We're Completely Stumped

[blissful]

Do you move the garbage box, which appears to have black rubber on the bottom, to different areas?

 

[dragnlaw]

LOL... this would be REALLY good for a TV show!

 

[Andy M.]

Not the same trash barrel as in the photo but it is rarely moved. Not the problem.

I have checked the chair swivel mechanisms and feet. Not the problem.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

My only thought is that it is the bottom of slippers. However, you said this happens when your feet are wearing socks or going naked. Naked FEET, to be clear. Himself has slippers that mark the floor, but it took us forever to track down the source of the marks. They come right up when rubbed - I usually just buff them out with the sock on my foot.

Is it possible when the marking occurs you don't catch it right away, but you notice it later? By the time you notice it, you've kicked off your shoes or slippers and are wandering around socked, or not.

 

[Andy M.]

...Is it possible when the marking occurs you don't catch it right away, but you notice it later? By the time you notice it, you've kicked off your shoes or slippers and are wandering around socked, or not.

Not possible. First, we're attuned to be aware as this has been happening. Second, we get up in the morning barefoot and start with coffee and breakfast and, all of a sudden, black marks. No slippers or other footwear involved.

As far as it's being footwear related, I've seen the marks footwear can make. Usually these are streaks that follow the motion of a step. Our marks are not like that. They are more spots than streaks.

 

[RPCookin]

Sounds like something growing there, like a mold or something.

 

[blissful]

Have you both had your eyes checked for 'floaters'? (okay never mind was just joking and it's not funny anyways, it could be serious too)

 

[rodentraiser]

Where are Jay and Grant when you need them?


Is it anything from what you might be cooking, like sauce or grease that spatters out of the pan? Are you dripping anything when you carry it across the kitchen? Check all your dishes, you may have a very slight crack in them that allows liquid to seep out when you carry it from the stove or sink (although you'd notice that at the table).

I notice your garbage pail is across the kitchen. Is it something you have cleaned up around your sink or stove and the rag or paper towel is dripping on the way to your garbage pail when you throw it out?

Although I don't think any of this can account for the spots in the bathroom.

If you think your house really is haunted, you just say firmly that you don't appreciate the marks on the floor that you have to clean up and would whoever is making them, please stop.

I know that sounds bizarre (especially if you weren't serious), but that's pretty much SOP (I belonged to a ghost hunting group). My supervisor and her husband once bought a house where they could hear footsteps coming down the hall every night and they finally sat up in bed and and said this was their house now and would whoever was making the noise please leave. According to her, the footsteps stopped. So, just sayin'......

What about insects, mice, birds, or even raccoons getting into your house?

And have you thought about just placing a camera to record for a couple hours to see if anything appears?

 

[Andy M.]

That's a pretty comprehensive list of guesses.

Joking about the haunting. Not from dripping foods or other stuff. No cracked plates pots or whatever. We don't cook or eat greasy black smudgey stuff. No animals live in our home or walk around the kitchen and Dining area while we're having breakfast.

 

[Steve Kroll]

Andy, does it always appear in the same spots? Could it be a mold of some sort?

I had a spot in my old basement that kept coming back time after time. It also cleaned up easily. Turned out to be mold where there was a recurring source of moisture under the floor.

 

[rodentraiser]

Maybe it's something like this:

Mystery Faces of Belmez - The Paranormal Guide



I'm wondering if it's something that reacts to the kitchen light. Is your light fixture fluorescent? Maybe when you come into these areas, it's something on the floor that normally can't be seen, but then when you turn the lights on, it shows up.

Is it possible that when you walk over your floor, that as you compress the tile and flooring, something is seeping out?

Are you sure it isn't something that is dripping from the ceiling, because it might be a minute sized dot of moisture that you can't see, but then when it hits the floor, it might react with the flooring and turn a color you can see.

 

[Andy M.]

Andy, does it always appear in the same spots? Could it be a mold of some sort?



I had a spot in my old basement that kept coming back time after time. It also cleaned up easily. Turned out to be mold where there was a recurring source of moisture under the floor.

The isn't happening in a basement, Steve. It's a bright high traffic area that's heated/air conditioned. It also does not appear in patterns like mold.

 

[rodentraiser]

What about the fan over your stove? Could that be blowing anything out?

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Dang, you caught me...

 

[Addie]

Andy, as a log time experienced general contractor, I decided to ask Spike regarding your problem and showed him your picture. He said the following:

Eventually, all adhesives break down. If applied too thin, the tiles start popping loose. So it is necessary to apply enough to hold the tiles in place. Then after so many years, it will start to break down anyway. Take note if these black marks appear in the same places all the time. If so, then more than likely those tiles are loose. And the adhesive needs to be replaced.

 

[dragnlaw]

I believe he really does have an invisible visitor.

Andy, didn't you say your floors - both the wood and the kitchen - ere relatively new?

I can't see where any of us have come close to an answer. Maybe call Mike Holmes!

 

[Andy M.]

Andy, as a log time experienced general contractor, I decided to ask Spike regarding your problem and showed him your picture. He said the following:

Eventually, all adhesives break down. If applied too thin, the tiles start popping loose. So it is necessary to apply enough to hold the tiles in place. Then after so many years, it will start to break down anyway. Take note if these black marks appear in the same places all the time. If so, then more than likely those tiles are loose. And the adhesive needs to be replaced.

Addie, the tile floors are 8 years old and solid as the day they were done.

 

[CharlieD]

If the soles of your running shoes are black, they are rubber and not non-marking. My tile floors need regular cleaning because my Saucony running shoes aren't non-marking. They don't leave black marks tho.

Not only running shoes. Any shoes including even home slippers.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

I liked Addie's idea.

Um... poltergeists?

 

[Caslon]

The National Inquirer asks, can we see some pictures? This might go viral.