Building a house, advice on 2nd floor game room needed (some engineering)

twilight

twilight

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Okay so I'm building a house. I found a floor plan that has a game room that has 21'3" x 12'10" of useable floor space. Technically the dimensions of the interior walls are 21'3" x 16'10" but that extra 4ft is actually 36" stairs and 6" rail which extends about 75% of the room. My dilemma.... I want a 9ft table. The above dimensions would not work unless I shoot from behind the stair rails. Actually the width wouldn't fit an 8ft either.

My builder is going to re-engineer the room with 2 more feet which hopefully gives me 14'10" of useable width. This just fits the need for the game room with a couple inches to spare. I figured the length is fine for a 9 why not get more width for a 9 instead of for an 8.

So here are some questions I have. Will this support your "average" 9ft table now? How much does one weigh? 1000 lbs? What about the extra weight of people? I'm fairly confident that if the upstairs game was left to it's original dimensions it'd be fine, since the floor plan says it's a game room, but what about that 2ft extra width? What about deflection in the floor over many years?

The room is actually above a formal dining area with no vertical beam support underneath, just a big empty room. The floor joists will be 16" from center (within code), but I wonder if I need extra support now that I've lengthened those joists. Will I need thicker boards as well? The last thing I want is a pool table to come crashing down years down the line.


Okay for a less technical question, what type of flooring should I have?

Carpet:
Pro: Sound dampening, less feet fatigue, won't chip balls that fall off table (cues too)
Con: Hard to replace, hard to clean (especially blue chalk)

Wood/tile:
Pro: Easier to clean, wood easier to replace, tile... somewhere in the middle.
Con: Louder, Hard on feet after a few hours, hard on dropped balls (or cues)

Any advice on the technical stuff is much needed. As for the floor options.... opinions always welcome.
 
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Wrong section

I just realized I posted in the wrong section... could someone move this to the main section? Sorry :(
 
I honestly dont know what a table weighs, but you could probably find
that out online. Maybe at a table retailer or something like that. As for
how much weight the floor could withstand, I think that should be a
question for your engineer. At least I think thats what he's for. Maybe
you could give your local house builder a call and tell them your interested
in one of their models, but have this question for them. I also think that
an industrial thinner type carpet would be the best. It would dampen the
sound a bit, but not be too soft under your feet. It would also not make
any noise. I've also had friends with 8 footers in their houses upstairs.
There have been 4 or 5 of us up there, and it was a pretty old house. I
highly doubt that the floor in that room was made especially for a pool
table. They never seemed to have any trouble. I dont recall the floor
making any sounds either. I mean, if a table weighed say 1000 lbs, all it
would take is 4 highschool linebackers to put that kind of weight on there.
Just have a big ol' party put the keg up there. Just make everyone sign
a waiver at the bottom of the stairs.:eek: Once again, good luck.
 
I'm no enginner but I'd not feel safe unless I had at least 2 or 3 laminated joists under that floor. Overkill is my motto! :groucho:

I like carpet..... or at least a nice rug.
 
Table

A 9' table probably weighs between 1000 and 1300 lbs. A waterbed weighs probably a little more but the frame distributes the weight better. I wouldn't worry about the joists being able to hold the weight of a 9' table but I would give the flooring where the feet are going to sit some extra support from underneath. Maybe just an extra cross member on the joists where the feet will be. Being that the room is barely large enough, you should be able to figure out where the feet are going to be approximately and just beef it up in those spots, so the flooring don't sag.
 
Something to distribute the weight would be a good idea rather than have the weight on only 4 focal points.
 
Not sure if this helps...but when we added a 2nd floor to our shop, the guys actually built the floor and joists with a slight crown to it...the table sits dead center of the floor and is the only reason the 2nd floor was added.

Because of the everso slight crown in the floor...once the table was added, it actually allowed for the additional weight so that the floor would sit perfectly level...instead of a possible slight sag. They built the 2nd floor with future settling in mind....we're talking double the size of railroad ties as beams and supports.

Actually, that 2nd floor was built to hold the table and a whole crap load more....they 'triple engineered' it...LoL. It aint coming down for nothing!

Lisa
 
All I can say is to build it where you want it because it is really hard to get it moved later. :rolleyes: ;)
Good Luck with your project.
 
You should be able to give a structural engineer the plans and tell him what the expected live and static loads will be. He can easily tell you what needs to be done in terms of the framing..
 
Just to give you an idea about the carrying capacity of modern I-beam, engineered floor joists (specifically, in our case, Weyerhaeuser's TJI joists), we had a clear span area over our garage of ~24' x ~24', and placed 4 full pallets of cinder block up there during second story construction. Total weight = 12,000 pounds... Take a look at http://www.ilevel.com/literature/TJ-4000.pdf...

These things are ridiculously strong. My Connelly Ultimate probably weighs on the order of 1800 pounds, and there would be no question about the floor's capacity to carry it.

- s.west

p.s. alas, my Connelly Ultimate is in the garage, since the area I described above the garage is actually two bedrooms...

p.p.s. Nevertheless, a professional engineer should be consulted prior to construction :grin:
 
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You don't have to worry about weight.Your contractor will adjust for weight plus you need to pass inspection.I have wood floors and they are fine on my feet.If a ball hits the floor it might ding but that add character to a wood floor IMO.
 
swest said:
Just to give you an idea about the carrying capacity of modern I-beam, engineered floor joists (specifically, in our case, Weyerhaeuser's TJI joists), we had a clear span area over our garage of ~24' x ~24', and placed 4 full pallets of cinder block up there during second story construction. Total weight = 12,000 pounds... Take a look at http://www.ilevel.com/literature/TJ-4000.pdf...

These things are ridiculously strong. My Connelly Ultimate probably weighs on the order of 1800 pounds, and there would be no question about the floor's capacity to carry it.

- s.west

p.s. alas, my Connelly Ultimate is in the garage, since the area I described above the garage is actually two bedrooms...

p.p.s. Nevertheless, a professional engineer should be consulted prior to construction :grin:
Click to expand...

Those engineered wood I beams are the way to go. You could put a pool hall on them.

Building code is set as a minimum, if you want it so it doesn't bounce, build it better. My floor joists(wood) are 12" on center, and they still sag in the middle over less than a 16' span, and they don't have a pool table on them.
 
The engineering products are really the way to go if you have any doubts. I worked for a company that used Roseburg Forest Products, we would get the architectural drawings and spec out the right size for the spans and loads. The web knock outs are also great for running any and all thing thru. The RimBoard product is what goes on the exterior and the floor joists run right up to it. If the load is really too much for just a single or double joist they have a product called RigidLam that would take the place of the joist.

If you are looking to just use lumber, I believe you can look up the species of lumber your contractor is going to use and it will tell you the max length and load it can carry, I had a book that has all that information in it. It might be simple, double up every other one and you would be good, it all depends on the spans and any loads you have in that area. Really too hard to say without a full set of drawings and items that you want to place in there.
 
I have a 9ft Diamond Pro at about 1800 lbs on the second floor and it sits lengthwise over the center line of the house so there are some support wall underneath. I did add an extra 2 by 12 to every joist in the poolroom which is 23 by 18 and also built boxes with X braces in between the rafters where the round Diamond feet would sit. My big worry was that the ceiling in my living room would bow over the years, it has only been about 2 1/2 years I think and all is great(Knock on wood). As far as flooring I used the prefinnished laminate hardwood in the poolroom because it is tough and cheap and I was going broke building the house and also if beer or soda spills on carpet it could turn my white livingroom ceiling brown under the leak. The hardwood allows some mistakes with drinks I guess, it is a different world when living in a 2 story and having to worry about roof leaks or spills upstairs.--Leonard
 
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