, I just meant that a rat or a mouse would potentially have the run of every loft in the row because of all the holes and pipes. It must be easy for them to squeeze through?

Now I'm thinking about what other people must store in their lofts...

OP posts:
Ifailed · 07/12/2018 09:22

you need to wait until a thunderstorm, at night, during a power cut. Make sure you are alone and have a torch with doggy batteries. Now's the time to enter the loft to investigate.

traceyturnblatt · 07/12/2018 09:34

@superking is right. Do NOT watch Luther!ShockShock

ForTheLoveOfDoughnuts · 07/12/2018 09:44

Is the noise coming from in the loft or the roof? Could it be tv Ariel or something swinging in the wind?

CasparMum · 07/12/2018 10:23

ForTheLove could have a point, echos from the roof to the upstairs can sound really loud (and close). But do rule out the zombie option first 😀

NancyDonahue · 08/12/2018 07:49

Woke up in the night thinking about this thread and had an idea! Have any of the houses in the row converted their loft? It could be a headboard knocking Wink

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