charlie_pank Posted May 27, 2012 Share Posted May 27, 2012 Our living room is upstairs and Helen would like to give birth in it in about 5 weeks time. Our friends have given us a birthing pool which will hopefully make things easier. I've been trying to figure out if our floor will take the weight. -The pool plus mother and water is expected to weigh about 730kg -The joists are 80mm thick, 170mm deep and are spaced at 380mm apart -Unfortunately I don't know what kind of wood they're made of -The pool is going to go in the corner of the room and has a diameter of about 1700mm Can anyone help me to figure out whether the floor will take the weight? (No I don't want to test it empirically!) Thanks :) Edited by - charlie_pank on 27 May 2012 12:34:46 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadsport06 Posted May 27, 2012 Share Posted May 27, 2012 paddling pool and garden I'll get my coat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klunk Posted May 27, 2012 Share Posted May 27, 2012 Hi Charlie , Does this help? Regards, Giles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted May 27, 2012 Member Share Posted May 27, 2012 Difficult now you've thought about isn't it? 730kg is roughly 9 adult Britons. Add the weight of the midwife and anyone else who might join in. Would you be happy to have 11 people standing in that area? I can't find any reports of floors giving way. I'd conclude that it's very unlikely to cause any damage if the floor is in good nick, and then put the pool downstairs. Hope it all goes well. Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie_pank Posted May 27, 2012 Author Share Posted May 27, 2012 The calculation in the link gives me a maximum load of 43 lbs / sq ft The pool will be 66 lbs / sq ft so that's a 'no' then. However, there's something missing from the calculation, because when I stand on the floor, my feet occupy less than a sq ft, yet I weigh considerablly more than 43 lbs. Perhaps I need to somehow take into account the length of the floorboards and how many joists they spread the load over? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bricol Posted May 27, 2012 Share Posted May 27, 2012 As my partner is a midwife, the only advice I can give is . . . when you get in to comfort her . . . keep yer trolleys on!!!!!! Bri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie_pank Posted May 27, 2012 Author Share Posted May 27, 2012 What will your partner be doing in our pool, and why will she want me to comfort her? 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bricol Posted May 27, 2012 Share Posted May 27, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbird Posted May 28, 2012 Share Posted May 28, 2012 people always asked similar question when we had a water bed but if you do the maths based on a bath in a bathroom, the water bed, and even more so a birthing pool, load up floors more uniformly so shouldn't be a problem Cast iron bath approx 200kg 60 gallons of water in bath approx 230 kg average Lady approx 60kg so nearly 500kg not only spread over a much smaller area but usually sitting on 4 small feet. I suspect a washing machine or Freezer would have a higher loading, as long as the floorboards are not bouncing up and down or showing signs of sag at the walls I would have thought it would be fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted May 28, 2012 Member Share Posted May 28, 2012 Interesting comparisons. Pressure isn't really the key metric, unless the failure mode is puncturing the floor locally. The failure modes of breaking a joist or dislodging a joist from its footing would depend on load and distance from fixing, as already pointed out. Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted May 28, 2012 Member Share Posted May 28, 2012 Do birthing pools come with instructions on how to spread the load across several joists, or beams in the base to do that? Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie_pank Posted May 28, 2012 Author Share Posted May 28, 2012 No they don't. All of these points are valid, but what I want is quantification - it must be possible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris perry 1 Posted May 28, 2012 Share Posted May 28, 2012 You dont state the span length of the joists. If it were my wife and child i would not risk it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonpa Posted May 28, 2012 Share Posted May 28, 2012 I thought you were married to your car, Chris? ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie_pank Posted May 28, 2012 Author Share Posted May 28, 2012 17ft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted May 28, 2012 Share Posted May 28, 2012 Our friends have given us a birthing pool which will hopefully make things easier. Q: Is this a used or new pool? Q2: How do you empty it (filling should be easy!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted May 28, 2012 Share Posted May 28, 2012 ...and... If it were my wife and child i would not risk it. From what I remember of Charlie's pad, this will be right above the garage with Kermit and the bike in - so much more at stake than just a wife and child! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie_pank Posted May 28, 2012 Author Share Posted May 28, 2012 You use a liner for each birth so it doesn't matter that it's used. They come with a pump for filling and emptying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted May 28, 2012 Member Share Posted May 28, 2012 Are the undersides of the joists visible from the garage? Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie_pank Posted May 28, 2012 Author Share Posted May 28, 2012 I took down some of the garage ceiling yesterday to have a look at the joists, which is how I know their size, spacing etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted May 28, 2012 Member Share Posted May 28, 2012 I thought you knew a lot about them. :-) The risk seems to be low, but no-one will quantify it for you. How about adding a few props under the exposed joists and go for it? If you can get those directly under the pool you should be well within limits. Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie_pank Posted May 28, 2012 Author Share Posted May 28, 2012 The thought had crossed my mind. Where do I get the props from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomB Posted May 28, 2012 Share Posted May 28, 2012 Hire yourself a couple of Acro props from a hire shop I think they are fairly cheap. If the garage is underneath they will be fairly discreet too! All Id suggest is not saying while she is in the middle of labour "Hurry up, the hire is due on the props and I dont want to pay for second day of hire!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted May 28, 2012 Member Share Posted May 28, 2012 *arrowup* They didn't include that when we were taught about what happens in labour. ;-) Someone on BC might have some props doing nothing... Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie_pank Posted May 28, 2012 Author Share Posted May 28, 2012 That's great news - HSS hires them out for 7.50 a week. At that price I'll take 3! We've been given a month window during which we're allowed to do it at home, so I'll hire them from when the month starts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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