Does your house make cracking noises?

[Pigeonqueen]

Weird one I know.

We have lived in our house (3 bed semi, 1950s) for 14 years now. Recently I’ve become aware that when I’m upstairs I can hear a weird cracking noise - kind of like brickwork / plaster cracking, it’s happening every hour or so but then sometimes doesn’t happen for ages and then does it again.

Obviously I’ve gone round outside and looked at all the walls (exposed bricks, can see a bit of cement missing between some but no worse than neighbouring houses) and no obvious cracks, and same inside, except a few hairline plaster cracks in one bedroom wall which have been there for years (if we had the money we’d probably re plaster). Had roof checked fairly recently and all okay.

Dh thinks, in the kindest way, I’m being a bit anxious (I do have form for this after having a ceiling collapse in a previous house I’ve lived in!) so I wondered if this was a common thing? Do houses randomly creak / crack?

I guess the obvious answer is maybe to get someone to check it but not even sure what kind of tradesperson to ask and worried we’ll get told it’s ££££ when it’s not a big deal…! 🤷‍♀️

My last house, 1940s, cracked all the time. It was the wood contracting and expanding. It sounded a bit like brickwork but it wasn't.

Yep. Always heard creaks and cracks in our homes, including the one we live in now. All 60s/70s builds. Usually happens in the evening. I've assumed it's something to do with the air being warm inside, but cooling down outside, but no idea really.

Well this is reassuring so far! Thanks for replying.

Yes, the pvc windows, soffits and fascias contract and expand with the heat of the day/cool of the night and this can make a loud cracking noise. Sometimes it's so loud in my bedroom it makes me jump. I was worried about it but spoke to a family member who is a plastics engineer and they put my mind at rest. I do notice it more on warm days.

Yep our 60s semi creaks. The plastic facias expand in the heat when the sun comes round the house.

Yes it's the guttering and plastic stuff in the sun as pp says.

I find it quite comforting because it means the temp is cooling down for the night usually.

I thought all houses did this. All of the 10 I’ve lived in have.

Ok thank you. Maybe I’m going to be safe then and the entire house isn’t going to come crashing down around me 🤣🙈

Really appreciate the replies.

Ours creaks with temperature changes particularly. So say if the heating has been on, then turned off and it starts to cool down again during the night. Gave me many a jolt while DH worked nights!

Every house I've lived in except my current one has done that. They're all still standing. Total non issue.

I’m in an end terrace and the noises this house makes are terrifying. Convinced it’s just going to collapse half the time 😅

1930 mid terrace. Creaks all the time...

I’ve lived in several different houses and they all make weird noises. The noisiest house was a Victorian one that was so noisy at night I vaguely entertained the notion of a friendly ghost (not really as I don’t believe in ghosts but it sometimes felt like someone was moving around at night).

Hmm, is it a crack or a creak. Very different things. All houses creak. Its expansion and contraction of different materials. A crack is a very different sound.its much shorter and sharper. Like something snapping. A creak is more of a softer and longer sound. Hard to describe but we all know what a creak sounds like.

ive never heard cracking, but every house I’ve lived in, which is several, has creaked,

Can others hear it?

If its just you it could possibly be tinnitus.

We had a small earthquake where I am last Saturday, that made the window frames creak.

My parents house where I grew up is SO noisy. Creaking, cracking, popping…

Thank you everyone for the replies.

Dh can hear it, so definitely not tinnitus or me sort of imagining it, it’s a definite noise we can all hear. But dh doesn’t feel worried by it the way I do.

I think judging by the comments it’s just something I’ll have to try and get used to - I mean we’ve been here many years and the house has been standing since 1950s so can’t imagine anything awful is about to happen.

I think a lot of my anxiety comes from being aged around 12ish and being left home alone (days before mobiles and internet) in the evening when my Mum went on a date and I heard a hissing sound and went out to the hallway to investigate and the whole hallway ceiling fell down, literally collapsed in front of me, missing me by inches. Basically a radiator upstairs had started to leak and had caused the ceiling to fall down. It was scary being on my own and having that happen; late at night. I didn’t have anyone to call for help (no other family) and we didn’t get on with our neighbours so all I could do was wait for my Mum to eventually come home.

Needless to say I’ve taught both my dc where the stop tap is!