Strange noise from under floorboards

[Fleurchamp]

And before anyone says it - it is not mice/rats - we have had mice before and it is not the same noise.

We live in a Victorian terrace (currently selling, exchange imminent) but over the past week DH and I have heard a strange noise coming from the corner of our bedroom. It is a kind of rustling/ creaking sound, not very loud (we mainly hear it when it is quiet at night but I have heard it during the day too).
The floor is just floorboards but we don't want to start pulling them up because they are the originals and prone to breaking.
It sounds like some kind of insect, too light to be a mouse, but I haven't been able to work it out from googling.

I would hate to exchange/ complete on the sale with this issue in place. I would rather know what it is before disclosing to the buyers and we would get someone in to treat before completion.

Any ideas? The room isn't damp.

Monsters. Probably.

Escaped royal python?

Sorry couldn’t resist. Could it be central heating pipes expanding or contracting? The other thing that springs to mind is some sort of insect infection- wood boring beetle? I have no idea if they make any sound or not.

Rats are loud so if it is quieter than mice, you could probably rule that out. (We have had rats recently and it is not an experience i hope to ever experience again).

It might be worth calling a pest control company. Most have come across more than just rats and mice.

@Loofah01 - don't! I have to do a monster hunt every night for my DS as it is 🙄

@Lonelycrab - I suppose it would eat the mice though? But seriously, I would never sleep again if it were a snake.

Should I just get a pest controller in and hope the noise is made while they are here? What should I tell my buyers - weird noise in the bedroom - could be my imagination/ pipes/ snake?

Woodworm?

I think you should pull up a board or two. They shouldn’t break if you do it carefully, I’ve worked on several original Victorian floors and never had a board snap on me I don’t think. It’s probably the first thing a pest controller would do anyway.

I’d sprinkle some ant killer powder and work it through the cracks and bit as a first measure. Not saying it is ants but the powders works on all sorts of insects so might sort with minimal fuss. Otherwise you’re looking at lifting boards.

what country are you in?

In England, London suburbs

Is it like a ticking sound? Can you describe the noise?

Stag beetle? My parents heard a strange scratching at night once. It turned out to be a very large stag beetle!

Wasps? They chew wood to make their hives. We had them in our floorboards between our ground floor maisonette and upstairs maisonette. Took us weeks to work out the noise and only realised when I saw them fly into a brick air vent

Wasps can sound like rustling paper but it's would be very early for them however some beetles or insects also can make the sound when they are chewing wood

Wrong time of year for wasps I’d have thought.

Is this an external corner? DS had noise like that and it was pigeons nesting (there was some cooing as well tbf)

Oh, and we also heard some weird creaky noises coming from a wicker chair that turned out to be insects munching it 😂

Could be termites. They’ve been in U.K. since 1998 and have spread from Devon into London. They are noisy eaters of wood, but can also munch through concrete and bricks.

Yes, a rustling sound.

It is in an internal corner.

I have taken one small board up and can't see anything - I mean it is pretty vile under there, full of dirt, dust and a random piece of Lego but I can't see any evidence of anything eating the wood in the board I took up.

There are no signs of insects in the hole I made or in the room but if they are really small they could be hiding in the dirt.

It is right next to our built in wardrobes and the sound could be coming from there - I cannot access the floor under there though.

DH is cross I have taken it up because I now can't fasten it back and he is worried that whatever is under there will get us in the night.

Did the dirt have the consistency of coffee grounds? They might be termite pellets.

They tend to hide under surface of wood, and only bore a poop hole through which they toss their poop, or termite pellets.

No, it is more dust, fluff and hair down there (grim).

Google seems to be pointing to woodworm but I can't see how it could be damp down there - it is an internal wall and there are no pipes in the vicinity. I will leave the board up and use a dehumidifier whilst we wait for the pest people.

Deathwatch beetle? I remember hearing tapping sounds at night in my bedroom as a kid and my dim saying it was probably "just" a deathwatch beetle

Woodworm don't need damp conditions do they?

So probably not termites. Deathwatch beetle is possible. Glad you are getting a pest expert in.

I can't leave it with exchange imminent - we have lived here ages and had no problems like this, typical!

The pest person I spoke to today said they preferred above 60% humidity.

Death watch beetle is another possibility- although I have heard it during the day too.