...than when you bought it/when it was built?
When I think of the timbers, boards, tiles, plaster, pipe and even paint etc that have passed over our threshold over the years with much less being taken out, I wonder if the place is liable to fall down.
you haven't seen how many tonnes of cement brick steel and timber go into a house..
Even on this timber mostly one, its several hundred tonnes or more.
Its not far off 100 tonnes JUST FOR THE FOUNDATIONS
no
Its normally records magazines etc in the loft space that make ceilings warp and collapse, assuming no water leaks.
Brian
No.
You need to get out more, perhaps that will lessen the load on the house.
MBQ
Yes, I just did a rough calc on our basement walls and floor and that came out as 400 tonnes. Two storeys of timber framing above that plus a couple of extensions (each on their own concrete foundations)...
The main beams supporting the ground floor are 6x8" supported on concrete pillars, and the pillars are probably a tonne apiece. I've no idea what the joists for the upper floor are, but they must be quite significant too - the upper floor occupies a smaller footprint than the lower, so they're supporting the whole front wall of the upper floor, along with the roof.
cheers
Jules
Nah, it's all downward action/forces for the most part, innit? It did occur to me, that same query, as I added floors, ceilings, and other gubbins to my shell, but I reasoned that for decades it had withstood much greater loads and forces from its previous fixtures and fittings - ie, drive, heating and pumping machinery.
Some miserable ****s in here. I wasn't serious of course.
I'm not certain that our house is built on a solid foundation. When I dug down at the back to lay some concrete it appeared to be resting on rocks.
I'm not serious about it falling down, obviously, it has stood for over
100 years.
Gravity is an important part of holding most houses together, so weight is good, unless it is put in the wrong place, like overloading the loft.
Colin Bignell
I've often thought that if gravity were to be reversed stuff would fly all over. Just think, if you'd forgotten the pull the chain you'd go into the toilet and the s*it would be on the ceiling. The more I think about it the more worried I get. Is there any likelihood of it happening? Any scientists here to put my mid at rest?
Bill
The Natural Philosopher wrote in news:k7r13q$ls2$2 @news.albasani.net:
I can only conclude that building should be banned, once and for all. Think of all the added pressure it's adding to the Earth's crust...
A
You could have a rested mid, but what about your ends, eh? Flying all over the place, they'd be.
No, you need a euthanasist for that.. Science can not guarantee the universe will not fly apart any second. It merely can report that it hasn't done so in the past, but then if it had, we wouldn't be here to notice the facts.
Oh thank you very much! I won't sleep tonight now!
Bill
Yet you seem to be suffering a sense of humour failure.
MBQ
Obviously constipated as you've been squeezing out those n's
How much is too much in a loft?
In recent years (for general housing) the answer to that is probably proportional to the age of the property. The more recent the build, the less should be stored aloft!
Phil
As much as it needs to make the joists fail.
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