Attics Joists Creak And Pop

But live loads are a different matter.

Attics joists creak and pop.

In the case of 2x6 joists you can pair them up with additional 2x6 joists by nailing them together side by side. 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. 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. Blocking solves the problem.

Joists carry the weight of the walls furniture and people on them. Popping is a common way to describe a variety of noises that a house makes and the causes are varied. Sistering is the process of adding a new joist next to each existing joist. 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.

It can ofter sound as. Further the carpenter may need to add nails or reset them shim shore add joists or rafters rebrace etc any or all of these methods might indeed pull it off and get rid of the unwanted noise. Not so with stacked joists. Metal roofs are major offenders but shingled roofs also can be quite noisy.

If the attic joists are not adequate one way to strengthen the floor for live loads is to sister the old joists. Often minimal live load requirements are four times that of dead loads. 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. When a load is applied to a joist it creates a tension in the wood along the top edge.

Brendan foster from louisville roofing contractors is explaining why some attics creak and crack at night. Think of it like this. All attics joists can carry a minimal dead load weight i e 10 pounds per square foot. Stacking joists is not nearly as stable as sistering which braces the joists against twisting.