What did I hear?

Sounds like the building is settling. Maybe the pipes are contracting

@RedDeerGuy1 We’ve lived in this house for the last ten years or so. Have definitely heard the house settling. This was a loud cracking sound.

It really did sound like a pane of glass breaking! But, for the life of me, I can’t seem to find any cracks in the glass.

@raum Sounds concerning. I would ask someone about that. I don’t know who to ask. A structural engineer or the local equivalent . You can ask a firefighter non-emergency line, or go in person. They should guide to the the appropriate specialist.

It might have been as simple as someone throwing a glass bottle at your house or on the street. You could also have an infestation of wild life , like raccoons playing around in your attic.

A lightbulb? A bottle in the freezer? A prank?

@raum Probably just some heat expansion. I wouldn’t worry too much about it. If it’s something bad it will declare itself eventually. This heat wave is amazing.

If you press on the glass a little, does anything happen? I’m wondering if it could have cracked right along the edge.

If this were in Social, I’d say that someone at your house cracked a joke.

If your house doesn’t make any noises, there is something wrong with it. Houses, like everything else, expand and contract. With the excessive heat, there is bound to be some excessive expanding that could make a loud noise. Walk around the outside and look it all over, including the chimney.

After living in my newly built house for 10 years, we heard a loud crack from the other room.
We couldn’t locate any problem or source.
A month later, I went into the basement, and found the kitchen drain pipe had cracked, and was slowly leaking.
A call to a plumber and a quick fix, but locating it had to come first.

Since you’ve already checked the windows, could it be expansion or contraction of the siding?
They are built to expand and contract with heat and sunlight, and make a popping noise when they flex. Sometimes a couple will move at the same time.

Cn you describe how the glass in question is framed. In wood, in metal frame, etc.

Cracking glaze perhaps.

I had a car that would “POP” while driving on a day that started off cool and got hot. It was the dashboard mounts on the passenger side up under the right corner or the windshield.

@RedDeerGuy1 Probably not a bottle thrown from the street. Since the window in question is facing our backyard.

@longgone I’ve heard a lightbulb and a bottle in the fridge crack. Much louder than that!

@Caravanfan I think it’s the “declaring itself eventually” is what worries me. My brain is fixated on finding it before whatever the problem is gets worse.

So relieved it’s cooler today!!

@Jeruba I was wondering that too! If maybe the glass separated from the frame? But I was too chicken to test it. Because it would have really sucked to go through the heatwave without a window. Might try this after this weekend when it’s cooler.

Nyuk. :P

@kritiper We’ve lived here for awhile and have heard plenty of noises. Just nothing that loud before. Do you walk the perimeter after heatwaves? And what are you looking for? Cracks along the chimney?

(We’ve been homeowners for fifteen years. But still feel like nubes.)

@filmfann Oh no! What did the loud crack sound like? Did it sound at all like cracking glass? And how do you locate the cracked pipe when they’re inside your walls? Am I just waiting to see if there’s a leak? Yikes!

@LuckyGuy Can you describe what that popping noise would sound like?

@Forever_Free Good question. I forgot to mention that. It’s an older house. But I don’t think the window is original. It has a metal frame.

@Tropical_Willie Were they designed to do that?

@raum Nooooooo, the dealer shop told me they had several that did that, fix is to remove and re-mount the dashboard. Apparently the dashboard wasn’t fully secured to frame and firewall . . so when it heats up the plastic expends and moves on the firewall until “POP”!

Not covered under warranty.

@Tropical_Willie Errr…I would think something like that would warrant a recall. That’s got to impact your safety if you were in an accident. (!!!)

Hoped so but the dash only moved less than a quarter of an inch and was still attached to the car.

Hoping not to be moderated again… I would like submit a kind of test for odd noises.

Check your doors and cabinets etc. to see if they are unaligned.
And by how how much.

I went into my basement and found a large pool of water. Above it was an L joint in the pipe. I looked at the joint, and found the crack at the seam.

The popping noise sounds like someone is flicking their finger against the siding every 20–30
seconds. You might also get a few pops within a second.

@Tropical_Willie How did it move a quarter of an inch while staying attached? Wouldn’t it have to detach in order to shift?

@WhyNow It’s an old house. Everything has shifted. And there are plenty of odd sounds. Just not really loud sounds-like-glass-breaking sounds. :/

@filmfann Ugh…I should probably go down into the crawl space and check it out. Just to be sure it’s not a pipe issue.

@LuckyGuy Probably not that then. But still really good to know. That way I don’t have to post a question to Fluther when I hear that noise!

It was moving up and down the screw (that didn’t get tightened all the all the way) when the dash heated up and expanded. It would jump as it heated and “SNAP” !

Yikes!