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Original poster

Help! Taps turning on at 3am!

123 replies

Newbabynewhouse · 28/07/2021 20:35

We moved into a new house 2 weeks ago and last night I woke up to hear running water.. I knew it was the bath and thought it was my partner bathing before work (he usually showers at 5am) I realised it was still dark so thought it can't be him as it's too early.. i checked time and it was 3.05am... i went in to find the hot tap on (fully, not dripping or dribbling) and the bath was almost full as I'd left the plug in from bathing baby at 7pm...

I remembered this morning that last week friends came round and I went to the loo to notice the hot tap was on in bathroom SINK but thought nothing of it as just thought they hadn't turned it off...

I contacted previous owner, they said nothing like that happened to them...

Can there be a logical explanation rather than paranormal???

OP posts:
Awwlookatmybabyspider · 28/07/2021 22:44

Well at least you have a hygienic ghost 😂

Gindrinker43 · 28/07/2021 22:45

Sometimes it's just the disruption of new people in the house. It may settle down and stop. We had weird odours when we moved in to one house. And our neighbours kept loosing keys that later turned up in odd places when they moved in. It all settled quite quickly.

VenusTiger · 28/07/2021 22:52

It's a sign - one of you is getting yourselves into hot water.

You should have your boiler serviced @Newbabynewhouse to discount any water pressure issues.

SirYawnsAlot · 28/07/2021 22:52

Have the taps got a traditional top in the shape of a cross (clockwise on, anti-clockwise off) or a shaft with a single stick coming out? We had the latter in our new house and they were left on a few times by accident, as they were 1/4 turn and it was easy to turn on than off.

LordEmsworth · 28/07/2021 22:54

I had exactly the same thing happen - must be about 2000-2001. Bedroom upstairs at back, kitchen downstairs at front - I woke up to the sound of running water. Got up to investigate and found kitchen tap on full - as in, I needed to really wrench the tap to turn it off, it was almost jammed open.

I decided I must have sleepwalked and turned it on - I've never sleepwalked to my knowledge, but have had sleep paralysis which is connected. That was the only explanation I could come up with, it never happened again. But I clearly remember standing in the kitchen staring at the tap and thinking, how the bloody he'll did that happen...

User478 · 28/07/2021 22:55

Our house did this, the tap needed new cartridges/washers it was an easy DIY to change. Apparently caused by fluctuating water pressure and cheap/old fittings.
Maybe leave the plug out just in case.

Not a ghost.

We were told a terrible story at school: There was a girl who was home alone with her dog, her parents had gone away and told her that if she was worried she just need to give Fido a stroke and he'd lick her hand and she would be fine.

In the middle of the night she hears dripping in the bathroom, so she goes in and the shower is running. She turns it off and goes back to bed, strokes Fido and gets a lick and goes off to sleep.

Later she hears more dripping so she gets up to check again and this time the sink is running. She turns it off, heads back to bed, gets a lick and goes off to sleep.

Even later she wakes to more dripping so she goes to the bathroom again and finds Fido nailed to the ceiling, written in blood on the mirror is "murderers can lick too"

But you probably just need a new washer.

CMSdividend · 28/07/2021 22:58

My upstairs bathroom tap does this. It leaks all over the top of the sink too, not just in the sink. It's a washer problem I think. And I think it's off and I can go back to it an hour later and it's flowing. Same with my outside tap - I filled the empty paddling pool overnight last week with a tap that was supposedly turned off!

MrsMariaReynolds · 28/07/2021 22:58

Nothing good ever happens at 3:05 am. 😳😳😳

Am regretting opening this thread right before bedtime...

swimlyn · 28/07/2021 23:01

Previous owners always deny any knowledge of whatever problem you ask about.

BetsyBigNose · 28/07/2021 23:05

@TrueRefuge... How did you know it was me...? I've been dead for many, many years, but like to make myself known hydraulically! Halo

Original poster
Newbabynewhouse · 28/07/2021 23:07

Well I'm going to attempt to sleep now.. I will let you know how tonight goes....

OP posts:
Torrentialraindownhere · 28/07/2021 23:12

@User478

Our house did this, the tap needed new cartridges/washers it was an easy DIY to change. Apparently caused by fluctuating water pressure and cheap/old fittings. Maybe leave the plug out just in case.

Not a ghost.

We were told a terrible story at school: There was a girl who was home alone with her dog, her parents had gone away and told her that if she was worried she just need to give Fido a stroke and he'd lick her hand and she would be fine.

In the middle of the night she hears dripping in the bathroom, so she goes in and the shower is running. She turns it off and goes back to bed, strokes Fido and gets a lick and goes off to sleep.

Later she hears more dripping so she gets up to check again and this time the sink is running. She turns it off, heads back to bed, gets a lick and goes off to sleep.

Even later she wakes to more dripping so she goes to the bathroom again and finds Fido nailed to the ceiling, written in blood on the mirror is "murderers can lick too"

But you probably just need a new washer.

Jesus Christ that gave me the creeps 😂
minionsrule · 28/07/2021 23:18

This happened to me twice but both times it was the bath, once with plug in and once plug out.
It was me sleepwalking, only happened a few times but when I am highly stressed I am prone to sleepwalking

RightYesButNo · 28/07/2021 23:21

@DuckonaBike

Tricky. Should you consult a plumber, or a priest?

Maybe start with a plumber, if it happens again.

Maybe a plumber priest? I mean, that could work. They remove a clog and make the kitchen tap produce holy water, in case of vampires. It could be “Walking on Water Plumbing and Exorcisms.”
Whatamesssss · 28/07/2021 23:25

@Awwlookatmybabyspider

Well at least you have a hygienic ghost 😂
Yes sweaty BO ghosts are the worst! Grin
sounknown · 28/07/2021 23:26

Sounds creepy op! Maybe rule out any water pressure issues with. Plumber x

HappydaysArehere · 28/07/2021 23:32

It always amazes me that people who have lived in a house for years apparently dont notice or experience any problems when asked by the new purchaser. Perhaps the water pressure is building up during the night when no one is using the water. If you get up to go to the loo try flushing it (I often leave it to the morning.). I would get a plumber in to look at the taps and the pipes. He could change the taps if they are old.Perhaps the taps are on the way out and the previous owner didn’t think they were worth changing before she moved. Always look for the simple explanation and people always shout “ghost” when they can’t explain something. Enjoy your new home. If there was a ghost the previous owner wouldn’t have stayed 25 years.

HelgaDownUnder · 28/07/2021 23:44

Poltergeist. They are attached to a person as much as a place. How old are your DC?

HappydaysArehere · 28/07/2021 23:54

Just looked it up and there are articles about this all relating to faucets turning themselves on at night due to the rise in pressure and screws, washers etc wearing and the pressure causing them on. They also mentioned the usual response being ghosts but it is definitely not that.

HappydaysArehere · 28/07/2021 23:55

@HelgaDownUnder

Poltergeist. They are attached to a person as much as a place. How old are your DC?
For goodness sake! You are a real help.
user1473878824 · 28/07/2021 23:57

“No one called previous owner has lived here for fifty yeeeeears”

While you clearly absolutely definitely have a ghost make sure you keep the plug out of sinks and baths until you find the (ghost) reason.

Gilead · 28/07/2021 23:57

Your washers are wearing out, ten minute job costing a fiver.

Biffbaff · 29/07/2021 00:28

My aunt (a sensible, cynical woman) had a poltergeist. She would come home to cooking smells, she once found all the wine bottles arranged in a circle on the floor and her toothbrush flew at her when she was in the shower once. She took it in her stride, it didn't really bother her. After she moved out the next owners asked her if she ever had anything strange happen there... She said no. 😬 Whatever it was, it wasn't just her who experienced it.

Notjustanymum · 29/07/2021 10:08

Different people have different “torque loads” when turning off taps (my DFIL was particularly “good” - I always struggled to turn on a tap that had been turned off by him previously!), so it’s likely that the previous owner generally turned off the taps more powerfully than you do, OP, hence her not experiencing this problem.

It’s definitely a water pressure issue, and I think your best course of action is to call a plumber... Good luck!

Original poster
Newbabynewhouse · 29/07/2021 11:15

Well..nothing freaky happened last night! I Was too scared to sleep in babies room like I usually do on my own so me and baby went in with my partner Blush

OP posts:
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