Storing Records on 2nd floor Vic. Semi - weight concerns

[gav777]

Hello,

Due to someone moving into my 'music room' for 6 months, I was planning on moving all my vinyl in a small room on the 2nd floor of a Victorian Semi, along with a few lighter boxes - keyboards/decks etc.

The room is at the front of the house/on the street (ie. external wall on one side) and is around 12ft * 10ft.

The records are stored in boxes of around 80-100 and the heaviest for those at 200g a pop (erring on the side of caution here) we are talking 16-20kg.

My question is it safe to store them all in this room around the walls ? They won't be moved so it'll be a dead weight, and will be perpendicular to the beams, space out as much as possible.

I'm guessing the beams - can't pull up the boards - are the same as the large room next door - 8" in diamter - can't remember the spacing though.

I've tried to find PSI ratings for the second floor Victorian houses but can't find anything.

Any tips/advice gratefully recieved.

cheers
Gav

 

[mointainwalker]

I'm guessing the beams - can't pull up the boards - are the same as the large room next door - 8" in diamter

Rectangular - not round - joists are the norm

You haven't said how many boxes, which is really a crucial element in the equation ( as well as true joist size).

 

[gav777]

Sorry, yes meant joists (ahem) ...

There are 6 boxes in total, 4 of 15kg, one of 20kg, one of 12kg (approx), they will all be at the edges of the room.

I have a few more boxes, some heavy (15kg), some not so (5-10kg) which I was planning to put on the vinyl boxes - but only one level.

the heaviest section I'm thinking will have in an area of 1.5m * 1m - around 60kg placed on it.

Possibily around 250-300kg on the whole room, although i'm erring well on the side of a caution here, so maybe a fair bit less.

 

[mointainwalker]

Well since the total weight is only the same as four adults who could all be standing in the centre of the room , I would say that you have no reason to worry about spreading them around the edges

PS My comment was not about beams vs joists but round rather than rectangular.

 

[imamartian]

Agree with MW... the comparison to human bodies is always useful. For example, a few years ago i shifted two 3ft x 2ft paving slabs in the back of my estate car... and i was very worried about their weight, they seemed far too heavy.... yet when i got home i weighed one of them on my bathroom scales, and it weighed 8 stone.... heavy for a lump of concrete, but conceivably a third of the weight of a 'large' adult these days !!

A couple of other comments though.... the advice given assumes that all the timbers are sound... i.e. no woodworm, wet or dry rot etc....

And maybe you could put down a couple of thin(ish) sheets of ply on the floor first, to spread the load?