# Heavy furniture on second floor



## JMwen (Oct 17, 2018)

I know this is not a structural engineering forum, but I’m hoping to find knowledgeable people about this topic here. So my question is:

Is a 6-door IKEA PAX wardrobe too heavy to be put on a second level of a house? 
It’s very heavy including shelf boards and drawers plus the heavy weight of the clothes. It’s positioned on the side wall of the bedroom, there’s no wall directly underneath it on the first floor. We have hard wood floors throughout the house, so the joists would have to be carrying that weight of the wood as well. I don’t know much about the structure of the house, but it was build in 1998 and is one of the typical „cookie cutter“ houses found several times in my neighborhood. 
Typically those heavy furniture pieces wouldn’t be used, esp. not 20 years ago, since there are built-in closets for clothes....so I’m concerned if the weight would just be too much. 
Should a “regular” house structure hold this big weight easily?
Should I consult a structural engineer for that matter?


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

Houses should be designed to take the load but you can doo a little figuring about what you have. At the stair case you should be able the figure the thickness of the floor by looking at the ceiling below to the floor above and subtract 2" then you know what floor joists you have.
Floor joists are usually 12, 14 or maybe 16 ft long then they sit on a bearing wall so from below you might see which wall they are sitting on and get that measurement for their length.


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## HenryMac (Sep 12, 2018)

"_Built in 1998... Should I consult a structural engineer for that matter?_"

First do some investigating on your own. Go to the local jurisdictional authority (County or City zoning department) and have them pull the building plans for the home.

Once you have the plans you should be able to find the designed floor loading, then you'll know for sure what it is, or isn't, good for.

Good luck!


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## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

Do you have any idea how much the thing weighs? Anything from Ikea can't be very well built. At least we can be sure that it's not solid oak. It's probably not even pine. It's probably pressed board.


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## JMwen (Oct 17, 2018)

Thank you guys so much for your anwsers, I really appreciate your help!
Yes, it’s pressed wood, looking at the product info on the website it should come to about 700 lbs (clothes not included).
I’m going to look for the building plans and hopefully find some info there and also check on the thickness and lengths of the joists.... thanks again


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## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

> Yes, it’s pressed wood, looking at the product info on the website it should come to about 700 lbs (clothes not included).


Let's say that you had a party in that room & you invited 5 girls who each weighed 100lbs, Neal & myself. The floor would hold the weight, right?


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

Guap0_ said:


> Let's say that you had a party in that room & you invited 5 girls who each weighed 100lbs, Neal & myself. The floor would hold the weight, right?


 And if we were all SITTING on the bed, all the weight would be on those 4 little legs.
:biggrin2:


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## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

I just spoke to an engineer & he said that we would need 3 beds. Then he asked me why he wasn't invited.


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## JMwen (Oct 17, 2018)

😂 lol


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## lenaitch (Feb 10, 2014)

Take a solid wood king or queen bed, add the weight of the box spring and mattress, add two adults and possibly a large dog. Divide all that weight onto the few square inches of the four feet.
Multiply the result by the number of times you've heard of a bed crashing through the floor to the floor below (not counting TV shows).


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## ron45 (Feb 25, 2014)

lenaitch said:


> Take a solid wood king or queen bed, add the weight of the box spring and mattress, add two adults and possibly a large dog. Divide all that weight onto the few square inches of the four feet.
> Multiply the result by the number of times you've heard of a bed crashing through the floor to the floor below (not counting TV shows).


I know of 3 bedrooms and 2 living rooms in homes that had balloon framing.


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## JMwen (Oct 17, 2018)

What’s balloon framing?

Well, I would expect a house to be designed and built solid and sturdy enough so you wouldn’t even have to think about some furniture weight being too heavy.... but when I see how houses in the US just get flattened by a storm like cardboard houses, it makes me wonder.....


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## HenryMac (Sep 12, 2018)

JMwen said:


> What’s balloon framing?


No need to concern yourself with construction / framing styles or to reverse engineer your home. Just pull the drawings, that way you'll know what the home flooring was designed for.


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## LeahTerry (Apr 19, 2021)

Consult a specialist. They will tell you exactly whether it is worth putting a wardrobe on the second floor


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## quatsch (Feb 4, 2021)

JMwen said:


> about 700 lbs


Are you sure? The weight pressing on a car tire?

What are the dims of the boxes it came in?
For regular wood, 700 lbs of full boxes would be 20 cu ft. For your denser wood, I'm thinking 16 cu ft.

Are the floors in Sweden stronger than those is the US?


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## DelonBrooks (Sep 24, 2021)

Yes, of course - you should consult a structural engineer for that matter. Given you described the furniture as "very heavy including shelf boards and drawers plus the heavy weight of the clothes," - it definitely could affect the state of your floor. I have a beefy bed from hugoandsons.co.uk, so I strengthened my floor a bit to be sure I won't face any problems. Besides, it depends on how much other furniture is located on the second floor. If you have a pile of high-weight stuff, you can replace a part of it to keep the weight load.


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## Bandole (8 mo ago)

Along these lines - I want to install a fireplace/room divider. 

But first I need to get approval for this project from our condo association. We want a wood stove insert (Majestic’s Warm Majic II) in an approx. 4’x6’ floor to ceiling drywall column faced on the fireplace side with 1/4’ brick product. To get approved I need weight per square foot. I am in a second floor unit of our two story building. This would be in the center of a 30’x15’ great room with 8’ ceilings.

If you can help me, I thank you!


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## Msradell (Sep 1, 2011)

Bandole said:


> Along these lines - I want to install a fireplace/room divider.
> 
> But first I need to get approval for this project from our condo association. We want a wood stove insert (Majestic’s Warm Majic II) in an approx. 4’x6’ floor to ceiling drywall column faced on the fireplace side with 1/4’ brick product. To get approved I need weight per square foot. I am in a second floor unit of our two story building. This would be in the center of a 30’x15’ great room with 8’ ceilings.
> 
> If you can help me, I thank you!


I'm betting any condo board would have a hard time approving any type of wood burning fireplace addition to a condo. Most of them don't even have them in the original design for insurance reasons.


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## Bandole (8 mo ago)

Msradell said:


> I'm betting any condo board would have a hard time approving any type of wood burning fireplace addition to a condo. Most of them don't even have them in the original design for insurance reasons.


I appreciate the caveat. The building is brick, 1960’s construction. Pretty stout. But I’ll take a deep dive into the by-laws over the weekend. It’s only 4-units so we are big on concensus.


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## Milvian (6 mo ago)

Are you worried that the floor will not withstand the load in the form of a wardrobe? I think your house is designed taking into account the fact that furniture can be quite heavy and it would be strange if the floor of the second floor of your house did not hold such a load. When we first moved into our new house, built in 1998, we rented from furniture rental portland quite massive furniture and natural wood. And it could not have occurred to us that the floor of the house could not withstand the load from our pieces of furniture. It just doesn't make any sense.


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