Weight calculation advice

[djones1]

Can anyone point me to a website that will allow me to calculate what the maximum permissable weight would be to place on the upstairs flooring. I have all the joist sizes, spacing etc but I don't know the formula....

 

[^woody^]

Todays floors are designed to support a dead load (ie the floor itself) of between 0.25 and 1.25kN per m2 and an imposed load not exceeding
1.5 kN/m2 and a concentrated load not exceeding 1.4 kN acting together.

Divide kN by 9.8 for kg.

Whether an existing floor will take the maximum calculated loads is another matter, as there are other considerations.

Trying to put excessive sudden loading an existing floor (even if less than its maximum) will generally crack the plaster ceiling below anyway

 

[jeds]

Depends on the type and age of your floor. If it's fairly modern it will have been designed to take a distributed load of 1.5kN/m² or 150 kg/m² (multiply kN by 10 to convert to kgs)

So, for every square metre of floor you could (in theory) put 150kgs of load, as long as the load is evenly distributed. (static load that is - the figures change if there are any moving parts) The allowance includes everything mind - i.e. floorcoverings, people etc. So don't forget to allow for that.

 

[Static]

Divide kN by 9.8 for kg.

multiply kN by 10 to convert to kgs

I forget what do you two do for jobs

Try kN * 1000 / 9.8 = kg

Both give the correct answer but poor working out thus both get 7/10

 

[jeds]

Exactly what my maths teacher said.