Expert: Bruce E. Johnson - 2/17/2010

Question
Hi
I am having my kitchen renovated and the following are key load points.
1)Refrigerator/freezer 2' x 4'  weight, when loaded with contents  approx 850 lbs.located along a load bearing wall(basement foundation)

2)Island counter and top 8' x 3.4' weight, when loaded with contents  approx 1000 lbs.
It is 5 'from a load beareing wall.

3)Wine cabinet 1.5' x 2.0' weight ,when loaded is 450 lbs.It is 3 feet from a load bearing wall.

The complete kitchen floor is supported by 2" x 10 ' beams spaced every 16" centre to centre.running side to side 16 1/2 'long between load bearing walls.
THe beams are covered with two layers of plywood 5/8" and 3/4".

The plywood is covered with 12" x 12" granite tiles with the usual bonding cement between the plywood and granite.
The house was built in 1992 however the described flooring was re done in 1999.

Will i have any load bearing issues.
Regards
Terry

Answer
Hi terry t, check out the following website for lumber calculation..
http://www.cwc.ca/cwc/Template/SpanCalc.aspx?NRMODE=Published&NRORIGINALURL=%2fR...

by plugging in your numbers and estimating your floor load to be 40 pounds per square foot dead and 10 pounds per square foot live the suggested span for 2x10 #2 grade joists, southern yellow pine, is almost 16 feet at 16" spacing.  Your island which is in the middle of the span is approximately 25 sq. ft.  divided into a thousand pounds is 40 pounds a square foot so you are right at the envelope of design strength but the double layer of plywood helps with the weight distribution.  Also your other appliances are close enough to the walls to be nearer to the shear point of the joists which is the strongest part of the joists.  I think you will be okay.  I hope this information helps, please feel free to write again regarding this or other matters, sincerely bruce e johnson..bejohnsonconsulting.com