Pool on Concrete Roof

3water weighs about 8.33 lbs/gallon, do the math yourself, not a smart idea

I probably answered a bit too quickly, I should have mentioned, although your structure sounds strong anyone here would immediately want to know about your footings, even if the walls can transfer the load it ultimately has to go to the ground. good luck

Thanks! The eight columns are poured into cap rock but I tend to agree with you....it would be better on the ground floor

Then why start with the postulate of putting it on the roof (rhetorical question - NNTR)?

Roof would b the ultimate location ......the ole adage .... Location...location...location! Thx 4 ur comment tho

It might be doable with some modifications.....sounds expensive though....

http://www.digsdigs.com/house-with-a-swimmingpool-on-the-roof-and-panoramic-view-of-the-surroundings/

800 gallons? that's just a big hot tub....

http://www.sundancespas.com/hot-tubs-and-spas/

That's 100# sq. ft. loading.

What's your Civil Engineer say?

I'd have a registered engineer review and sign off on this, or your insurance carrier will disown you.

Beautiful house, by the way!

Fran-

Contact a local Civil Engineer or ask an architect for a reference for one.

Asking on this forum could risk your house and/or your families safety and lives. You don't know what the credentials and experience of any of the submitters on this forum, mine included. Included among the answers are: extremely knowledgeable personnel with expertise in several areas; extremely knowledgeable personnel with expertise in one or two subjects and general knowledge in a many areas; those who know a little about some things; and lastly those who don't know much about anything but want themselves to look good. There are also many in between those levels. The last group also includes some who want to seriously irritate you and some who get some sort of demented pleasure in leading someone astray or have them follow a completely dumb answer. Can you guess what I am?

Unfortunately we can't see or inspect your house to take measurements. We can only go by what your post and some posts aren't worth the electrons to put them on a LED monitor.

Many others share my view point that for such a potentially critical situation you should see a real good local guy for help. The investment will be worth it.

Good Luck, Old Salt

Thanks for the advice...already working with an engineer n local building dept. Just wanted some advice b4 I made the research investment. Thinking that it will b on the ground floor to ensure safety n structural integrity of home!

It needs to be verified with an engineer who can at least have access to drawings, and possibly a site visit. (I suspect it will be found workable.)

I'm going to buy one of these today. On sale for $150. Yours would be a smaller model.

If it was my house, I'd get one of these pools, and put it directly over the center column. If it works out for a couple of seasons, you can think about something more permanent.

This is not to be considered expert advice, but I'd do it.

Of course, I also used car jacks and 2 X 4s to hold my second story in place, while I ripped out a load bearing wall and replaced it with columns.

a 5' thick column stuffed with stuctural steel or even tons of rebar will support a skyscraper, altho yes u will need a struct eng to sign it off, and yes, the rooftop pool will be an awesome return on investment =

"mo money mo money mo money"

Let's just look at the math.

Your upper slab weighs around 100,000 lbs.

Your pool will weigh less than 7,000 lbs.

Does anyone really think this structure won't support the pool.

If I were you, I would have been swimming on the roof yesterday.

Things get tricky in the Fla Keys. I think I should go down for about a week, and take some measurements.

Maybe I'll bring some tackle...just in case I finish early.

I agree.

My shop is a wood framed structure with 2 x 6 trusses on four foot centers. The company that built them to my specs said their computer calculates my roof to have a distributed load capacity of something like 150+ pounds per square foot but would likely go double that without failure. I have also had to work on tractor before and have put hanging loads upward of two tons on a single truss without concern as well.

So yes I have suspicions that a 5" thick reinforced concrete roof would likely take it's own weight and then some without issues making the 800 gallon pool a trivial load at best.

But that's just me.

when I read her question I didn't solely focus on the load capacity of the roof. she was looking for opinions as to weather it was a sound idea or not. besides the load I instantly considered having several tons of water that could potentially leak into her home. so sure it would look cool, but I thought it wasn't practical and if anything should have been incorporated into the original design. as I also stated, without any mention of the footings that were done decades ago it's hard to say just how much she can safely transfer . so I think she has a great looking home and the pool would be a cool feature but I'd pass and just start digging the wine cellar

this is off topic, My cousin purchased an older house 25 years ago.

Damdest thing, It had a good sized cistern (about 800 gallons) up in the attic...... I could not believe it.