So you’ve been in your home for a while now. You’ve gotten used to the neighborhood, know where everything is in your area, and you’ve got your house furnished pretty much the way you want it. Everything seems to be perfect. Or does it? You may find yourself noticing some weird things in your home on occasion that leave you wondering what’s going on.
Doors Don’t Fit
Have you ever gone to close a door and noticed that it’s not closing quite right, despite closing without any trouble at all a few months ago? It’s weird, right? As it turns out, there are a couple of reasons why your doors may not be fitting quite right. Wooden doors expand and contract based on temperature and humidity levels, so they can seem to fit the frame a little differently during different seasons. You can alleviate this by keeping a consistent temperature within your home and taking steps to control the humidity. More serious reasons your doors might not be fitting their frames properly might be your house settling or foundation damage. This can cause cracks between the door frame and the rest of the house, and your doors to hang unevenly. These repairs are a lot more extensive and expensive, and will likely require professional help to address.
Uneven Temperatures
As you walk through your house, you may find yourself walking through a room that is much warmer or cooler than the rest. Don’t worry, your house isn’t being haunted. There are multiple reasons why some rooms may heat up or cool down faster than others. How well a room is insulated will have an impact on how well the room maintains its temperature. The better the insulation, the more consistent the temperature. Where the room is positioned in the house can have an impact as well. Rooms in the middle of the house are more likely to be a consistent temperature than, say, corner rooms. Because corner rooms have two exterior walls, they are more likely to trend towards the temperature outside. Their exposure to the sun will also have an impact. Rooms with greater sun exposure are likely to warm up faster, while those with less will likely cool down faster. Beyond that, your HVAC system may be the cause, not just the insulation or position of the room in the house. If you have an old, outdated HVAC system, it may not be equipped to efficiently and effectively maintain a consistent temperature throughout your house. More modern systems have the ability to focus more heat or cool air in different areas of the home, which can really help if you have multiple floors.
Cracks In Walls and Ceilings
Noticing cracks in your walls, ceilings, or both can be unsettling. Don’t worry, your house isn’t ready to fall down around your ears. Improperly installed ceiling drywall has a tendency to crack. While unsightly, it’s not necessarily dangerous. Vertical and horizontal cracks in drywall or plaster walls are often caused by shrinkage and drying after construction. Cracks that run at a 45 degree angle, are jagged, or stair-stepped are indicative of foundation or structural movement that could be serious, but more often are harmless. It’s virtually impossible to get a house to settle unevenly, and some degree of settling is fine and perfectly normal. That said, if you have cracks in your ceilings that continue to run down a wall, or are accompanied by sagging, you should get those inspected immediately.
Gurgling Pipes
While a babbling brook may be pleasant to listen to, pipes gurgling in your home every time you turn on the water isn’t. The short answer for why this is happening is because water isn’t flowing through the pipes properly. It could be because of a partial blockage that you can easily clear, or it could indicate a more serious blockage impacting your main sewer line. Over time, the blockage can become complete, resulting in water backing up all over your house. You can help prevent this by periodically cleaning your drains and preventing things like hair, oils, grease, fats, and things that get mushy from going down them. It’s also important to be aware that there are some things you should never flush down the toilet, even if they say they’re flushable. Flushable only means that they’ll go down the toilet, not that they’ll break down and make it all the way out. If you need plumbing maintenance, repairs, or services, talk to a professional who can get the job done properly the first time by using the right tools and training.
Hissing Sounds
Trying to identify whistling or humming sounds coming from your home can leave you wondering if you’re going crazy or if there really is something you’re hearing. There are a few things to look into if that’s what you’re hearing. You may have clogged air filters. This makes your furnace work harder to get the air it needs to run properly, and could result in it sending exhaust gases to the rest of the house. Make sure you’re changing your furnace filters often enough to avoid this.
Hissing sounds could also be an indicator that you have a gas leak. Gas leaks are incredibly dangerous, as one small spark can be enough to ignite a furious blaze. If you notice hissing around your home’s outdoor gas meter or gas light post, the lines may have corroded. You may be able to smell a gas leak as well. As counterintuitive as it may sound, if you notice signs that indicate a gas leak, don’t try to fix it. Just get out. Call the gas company and let them fix it.
It’s not unusual to notice weird things in your home from time to time. Sometimes doors don’t fit quite the way they’re supposed to, temperatures may be uneven, or you may notice cracks in the walls or ceilings. Other oddities are auditory in nature. You may hear gurgling pipes and hissing sounds throughout your home. Pay attention to these things and discover the cause. Some may be minor issues, but they may also alert you to major problems that need your attention in a timely manner.
Read this next: Financial New Year’s Resolutions Your Family Should Make