# House makes loud popping sounds at night



## AtlanticWBConst.

Your Trusses (older side of your home)?

Link: http://www.askthebuilder.com/169_Truss_Uplift_and_Ceiling_Cracks.shtml


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## michelle slate

*outcome?*

About 3-4 times a week, we are awakened by loud popping sounds in th house. It sounds like someone is in the attic pounding the walls with a hammer. It knocks pictures off the walls and is very disturbing. It is a 1973 wood frame home in SC. It happens when the temps change and has been happening every night lately. Do you know what this could be? It is driving us nuts. Thanks. Michelle<><


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## Wildie

michelle slate said:


> About 3-4 times a week, we are awakened by loud popping sounds in th house. It sounds like someone is in the attic pounding the walls with a hammer. It knocks pictures off the walls and is very disturbing. It is a 1973 wood frame home in SC. It happens when the temps change and has been happening every night lately. Do you know what this could be? It is driving us nuts. Thanks. Michelle<><


 Poltergeist?


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## cocobolo

Michelle:
This is an interesting, and I am sure to you a perplexing question.
It sounds as though you might have framing members moving very slightly in relation to one another. This would cause noise, although I cannot say I have ever heard such a thing myself. Does it sound as though it could be something like this?
Do you have a plumbing stack in the vicinity of the noise?
Do you have a woodstove with an insulated chimney there?
Do you have a heating pipe or duct there?
Are you able to physically get into the area from which the noise is coming?
If you can, check carefully to see if all the framing is securely nailed together.
It wouldn't be the first time loose framing has been found.
Has this been going on for a long time, or has it just recently started. If it is recent, did you make any alterations in any way to the house?


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## BMDealer

Would there happen to be a deck attached to the house on the side which is making noise? In the North East we've seen that if a composite deck gets installed incorrectly, butting of the deck boards, they will make a huge popping noise at night when there are any temp fluctuations. This is due to the expansion of the deck and no place truly to expand.


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## michelle slate

cocobolo said:


> Michelle:
> This is an interesting, and I am sure to you a perplexing question.
> It sounds as though you might have framing members moving very slightly in relation to one another. This would cause noise, although I cannot say I have ever heard such a thing myself. Does it sound as though it could be something like this?


Do you have a plumbing stack in the vicinity of the noise? _It happens in at least two places I think. However- there are plumbing vent pipes close to at least one of the places. When we hear it we are usually asleep and it wakes us up. _

Do you have a woodstove with an insulated chimney there? _No_

Do you have a heating pipe or duct there?_ our ductwork is in the attic and is all around the areas that make the noises. _

Are you able to physically get into the area from which the noise is coming? _Yes._ 

If you can, check carefully to see if all the framing is securely nailed together. _I will- thank you!_

It wouldn't be the first time loose framing has been found.
Has this been going on for a long time, or has it just recently started. _For over a year._ 
If it is recent, did you make any alterations in any way to the house? _Not in that area._


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## michelle slate

BMDealer said:


> Would there happen to be a deck attached to the house on the side which is making noise? In the North East we've seen that if a composite deck gets installed incorrectly, butting of the deck boards, they will make a huge popping noise at night when there are any temp fluctuations. This is due to the expansion of the deck and no place truly to expand.


No- we don't have a deck there- That does make sense though. Thank you.


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## cocobolo

Michelle:
If the noise sounds metallic, it is quite possibly related to the ductwork. When wood moves against itself, it tends to sound more like a rubbing or squeaking noise. I would be inclined to lean toward the ducts being the source of the noise. Perhaps if you are brave enough, you can send hubby up into the attic when the ruckus starts up. It would be fairly easy to pinpoint the noise then.
I don't know how to stop that noise - my mum's house does the same thing when the heating system cuts in and out. I can only assume that it is the sheet metal expanding and contracting. And this would be more exaggerated at night when the temperatures are colder. The metal would be going through a greater expansion/contraction with the larger temperature difference caused by the lower temperatures at night, and the more or less constant temperature of the warm air of your heating system. I think you may have found your problem.


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## jamiedolan

steel baron usa said:


> sell sell sell


Why??


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## steel baron usa

*popping sound*



jamiedolan said:


> Why??


popping is never a good sign, especially when it is knocking pictures off the wall, i have been a gc for 30 years and usually this means some kind of wood is breaking either the beam you spoke of or the roof rafters can you get in the attic or is the beam exposed?
I would either sell before you have to provide a non disclosure form or i would have a professional take a look at it maybe it can be fixed? an exposed beam wouldn't be that bad to replace, but taking apart the roof to replace trusses could be. This is not merely shifting wood.
Be careful 

peace


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## mtrx

michelle slate, did you ever figure out your noise problem? We have just purchased a house and seem to have the same popping noise. It seems to be more in the mornings when sun heats up the flat roof. On the rainy and overcast days we dont seem to have this noise.


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## nking

sounds like the duct work... except for the pictures falling off the wall though, you should problably crawl up in your attic and make sure every thing is structually sound


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## mtrx

nking said:


> sounds like the duct work... except for the pictures falling off the wall though, you should problably crawl up in your attic and make sure every thing is structually sound


It is not a duct work in my case and I do not have an attaic. It' a flat roof and I only have about 6" inches in in the area where the noise is coming from. It sounds like joists could be loose and need to be tightened..


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## spark plug

mtrx said:


> It is not a duct work in my case and I do not have an attaic. It' a flat roof and I only have about 6" inches in in the area where the noise is coming from. It sounds like joists could be loose and need to be tightened..


It could be stress, if it's coming from the joists. And stress on the structure of a building is never a good thing, as Steel Baron (USA) pointed out. But then again, it wouldn't be affected by fluctuations in temperature. One possible reason, as I have experienced, is that part of the ceiling is made up with metal studs. In my house, the (top floor ceiling (not the roof) is from metal studs and I installed a fluorescent fixture in the kitchen area. Every time the light is switched on, for the first fifteen Minutes, there is a crackling noise, which abates after a while. The same thing happens when the light is turned off. This is clearly a result of the change in temperature.:yes:!


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## mtrx

spark plug said:


> It could be stress, if it's coming from the joists. And stress on the structure of a building is never a good thing, as Steel Baron (USA) pointed out. But then again, it wouldn't be affected by fluctuations in temperature. One possible reason, as I have experienced, is that part of the ceiling is made up with metal studs. In my house, the (top floor ceiling (not the roof) is from metal studs and I installed a fluorescent fixture in the kitchen area. Every time the light is switched on, for the first fifteen Minutes, there is a crackling noise, which abates after a while. The same thing happens when the light is turned off. This is clearly a result of the change in temperature.:yes:!


I don't know if there is in fact some metal sheeting or something in that nature installed in there. I guess once the roofer removes 2 layers of old roof we will see what is under the 1 x 6. I just wanted to have a good plan before doing the roof.

This noise really bothers me and I wanted to make sure that I solve it before then new roofing materials are installed.


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## MShomeowner

mrtx and/or michboddy,

Did you ever figure out your popping problem? I have the same thing.


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## mtrx

MShomeowner said:


> mrtx and/or michboddy,
> 
> Did you ever figure out your popping problem? I have the same thing.


Yes, i did! When I re did my roof it turned out that previously whoever did the roof installed plywood on top of the rigid insulation and instead of using screws used nail! And not even long once... so they were only in less than 1/2 inch into the roof decking... so this was it!


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## spark plug

mtrx said:


> Yes, i did! When I re did my roof it turned out that previously whoever did the roof installed plywood on top of the rigid insulation and instead of using screws used nail! And not even long once... so they were only in less than 1/2 inch into the roof decking... so this was it!


You mean to say that the popping sound was the nails coming loose from the roof. that means you have a lot of loose planks on your roof. It should be repaired ASAP, IMHO!!


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## mtrx

spark plug said:


> You mean to say that the popping sound was the nails coming loose from the roof. that means you have a lot of loose planks on your roof. It should be repaired ASAP, IMHO!!


This plywood was only install to go over the rigid insulation long time ago at a time when they did not have modified roofs and had to use hot mop which requires plywood. I already removed all the plywood and did a new roof 

You probably have the same issue.. if you don't want to remove the plywood then you at the very least need to install screws all over to tighten the whole thing.


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## spark plug

mtrx said:


> This plywood was only install to go over the rigid insulation long time ago at a time when they did not have modified roofs and had to use hot mop which requires plywood. I already removed all the plywood and did a new roof
> 
> You probably have the same issue.. if you don't want to remove the plywood then you at the very least need to install screws all over to tighten the whole thing.


I agree with you on this. As the saying goes; "You can't have your cake and eat it, too. If the popping noise comes from "Loose" planks, they should --in every case-- be either fastened or replaced!:yes::no:!


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## D1dergal

*Popping Deck*

I know exactly what noise you are questioning! My husband is a carpenter and built our house 22 years ago. We have a big deck off the back and I was searching this morning for reasons our deck might "POP" He has no clue what it is! It occurs in different areas, only in cold weather (usually with big temperature change) The sound is a very loud bang, I heard it twice this morning but it does not occur every day through the winter....just occasionally. There has to be a logical reason. I surely would not sell my home because of it lol
Thanks for allowing me to vent!:thumbsup:


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## D1dergal

PS...we just had our shingles replaced this summer so it wasn't anything to do with the roof!


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## severum

*fish tank?*

I've been woken up by loud popping noises for a while now. While I hope its nothing to worry about I'm concerned its the floor joists cracking under a large aquarium. I only notice it in the morning as the pop will actually wake me up. Its been happening for a few months, whereas the fish tank has been there for several years.


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## D1dergal

*loud popping sound*

mine only happens in the winter time and sound like it is coming from our deck. I'm not sure, expanding from freezing maybe?


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## Spgrc

I'm having the same problem. For me it is one random bang noise and is unpredictable for when it happens. It only happens when the house cools below 19c. I would guess it happens 3-4 times at night at least a couple of hours between bangs. I don't notice it during the day but I'm sure it does when cold. 

Never happens in the summer. 

When I'm in the basement it sounds like a ping sound. It happens when the house is completely quiet... when people are sleeping or sitting. It almost sounds like someone striking the steel support column when in the basement. When on the main floor it sounds like someone striking the wall with their fist. 

The house is 20 years old and has been happening for 20 years from what I recall.


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