Beth
07-16-2007, 11:04 AM
I'm glad to put a laughing smilie on this and not an OMG! For a while, DH and I have heard something we were sure was a critter in the wall or attic moving around and banging on a water or gas pipe in the wall near our bed. I've had many thoughts and fears as to what it might be and what mess it might be making. Yuk!
A mouse would normally be the first thought, but it gets so hot in the attic in the summer that I couldn't imagine anything nocturnal wanting to live up there. I thought a squirrel might spend the night and be getting ready to head out for the day, but I also thought that might happen earlier than the 8-9 am time frame since it is light much earlier. Bats were another possibility -- at least they eat mosquitoes, but bat guano in the walls isn't appealing either.
DH went into the attic and could find nothing. I made a check and found nothing. Looked outside for access or any signs of something coming and going. Nothing. We tried to find an access hole and weren't sure we found anything likely.
Last week, I happened to be outside cleaning the pool skimmers. Just as I ws walking around the corner to come back insiude, I thought I heard something coming from the pool heater. I walked back and tapped on the heater. Everything stayed quiet. DH went out later and heard it. He banged on the side of the heater and the noise stopped. Relieved that it appeared the critter(s) was not inside our house, we began wondering how to get the critter(s) out of the heater without an unpleasant encounter (i.e., one of them running up my leg or jumping in my face :p).
This weekend, DH went out to cautiously remove the side cover. He came back for a flashlight We both went out and looked and hunted for any signs of our "critter." Still nothing.
DH looks and notices that the heater switch has been moved to the "On" position for heating the pool (we've only used it for heating the spa). The gas line has two shutoff valves to prevent accidental ignition. Both are in the "Off" position. DH turns the switch to Off and we wait to see what happens the next morning. Two mornings have passed now, and two mornings without banging. Apparently our heater was trying to ignite and was causing a banging in the empy gas line.
I am SO glad we didn't call an exterminator. They charge a minimum of $450-600 for critter removal, and I doubt an exterminator would have ever figured out it was the pool heater that was banging. We'd have been worrying about our "critter" for a LONG time. :D I'm glad that appears to be over. :)
A mouse would normally be the first thought, but it gets so hot in the attic in the summer that I couldn't imagine anything nocturnal wanting to live up there. I thought a squirrel might spend the night and be getting ready to head out for the day, but I also thought that might happen earlier than the 8-9 am time frame since it is light much earlier. Bats were another possibility -- at least they eat mosquitoes, but bat guano in the walls isn't appealing either.
DH went into the attic and could find nothing. I made a check and found nothing. Looked outside for access or any signs of something coming and going. Nothing. We tried to find an access hole and weren't sure we found anything likely.
Last week, I happened to be outside cleaning the pool skimmers. Just as I ws walking around the corner to come back insiude, I thought I heard something coming from the pool heater. I walked back and tapped on the heater. Everything stayed quiet. DH went out later and heard it. He banged on the side of the heater and the noise stopped. Relieved that it appeared the critter(s) was not inside our house, we began wondering how to get the critter(s) out of the heater without an unpleasant encounter (i.e., one of them running up my leg or jumping in my face :p).
This weekend, DH went out to cautiously remove the side cover. He came back for a flashlight We both went out and looked and hunted for any signs of our "critter." Still nothing.
DH looks and notices that the heater switch has been moved to the "On" position for heating the pool (we've only used it for heating the spa). The gas line has two shutoff valves to prevent accidental ignition. Both are in the "Off" position. DH turns the switch to Off and we wait to see what happens the next morning. Two mornings have passed now, and two mornings without banging. Apparently our heater was trying to ignite and was causing a banging in the empy gas line.
I am SO glad we didn't call an exterminator. They charge a minimum of $450-600 for critter removal, and I doubt an exterminator would have ever figured out it was the pool heater that was banging. We'd have been worrying about our "critter" for a LONG time. :D I'm glad that appears to be over. :)