Imagine waking up in the middle of the night from a very scary sound coming from the attic. That is what happened to me last night in my newly renovated home. The sound/alarm would sound for a few minutes, go off, then on again about every 15 minutes.
I called and texted anyone who had been working on my house who might know or be able to diagnose what the hell was happening. One guy, a carpenter, answered my call. How appropriate at Christmas time that he would be the benevolent soul willing to help. He is familiar with plumbing and electric work but he is not a plumber or electrician.
The next hour I simultaneously turned off each breaker, turned off the whole panel, went into the attic to look for SOMETHING or smell something, got dressed in case it was something was about to explode, saddled my dogs for escape, turned off the water, felt the walls for heat or to narrow down the source of the sound, contemplated calling 911, while listening to Wade, the helpful carpenter, for other ideas and suggestions. He offered to come over to help but acknowledged there was nothing more he could do than what I already did. While in the attic Wade asked if any lights were flashing. They weren't but this becomes a key clue in our investigation later, as well as the lighthearted jokes Wade and his girlfriend threw out to ease the tension - is it a vibrator?
NOTHING shut the alarm off. It was such a weird, sick sound which became increasingly scary each round as the sound seemed to be using the bathroom as an amplifier.
As I shut off each breaker, not one shut off the room/wall where the sound was coming from. Interesting, but no time to deal with that now. Shutting off the whole panel didn't shut it off. Shutting off the water didn't shut it off as there are no pipes in the ceiling or that particular wall, but it was something else to try nonetheless.
Finally after an hour, with Wade on speaker phone, the exact spot where the sound was coming from was clear. It was in the wall between the bathroom and bedroom. It was in the wall. I wondered if someone accidentally dropped an electronic device in the wall while running wires and just now the battery was dying, causing alarms to go off. But what device?! Was it a bomb??
There is a recessed shelf in the bathroom wall and the sound was clearly coming from that spot. In this recessed shelf are three, clear, plastic bins with bathtub paraphernalia in them. And within one of those bins, there it was, the blinking light. It was the Clarisonic Mia2 having a day. It is in fact a vibrating facial cleanser so the blinking light and vibrator where the two clues which closed the case.
