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Beam Loading


Alex H
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There's a lot of information on the web about maximum spans for whatever size beam you have.

I have a slightly differant problem. I have the floor and want to know the likely possible loading (as I want to turn it into a bathroom)

I have 2.5m oak beams approx 12cm square at 60cm centres. It used to be a hay loft so I guess the loading will be quite high, but is there anywhere that will tell me approximately how much?

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With respect I answered exactly the question that you  asked, what you need to do now is multiply the floor area in M2 by 200kn, divide by the number of beams sharing the load to give you an UDL for each beam, then with the tables that you have already using the span of your beams you can decide if your current set up is strong enough.

I should add that unless your bathroom covers the whole span of the beams then you need to take into account the floor loading of the adjacent rooms.

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[quote user="Chancer"]

With respect I answered exactly the question that you  asked, what you need to do now is multiply the floor area in M2 by 200kn, divide by the number of beams sharing the load to give you an UDL for each beam, then with the tables that you have already using the span of your beams you can decide if your current set up is strong enough.

I should add that unless your bathroom covers the whole span of the beams then you need to take into account the floor loading of the adjacent rooms.

[/quote]

OK; I'll Try That :-)

Jim - 2.5m

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Alex, if you are worried about the weight of the bath, line the bath up in the same direction of the beams and put two battens across the beams under the feet of the bath. With all due respect you would have to be a really fat bastard to crash through a floor that has 2.5m long, 12cm X 12cm beams. [:D]
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Remember that the calcs and the recommended beam sizes, spans etc are not the maximum that it can take before breaking, far from it, they are intended to reduce the deflection to such a tiny amount that a plasterboard ceiling fixed directly to the underneath of the beams will not crack under a 200KN/m loading.

If you can walk up there then you are fine, that is a more concentrated load than a person in a bath full of water on 4 legs, your existing floorboards will act as a beam , if you do have a plasterboard ceiling below by all means spread the load as NickP suggests or use plywood screwed through to the joists.

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