When the wind blows, our four-year-old home's attic produces cracking noises and cracks. It appears as if something is about to smash through the ceiling above our bed. The contractor was sent to reinforce some of the trusses. It didn't alleviate the problem. What's going on, and how can we stop the frightening rattling?
- Martha A., Egg Harbor Township, N.J.
While I'm not a structural engineer, I've worked on enough wood-frame homes to realize that they may groan, squeak, and scream in the wind. When powerful nor'easters smash her, even my own house, which I did not create, groans and strains.
I'd believe you have a legitimate issue if your house creaks and shifts with each small breeze or moderate wind. In strong winds, it's typical for a home to make noises.
It's simple to figure out if you've ever had to carry a single sheet of plywood or oriented strand board (OSB) in a strong wind. I recall a fierce day when, as a young carpenter, I hoisted up a piece of plywood and was promptly thrown to the ground by Mother Nature.
The plywood was being pushed in front of me by the wind. My leg, arm, and back muscles couldn't keep up with the pressure, so I didn't get hurt.
Imagine the surface area of your home's roof or sidewalls. Depending on the surface area of the structure that's getting hit by the wind, structural engineers will tell you that a light wind adds up to thousands of pounds of force. The calculations required to achieve this are intricate. Modern building regulations have incorporated this into account, and the trusses should have been intended to withstand typical weather conditions as well as windy days.
When The Wind Is Blowing Against Your Roof
When the wind is blowing against your roof or attic sidewalls, it puts pressure on the wood frames, causing them to bend. The noise could be caused by wood rubbing on metal fasteners, or the wood sheathing might be rubbing against the trusses.
The answer is to strengthen the attic structure so that it must flex or shift considerably more force. Your builder may have gotten the idea of adding more bracing to the underside of the trusses correct, but it was not done correctly.
I'd get a residential structural engineer to look at your attic. Make sure he or she is an experienced expert with expertise working on houses that creak in the wind and can show you documentation to back it up. Call ahead to see whether the homeowners' houses still make noises after their recommendations were followed. Request references and contact the homeowners to inquire whether their residences have stopped making noises since they followed instructions.
Take notes and photographs, conduct a thorough inspection of your attic, and create a basic retrofit strategy that most carpenters can execute.
The likelihood is that the design will include additional bracing in the trusses. The engineer's design will detail the sort of nails or screws, how long they must be, and how many should be used at a specific place.
The unknown factor on the first floor of your house's exterior walls is a wild card. It's also critical that the house's walls be firmly braced to prevent shifting. Bracing can be nails or screws driven through the wall studs into metal strips or plywood sheets attached to them. The walls aren't able to rack under wind or seismic loads if they're nailed to the wall studs rather than built on top of them.
If you have photographs of the house while it was under construction, showing the wood-framed walls as they were constructed, those will be beneficial to the engineer. The most essential photographs will show things that will be covered by drywall, insulation, vinyl siding, shingles, or any other construction material.
It's critical to be able to see what's beyond or inside a wall. I'm sure everything will be fine when you hire someone to install the bracing in your attic, and you'll sleep well on all but the windiest nights.
Read more: Why Does My Roof Creak When it’s Cold?
Is it Normal For The Roof to Creak in Wind?
It's normal for the roof to creak in wind.
Structural engineers will tell you that a light wind adds up to thousands of pounds of force. Modern building regulations have incorporated this into account, and the trusses should have been intended to withstand typical weather conditions as well as windy days.
When the wind is blowing against your roof or attic sidewalls, it puts pressure on the wood frames, causing them to bend. The noise could be caused by wood rubbing on metal fasteners, or the wood sheathing might be rubbing against the trusses.
The answer is to strengthen the attic structure so that it must flex or shift considerably more force. Your builder may have gotten the idea of adding more bracing to the underside of the trusses correct, but it was not done correctly.
You might want to know: Why Does My Roof Creak at Night
How do I stop my roof from creaking?
I'd get a residential structural engineer to look at your attic. Make sure he or she is an experienced expert with expertise working on houses that creak in the wind and can show you documentation to back it up. Call ahead to see whether the homeowners' houses still make noises after their recommendations were followed. Request references and contact the homeowners to inquire whether their residences have stopped making noises since they followed instructions.
Take notes and photographs, conduct a thorough inspection of your attic, and create a basic retrofit strategy that most carpenters can execute.
What causes your house to shake?
If your ceiling and walls shake at the same time, the cause is probably the wind. Homes are built to withstand normal wind forces without much movement. Modern homes can experience significant shaking if their roofs or supports are weak or improperly attached. As you read this article, notice where your home creaks when it shakes -- you might find it's coming from your roof!
This is an important clue in uncovering the source of vibration problems in older homes, but homeowners may also hear these sounds indoors for reasons unrelated to wind loading on the building envelope. A squeaky door hinge, loose furnace fan belt, old cabinet hinges that need lubrication, a refrigerator compressor motor that needs its pulley tightened (affects both sound and vibration), or an improperly mounted plasma TV on a wall are some of the more common indoor sources of noise and vibration.