Expert: Bruce E. Johnson - 9/9/2011

Question
QUESTION: I have a 3'x9' closet in my FROG that houses possibly to much weight. I have not seen any problems but I still have concerns
about putting another box of tools in there.
A 30G water heater, file cabinet full of tools,10 full tool boxes,
and 2 trunks ,4- 4'wall shelves of stuff
I'm guessing about a ton, is all next to 2 support walls, is this
pushing my luck.
Thanks, David

ANSWER: Hi David, I'm not sure what you are calling a FROG..please explain

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Family Room Over Garage,the closet entrance is parallel to the 9' run.
This entrance is directly over a 3"x14" support beam the spans 16'
I belive the floor joist are 2x6

Answer
Hi again David, it is a small confined space, 27 square feet.  Probably good for 60 psf live and dead load combined.  Your water heater full is around 500 pounds..do you think the rest of your stuff adds up to 1500 more pounds? That would be a lot of weight.  But if you aren't showing any signs of sagging or settling you are probably okay for now but I would keep an eye on it.  You can pull a tight string line across the ceiling below and see if there is settling that can't be seen to put your mind at ease.  Use a 2x4 block at each end to hold the line down from the ceiling 1 1/2" and then measure from the string line up to the ceiling and see how consistent the measurement is.  There may be some deflection but if it's over a 1/2" in the  9' span you may want to relocate some of the weight if the deflection continues to increase over time.    I hope this information helps feel free to write again regarding this or other matters sincerely, Bruce Johnson..bejohnsonconsulting.com