REALLY loud "bang"...could it be the house settling??

Okay, so a few minutes ago, we heard this REALLY loud bang. My whole house shook. It was LOUD and felt like someone crashed into the house. Then it happened again.

This has happened a few times this winter. I can't remember if it happened over the summer.

The house is 27 years old. However the kitchen is only 2-3 years old and is the only room with (new) wood floors. The sound appeared to be coming from the kitchen or at least that side of the house.

Things are happening lately, the granite in the kitchen is pulling away from the backsplash and the built in entertainment unit in our downstairs family room is pulling away from the ceiling. I'm not sure why... I am worried about the foundation or something...not sure why it's settling THIS much this year.

Anyway, this sound was really loud and scary. What was it?

Message edited 2/29/2008 12:19:10 AM.

Re: REALLY loud "bang"...could it be the house settling??

Have you had your chimney checked?

Re: REALLY loud "bang"...could it be the house settling??

We get that in our basement when we leave the door closed in the room where our furnace is. It could be a small explosion from the burner. Is your burner in an enclosed room with a door, or open?

Gas company just told us to keep that door open.

Re: REALLY loud "bang"...could it be the house settling??

OMG, funny you should write this because the same thing happened to me yesterday. I was in the kitchen making lunch and I heard a loud bang, (it sounded like metal) and I walked into the livingroom and there was another loud bang that the dog actually jumped it was so loud, I freaked and thought someone might be inthe house so I got a knife and checked out the bassement, I never found out were it came from. I think it has to do with our heat.

Re: REALLY loud "bang"...could it be the house settling??

oh my gosh!! i've heard this sound in our house too the couple times i've been home during the day!
i never figured it out, but nothing happened afterward, so i'm just guessing it was our furnace doing something... DH is an engineer and he checked it and everything seemed to look good... but who knows what it was!

Re: REALLY loud "bang"...could it be the house settling??

Happens all the time in my parents house. It's the plumbing. They have an oil burner and oil heat and sometimes the pipes clang and clunk when the steam is being pushed through the radiators.

I think you have electric heat, right? Still could be plumbing related, just water moving through the pipes in different parts of the house. Maybe a fluctuation between a hot and a cold place makes the pipes clang.

Re: REALLY loud "bang"...could it be the house settling??

Yes, I do have electric heat. Good memory! HOWEVER we don't use it at all anymore. We have a wood pellet stove that heats the whole house.

Ack. Should we have someone, like a home inspector, check it out? I hate to pay that $$$ since we had the home inspected a year ago when we bought it. But I'm freaked out!

Re: REALLY loud "bang"...could it be the house settling??

Do you have a fireplace? We have this too after we turn the fireplace off.

Re: REALLY loud "bang"...could it be the house settling??

We get a really loud bang sound with a plumbing sort of problem so I am leaning towards Trish's reply. It's not our actual plumbing but the inground sprinkler system. It wouldn't apply tto your problem his time of year even if you have an IG sprinkler but it makes me think it could be plumbing related. The problem we get has to be with water backing up into the pipe. The first time I heard it I was freaked out, it was that loud.

Re: REALLY loud "bang"...could it be the house settling??

I have a fireplace but the woodpellet stove insert is in there. And it's at the opposite end of the house from where I felt/heard the bang.

I wonder if it could be plumbing related. It really shakes the entire side of the house. And sometimes the pipes in my master bathroom hum loudly and shake.

Also I have those tub inserts, not tile in my bathrooms. I wonder if that could be expanding and contracting?

Message edited 3/1/2008 10:22:56 PM.

Re: REALLY loud "bang"...could it be the house settling??

I don't know if I would be accepting of anyone's "theory" on this. Especially if you see structural things changing in your house - you mention the granite pulling away from the wall, and built-in cabinets pullling away from the ceiling.

I would probably call an oil service company to come in and check on the burner. Even though you aren't using it, you might need to have the system serviced, or have all the air removed from the pipes.

Otherwise, maybe an architect or engineer can check out the stability of the house?