I bought a house to rehab that is creaking

[skyactiv]

Bought a 3 bedroom ranch built in 1972 to rehab. My elder brother does the work and we split the profit. The house has a basement except for the family room which is on the back corner of the house on a slab with a garage on the front corner. There was foundation repair on that side of the house done last year according to the neighbor and there is still piled up dirt on the side of the house. There is a concrete patio which looks new. There is a crack in one of the patios expansion joints and also the concrete step to the patio door.

Being in the house yesterday, I heard occasional creaking in the attic. None of the drywall is cracked and the walls don't appear like they've been painted in awhile.

I'll try to post pics today.

 

[Skippy722]

 

[supton]

Have fun.

Wonder if the creaking is heat induced expansion.

 

[PontiacHO]

Empty houses are always noisy.

 

[gregk24]

I hear creaking in our 1959 regularly. I think in our case it is related to temperature changes and not due to foundation issues.

 

[Escape08]

Like some here saying foundation issue, yes, I think so. I think soil where the house sits is bone dry

 

[Zee09]

OSB moves with the seasons..

 

[John_Conrad]

yes normal with the daily changes in temperatures, look and see if it has any roof ventilation, otherwise consider the addition of some.

 

[IndyIan]

Steel roof? Those creak with a cloud blocking the sun for a couple minutes.
Go have a look around up there, but if its been up since 1972, probably its fine.

 

[ragtoplvr]

What city. In the mid west much of the soil expands when wet. Some parts have caves, and others like Joplin are undermined. Of course this This makes houses creak and drywall and foundations fail.

Uninhabited houses without heat or ac often have more intense variations in humidity and temperature. This makes for creaks.

Years ago I lived with highly expansive soil that would crack the drywall and foundation.. I fixed and painted. Then all summer there was a soaker hose around the outside of the foundation. It was watered over night at least once a week, at the peak of the drought. No additional walls cracked. I explained to the new owner about the soil and what to do to mitigate the effects. No idea how it is now.

Rod

 

[JTK]

... but if its been up since 1972, probably its fine.

I think that's the key.

Unless there's glaring new issues or a cobbled cover-up job going on, the house has made it over 50yrs as-is.

 

[PimTac]

You will need to get up into the attic.

 

[Ausfahrt]

Maybe one of the tires is low on air.

 

[skyactiv]

Here are two pics. I would have had the step come out future myself. It's cracked.

 

[skyactiv]

What city. In the mid west much of the soil expands when wet. Some parts have caves, and others like Joplin are undermined. Of course this This makes houses creak and drywall and foundations fail.

Uninhabited houses without heat or ac often have more intense variations in humidity and temperature. This makes for creaks.

Years ago I lived with highly expansive soil that would crack the drywall and foundation.. I fixed and painted. Then all summer there was a soaker hose around the outside of the foundation. It was watered over night at least once a week, at the peak of the drought. No additional walls cracked. I explained to the new owner about the soil and what to do to mitigate the effects. No idea how it is now.

Rod

Hilliard, OH, a suburb of Columbus.

 

[vavavroom]

You don't have to buy a house to rehab. You can do that at a facility in beautiful Napa Valley surrounded by vineries.

 

[PimTac]

Notice how that step crack lines right up with the expansion joint? Is there anything in that joint?

 

[mk378]

The sidewalk and step are very new.

 

[grisby]

Looks like a finished trowel cut to me. Entirely for looks. Not a true expansion joint.

 

[CarDoc66]

The house I grew up in was the noisiest house I have ever experienced. I used to lay in bed at night and just hear pops and creaks all the the time, it was disturbing.
The first home I owned was framed with hemlock/fir and the truss roof was spruce, That house was quiet but had a lot seasonal movement. I was fixing the same drywall cracks every year.