Calculating the Strength of Concrete Floors

Great suggestions.

Good point that it may have only seemed like 6 layers of rebar, but I'll confirm with the guy who was on the drill to see if this was an actual count or a memory of the misery.

Unfortunately the family that owned the bldg. for decades are now deceased and I didn't see anything resembling paperwork in any rooms or any of the 5 walk-in safes.

Bldg. Code research is a great idea. I'll see what I can scare up.

Need another visit to confirm or deny cracks. Definitely nothing noticeable on the first walkthru, but I was looking more up than down.

thanks again.

dave

This issue has been raised s number of times in these forums.

If you're looking at this structure with any thought to using it, hire an competent engineer to examine it.

There are factors in inspection of the structure that you may not be aware of or may overlook.

The liability is far too great to chance losing everything from a collapse.

You might go at this in two stages. If a preliminary engineered inspection discloses obvious problems, proceed no further. If the project is not quickly ruled out, then proceed to further inspections/calculations. I'm not a CE or structural guy, so even though I can think of a few questions, I am surely leaving out a lot.

Is the floor totally flat underneath between the columns, or are there built-in beams between the columns? Your 4' x 10' 15,000 lb racks will have aisles between. One thing that should come up is the total load to be supported within a square between columns. Plus the roving forklift.

In your document search, maybe you can find some city or county plan copies, or find out who engineered it.

I'm curious to know what you find out. For instance, it might be conceivable to place weights on the floor, measure the deflection, and derive information.

Thanks! Good advice. Good questions. Good things to look for.

¯ Thanks to everyone for the thoughts and advice. Thanks to an engineer friend at the Montana Manufacturing Extension Center, I've made an inquiry with an engineer he's recommended.........who happens to be only 200 miles away. I'll do another inspection of the building with the purpose of paying closer attention to the details you all have suggested, try to find out what I can about building codes at time of construction, and somehow get professional eyes and brains involved.

Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas to you all.

dave

Another thing you might be able to do is to find out how the building was used in the past. For instance, if they stacked product on the floors of equal or greater loading than you are contemplating...you might be in good shape. I don't know if you could find this out easily, though. The same greetings to you during this season. This project may prove to be an interesting foray into the building's history; best wishes for success. If good structures can be repurposed like this, it is a win-win.

Hello David,

One thing that was missed in the postings here is for you to visit the local building code enforcement officer or City Engineer's office, if one exists in the city or town where this building is located. It is quite possible the construction drawings had been filed with an agency having jurisdiction for code review prior to construction of the building.

If you do find blueprints that have been filed, obtain photo copies of them and hand them over to the Structural Engineer (LPE) for a preliminary review.

Good luck and hope your project can work out for you!

¨Yes! great idea. Tho, "City Engineer" made me smile. Mayor is a half-time position here in Conrad....and nobody ran in the recent election so the incumbent conceded to be a write in candidate so the office wouldn't go unfilled. But I'll check with the Montana State building inspector to see if he can give me any guidance on whether and where any blueprints/drawings might be.

The guidance everyone has given is very helpful.

thanks a bunch.

Due to deaths of Firemen in NYC that resulted from interior alterations of one particular building, buildings plans and layouts there are required to be given to the Fire Department, so in the event of a fire the firemen do not get trapped, as they were in this historical event there.

If you happen to for one reason or another end up in the City, I highly recommend a visit to the Firemen's Museum.

i have had this same situation in the past. testing and certification by a registered engineer is relatively inexpensive, the tests are very common and knowing rather than guessing is sound business. thorough due diligence pays dividends.

Let's draw a picture.

You don't hire an engineer and your plans workout beautifully then there's accident and someone dies, you can contemplate the eventualities while passing time in your cell.

¨Glad I'm a farmer and not an engineer. Engineers are too gloomy............ but just so nobody goes into an inescapable funk, I promise I'll error on the side of good judgement. Then if anybody spends time in a cell it will be the engineer, where he'll have lots of time to contemplate just how bad things are going to be!

...seriously, thanks for all the input. very helpful in encouraging me to do the necessary thing.

dave