Is it gonna take the weight?

[Hadrian Elephant]

In a few weeks I'm moving house and it's been pointed out to me that as it's an old property, the wooden floors might have a bit of trouble taking my record collection.

I think this is bollocks, however a mate recently worked out that altogether my collection weighs a fair few tonnes so it got me thinking a little bit.

As a lot of you will have more records than me, I wondered if you had had any problems with your records and floor subsidence!

Of course as you all know, it's not the size that counts it's what you do with it, but I'm looking to you lot to provide me with some peace of mind as my flatmate and family are convinced my first floor room will be in the ground floor after I put my records in.

[the funky guzzo]

Quote[/b] (Hadrian Elephant @ 04 July 2003,00:03)]In a few weeks I'm moving house and it's been pointed out to me that as it's an old property, the wooden floors might have a bit of trouble taking my record collection.

I think this is bollocks, however a mate recently worked out that altogether my collection weighs a fair few tonnes so it got me thinking a little bit.

As a lot of you will have more records than me, I wondered if you had had any problems with your records and floor subsidence!

Of course as you all know, it's not the size that counts it's what you do with it, but I'm looking to you lot to provide me with some peace of mind as my flatmate and family are convinced my first floor room will be in the ground floor after I put my records in.

Mind you I dont know what type of house you got, but I live in a 2 story townhouse with my records mostly being held on the second floor in an Expedit shelf (about two hundred or so strewn across the floor nearby). If I had to guess I'd say I have a little more than 2,400 LP's, and not once have I worried about the weight crushing down. Keep in mind that your fridge has a lot of weight behind it and no one ever seems to worry about that crashing down the foundation of a house. However if you are really worried, you can always divide your records into several piles in different areas so the weight won't all be concentrated.

[Matt Hero]

Quote[/b] (Hadrian Elephant @ 04 July 2003,08:03)]As a lot of you will have more records than me, I wondered if you had had any problems with your records and floor subsidence!

I think it would depend on 1) The construction of the building and 2) the weight and the way that weight is distributed.

If you're talking about woodern floors hanging on joists, there is more risk of causing a flex in the floor than if you are moving into a place with more contemporary concrete block flooring (like you get in modern blocks of flats).

As records don't cause a repeated flex in the floor (ie, they don't move - it is a static weight), the stress in whatever is supporting the floor is likely to be less than you might think. But hey, I'm no structural engineer.

Just a word of warning thought if anybody is thinking of putting boxes of records up on their loft space. The joists up there are often only designed to support the ceiling below, and not a huge amount more (hence why you often have to get them strengthened if you convert the loft into a liveable room). The weight of a few crates of records might be enough to tip the balance towards an unscheduled trip back down to the floor below.

[Rich Hero]

I keep my records in Boris units (cheers Manzo) - basically five high columns - and I've stored records in two different rooms in my flat in these, about 3000 records against one wall, on the first and second floors. And if my floorboards can survive this I'm sure any can. Many of the boards are broken or warped (and not from the records) and the front doorstep shows extensive signs of woodworm. But as Matt says, now that the records are in place I don't worry about them falling through to the shop below anymore. Although I did worry about mates kipping on the floor and meeting a tragic end under stacks of vinyl for a while...

[Belson]

Quote[/b] (Rich Hero @ 04 July 2003,11:27)]Although I did worry about mates kipping on the floor and meeting a tragic end under stacks of vinyl for a while...

Tragic??

Death by vinyl - it's the only way to go.

[wooly]

hayd,

one of my mates boasted about this in an interview once. it's absolutely true that it can happen. he had to move house because of it.

it's not happened to me, but then i don't have as many records as most people round here...



but like it's already been said - it all depends on the construction of the floor and the way the records are distributed.

[Rich Hero]

Quote[/b] (Belson @ 04 July 2003,11:32)]Death by vinyl - it's the only way to go.

If you put it like that.  But I'd tell everyone that Matt was killed by James Last... (Sorry I don't have enough Kylie records - whatta way to go).

 

[Lord Thames]

Quote[/b] (Rich Hero @ 04 July 2003,13:02)] But I'd tell everyone that Matt was killed by James Last...

Perhaps he had a little doll of him at one of his Voodoo Parties, and squashed it with hundreds of miniature replicas of 'In The Mood For Trumpets'.

= ?

[wayne]

I heard John Peel talking about this once, too - he'd had to have his floors sttengthened to take the weight of his records, so could never move house again... But it's not really a problem unless you've got REALLY extreme quantities of stuff, & that means tens of thousands, not (I gather) just a few thousand. Think of how many record shops are up on 1st/2nd floors in old buildings with 15,000 albums racked up & it should be clear that as long as your building is structurally sound to start with (if it isn't, you've got problems anyway) it ought to manage. Distrubution is key - my Dad's a builder (or was) & reckons that to minimise the impact, you should use supporting walls for shelving (or, if freestanding, push shelves to the walls, as the point where the joists go into the wall are strongest, & least likely to sag), which is fine for most large collections of books, records or whatever. You'll probably put more stress on the structure if you have a party with 30 or 40 people stomping about & dancing than with a record collection of under 10,000 LPs, I reckon. Don't need the 'Life Laundry' just yet!

[jammin]

Never mind the floor , is your back gonna be able to take the strain of all that lugging of records up and down the stairs hayd !!

[Hadrian Elephant]

Cheers for the input lads.

I'm just back from a stag weekend in Amsterdam (my bloody head is still hurting) so I hence the lack of a reply until now.

Extra special thanks for the technical stylee advice from Matt as I can sound like an expert on the subject when I speak to my old man when he gives me grief about it next!