Honestly - everything looks pretty darn tidy up there!

How about the cracking/poping sound? It woke me up every midnight, anything can be done to prevent?

Hi -- Is this your first home or first home in a cold climate? I'm just curious regarding your last couple of posts. If you recently moved in to this home, then it always takes a bit to get used to the new sounds.

If you didn't receive an inspection when you purchased the home, then you may want to have one done. Otherwise, you could have a structural engineer inspect the home. Either one will give you some insight . . . and restful sleep at night.

As others have pointed out, the concerns that you pointed out aren't anything to worry about.

The only concern I'd have is where the bath fan exhausts. If it's in the soffits--and that's the way HVAC people often did it then--it would work better through a roof vent via an insulated duct to prevent condensation.

(The last time I crawled up into an old attic, I found a previous occupant's stash of Penthouse mags.)

What's the R-value of those magazines?

What's the R-value of those magazines?

I think its R-1.5 per full subscription year. It also depends if some issues are wrapped in their original plastic.

LOL!!

Hi Grace, I'm not a pro, but I think the cracking and popping sounds you are hearing through the roof are quite normal during such low temps, especially if there is sun on the roof during the day, and big temp swings when it goes down. I remember one of our first winters in our home in MN, the roof was cracking and banging so loudly we thought someone was up there hitting it with a tire iron! If you have any snow melting and re-freezing on the roof, it will be even louder than usual. Hopefully you will warm up soon :)

Looks like my attic. At least you're up there getting familiar with your house. :)

I lived in a house for 30 years in a much milder climate, but every once in a while during the colder months I would hear a huge cracking sound once or twice a day. It was simply due to seasonal contraction of the joists in the attic and it was odd, but never amounted to a hill of beans, and caused no damage or issues. As for the other things you pointed out...they're normal and nothing to be concerned about.

Agree that cracks in framing are fine but the frosty nails are a red flag. The moisture condensing on them is almost certainly coming from the air inside of your home. If they are concentrated near the vent fan termination, as worthy mentioned, then that's where most of the problem is. I would prefer to terminate on a gable wall or this new ez soffit vent product is a good upgrade to the typical soffit vent.

If the frosty nails are throughout attic it indicates a leaky ceiling and potentially improperly detailed foundation. Moist air flowing through your house is bad for energy costs and indoor air quality. A proper attic weatherization job would peel back or remove the attic floor insulation and meticulously airseal the entire ceiling/attic floor. Remove/reduce can lights or properly enclose them. Airseal the attic hatch.

If those ceiling joists are anything less than 2x10, consider adding more insulation. Right now the visible edges of your joists represent a lot of thermal bridging. Better insulation jobs reduce that path of heat flow.

While I might not bother changing them, the ventilation chutes at eaves should be as wide as entire framing cavity. It looks like the batt insulation is dirty at the eave, a sure sign of windwashing. Air is bypassing the vent, through the batt insulation and degrading the R-value above the top of the wall, an important place to insulate and reason for energy heel trusses.

@ Springtime Builders I will do a thorough check on the location of frosted nails tomorrow morning, they were at some places, not all over the attic. regarding the insulation, I did see some missing insulation, one place I saw because of the the wire, there is a 3x10 space w/o insulation, with exposed drywall underneath.

Ditto Springtime Builders response. You need to airseal your attic (go to greenbuildingadvisor.com for some good information on how to do). Kind of surprised there's no ridge board. The lapped rafters are unconventional. Hope they're nailed well.

Ditto here as well. The dryness of the winter cold air is causing the wood to crack but there's enough moisture to cause condensation on the nails. That suggests a local moisture issue so look for signs of water staining instead of cracks. We often only see what we are looking for so each time you get advice and inspect the attic again you will discover more. What fun!

The wood is normal shrinkage cracks.

The popping you hear when the heat runs is typically expanding ducts and furnace.

Grace, where does that fan hose go? Is it venting out the roof to the outside, or is it venting into that attic? Is the vent sealed well along the hose? If its not sealed, and it doesnt go to the outside, you probably have your answer for the condensation. Since you are in a cold climate, the cracking and popping is pretty normal. When we lived in Mn, our house used to pop and creak in the winter, sometimes, so loud, that I would jump when I heard it. Lived with that noise for almost 30 yrs. Was absolutely nothing wrong with the house. Here a lot further south, I still hear popping occasionally at night in the winter, but, it is very light sound. Probably pops during the day sometimes too, but, because, I am always busy here, I just dont notice it. I dont think any of this is related to your trim problems. Your attic looks pretty good. Since you seem very nervous about all this, call in a structural engineer to have a look. It will make you a lot more comfortable once you do that, so you can actually go about the business of enjoying this home.

I did some experiments in the past two days,

1. turned off the 3 1-gallon humidifiers and observed just a few frost nails this morning. The humidity was 40% and now 30%. Will continue to watch if frost disappears with longer time.

2. The poping sound is from the outside, the vinyl siding, on the east and south side

3. regarding the bathroom fan vent, I took the pictures in below. Not sure it is vented correctly.

will find out the exact location of the cracking sound, it is different from the siding poping. It is a fun now to do these experiments to track down the causes :)

Well it is vented correctly, however, I see they use that ribbed flexible piping. I would like to see rigid type vent pipe there (might check your dryer too, to make sure it is rigid, not that flexible stuff). The venting pipe may be something you want to change. Sometimes, cracks get in those grooves on that flexible stuff, and air leaks out. Much better to have a solid type installed there. Looks like a very nice house.

With all those turns and ribbed pipe, the actual exhaust is half the rated fan. Also, it is the last few feet before that exit that is most important to be insulated.

. turned off the 3 1-gallon humidifiers and observed just a few frost
nails this morning. The humidity was 40% and now 30%. Will continue to
watch if frost disappears with longer time.

That could indicate the air leakage into the attic from the conditioned space, as mentioned by other posters.