Hep me explain these noises!!

[SimoninEaston]

My century-old, mid-terrace, brick-built 2 storey house has a loft... both upstairs rooms had new ceiling joists and plasterboard ceilings about 10 years ago.
Every 10-20 minutes I hear a creak/crunch from up in the ceiling of the back room - no such noises are heard from the vicinity of the front room.
I used to think maybe it was expansion as the house heats up each morning, but 1) it happens throughout the day & night 2) it's the front room not the back, that gets the morning sun and 3) it's a bleak mid-November morning and there's no sign of the sun and it's creaking away as usual.
What gives...??

 

[AronSearle]

Is it better or worse on windy days?

 

[SimoninEaston]

Hard one to call - don't think I can recall any difference...
The back bedroom faces west and so catches the predominant south west winds, but I don't recall the issue being any worse or indeed any better when it's blowy.
The only thing I can add is that if I had to guess, I'd say it sounds like something gently cracking as it shifts... but I keep looking out for signs of cracks in the ceiling and there are none - yet!

 

[AronSearle]

There are so soooo many things it could be, that we can only guess.

Creaking is normally indicative of rubbing caused by movement (stepping on a floorboard).

Cracking noises more often indicate stress, once example for instance is timber elements could have shrunk and now something in the roof is stretched or pressed tight within/against the timber.

In both cases it is things rubbing against each other, but creaking is a slow abrasion often caused by slow loading, cracking is a sudden shift and release of pressure (unlikely to be anything anything structural to worry about in case you are worried). If it is cracking, I would suspect the wind suction is just shifting the roof about a bit, but it can also equally be thermal movement.

You need to determine where the noise is coming from, which is hard with cracking.

Try getting up in the loft and walking about the ceiling joists, see if walking about in different areas causes things to shift and the cracking to occur, this may take time and patience. If you have softwood sarking then that could be a source of noise (not very likely but all things are possible). So you need to have a good wander about the whole roof to try and pin down the location of noise.

It may be hard to locate, and hard to rectify, so patience is the key.

Also, if you have lots of stuff in the loft, try re-distributing it and see if that has any effect.

 

[KenGMac]

Question?

Do you have plastic rain water gutters?

These things are notorious for creaking and clicking, especially if restrained and no expansion points available, are there any long length's of plastic gutter on that side of the Property?

 

[SimoninEaston]

The creak/cracking sounds like it's coming from very particular spots on the ceiling. There's one or two 'favourites' but in general I can pinpoint origin of the noises to within 6 inches - or at least , that's what it sounds like! And they are not near the eaves - they're in the middle of the ceiling!

 

[AronSearle]

Mostly likely the plasterboard rubbing the underside of the joists, plasterboard joints rubbing, or the screws in the plasterboard rubbing around the holes.

I'm assuming there are no joints of any description in those areas’, and it is just the joists running across with plasterboard. If there are any structural connections, then make sure the noise isn’t coming from them.

Fixing it is a bit more difficult. You could just install more screws into the plasterboard, or gluing and screwing OSB or chipboard onto the top of the joists, which will stiffen up the 'floor' and reduce movement. Use OSB or chipboard as it is breathable, and ensure not to block up any eveas vents.

Bear in mind if it is not the plasterboard and such rubbing, my suggested fix will be a waste of your time (won't harm anything), so try and be sure where the noise is coming from.