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Neighborhood has 60 homes. In desert area. Flat. My bedroom wall, facing west, has (in the last three years) started vibrating. This group of homes has been here 25 years. The homes in the southern portion of the group are close to I-10. My home is 4 streets or rows of homes north of them, closer to another smaller but busy road . Vibrating walls are now waking me up. I have mirrors in the bathroom that are vibrating loudly, I can put foam or something on, but I'm living with this vibration 24/7 whether I can hear it or not. Why only in the last few years? My concrete and my stucco home has cracks, I have a motor home in the back yard and when it's gone, the vibration is worse. What can I do? I don't even k ow who to ask! Very small town, east of Palm Springs, California. (My husband passed recently). Judy

Judy Ragsdale-Zeeb
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    Big gophers? Sorry could not resist. Do any of your neighbors have vibrations ? I have seen a tim where buildings a specific distance from roadways did vibrate where some closer and some further from the road way did not (3 houses had this issue) I believe they drove pilings and that fixed the issue but I don’t remember the size or depth but they were about 10’ apart. – Ed Beal Feb 20 '20 at 01:56
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    When does it NOT vibrate? Winter time, rainy days, dry days, holidays? Is your back yard grass or concrete, and can you feel the vibrations when your motor home is there? Is your motor home plugged in to electricity when it's there? – cutrightjm Feb 20 '20 at 02:23

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It’s unusual to have an issue after living there for so many years. I suspect something has changed like: 1) water pressure, 2) new utility work, 3) ground shift, 4) neighbor change /add something, 5) foundation move, 6) fans, 7) tv dish above wall.

1) I’d call the water utility company and see if they’ve changed water pipes (which can cause a increase in water pressure) or if they’ve moved water pipes in the last few years.

2) I’d also contact all the utility companies (electric, wi-fi, storm, gas, etc.) to see if they’ve changed anything too.

Moving utility lines can touch a buried rock formation that sits under your house. A vibration could transfer to your house.

3) Has there been a ground shift from an earthquake. This can cause a pipe to touch your foundation and vibrate into your house.

4) Has a neighbor added a pool which could cause your ground to shift.

5) Have you noticed cracks in your walls, particularly above doors, windows, etc. This can be a sign of your foundation shifting. If it moves, a pipe could have moved and is now touching a wood plate, etc.

6) Do you have a whole house fan or a bathroom fan that is a little noisy? A good way to check this is to turn all the electricity off in the entire house at the breaker box...then see if it continues.

7) A tv dish could be vibrating from wind, etc.

Regardless if any of the above items have occurred or not, I’d start with the City Engineer. He may know of underground work in your area. Often we’ll send waterlines or electrical lines under highways rather than trenching. If underground work disturbed a rock formation, it could affect your house.

Lee Sam
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