Tonight was pretty scary. It's the first or second night where I'm home alone since my tenant has moved out. Around 10:30 PM I started to hear very lound boom sounds, sometimes two in succession. I was sure it was coming from the basement. It sounded like someone or something was banging hard on the walls or beams of the house with a hammer, or shooting a gun. I could even feel the vibrations on my floor. I inspected every room of the house and could not find anyone, or anything that appeared to have fallen. The sounds kept happening so I inspected outside around the house too. Nothing obvious.
I went to bed and somehow managed to fall alseep. Around 5 AM I woke up to more loud booms and started to realize that the sounds seem to be coming from the roof. I figured it must be ice cracking, or the weight of snow and ice causing wood beams to crack? I was really worried that my roof is damaged and caving in so I got up and went online.
I found this article from Hamilton, a city south of here. It turns out people have been experiencing similar things all week long and phoning the police. Some described it sounding like a shotgun being fired in the house and thought that there was someone in the house. Others were concerned about roof damage and called roofers. In almost every case it's because of a thick coating of ice (from our recent freezing rain) on the roof. The shingles are expanding from the heat of the attic which causes the ice to crack, and frequently. I'm glad I know what it is now and can hopefully get some sleep. It's 4:45 AM
Working from his home office in Toronto,
Ryan de Laplante can be found developing software in
Java by day, and obsessing with technology by night.
Ryan has been designing and writing software for
IJW since 1998 and is very passionate about his work.
