Q for you Seasoned homeowners
#16
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So we are relatively new to home ownership, and I have a q for all of you ‘seasoned’ homeowners. Last night we had a lot of strong winds (40+ mph), and there was so much creaking, moaning and groaning the roof sounded like it was going to be ripped off! When a particularly strong gust came along, the walls would creak & groan somewhat as well. Our house is 15 y/o, and I don’t remember my mother’s or grandmother’s houses’ making noises like that (they are 30+ y/o). Is this noise typical of a house this age, or do you think it’s something to be worried about and have an inspector out to take a look? I’m wondering if there’s a big diff in materials and roof design with newer versus older homes since I’ve never experienced these sound effects in older homes. It was damn hard trying to sleep when you're wondering if the next gust will bring the roof down! ![Blink](https://britishexpats.com/forum/images/smilies/blink.gif)
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#17
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Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 16,266
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So we are relatively new to home ownership, and I have a q for all of you ‘seasoned’ homeowners. Last night we had a lot of strong winds (40+ mph), and there was so much creaking, moaning and groaning the roof sounded like it was going to be ripped off! When a particularly strong gust came along, the walls would creak & groan somewhat as well. Our house is 15 y/o, and I don’t remember my mother’s or grandmother’s houses’ making noises like that (they are 30+ y/o). Is this noise typical of a house this age, or do you think it’s something to be worried about and have an inspector out to take a look? I’m wondering if there’s a big diff in materials and roof design with newer versus older homes since I’ve never experienced these sound effects in older homes. It was damn hard trying to sleep when you're wondering if the next gust will bring the roof down! ![Blink](https://britishexpats.com/forum/images/smilies/blink.gif)
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Wood frame houses tend to creak. You may want to make a quick visual inspection. You don't describe what kind of roof you have.
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#19
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I'm going to show my ignorance and ask what types of roofs are there? We have a timber frame house. It's a pitched roof, that's all I can tell you.
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#20
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google link
Composite, wood, clay tile etc
Wood frame houses are groany.
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Did you have an inspection done pre-purchase? Anything serious should've been noticed then. Also, the lender will usually require the roof to be in pretty sound order before they'll fund. We had to have a new layer put on before we got the purchase mortgage on this place.
Bear in mind that a roof usually has about a 15 year life span before it needs a look at a new layer (depending on materials etc).
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#21
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Tell me about it! It was friggin freezing today compared to yesterday! I haven't heard about any tornados, but there are plenty of trees down and power outages. Gusts of 70mph were recorded around us. That aside, we've heard these noises at other times when it's been windy. It seems any wind over 10mph causes the rafters to creak & groan. This just doesn't seem normal to me. But I don't want to appear to be the daft homeowner worried about nothing, which is why I was wondering if others notice the same thing in their homes.
I think our next home will be one we design ourselves and select the materials. Houses today are built like crap, and I can't stand the match-sticks and plywood used.
I think our next home will be one we design ourselves and select the materials. Houses today are built like crap, and I can't stand the match-sticks and plywood used.
We had a 20 foot branch (or part of a tree rather) down in our backyard this morning.
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