Internal Creaking

[Michael Siggers]

Hi

 

So, finally moved on board at the start of August and loving every minute of it. In hindsight, I should have taken a couple of weeks off work to move on board properly as I'm still juggling work with moving my stuff on board.

 

Anyway, I have found that the internal fit out seems to creak quite a bit when the sun hits it in the morning and if there is a change in temperature during the day, such as when it suddenly rains, (British Summer  ), and then the sun shines 10 minutes later.

 

I have read somewhere else that this is normal, but I guess I am just looking for reassurance. For information, the boat was built in 2007 and is fitted out with Oak Faced Ply and Oak Internal fittings such as cupboards and wardrobes etc.

 

Guess I just want to make sure I have not 'broken' anything

 

Kind regards

 

Mike

[Tracy D'arth]

Its normal, the steel expands faster and more than the timber.

[ditchcrawler]

Mine does that, also problems closing the toilet door as it warms up. Fine hot, fine cold, its the in between bit

[Michael Siggers]

Thank you @Tracy D'arth and @ditchcrawler

 

Guess I'm just getting used to everything.

 

Mike

[Tracy D'arth]

If you have sun warming the boat this year, you're lucky!

[blackrose]

If you think it's noisy in a 2007 boat try a new build where nothing has settled Mine was built as a lined sailaway and I moved onboard straight away. It was quite a hot summer (2005) and initially I thought someone was throwing stones at the boat but it was just the sun hitting the steel and everything expanding at different rates.

 

The other disconcerting hull noises you'll hear in different places are accumulated oxygen and methane bubbles trapped under your swim or parts of the baseplate which suddenly escape as you move around the boat, fish flapping & torpedoing themselves against the boat and of course ducks snacking on weed growth attached to the hull around the waterline.

Edited August 30, 2023 by blackrose

[Guest]

Our boat did this, sometimes with quite an alarming noise.

 

It was only really a problem when it woke us early on a warm summers morning. Remember those?

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by M_JG

[Sea Dog]

1 hour ago, blackrose said:

The other disconcerting hull noises you'll hear in different places are accumulated oxygen and methane bubbles trapped under your swim or parts of the baseplate which suddenly escape as you move around the boat, fish flapping & torpedoing themselves against the boat and of course ducks snacking on weed growth attached to the hull around the waterline.

Worse are Tunnel Wraiths poking their icy hands through any open windows and scraping their nails along your woodwork in search of souls to ensnare.  Never moor within a phantom horse ride of a tunnel! 

[PeterF]

2 hours ago, blackrose said:

If you think it's noisy in a 2007 boat try a new build where nothing has settled Mine was built as a lined sailaway and I moved onboard straight away. It was quite a hot summer (2005) and initially I thought someone was throwing stones at the boat but it was just the sun hitting the steel and everything expanding at different rates.

This hits it on the head. Our current boat was built in a factory unit and first saw water and sunshine on the day it was launched. During the handover after craning in I too thought someone had thrown a brick at the boat as the sun got to work. We had boats previously but always used ones so we had never heard such loud noises from expansion movement before.

[robtheplod]

Our boat 'cracks' - quite alarming.... but its all fine...so far!

[Tracy D'arth]

9 hours ago, PeterF said:

This hits it on the head. Our current boat was built in a factory unit and first saw water and sunshine on the day it was launched. During the handover after craning in I too thought someone had thrown a brick at the boat as the sun got to work. We had boats previously but always used ones so we had never heard such loud noises from expansion movement before.

Known as panel panting. Its like the bottom of a rectangular tin, stressed so that it has two states and pops between them.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

Or it could just be your knees.

[Stilllearning]

A boat builder we spoke with about a new boat said there were techniques that can mitigate this effect. The timber battening that is fixed to the steel framing expands at a different rate, thus creating  the noise, as the timber is usually fixed tight to the framing. If the timber is fitted using lozenge shaped holes, the steel will tend to slide rather than jump, thus making less noise. 

[blackrose]

 

1 minute ago, Stilllearning said:

A boat builder we spoke with about a new boat said there were techniques that can mitigate this effect. The timber battening that is fixed to the steel framing expands at a different rate, thus creating  the noise, as the timber is usually fixed tight to the framing. If the timber is fitted using lozenge shaped holes, the steel will tend to slide rather than jump, thus making less noise. 

 

Wouldn't cutting the lozenge depend of knowing which way the steel was going to expand? I'm sure some of the banging I heard were screws snapping. I think it's better not to use screws at all and just just a good flexible PU construction adhesive between wood and steel. CT-1, Stixall, Marineflex, Sikaflex, etc.

[Stilllearning]

11 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

 

Wouldn't cutting the lozenge depend of knowing which way the steel was going to expand? I'm sure some of the banging I heard were screws snapping. I think it's better not to use screws at all and just just a good flexible PU construction adhesive between wood and steel. CT-1, Stixall, Marineflex, Sikaflex, etc.

He did point out that it was expensive, because you have to offer up each batten, mark through the bolt holes that are in the frames then rout out a losenge shape with the centre at the bolt hole...

[blackrose]

Yes I'm sure it is expensive. Added to the expense no doubt will be the need for some sort of corrosion resistant screws, whether that's stainless or something else I don't know, but I'm sure a lot of builders just use ordinary zinc plated screws which are useless and will corrode over time.

[Nightwatch]

We had torrential rain yesterday morning followed immediately by very bright hot sunshine. The boat made a right old racket. Just stretching its limbs in the sun. And yes, the loo doors fit changes. There’s a knack as to how to clip it back into the retaining thingy.

I served on a new warship. First of class. It had one bulkhead that flexed considerably (Inconsiderably at times) in rough seas. 

[Dobba]

Yep - another one here that had many a WTF moment with loud cracks. Currently fitting my boat out and I've noticed that the boat can expand by about 10mm - I have a ceiling piece I made (like Acupanel) that lifts up from the back by 10mm where they join in summer - I thought my measurements were completely out one day as it was that big a gap. My night time it had returned to a neat join. I've allowed for expansion in a lot of the build so there's gaps top and bottom where say, bathroom tiles meet ceilings or floors and then sealed with silicone. It seems to have settled down a bit this year and not noticed as many and it's mainly a summer thing I've noticed.

 

All will be fine. The machine gun sound of ducks is another thing!

[Stilllearning]

2 hours ago, Dobba said:

Yep - another one here that had many a WTF moment with loud cracks. Currently fitting my boat out and I've noticed that the boat can expand by about 10mm - I have a ceiling piece I made (like Acupanel) that lifts up from the back by 10mm where they join in summer - I thought my measurements were completely out one day as it was that big a gap. My night time it had returned to a neat join. I've allowed for expansion in a lot of the build so there's gaps top and bottom where say, bathroom tiles meet ceilings or floors and then sealed with silicone. It seems to have settled down a bit this year and not noticed as many and it's mainly a summer thing I've noticed.

 

All will be fine. The machine gun sound of ducks is another thing!

Yes, the ducks attacking the hull weed was a shock the first time we heard it, quite put us off what we were doing.

[IanD]

7 minutes ago, Stilllearning said:

Yes, the ducks attacking the hull weed was a shock the first time we heard it, quite put us off what we were doing.

I won't ask what you were doing... 😉

[Michael Siggers]

Really interesting replies and glad to hear it's not just me going mad.

 

I have done a bit more digging and it seems to be where the 2 bulkheads go to the underside of the ceiling. As far as I can tell, the ceiling has been put in first then the bulkheads. Not sure how the bulkheads are secured at the top. Yesterday, with it being summer, ( ), the gap above the bulkheads, in the bit I could see was about 3mm, then, when it had cooled it had tightened up to 0. I'm thinking I might try and insert some sort of Teflon sheet into the gap when it's next open.

 

Mike

[sigsegv]

Swans having a meal from the side of our boat, stuff dropping from trees onto the roof, good old thermal expansion... All of these things spooked us during the first few months of living aboard too. Unexplained noises in an unfamiliar setting can certainly be disconcerting.