Need serious help: Rattling sounds nonstop.

[acuriousman]

I have two windows side by side in my room. Last night, I tried to open one in order to get some fresh air in. It's always been a little hard to open but I managed to open it a crack.

All of a sudden, I start hearing this fairly loud rattling/vibration coming from the other window (The one I hadn't touched). It wasn't constant, but kept coming and going throughout the night. I closed the open window to see if it would help but it still continued.

Weird thing is, if I press on the window while it's shaking/vibrating, it stops. But obviously, I can't do that all the time.

What's going on here? I've never had this issue before. Anybody know how to fix it?
It's driving me crazy!

 

[nealtw]

Welcome to the site.
Is the glass loose in the sash?
Something running in the house causing vibration, like a fan or something.

 

[CalRehabber]

Maybe you have a ghost living in the house!

 

[BridgeMan]

Without knowing more of the facts (window types,sash weights present, painted frames, etc.), it's hard to guess at exactly what might be the problem. But I'm sure there's a perfectly logical reason for it, and one that's readily correctable.

 

[nealtw]

A ghost sound like more fun.

 

[Chameleon]

Is it an older house/window? I had the same problem occur in my last apartment--the glass in the window came slightly loose from its frame, and the fan set against the wall was enough to rattle it. I fixed it by wedging a piece of folded paper between the glass and the frame, since that place was a pit and I sure wasn't going to spend money on repairs that the landlord should have done...but obviously that's not a great long-term solution.

If your windows are on the old side, my guess would be that the effort of opening the one window put just enough stress on the other frame to pop the glass loose. You might be able to fix it by re-sealing the pane. Then again, if your windows are old, it may be worth getting new, energy efficient ones...

 

[markjsis]

Could be wind.try closing the window you cracked and see if it stops.