Noisy Walls in MBR are Driving us Nuts!

[Billy]

We have this squeaking/tapping noise coming from our SW wall in the MBR and I have yet to determine what it is. It's extremely annoying when we try to sleep. I need help with theories.

We live in the NE USA and the when even the slightest wind blows from the west, I hear this constant squeaking/tapping sound. It sounds like when you step on a hardwood floor that sqeaks, but it is very quick and repetitious - like a tap.

I went over to the wall and pushed on it and I can reproduce the squeak by pressing and releasing on any part of the wall with some pressure. I also put my ear to the wall and I clearly hear the tapping when it's windy. However, I can't pinpoint the exact location of the sound to any one part of the wall.

I went up in the attic above and do not see anything obvious.I went outside to look at the siding and it is firmly in place. The window on this wall is solid.

Any ideas before I rip down this newly painted sheetrocked wall?

[mark Ransley]

Tapping I have that but I know its the chipmunks and squirrels screwin and chewin. Hit the wall hard when you hear it ,if it stops for a while its critters.

[dh]

[Joseph Meehan]

What kind of siding do you have? How old is the home?

[Billy]

Now you got me thinking because the siding is vinyl (installation only 3-4 years young) and it is placed over some type of thin Styrofoam which is finally placed over the old existing wood shingles that the house was built with. Behind that is pink colored insulation.

I know this because I had to make a larger opening for a receptacle box in another section of the home, and when I did, I exposed all the materials up to the interior sheetrock. Boy was I upset when I looked inside because the wood behind the siding was moist and rotted and we think it's been inviting carpenter ants that have paid us a visit in the past (I'm saving this major issue for another post).

I think you may be on to something because what I hear sounds *exactly* like Styrofoam being squeezed. Maybe up against a stud or the moistened wood.

Oh, and the house is about 40 years old.

Any ideas on how to fix??

[Joseph Meehan]

I think what you are hearing is mostly the vinyl siding. It can not be attached tightly as it needs to be able to expand and contract, so it moves in the wind. Just the right nailing helps reduce it, the right shape and construction of the siding helps and the foam backing also helps, but it can't stop it all.

[mcameron]

i have an office that has an open door most of the time during the summer and it faces a neighbors house that was done in vin siding a couple years ago when it warms and contracts during the day it pops and clicks

so probably something like that when it cools off

maybe try to track down the seam or joint and wedge/shim something soft, felt paper behind there

bill