About a year and a half ago we knocked out a kitchen wall and put in a support beam to build an island in our kitchen. In the last few months I have noticed loud noises coming from the roof, I think. Sometimes I hear something falling. My husband heard it for the first time this weekend it sounds sort of like the sound glass makes when you pour something hot into a cold bowl. I have noticed cracks developing in different spots all over the house. The guy who put in the support for the kitchen was a structural engineer and he worked with an architect. The house was built in 1908. I just looked around in the attic and noticed several board have split and some have fallen down. What is going on? And this may or may not be related but the front door seems to be pulling away from the house. Help!

The glass sound is the plaster keys falling down the wall as the plaster is pulling away. You have a distinct issue with what is called bearing walls. You should have your structural engineer or another one come and look. My guess is the beam they installed is not bearing all the way to the foundation and is pushing down on an unsupported floor member.

Just a follow-up to my original post. I noted your house was built in 1908 and I would guess was balloon framed. Modern construction, for the most part, is platform framing. Balloon framing has some drawbacks when removing load bearing walls since you will need to find the studs and sister to them. Platform framing is a little more forgiving. Sorry for your issues and hope you can come to a reasonable solution.

Thank you so much for your thoughtful comments. I have looked in the crawl space in the attic and found at least 3 sheathing boards that are split and have fallen down. I don't know if this is connected or not. I had the architect come today and look at the supports. He couldn't find anything amiss but if he did it in the first place I should probably get a different person to look. Your thoughts are a comfort to me even if they point in a sad direction.