Stranger staying in my attic

L

LauraB

New Member
Hello!
I'm new here. For the past few weeks I have had a stranger in my attic! (Could be two). I first became aware something was amiss when I returned home from a short meeting with my church home group. Even though my door was locked, I felt and heard noises up in my attic! I live alone since my husband passed last year.

There is an opening for the attic in a closet in one bedroom, but I've never in 36 years gone up there, and my late husband had extra insulation installed to help keep the house warmer. So, I know where the opening is in the ceiling but scared to go up there. I had an expensive alarm system installed and one night it went off around 2am. The police came but could find no evidence. It made me feel foolish, as I didn't think of the attic then. So the police left and I hear daily little noises from up above me. I yelled at them to stop and got the unpleasant scariness of someone pounding on my bedroom door in the night, twice on different nights. I had no proof to give to police so didn't call.

Here is another thing - I have no idea how they got up in my attic! My brother came over and on a ladder went
up just to see, not walking, but he said the insulation was very very thick and no one could live there anyway,
and the other thing is, I have no idea how they are gaining entrance to my attic, We've looked all over the house and seems the only way is the opening above the closet. I am very scared. If I make it known I hear them I will call out and no luck. They have pounded on my bedroom door in the night twice. Have no evidence to give to police. It seems the thugs know how to bypass my Vivint alarm system. My relatives don't believe me that anyone could be there!

What should I do? Hire a pest control company to check in the attic and pay whatever it costs, or go directly to a private investigator and hire them to search for evidence? I am so scared!
Thanks for any advice,
LauraB
 

Call your brother and get him to go and search in that attic...first....!! you're genuinely scared of what you might be hearing, so get him to go up in the attic and check every corner... I think that if you were hearing someone pounding on your bedroom door.. there would be evidence of someone coming down from the attic and then climbing back up again. I have a feeling you might be having night terrors and have got yourself in a bit of a state, so get your brother or a neighbour to go up and give the attic a thorough check.
 
Hey @LauraB welcome! I see you are new.

I think it is very likely some kind of varmints, squirrels as @BC Flash says, or racoons as @Nathan says. I've had both, and bats, all can make the sounds you describe. A good pest control service could probably figure it out and fix it.

@hollydolly is also right, if for no other reason than to calm your fears I would get someone who could go up there and look for any evidence of human use. That seems less likely to me, but your peace of mind matters. And stranger things have happened.

Best of luck with it.
 
I remember being told about a house where in the loft there was no dividing wall and the neighbour would come down into the house while the home owner was out , things like food was going missing,, he was of course finally found out .

Another time was a case of an old aunt insisting there was loud music being played in the night, even acussing her neighbour , well the Nephew stayed over one night and he heard nothing .
The Aunt was moved to a care home .

Nightmares can be real like , are you on medication ?, I was taking a BP med that gave me nightmares that was so real .
 
There seems to be no obvious way someone could get into your attic and presumably there is no access from neighbours' attics into yours?

If I were you, I would have CCTV cameras installed, if you prefer not to have cameras in your rooms, you could have them in the hallway and landings and, if possible, in the attic. It may be that your brother or another relative could install the cameras for you (they are not expensive).

Could your brother, or someone else you trust, stay for a night or two to see if they can hear anything, say, during the night? A friend of mine lives in an old house and during the evenings you would swear someone was walking up and down her stairs but, it's actually noise from the neighbours. Obviously, the most important thing is to establish whether there are intruders as, that is the most frightening thing.
 
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We once had racoons in our attic .. they sounded like people walking around on the roof! Upon thorough
inspection, we found the insulation disturbed, and the eaves at one corner on the outside, was lifted up,
giving the critters access. Once it was hammered down securely, they didn't return.
 
Do you mean you think that whatever's scurrying around in your attic is actually pounding on your bedroom door at night... and if so, why/how would they do that? Or do you mean that after you "yell at them to stop", neighbors pound on your door because you were yelling? (Wait, scratch that... you said bedroom door, so that wouldn't be a neighbor after all.)
 
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I think another immediate way to start tracking this problem down is to get a lock put on the outside of the closet door.. a snib lock.. any easy fitting lock will do, and if by any possibility there was someone coming down , and then pounding on your bedroom door..it would put an immediate stop to that happening..

I do feel however that it's very likely you're having nightmares.. they can be extremely real.. I've had similar in the past myself when on certain medication..
 
LauraB said:
What should I do? Hire a pest control company to check in the attic and pay whatever it costs, or go directly to a private investigator and hire them to search for evidence? I am so scared!
Thanks for any advice,
LauraB
Click to expand...
Not likely a pest of some kind would pound on your bedroom door but gaining access to your attic a possibility.

Using something like this would provide proof if in fact there is a human causing you grief. And a lot less than hiring a private investigator.

Dzees Outdoor Camera Wireless, Battery Powered WiFi Surveillance Camera for Home Security System with Siren Alarm & Spotlight, Motion Detection, Color Night Vision, IP65 Waterproof Cloud/SD-2-Pack
4.3 out of 5 stars 5,012
$98.99

of course mounting indoors is possible.
 
LauraB said:
Hello!
I'm new here. For the past few weeks I have had a stranger in my attic! (Could be two). I first became aware something was amiss when I returned home from a short meeting with my church home group. Even though my door was locked, I felt and heard noises up in my attic! I live alone since my husband passed last year.

There is an opening for the attic in a closet in one bedroom, but I've never in 36 years gone up there, and my late husband had extra insulation installed to help keep the house warmer. So, I know where the opening is in the ceiling but scared to go up there. I had an expensive alarm system installed and one night it went off around 2am. The police came but could find no evidence. It made me feel foolish, as I didn't think of the attic then. So the police left and I hear daily little noises from up above me. I yelled at them to stop and got the unpleasant scariness of someone pounding on my bedroom door in the night, twice on different nights. I had no proof to give to police so didn't call.

Here is another thing - I have no idea how they got up in my attic! My brother came over and on a ladder went
up just to see, not walking, but he said the insulation was very very thick and no one could live there anyway,
and the other thing is, I have no idea how they are gaining entrance to my attic, We've looked all over the house and seems the only way is the opening above the closet. I am very scared. If I make it known I hear them I will call out and no luck. They have pounded on my bedroom door in the night twice. Have no evidence to give to police. It seems the thugs know how to bypass my Vivint alarm system. My relatives don't believe me that anyone could be there!

What should I do? Hire a pest control company to check in the attic and pay whatever it costs, or go directly to a private investigator and hire them to search for evidence? I am so scared!
Thanks for any advice,
LauraB
Click to expand...
I think I would be just as scared as you are, LauraB.
Hope you find out what’s going on soon.
I would have animal control or an exterminator come in to check things out.
 
Laura, first of all, don't let all this scare you like it's scaring me reading it.
Little critters can make more noises than you think.
I like the ideas of cameras which is a good idea for anyone living alone and Hollydolly's idea of a lock.
I also like the idea of someone staying with you a few nights to see if they hear something and can investigate.
You need some help with this though, asap.
 
hearlady said:
Laura, first of all, don't let all this scare you like it's scaring me reading it.
Little critters can make more noises than you think.
I like the ideas of cameras which is a good idea for anyone living alone and Hollydolly's idea of a lock.
I also like the idea of someone staying with you a few nights to see if they hear something and can investigate.
You need some help with this though, asap.
Click to expand...
I agree... and I think something has triggered this and has to be dealt with and treated . Since this OP recently lost her husband, it could be some depression, or deep grief which is causing the nightmares where she's feeling her bedroom door is being pounded on...

All things need to be addressed but first and foremost has to be the complete check of the attic, then a lock put on the closet door..
 
Welcome to the site LauraB, sorry you are having problems in your ceiling. We had an episode in the ceiling many years ago. It usually started when we went to bed. I could hear thumping and scraping. My husband got up on a ladder and discovered rats had decided to set up house. He bought some rat killer bait and within 2 weeks, silence. Maybe if your brother could sprinkle some kind of powder or flour in the ceiling he could see if any footprints are visible, even put some outside your bedroom door. If there is prints, I would take photos and then present them to the police or exterminator. Good Luck!
 
Hi there Laura...welcome!
My action would be to invest in an audio tape recorder (if you have not already
got one).
They are not expensive...set it up on the inside of your bedroom door.
Maybe do this for several nights.

If nothing is heard on the tape...then...
it may be time to visit an audiologist.
No need to panic.
 
Jules said:
Could the OP be playing with us? She joined, posted once and was last seen 20 minutes after that.
Click to expand...
Perhaps, but then perhaps she was looking for some place to ask her question. .. we can only take people at face value.. and posting once after you join isn't a sign of any ill intent IMO..
 

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