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I have 3 story single column load bearing house. Recently I made a room at the terrace. After the construction my house is vibrating all the time. My house is between 2 houses; there is no gap in them. Because of the vibration I feel very anxious; what to do? The contractor is saying it is normal. But I never felt this before. I am attaching a picture of my house (click to enlarge):

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Glorfindel
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Sourav Saha
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  • what does the contractor say about the source of the vibration? – jsotola Dec 23 '21 at 16:41
  • Its the mine being dug underneath… :) – Solar Mike Dec 23 '21 at 16:52
  • Would get another contractor to check, a well built house/building should not vibrate without cause. Hopefully external. – crip659 Dec 23 '21 at 17:14
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    Funny thing about harmonics, sometimes increasing or decreasing a structure’s height might put it at the ideal height and like a tuning fork you can now feel vibrations that may have always been there but now they are amplified – Ed Beal Dec 23 '21 at 17:39
  • Can you tell the frequency of the vibration? 50 Hz? 100 Hz? other? – Phil Freedenberg Dec 23 '21 at 22:48
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    I wonder if your neighbors feel the vibrations, and if they perceive them to have started when you added your new room. Or did they know about them before? – Willk Dec 23 '21 at 22:58
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    Just a thought, turn all of your power off and see if the vibration goes away, if so you know it is you and not your neighbor. If it is you turn the breakers on one at a time and determine which causes the vibration. At that point you can probably narrow down the noise source. If it does not go away it is probably your neighbor. – Gil Dec 24 '21 at 01:28
  • Do you have a radon mitigation system? – George Dec 24 '21 at 03:21
  • The contractor is saying a 3 story building has vibration it is normal. But i never felt it before – Sourav Saha Dec 24 '21 at 05:10
  • No there is no mine dugging. – Sourav Saha Dec 24 '21 at 05:11
  • I am planning to hire a civil engineer but i am not finding any. – Sourav Saha Dec 24 '21 at 05:11
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    The neighbour said they don't feel any vibration. – Sourav Saha Dec 24 '21 at 05:12
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    I have tried all things but vibration is still there, turned off all power – Sourav Saha Dec 24 '21 at 05:13
  • I think i dont have one – Sourav Saha Dec 24 '21 at 05:13
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    You indicate it’s a 3 story single column load bearing house. What is single column load bearing? Does the entire house rest on this one column ? – Lee Sam Dec 24 '21 at 07:24
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    If it's still there when all of your power is off, it could be a neighbour - fridge, freezer, a/c, so you need to ask them to turn off their power to check. – Tim Dec 24 '21 at 11:26
  • No, all house weight is on the bricks, with a single column from the middle of the house, it is also taking some weight. – Sourav Saha Dec 25 '21 at 08:09
  • Because your house directly abuts 2 others, it might have nothing to do with your house at all. It could be that either of the neighbors made a change and that vibration is transmitting through the wall from their place to yours. Because of the exact specifics of their construction, they might not feel the vibration at all, but you do. Ask either side to see if they made any changes recently. It could be that it was always there and now with your addition, you now feel it (see @EdBeal's comment about harmonics). – FreeMan Feb 23 '22 at 13:05
  • Thinking about what's NEW that could cause this: My first suspicion, if you have new air ducts for heating or air conditioning or a new air handler, would be oscillations by the duct walls or the machine (fan, blower, pump, whatever you call it) vibrating due to an imbalanced part. My second suspicion would be the new roof, or part of it perhaps having a not-quite-rigid area that is vibrating. If your neighbors aren't affected it's more likely something impacting the air space in the new room than coming up from the ground. – jay613 Apr 08 '22 at 13:31
  • @SouravSaha any update to this interesting problem? – jay613 Apr 03 '23 at 13:54

2 Answers2

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possibly a harmonic tremor? I have seen it rip bridges apart...has something to do with certain vibrations and wavelengths of the vibrations. When they are tuned just right they can be quite destructive.

AlphaStone Remodeling
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    Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please [edit] to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers [in the help center](/help/how-to-answer). – Community Jan 24 '22 at 13:21
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Suggest to measure vibration

Vibration meter is an app called seismograph or seismometer

Can be a smartphone app, or a sensor that's got Bluetooth enabled for you to collect the data. ( https://blog.endaq.com/6-ways-to-measure-vibrations )

Then you can measure in your room, and in shared spaces and at your neighbor's.

Btw, is it constant? Does it go away at night?

I would be concerned, it may cause cracks in the building walls - either internal or external - where specifically depends on the geometry. If measurements are taken then this may help to fix it.

Sxx
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    Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please [edit] to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers [in the help center](/help/how-to-answer). – Community Mar 09 '22 at 12:11