Lifestyle

Weird Sounds in HDB at Night Explained, Because We’re More Afraid of GST Increase Instead of Ghosts

2019-11-18 , 11:00 pm

Last Updated on 2024-06-23 , 8:29 pm

Have you ever hear weird noises at night if you are living in an HDB flat? It can be sound like marbles dropping or furniture moving, and they usually occur only after midnight.

When we were young, if we asked our parents about the marble sounds, they would most probably tell us that it is simply our neighbours who were playing with marbles next door.

However, in this day and age, it is not common to adults or even children playing with marbles. They would most probably be playing with their iPad.

And then, we’ll have another school of thoughts: that there’re ghosts around. But hey, it’s 2019–it’s getting more difficult to believe in ghost.

So, what makes the marble and furniture moving sounds? Well, here’s science speaking, because #2019.

Marbles Dropping Sound

Pipes

Pipes are used more often in the day compared to at night. When they are suddenly used at night, it creates air pockets inside the pipes which burst and echo through the pipes. This echo is what we call the marble dropping sound.

Mosquito trap mechanism

In bathrooms of HDB flats, the floor traps have the mosquito trap mechanism that prevents mosquitoes from breeding. When someone uses the bathroom at night, the opening and closing of the traps due to the running water make sounds like marbles dropping.

Vibration

When noise travels through the walls instead of the air due to various equipment from the neighbourhood, this creates vibration in the walls. This results in noise that sounds like a marble dropping.

Expansion and contraction

On the roof or top levels, the concrete and pipes can expand and contract due to change in temperature. When expansion or contraction occurs, it could sound like marbles, too.

Air-con pipes

As condensation occurs, water could be dripping inside the pipes of the air-conditioner. The sound of water dripping could echo like a marble dropping.

These reasons sound much more legitimate than actual children playing with marbles at night because who plays with marbles nowadays? Do not be spooked out by the marble dropping sound again!

Furniture Moving Sound

Chairs legs without caps

The most plausible explanation for this is chair legs that have the leg caps worn, or even the lack of any. The sound of the drag would be carried over from the floor, and it’ll definitely be more pronounced in the dead of night!

So the solution isn’t to look for any spirits, but for chairs that are causing damage to both your sleep and the occupier’s floor!

To know more about this topic, watch this video to the end:

Featured Image: Tang Yan Song / Shutterstock.com