2nd Floor Game Room

I just moved to Texas and bought a new house that has a game room over top of a 3 car garage. The room is approximately 25' x 20' or slightly larger.

When I was looking at houses, all I was worried about was to ensure it had the proper space to put a 9' table. However, as we were moving our stuff into the house, I started thinking about whether the room would support that much weight because I noticed that there are no support beams in the garage. Sometimes they will put support beams between the 2 car bay and the 3rd bay. However, in my garage there are no support beams.

I am going to try and contact the builder (the house is about 6 years old) and perhaps consult a structural engineer.

However, I seem to recall reading something about this on AZB within the last year but could not find anything using the "Search" function. Therefore, I thought I would find out if anyone else has experience with this and whether it is really something I need to worry about. Since I am not mechanically inclined (at all), I really have no idea if it is something that I should be worried about it.

Any opinions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Brian in VA said:

When you say support beams are you speaking of posts? Vertical rather than horizontal. If so, I would tell you it's rare to find vertical posts in garages these days because the horizontal beams they use are plenty sturdy.

If good test is to see if the floor in that room over the garage is bouncy. When you walk does it give with your step? If so, that sponginess will translate into a room that can't reliably provide you with a solid surface for your pool table.

Check with a structural engineer or local general contractor for more information. There are ways of shoring up the floor so that it will work.

Brian in Va

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Thanks for the input, Brian.

Your analysis is the exact reason for my question. I didn't think about checking the "solidness" while we were looking at houses because I thought it was obvious that a game room was meant to be built for a pool table...lol. However, one of the first things I did after we bought it was to jump up and down on the floor and it just did not seem solid enough, which is the reason for my question.

I will have somebody check it out before I put up the pool table.

Thanks, again, for the input. It is appreciated.

Tim5000 said:

As a former contractor for 25 years, It is very important that you get a structural engineer to approve it. Get his evaluation in writing, and also check with your insurance company to see what they will cover in case of a structural failure due to excessive weight.

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Thanks for you input Tim.

It sounds like it is something that I should have checked out.

Thanks, again, for the input. It is appreciated.

chilli66 said:

Jim, great to hear you finally made it down here! I hope you get the info you need & get your table set up. Hopefully we'll see you soon!

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Thanks Chilli...

I just got the family down here last week and we are in the process of moving into our new house. I will probably be out pretty soon over the next few weeks to start checking out the scene.

However, if there is another get together, I will definitely be there.

Take care and I look forward to seeing you and the rest of the gang.