Downstairs ceiling "cracking" noise when people walk upstairs

[Aeropars]

Hi All,

I've lived in a new build Taylor Wimpey for 18 months and have a very annoying cracking noise whenever people are walking upstairs. Its only myself and my wife at present so with a family in there its going to be extremely annoying!

I've reported the issue to them before and they have sent someone round to cut and fill along the perimeter of each room however this only reduced the problem for a short time. It appears to be getting worse again of late.

I believe what they are going to do is replace the ceiling and install resilient bars across the joists to remove the problem.

As a side note I have terrible internal sound insulation problems with noises (such as the diswasher) resonating around the entire house. The living room is directly above my bedroom and if the wife has a very small radio on (sound is all top end, and no bass) I can clearly hear it downstairs in my living room.

My questions are: How effective is this at removing this issue? Will this help with sound transfer around the house at all? Is there anything else I should be talking to them about?

Look forward to any replies.

 

[musthavebeenmad]

Resilient bars worked very well for us. Just like you, Barratt tried several other options first, before asking us to involve the NHBC, who ruled in our favourite. The house is now very quiet.

 

[Aeropars]

Thanks for the reply. How come the NHBC were involved? What specifically were they looking for?

Our customer service manager said to try the cutting technique first and they go for the entire replacement if I still wasn't happy so I hope I don't have a fight on my hands.

 

[musthavebeenmad]

I think it all depends on the company and how they operate. Barratt told me they had been aware of the problem of creaking ceilings for years, yet they still keep building the houses in the same way. Sounds to me though that your builder is going to put you through less misery than Barratt did to us, so fingers crossed for you. You can read the full experience of creaking ceilings on my blog. https://barratthellhome.wordpress.c...he-floors-in-our-barratt-home-squeak-so-much/

 

[Aeropars]

Very interesting read! Did you find that sound travelled through rooms less after you had them fitted?

 

[musthavebeenmad]

Definitely a lot better. The gremlins have been chased away. Can't hear people moving around upstairs anymore, totally stopped the thunderous cracks across the ceiling.

 

[Aeropars]

Fingers crossed they do that for me too without quibble!

One really annoying thing I hope this fixes is the reverberation from the dish washer. If you put this on before going then its actually as noisy in the master and second bedrooms as it is in the kitchen! I hope the break in the continuity of the plasterboard rectifies this issue as well.

 

[freckles]

Have these works been done while people were still living in the house? I'm having ceilings replaced in almost every room and I don't think the house will be in a fit state to live in.

 

[Martin-Lovell-Carlisle]

At least your builder is going to try and resolve, Lovell wont even attempt to resolve mine

 

[Bucko]

Did you get anywhere with this. We have a new build with a different developer but the same issues 5 years on.

 

[Doh1]

Old thread but thought I'd try....

We bought our new house in 2014, almost straight away noticed these cracking/popping noises, ceilings were rescrewed three times in total, didn't work, perimeter of room separated from wall boards (as nhbc recommendations) , didn't work they eventually agreed to fit resilient bars with new ceilings, it made No difference and the noises are still there, it's been over two years and there is no solution. I can only assume it's the timber I beams that are now used or the joist hanger brackets

It's a long shot but does anyone know of a solution or what to do?.

All I seem to get from the contractors/builders is 'all new builds do this', not really helpful and doesn't determine the root cause of the issue

 

[Doh1]

Does anyone have a solution to this cracking noise issue?

The amount of issues found on google would suggest someone must have eventually found a solution?

 

[jayprice1985]

I have just put a post up about this. I live in a Strata Home and had problems for 8 months. The solution to date is resilient bars. It has worked in one room and they are going to do the rest. Time will tell I guess but the bars have clearly created a gap between the TJI joists and the boards, which has assisted. Fingers crossed. There is still a slight click rather than a crack but it will never be 100% perfect!

We went through all the screwing ceiling methods and it just didn't work.

 

[homebuyer]

Old thread but thought I'd try....

We bought our new house in 2014, almost straight away noticed these cracking/popping noises, ceilings were rescrewed three times in total, didn't work, perimeter of room separated from wall boards (as nhbc recommendations) , didn't work they eventually agreed to fit resilient bars with new ceilings, it made No difference and the noises are still there, it's been over two years and there is no solution. I can only assume it's the timber I beams that are now used or the joist hanger brackets

It's a long shot but does anyone know of a solution or what to do?.

All I seem to get from the contractors/builders is 'all new builds do this', not really helpful and doesn't determine the root cause of the issue

To start, not "all new builds do this", love the BS contractors and customer service people try to spin. My house did however do this, my neighbours did not. They took down our ceiling and worked from underneath, discovering that the beams were sagging as they weren't reinforced properly or something. They put in loads of extra small beams between trhe main long beams to support them (sorry, I'm not good with the technical building terms!). They also discovered that rough cut offs from the skirting board had been used to prop some of the beams up from the top joists of the supporting walls (whatever that means haha).

In short, the builders who fixed it were shocked at what they found and they foxed the problem. The creaking was still there for the first 2 days after they did the work but now it's completely gone. But it's starting to occur over the kitchen now, so may have to get them back for that side of the house grrrrrr.

 

[jayprice1985]

To give everyone an update on our situation. Strata homes have taken every ceiling out in the house and fit resilient bars across the joists. They have also layed fibreglass covering across the resilient bars. They have attached the plasterboard to the resilient bars and it has 100% cured the issue. The reason why it has cured the issue is that when they took the ceiling out you can see a slight bit of movement in the TJI joists when you knocked them gently. The resilient bars have clearly held the joists together more tightly which has solved the issues! Don't back down people, get your builders to fit resilient bars the way ours have! It worked!