It is obvious to hear crackling and popping sounds from your roof ceiling in the middle of the night and sometimes during the daytime. Although the popping noises are scary and seem like the roof is about to collapse or has been damaged, the sounds can be normal as well. It’s only normal for your metal roof to shift, settle, and react due to temperature changes.
Why does my metal roof pop? Your metal roof pops because the roofing materials cool down as the sunsets. The ceiling contracts due to low temperature and, as a result, produce noises. Therefore, the popping noise is the metal ducts adjusting to new temperatures.
Different Reasons For Your Metal Roof To Pop
You’ll often hear popping sounds in your metal roof that may appear that the roof is ripping off your house. It’s quite obvious to think that something in your metal roof is broken. This is normal and less likely to collapse. However, the main question arises what makes the metal roof pop and what must be done to reduce the popping noise? Following are the reasons for noise.
- It is common to hear crackling, popping, and snapping noises coming from your metal roof, specifically during cold weather conditions. The sun shines throughout the day and warms the roof and tiles. When the temperature cools down at night, your roof’s components cools and contracts and produces noise.
- If you have recently added a room or porch, it is natural for your metal roof to make popping or crackling sounds as it makes adjustments. You can also hear popping and crackling sounds from beams or joists whenever they expand or contract. In rarer situations, these popping sounds are a sign of some undue stress, and you need to call a professional roof contractor for your roof inspection.
- Another reason your metal roof cracks and pop is ice and snow build-up. You should investigate if you are hearing unusual loud popping and crackling sounds after nature has accumulated and piled snow and frozen precipitation on the road. In such a case, look for out-of-place roof tiles and puckers. Also, examine whether any roofing material has become loose or not.
What Is The Science Behind The Popping Sounds Of Your Metal Roof?
Your metal roof pops as the roof shifts, settles, and reacts to different external problems, and there’s no major cause of concern like the roof collapsing. Normally such popping noises occur due to the regular movement of your roofing materials. Roofs are normally made of different materials such as plywood, metal ducts, wood framing, and glass. So when the temperature within your house seems to change, all these roofing materials slightly move as a result of expansion and contraction to adjust to new temperature conditions. This is why the expansion or contraction of roofing materials gives a crackling or popping sound.
What Are The Different Kinds Of Noise Your Metal Roof Makes?
Crackling Noise
You can hear this crackling noise from the attic, which is a space above the ceiling below the pitched roof. This sound makes it feel that the roof is about to collapse. This occurs due to movements of roof components due to temperature changes.
Creaking Noise
It is another common noise that comes from your ceiling. This noise occurs due to heat or cold-related crackling noises. Cracks from snow or ice are a big reason for such creaking noises.
Popping Noises
This noise can be experienced at night or in days.
Tapping Noise
If you hear repetitive tapping noises from your ceiling, this can be due to the expansion and contraction of metal components in heating, air conditioning work, and ventilation. The metal ductwork expands and contracts to produce such noises.
How Can You Stop Your Metal Roof From Occurring Such Popping Noises?
You can stop the popping noises from occurring from your roof at night by following the below measures:
Spraying Of Foam Insulation
One most effective way to reduce popping noises coming from the metal roof is spraying foam insulation. Cell polyurethane is present in the spray foam, which expands and covers the roof cavities and openings before hardening.
This polyurethane substance blocks, damp, absorbs sound waves, and helps seal openings within roof cavities that stop the popping noise from transferring via the ceiling. When you are buying a spray foam, always ensure to buy one which is suitable for soundproofing.
Fastening Your Metal Roof
The second most effective way to prevent popping noises from your roof is by fastening the roof. Roof fasteners are highly effective in holding the ceiling in the right place and even play a major role in ensuring your roofing system’s overall thermal process /performance. For example- metal fasteners help create a thermal bridge within the roofing system and improve thermal insulation.
If your metal roof has no fasteners or is installed incorrectly, it may result in your roofing system making loud reactions to changes in temperature. For example, rapid expansion and contraction of your roof at night can intensify the situation. Replacing and repairing roof fasteners help control the popping noises to a great extent.
Diagonal Bracing
You can prevent popping noises from your metal roof by adding diagonal bracing to the rafters or trusses of your building’s roof. Concentrated sound waves caused by the wind to the roofing structures are moved by diagonal bracing, and these popping sounds are reduced. To get the best result, the diagonal bracing must run in a variety of your roof’s directions and form letters V Or W on the truss’s underside.
You can also install one bracing set on each roof’s side to get the best result. You can contact a professional and experienced roofing contractor who can effectively fix and install the diagonal bracing.
Conclusion
Most of the time, popping noises coming from the roof ceiling are not a big problem as they are caused by changes in the temperature, weather, and natural shifts in your house. So pay attention to popping noises and contact a professional roofing contractor to inspect a roofing problem and confirm if there’s any other issue with the metal roof.