New Build, Popping noise

TheLeonC

Hello,
Hope everyone is keeping well! 

We purchased a new build property around 6 months ago, but recently we have been hearing a popping noise coming from our bay windows area. We have tried tracking down where it’s coming from but as it happens randomly it’s hard to pinpoint it! Originally we thought it was a stone hitting the window or a pigeon landing in the roof, but it’s most certainly not! We notice it around 4-5 times a day, obviously noticing it more as we are home more now. Read up online and some people say expanding of ventilation systems and others say uPVC windows expanding. Any advice would be appreciated!

thank you 

EssexExile

It's often the plastic guttering moving, when the sun comes out it expands, then when the sun goes in it shrinks again.

Hasbeen

TheLeonC said:

Hello,
Hope everyone is keeping well! 

We purchased a new build property around 6 months ago, but recently we have been hearing a popping noise coming from our bay windows area. We have tried tracking down where it’s coming from but as it happens randomly it’s hard to pinpoint it! Originally we thought it was a stone hitting the window or a pigeon landing in the roof, but it’s most certainly not! We notice it around 4-5 times a day, obviously noticing it more as we are home more now. Read up online and some people say expanding of ventilation systems and others say uPVC windows expanding. Any advice would be appreciated!

thank you 

I would agree. With some sunshine and heat recently some things will expand and contract. 

Glass and pvc.

Edit to say from one poster:

The PVC-U element within a PVC-U window is a thermoplastic material - as such it will expand and contract when subjected to variations in temperature.
This fact is known to the system suppliers (and to reputable installers) and is accommodated with the design of the window/door by ensuring there is a gap of 5-7mm between the frame and wall. Without this gap the frame material could come into contact with the building structure and put stress on the glass/units and hardware - inevitably resulting in failure.
The amount of movement will vary according to the nature of the raw material itself and the environmental conditions at the time. The difference between internal temperatures and those externally will be the main cause of the creaking that you hear - a southerly exposure to full sun will only make the problem worse.
Assuming that the expansion gap has been provided for and the windows have been correctly designed and manufactured there is nothing that you can do, coloured and especially dark woodgrained foils will likely make the problem even worse.

DOH_a

As others have mentioned, plastic will expand and contract in conjunction with the changes in weather.

TheLeonC

Thank you for your replies everyone! Can this be rectified or is it something we have to just deal with? We have warranty on the property, and we are half tempted to email the builders to see if there’s anything they can do to assist, although they may just relay what you have all told me.  

mclaren32

We have had something similar in a new extension, I believe that it might be all the Celotex insulation in the roof/ceiling moving against the wood. We get a crack noise not a pop and it seems to be temp related.

WeAreGhosts

Is this a plastic-y kind of pop, or more of a something hitting the wall kind of sound? I ask because we had a strange popping noise inside the cavity of our wall and it turned out to be the electric cable outside failing. We couldn't figure out what it was for ages until all the electrics went off. This sound gradually got worse and could also be heard late at night and was a bang more than a quiet pop. I'd say that if you don't hear it at night it's probably the uPVC.

CDC41

Hi
All buildings expand and contract. You'll never get away from that fact. Heat certainly is a major player in it all and its probably nothing to worry about. So long as water isn't entering the building, it should all be OK. 

TheLeonC

WeAreGhosts said:

Is this a plastic-y kind of pop, or more of a something hitting the wall kind of sound? I ask because we had a strange popping noise inside the cavity of our wall and it turned out to be the electric cable outside failing. We couldn't figure out what it was for ages until all the electrics went off. This sound gradually got worse and could also be heard late at night and was a bang more than a quiet pop. I'd say that if you don't hear it at night it's probably the uPVC.

Hello,
it’s hard to describe it, originally we thought maybe a stone had hit the window or a pigeon landing on the roof, we don’t tend to notice it after around 8pm and never really noticed it until the weather got warmer which kind of points towards something expanding. I guess the only thing we can do at the moment is wait for the weather to cool down and see if it still happens! Thank you for your response:)

TheLeonC

CDC41 said:

Hi
All buildings expand and contract. You'll never get away from that fact. Heat certainly is a major player in it all and its probably nothing to worry about. So long as water isn't entering the building, it should all be OK. 

Thank you for your reply, we haven’t noticed anything else other than the noise, so hopefully is just the building expanding! We will monitor it

RelievedSheff

We have the same with our new build. One of the living room windows which is south facing contracts during the evening when the temperatures drop and it makes quite a bang. Not a lot we can do about it. It is just one of those things.

All houses make some noise as different materials expand and contract at different rates.