[usmaak]

My house is six years old. It's a two story house that makes a lot of different noises. The only that I'm really trying to figure out right now is my office. It's at the front of the house and has a sloping ceiling, kind of like half a cathedral ceiling. There are no ducts in the walls, as all of the vents are on the floor and there is nothing but roof above the room. There are no water pipes for the same reason. All day long, the south facing wall (faces the outside) will make crackling noises. They're not really popping sounds. It's hard to explain. It will sometimes make the noises when I am sitting there working. Other times it will make the noises as I walk into the office, like something is flexing and causing the noise. Sometimes I can be sitting in an entirely different room and I can hear it. Often, I can press my hand against the wall to get the crackling noise to happen. After I do that, it doesn't make it for a while. There is a staircase that goes up to the second floor right next to the office and at times the noises will happen when someone is walking down the stairs. Lastly, it also makes the noises when one of the doors to the outside is opened.

My house is a two story house on a concrete foundation. The entire house was framed with 2x6 studs. I have been trying to figure this out for years, but all of the research that I do online always seems to point to pipes and ducts. Those can't be the reason because there are no ducts and pipes in the wall. It's just drywall, studs, and insulation. The house also has some sort of wood siding on it. I am pretty certain that it is not the issue. When I press my hands on the wall and get it to happen, it feels closer to the inside of the house.

I would love to find a way to get this fixed, as well as tackling the other sound issues in my house. I just don't know if there's a way to fix it. Is there anyone that can suggest what is causing this and how it might be fixed?

 

[Mystriss]

Our house makes popping sounds during the afternoon when the sun shines on the dark paint and heats everything up.

It makes noise when you walk across the floor, wood "creaking" kind of thing.

I can't think of anything that makes a "crackling" noise though.

Is it maybe bugs or rodents inside the wall??

 

[usmaak]

Our house makes popping sounds during the afternoon when the sun shines on the dark paint and heats everything up.

It makes noise when you walk across the floor, wood "creaking" kind of thing.

I can't think of anything that makes a "crackling" noise though.

Is it maybe bugs or rodents inside the wall??

This has been a difficult thing to even explain. It's definitely not bug though. It's in one location along the wall and I can usually get it to happen by pressing on it. It's kind of a crackling/popping noise.

I really need to get a carpenter or someone similar out to the house and have a look. I also have a lot of problems with the upstairs floors making all sorts of popping noises whenever anyone walks on them. It's particularly annoying because the living room sits right below the area that's the worst. My shower pan will also make popping noises that sometimes wake my wife up.

This house is very loud. Much louder than the 20 year old house that I came from before moving here. I'd like to get as many of the noises fixed as possible. It's all very annoying.

 

[FrodoOne]

All day long, the south facing wall (faces the outside) will make crackling noises. They're not really popping sounds. It's hard to explain. It will sometimes make the noises when I am sitting there working. Other times it will make the noises as I walk into the office, like something is flexing and causing the noise. Sometimes I can be sitting in an entirely different room and I can hear it. Often, I can press my hand against the wall to get the crackling noise to happen. After I do that, it doesn't make it for a while. There is a staircase that goes up to the second floor right next to the office and at times the noises will happen when someone is walking down the stairs. Lastly, it also makes the noises when one of the doors to the outside is opened.

Largely because it is a south facing wall, this sounds as if it is due to wall "panels" expanding to the point where fixing resistance is overcome and sudden movement takes place. Your other movements may act as a trigger to this happening.

What happens at night, after there is no sunlight on the walls concerned?

I am writing this from a house in Australia with a "colour-bond" (iron) roof. It is lined and insulated but the sheets concerned are in full sun.
On a hot summer day there is often a sudden "crack" from the roof, due to expansion.

 

[Nealtw]

Te wall is all roof, what style of house is it? Is this an attic space that has been added after the original build?

 

[3onthetree]

With your combo slanted roof/wall, when the angle of the sun is closer to 90d to the surface, the heat gain is more intense.

"Glued and screwed" can help prevent sound being made between the connections of materials.

 

[Mrbuilder]

usmaak:
Is your home "custom built" or in a "track development" and, do you hear about the same issues from your neighbors ? Let me say first, that every house has it's own personality (noises) ie:time of day, concrete vs frame, wood vs metal framing, expansion/contraction and, weather. IMO it all come down to the builder and his subs. Things to consider. Material, adhesives, fastener type size & number installed for each installation. Example: 3/4" screwed tongue & grove glued down floors vs: nailed plywood sheets butt jointed and nailed w/o glue. Screwed & glued T&G floors have much less noise problems than the latter. The same goes for your shower pan. A fiberglass pan is screwed or nailed to the framing, sometimes w/o foam, or drywall mud between it and the sub-floor. It will have more of an opportunity to make sounds during expansion-contraction. vs: vinyl pan w/mud bed type. So many variables we builders have to consider during our builds. Some cut corners in these areas, some don't. I've actually had to repair showers w/fiberglass pans that only 4 roofing nails attaching it to the framing, in relatively new homes. Caused a plumbing leak due to movement. Popping and snapping is normal. Squeaks are usually failed or too few fasteners, or materials rubbing other material.


Sorry to ramble, but issues like yours are sometime HARD to diagnose without being there. Post a few pics of your home where the issues are and we might better understand the issue.