zdkaiser Posted September 24, 2017 Share Posted September 24, 2017 I'm curious if you all keep your collections on non-ground floors and if you have concern about your floors buckling, sagging, or even collapsing. I have about 750 albums (a filled 1x4 shelf filled and standing vertically, a filled 2x4 laying in its side with about 100 lbs of stereo equip on it, and another 2x4 standing vertically with about 100 LPs in it, some books, and CDs). All are against a load bearing wall on the second floor. Floor joists run parrallel with the shelves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackshidt Posted September 24, 2017 Share Posted September 24, 2017 I remember looking into this many years ago and learning that I should not be concerned about the weight of my collection, provided it was placed against the load-bearing outer walls. To bear this out, I have not read anywhere anytime about a second floor apartment floor collapsing under the weight of a record collection. I found this discussion online and will share it here. It looks like weightlifters who live in second floor apartments have many of the same concerns as vinyl collectors. Quote This is actually the perfect time for me to answer this question. I was doing research because I want to build a 2 story shed in our yard, and wanted to see what size wood I would need to support the second floor. The first floor is for storage, the second floor is a chill place, so I guess you could call it a guest house. I looked up building codes, and the supporting weight of 2x8's, 2x10's, and 2x12's. If the building is between 5-30 years old, the floor is being supported by 2x10 joists every 16 inches, while the walls are supported by regular 2x4s every 12 inches(don't worry about that, one 2x4 standing vertically can support over 4,000 pounds, I just thought I would throw it in as a fun fact). If it was built after 2004, the floors are being supported by 2x12 joists every 12 inches. This adds a huge amount of support. You said it's a pretty large room. I'm assuming this means it's pretty close to 25x25 feet? One 2x12 joist that is 25 feet long at it's weakest point can support over 1000 pounds at it's weakest point(the center). So assuming they stuck with building codes and have a supporting joist running through the center of the 2x12s, you can hold about 3000 pounds at any spot in the room(the edges near the walls are many times stronger). A 2x10 with the same situation could support about 2000 pounds at any one spot in the room If you don't understand what I'm saying, just trust me. You're fine unless you have (to be safe) over 1,500 pounds/ every sq foot. You could put a pickup truck loaded with bricks in the room and it wouldn't even dent the structural support. To make it short, you're fine. You're right to ask questions though, because no one wants to fall through the floor and end up in their neighbor's living room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewOldStock Posted September 24, 2017 Share Posted September 24, 2017 Funny, I've just been looking into this as my collection has just been moved up to our second (or first I guess) floor. Without doing lots of fancy calculations, most standard construction floors and homes (UK at least) are estimated to hold up to something like 100 stone. I don't think that, unless you have thousands upon thousands, that it isn't a massive issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somethingvinyl Posted September 26, 2017 Share Posted September 26, 2017 I have 1,300+ (half divided between LP's and 45's). Never had any issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zdkaiser Posted September 26, 2017 Author Share Posted September 26, 2017 (edited) 5 hours ago, somethingvinyl said: I have 1,300+ (half divided between LP's and 45's). Never had any issues. House or apt? How beefy are your joists? 2x8s or 2x10s? Edited September 26, 2017 by zdkaiser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simple_torture Posted September 26, 2017 Share Posted September 26, 2017 Can yo mamma walk around up there without the floor collapsing? If so, then you're probably good. Spoiler I'm so, so sorry for this post. TheComebackKid, One Hundred Fifty-Two, bobfrombob and 6 others 4 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unknown pleasures Posted September 27, 2017 Share Posted September 27, 2017 Yo momma so fat, her casual walking around the house causes as many major structural issues with the flooring as that of an above-average in size record collection. Word. highfives 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One Hundred Fifty-Two Posted September 27, 2017 Share Posted September 27, 2017 I feel like the simplest amount of common sense could answer this. Can you sit four people on a couch without the floor collapsing? aopps42 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zdkaiser Posted September 27, 2017 Author Share Posted September 27, 2017 5 minutes ago, Tidal Wave said: I feel like the simplest amount of common sense could answer this. Can you sit four people on a couch without the floor collapsing? 4 People sitting on a couch for a few hours here and there is much different than a 800lb collection sitting in one spot for months/years. 25 minutes ago, unknown pleasures said: Yo momma so fat, her casual walking around the house causes as many major structural issues with the flooring as that of an above-average in size record collection. Word. Yo mommy so fat, when she sits down she can flatten a warped 200g. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smwalsh6 Posted September 27, 2017 Share Posted September 27, 2017 A full claw foot tub weighs upwards of 1000 lbs. You'll be ok. aopps42 and anthemforadoomed 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One Hundred Fifty-Two Posted September 27, 2017 Share Posted September 27, 2017 11 hours ago, zdkaiser said: 4 People sitting on a couch for a few hours here and there is much different than a 800lb collection sitting in one spot for months/years. Yo mommy so fat, when she sits down she can flatten a warped 200g. People sitting down on a couch also have a much higher dynamic weight while the records are static. If you are just paranoid put one shelf on one side of the room and the other shelf on a different side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aopps42 Posted September 27, 2017 Share Posted September 27, 2017 On 9/24/2017 at 11:07 AM, zdkaiser said: I'm curious if you all keep your collections on non-ground floors and if you have concern about your floors buckling, sagging, or even collapsing. I have about 750 albums (a filled 1x4 shelf filled and standing vertically, a filled 2x4 laying in its side with about 100 lbs of stereo equip on it, and another 2x4 standing vertically with about 100 LPs in it, some books, and CDs). All are against a load bearing wall on the second floor. Floor joists run parrallel with the shelves. I mean, are your shelves sagging? One Hundred Fifty-Two 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somethingvinyl Posted September 27, 2017 Share Posted September 27, 2017 17 hours ago, zdkaiser said: House or apt? How beefy are your joists? 2x8s or 2x10s? Hi. I live in an apartment and been there six years. Have gradually added more weight over the years. And I believe my beefy joists are none of your concern, mister. I have no idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freki Posted September 27, 2017 Share Posted September 27, 2017 5 hours ago, aopps42 said: I mean, are your shelves sagging? That would be silly since my shelves have evenly-spaced supports to distribute the wight across a larger area. Who the hell knows how buildings are made though. One Hundred Fifty-Two and smwalsh6 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jlegg Posted September 28, 2017 Share Posted September 28, 2017 4 hours ago, Freki said: That would be silly since my shelves have evenly-spaced supports to distribute the wight across a larger area. Who the hell knows how buildings are made though. You just have one floor joist supporting your floor? Many people understand how buildings are made. That’s how we keep building them. So, take an engineering perspective of this issue. Codes call for a specific load bearing capacity of a floor, as a whole. Let’s say 40 lbs/square foot is standard. It doesn’t matter if it’s upstairs or downstairs, assuming your downstairs isn’t a concrete pad on earth. Let’s say you have a 10*15 foot room. Your square footage is 150 square feet, right? Your load bearing capacity would be 40psf*150ft^2 = 6000 lbs. this is for your whole floor. Yes, if you concentrate the weight in one small area you will cause damage to that area, but spread over a few square feet, you will most likely be fine. Your shelf would give way before your floor. source: engineer at a general contracting company. aopps42 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One Hundred Fifty-Two Posted September 28, 2017 Share Posted September 28, 2017 9 hours ago, Jlegg said: You just have one floor joist supporting your floor? Many people understand how buildings are made. That’s how we keep building them. So, take an engineering perspective of this issue. Codes call for a specific load bearing capacity of a floor, as a whole. Let’s say 40 lbs/square foot is standard. It doesn’t matter if it’s upstairs or downstairs, assuming your downstairs isn’t a concrete pad on earth. Let’s say you have a 10*15 foot room. Your square footage is 150 square feet, right? Your load bearing capacity would be 40psf*150ft^2 = 6000 lbs. this is for your whole floor. Yes, if you concentrate the weight in one small area you will cause damage to that area, but spread over a few square feet, you will most likely be fine. Your shelf would give way before your floor. source: engineer at a general contracting company. He sarcastically said the same thing as you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.