Attics Joists Creak And Pop

If your house is giving you the creeps because of popping noises from inside the walls and up in the attic you can probably chalk it up to something other than spirits from beyond the grave.

Attics joists creak and pop.

All attics joists can carry a minimal dead load weight i e 10 pounds per square foot. Think of it like this. At night attic can sometime make loud creaking and cracking sounds. In older home attics unsettling bangs are more likely to be the sounds of trusses joists rafters and sheathing expanding or contracting as the roof heats up or cools down.

You can probably walk across the edge of a 2x6 joist but if you stack the joists two high and try to walk across your last name better be wallenda. Joists in attics that were never intended for the installation of flooring or conversion to a living space are often 16 inches oc or 24 inches oc. Not so with stacked joists. Metal roofs are major offenders but shingled roofs also can be quite noisy.

It can ofter sound as. Joists carry the weight of the walls furniture and people on them. But live loads are a different matter. Often minimal live load requirements are four times that of dead loads.

Brendan foster from louisville roofing contractors is explaining why some attics creak and crack at night. Popping is a common way to describe a variety of noises that a house makes and the causes are varied. When a load is applied to a joist it creates a tension in the wood along the top edge. Even a little drill in the wrong place can cause the structure to weaken resulting in annoying bounce and sag you experience every time while crossing the weakened floor.

Sistering is the process of adding a new joist next to each existing joist. If your attic already has insulation it is probably useless for your intended attic remodel. In the case of 2x6 joists you can pair them up with additional 2x6 joists by nailing them together side by side. If the attic joists are not adequate one way to strengthen the floor for live loads is to sister the old joists.