A Question on Home Structure and how much Weight is too much

[Cliff in Hou]

In Houston Texas, we live in a two-story house, built in 1992 by Ryland homebuilders. It's a model called "Federal" that's about 2400 sq ft, sitting on a slab concrete foundation. Upstairs is carpeted, over a wooden structure floor, and upstairs is where the bedrooms are.

I'd like to put a weight-lifting machine upstairs in one of the bedrooms. However, it's pretty heavy - upwards of 300 pounds. (136 Kg) I don't know the exact weight - it's got about 12 weight bricks, about 15 pounds each. (The model is called "Powerhouse" from Wally mart.)

But now I'm wondering, is this too heavy to put in an upstairs room? I am wondering if over time the structure could be affected - not only the walls, windows, doors, and floors, but even the foundation on the first floor?

Am I crazy, or can there be too much weight in the upstairs? I don't know of other furniture such as beds, desks, etc that weight this much.

Thanks for any advice,

[Jibefan]

My waterbed FAR outweighs that.

[m Ransley]

300 lb , put 2 fat people in a water bed you may have 900 lb

[bitzah]

hear hear,,, :- ) IF it helps,, the OP could look at redistributing the weight of the machine over a large/r floor area. Like, instead of a simple four post stand , build a base that joined the legs together to make a rectangular/square base? I seriously doubt the total weight of 300lb+ anywhere in a structure of quality is going to make any difference,,short or long term. Then again that building in the Philippines just fell over

Cheers

BTZ

[mwlogs]

2 fat people in a waterbed and you're probably closer to a ton! Water is 8 lbs/gallon, so a waterbed with a hundred gallons would be around 800 lbs, not including the frame and bedding. A couple fat people (define fat? I'm 225, but don't consider myself all that fat!) you could have 500 easy.

The actual load would depend on how much of the stuff he defines is located on the same span of support. If it's 20 ft across between the load bearing walls that support the floor, he may feel some bounce as he uses the weights. I'm not physics expert, but there's that whole issue of dead verses live weight. If they are just sitting there and not being used, (like most weight end up!) there is one issue. But if he's really pumping the iron then there is a different issue.

If he has a real concern, he'd be best to seek the advice of someone in the know.

[Michael Daly]

Floor load limits in bedrooms were, IIRC, about 30 lb/sq ft. They might be higher now or in your area. I don't remember point load limits, but me standing on one foot averages out to over 500 lb/sq ft.

Working with that, the 300 lb load spread over about 10 sq ft would be at that limit. So, if you restrict the load around the weight machine to zero, then the average over a larger area will be less. I wouldn't put it next to a waterbed and a bunch of tall, loaded bookshelves.

Keeping the thing close to a load bearing wall will minimize floor sag (if it's even noticable).

I wouldn't worry about dynamic loading, since the moving load is 180 lbs. That would be like me jumping up and down. If that would break your floor, move.

Mike

[Chuck Yerkes]

And it you're really worried, I dunno what the floor is, but a sheet of 3/4 ply under it would ensure you that the weight is distributed over a couple of the joists.

Michael Daly wrote:

[Stormin Mormon]

If in the same room, you had two adult males weighing 150 pounds each, would the two of them go through the floor?

Can you put three adult males in the same room? Now you've got the equiv of the machine plus yourself.

You may wish to lay down a sheet of half inch plywood to spread the weight around -- in case the feet on your machine want to punch holes.

[Stormin Mormon]

Water (clean water, not sea water) weighs 8.35 pounds per galon.

There are 7.48 galons in a cubic foot.

And that cubic foot of water weighs 62.5 pounds.

[Doug Miller]

A hundred gallons would be a bit on the small side for a waterbed, too. Consider a queen-size water mattress: 60" wide, 80" long, and 6 to 8" deep. Works out at roughly 125 to 167 gallons, or 1044 to 1244 pounds. For the water alone.

[Pop Rivet]

Q. If H2O is water, what is H2O4?

A. It's for washing your hands

;-]

Pop

galon.

ton! Water is 8

around 800 lbs,

(define fat? I'm

have 500 easy.

[Mortimer Schnerd, RN]

Go to your room.

[Randd01]

That was bad!

[David Efflandt]

Not to be nitpicky, but my Engineers' Manual says 62.4 lbs/cu.ft. So my

4' x 7' x roughly 8" deep waterbed would weigh about 1310 lbs, plus base and bookcase headboard. It was in the house when I bought it.

[Doug Miller]

You might want to check those figures again...

4' * 7' * (2/3)' = 18 2/3 cubic feet. At 62.4 lb/cu ft (which is indeed correct), that's 1165 lb.

Looks like you figured for a 9" depth instead of the 8" you stated. :-)

[Stormin Mormon]

They are making cubic feet smaller now days. Happens in any industry.