Why Minnesota Houses Crack and Pop All Night
The bitter cold weather that we experience here in Minnesota each winter can create some major headaches like busted pipes or broken furnaces. Temps have dropped below zero several times this week and my house has been making some really strange sounds. Does your house make weird noises throughout the winter months?
Thankfully, my heat is on and my pipes are fine, but my house is cracking and popping. Sometimes it's one pop a night, sometimes it happens every few minutes. And, these pops are really loud - loud enough to wake me up.
Why Minnesota Houses Crack and Pop All Night
I did a little research this morning to find out why my house makes these sounds, if I need to worry about my house falling apart, and if there's anything I can do to stop the popping and cracking.
Those loud pops and cracking noises might sound scary, and experts say they will get louder as the temps get colder.
Why Minnesota Houses Crack and Pop All Night
Norbert Delatte, a civil and environmental engineering department chairman and professor at Cleveland State University, explained the sound to Cleveland.com.
" Pretty much all building materials – wood, concrete, steel – expand with heat and contract with cold."
Delatte says the noises happen in the winter because "The foundation of a house stays at a more normal temperature where the outside of the house is trying to shrink against it, so whatever connections there are between the foundation and home, they would be making some noise."
Your house isn't falling apart. There's actually nothing to worry about and there's nothing you can do about it.
The 10 Sounds of a Minnesota Winter
More From KDHL Radio
