Noisy ducts – you can find them almost in every house, but most of the people are just used to it or were misled by their Builders. I've decided to conduct a search and find out what people are able to find on the web for this topic. I've tried Google and Yahoo for about four hours and you can see here what I’ve found:

Bunch of the Builders' sites such as:
www.goodier.com, www.beagleproductions.com, www.derekalan.com
indicate the problem this way:

Ductwork Noise:

When your metal ductwork is heated it will expand and when it cools it will contract. Some have popping or pinging sounds are the natural result of ductwork heating and cooling in response to air flow as the system operates.

That’s it, they are done, and the problem doesn’t exist anymore! So, it's looks like they show us a big, thick, probably, with a couple of calluses Builder's finger, every grown-up in this country knows what that means...

Here is another Builder showing us the same attitude:

www.pulte.com:
VIBRATION FROM HEATING OR COOLING EQUIPMENT
It is normal for heating/air-conditioning equipment to generate some noise and vibration. Under THE WARRANTY, no corrective action is required.

As you can see they are covering their butts with meaningless bureaucratic BS!
The others are taking in more informative approach:

www.askthebuilder.com

DEAR TIM:

Our new home is now three years old. Ever since move-in day there have been annoying ticking noises in several interior walls of our home. Some of the noises start minutes after our furnace comes on. The clicks then go away five minutes after the furnace shuts off. We also have cracking noises when someone takes a bath or shower in a second floor bathroom. The builder says all of this is normal and nothing can be done. We never had this problem before. What is going on and what can be done to stop these very annoying noises? Donna A. Columbus, OH

DEAR DONNA:

You are a victim of simple expansion and contraction. The ticking, clicking and cracking noises are a by-product of metal ducting and pipes and plastic drain lines that are rubbing against the wood framing members of your home. These pipes and ducts grow in size as they are heated by the warm air and water that passes through them. The expansion is a perfectly normal thing to happen, but the associated noise is not supposed to happen……
Exorcizing these demons from your walls is not going to be easy. You will need to isolate and identify the exact trouble areas. Doing this almost always involves removal of the drywall or plaster. You can then often clearly hear and see the location where a pipe or duct might be rubbing against a wood framing member. The contact zone will need to be enlarged if possible so that an air gap exists for the pipe or duct to freely move. Do not start to cut away wood or enlarge holes in joists or studs. There are strict limits to the notches and holes that can be made in framing members. You can compromise the structural integrity of your home if you take away necessary wood. If in doubt, contact your local building inspector. Many inspection agencies will gladly advise you on what you can and can't cut. They do not want you or a family member to become a statistic.
Don't count on lubricants to always solve the problem. They may be a short-term fix but over time the lubricant may dissipate. Permanent noise solution comes when you isolate the pipes and ducts from the wood framing.
Great builders and craftsmen also account for lumber shrinkage. The lumber used to frame the house can actually shrink over time. Openings that were fine during the construction phase may become tight only 6 months later. There is no substitute for experience and brains when it comes to small detail items such as this.

So, Tim actually didn't help her too much, did he? At first he suggested to enlarge the contact zone, but after that he said: don’t start to cut away the wood… so, what's she supposes to do? To cut, or not to cut? – Something Shakespearean is in this question! But it’s seems to me that Shakespeare could help better.
If Donna would find the way to my website I would help her just for $9.17 with a solution which will really work!

Ticking Noise Elimination Page

It has been more then ten years since I have discovered the way how to fight the ticking noise issue including six years since I have started helping people on the web. So now, it was time when I put all my experience together on the one webpage. On this page you can find the following:

• How to find a source of the ticking noise in your basement, wall, B-vent pipe chase or in the attic and how to quiet it down once and for all
• How to cut a drywall if the source of the noise is behind it and how to fix drywall when it is done
• What to do if the ticking noise is coming from the wall and how to eliminate it without cutting a drywall
• What to do if your ductwork is making ticking noise in the attic
• How to eliminate a ticking noise if it is coming from PVC or copper pipes inside and/or PVC concentric cap outside of your house

If after you have read on the page and you are still having a question or your case is not present on the page, you can type your question in the Feedback module on the page and send it to me free of charge.

Price for the instant access to the page is only $9.17! Just use the “Buy Now” button below.

Instant Access:

After you have purchased a paid page; PayPal is going to bring you back to my website. In order to see the paid page you have to click on the “Register” button, fill out the form, choose your own Username and Password and click on the “Register” button at the bottom of the form – congratulation, you are now on the page you have paid for! 

Important: After you have purchased any Paid page or Download page and PayPal brought you back to my website, the first thing that you should do is to save that page to your Favorites. Then if something goes wrong you always can come back to reregister yourself on my website again.

www.improvenet.com

Q.When my furnace kicks on, I hear all kinds of clicks and clacks and booms in the ducts. What's the problem?

A.Your noisy ducts could be caused by a number of things. One of the most common problems is undersized ductwork, which causes the ducts on the supply side to expand as they pressurize. This in turn creates a small vacuum on the return side. In both cases, the ducts will expand and contract. When the blower comes on, the tin ducts begin making a banging sound. When the plenum causes banging noises, it normally means the return air part of your heating system is starving for air. Every warm air furnace manufacturer will give you a temperature rise number they expect to see from their unit. Check your unit by taking a temperature reading of the return air and supply air. The findings should match the manufacturer's requirements. If the temperature is too high, you do not have enough return air. This condition will shorten the life of the furnace.

On this website a guy was saying: “When the plenum causes banging noises, it normally means the return air part of your heating system is starving for air.” – But now what? What is he suggesting to do?

www.doityourself.com

Q. This is a good one. I can hear a "ticking" sound comeing from somewhere in the ductwork of my central heating system (heat pump). The ticking sound seems to be located on one specific area of the house. I almost sound like water dripping on the metal, but I don't see any signs of dripping water or rust. The sound can be heard when the heat is not running. The ticking is fairly constant in most cases, sometimes it sounds very fast an others a longer interval between ticks. I can go down into my basement with some of the ductwork is exposed. If I push up on the area where the sound is, it goes away for a short time but eventually comes back. I don't know what this is and it is driving me nuts. Any suggestions on what to look for would be appreciated!

A. Hey guy this is PDF.A quick,inexpensive remedy might be a flex collar.If your duct work comes straight off the supply and is solid all the way to your diffusers....you can purchase a flex collar.It's just a piece of sheet metal wrapping that has a canvas or rubber coupling between it.It can be bought by the foot.This may help with expansion and contraction.A sheet metal shop in your area will have it in stock.To install you will need a pair of snips,a drill and some self tapping sheet metal screws.PLEASE wear gloves!!Sheet metal has a way of slicing and dicing the fingers and hands.PDF.

This explanation is just wonderful, you just have to buy a couple of boxes of flex collars, canvas and redo the entire system of ductwork. If your life is boring or you are just on a verge of depression  and decided to begin it all over again then it would be a nice start! But not to mention that these recommendations won’t work anyway. Don’t trust me try it for yourself! But PLEASE wear gloves!!

www.thisoldhouse.com – Actually this website isn’t bad at all. If you are planning some kind of remodeling project or just a minor repair go there. They even have there own videos, it’s what I'm planning to have in a near future.
But for this particular problem there is still no solution in sight:

Q: The metal ductwork in the ceiling of our finished basement pops and bangs every time the furnace comes on in the winter, then makes more noise after the furnace shuts off. Is there anything we can do to stop the banging?
A: Richard Trethewey replies:
Metal ducts make all sorts of noises. In some cases, excessive air flow can cause whistling. Sometimes, pressure differences between the supply and return ducts can move their walls in and out, resulting in a rumbling sound called "oil-canning." And ductwork can carry the sound of a noisy blower all over the house. But I suspect your problem is caused by hot air rushing into a cold duct, which makes the metal expand. You might hear some innocuous creaking, but if the duct is rubbing against wood, it might suddenly "pop" and reverberate, then pop again as the metal cools.
What can you do? Short of covering all your ducts with fiberglass insulation, or opening them up and inserting acoustic duct liners, the best you can hope for is a modest reduction in the noise. Use rubber pads to isolate ducts from wood. Make sure there's nothing blocking the air register at the return, which can lead to pressure problems. Have an HVAC technician check the system to make sure it's not pushing more air than it was designed for. And if your furnace doesn't already have a flexible transition to isolate furnace noises, ask the technician to install one.

Banging or Oil-Canning Noise Elimination Page

This page is dedicated to the banging (oil-canning) noise elimination issues. On this page, you can find the following:

• How to find a source of the banging noise in your basement and how to quiet it down once and for all
• What to do if your ductwork was wrongly designed or installed and this is a part of the banging noise issue
• What to do if they used wrong jousts in your house and as a result you are experiencing an oil-canning noise

Price for the instant access to the page is only $4.95 ($4.50 + $0.45 - PayPal's fee)! Just use the “Buy Now” button below.

Instant Access:

After you have purchased a paid page, PayPal is going to bring you back to my website. In order to see the paid page you have to click on the “Register” button, fill out the form, choose your own "Username" and "Password", and click the “Register” button at the bottom of the form – congratulation, you are now on the page you have paid for!

Important: After you have purchased any Paid page or Download page and PayPal brought you back to my website, the first thing that you should do is to save that page to your Favorites. Then, if something goes wrong, you always can come back to re-register yourself on my website again.

Ticking Noise Elimination and Banging or Oil Canning Noise Elimination Bundle 

Purchase an instant access to the Ticking Noise Elimination and Banging or Oil Canning Noise Elimination pages and save!
Price for the instant access to the pages is only $10.62 ($10.00 + $0.62 - PayPal's fee)! Just use the “Buy Now” button below.