I am soon going to install a New to me Jotul stove. My neighbor (who is always good for unsolicited advise) told me that I should sure up my floor. He said to jack up the floor from underneath and stack bricks for support. Is this really necessary? Opinions please.
Shore up my Flooring?
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Highbeam
Minister of Fire
I added columns and beams beneath my somewhat weakly built floor when I installed the heritage which weighs about 500 lbs. Wood is cheap and having a strong base for the stove is critical. It's not just the stove weight, also consider the two 200 lb dudes that sill be installing it, the weight of ash and wood, te hearth weight, the kettle of water, etc.
How much shoring, if any, depends on the existing floor structure.
How much shoring, if any, depends on the existing floor structure.
eernest4
New Member
When I installe my pellet stove in my living room, I took a good hard look at my flooring, as the pellet stove was 350 lbs & the cement blocks it sits on were another 200 lbs for a total of
550 lbs on a 4ft x4ft area. I decied it was safe for my floor construction , even if I was close to the envelope & I guess I was right because that was 3 years ago; but it really does depend on the wieght of the stove & the wieght of the heath stones under the stove & the construction of the floor plus the wieght of who ever is going to be standing next to the stove to warm up.
Extra floor shoring is not very expensive , especially compaired to a law suit from whoever was standing next to the stove when the flooring collasped & every one & every thing fell into the basement. So, better safe than sorry.
Remember, a long , hard look & two heads are sometimes better than one. Get opinions from some one who knows. But beware of contractors who say---Yes you need floor shoring, just to land themselves a nice money job.
If you go the contractor route, get several quotes & go with a middle of the road quote as the guy who is cheapest will probably cut coners to cheapen the job & maximize his profits & the guy who is too expensive is just waisting your money for you, needlessly.
550 lbs on a 4ft x4ft area. I decied it was safe for my floor construction , even if I was close to the envelope & I guess I was right because that was 3 years ago; but it really does depend on the wieght of the stove & the wieght of the heath stones under the stove & the construction of the floor plus the wieght of who ever is going to be standing next to the stove to warm up.
Extra floor shoring is not very expensive , especially compaired to a law suit from whoever was standing next to the stove when the flooring collasped & every one & every thing fell into the basement. So, better safe than sorry.
Remember, a long , hard look & two heads are sometimes better than one. Get opinions from some one who knows. But beware of contractors who say---Yes you need floor shoring, just to land themselves a nice money job.
If you go the contractor route, get several quotes & go with a middle of the road quote as the guy who is cheapest will probably cut coners to cheapen the job & maximize his profits & the guy who is too expensive is just waisting your money for you, needlessly.
depends on your floor. jump up & down & see what u think LOL permission to use that on?? !!
one of the few stoves that I know of that requires checking the floor is the Hearthstone Equinox (Monster stove) Which Jotul you have and some details on the floor would help get a more accurate answer, but in most cases the answer would be no.
one of the few stoves that I know of that requires checking the floor is the Hearthstone Equinox (Monster stove) Which Jotul you have and some details on the floor would help get a more accurate answer, but in most cases the answer would be no.
It is a Jotul 201 turbo. Not sure about the weight. I have an owners manual coming in the mail and that will answer some questions.
Personally I like the jump up and down on it method as well.
Personally I like the jump up and down on it method as well.
eernest4
New Member
prtp3warrior said:
Now when I come to think about it, after i installed the pellet stove with the cement block hearth
I stood just in front of the pellet stove, jumped up & down for about a minute & when the floor didn't shake at all, I asked my friend to come over & we both jumped up & down, together.
When the floor didn't shake much, we declaired it safe as is, with no jumping allowed.
I wouldn't want to try it with 3 people jumping up & down, that's for sure.
But, what if we had fallen through?? Then what?
This might just make the case for light wieght hearth material instead of cement blocks.
Methinks this is going to be a non-issue. It may just be luck, but as far as I know, we've never had a report of a floor problem here. If there's going to be one, it will probably be me. Our floor joists are 23-25" on center (old farmhouse) and there's 800# of stove and hearthpad on them.
personally would not be concerned as long as the stove is under 500 and the floor seems reasonably stable.
I would think if you can stand on the floor, it should probably be fine. Consider:
A 200# man in size 12 shoes could easily put 200 pounds on 1 square foot (or less) of floor
From above 550 pound stove on a 4'x4' pad = 550#/16' is only about 35 pounds per square foot. Even say you had a 700 pound stove/logs/tea kettle on a 2' x 2' pad, that would be 700#/4 sq ft = 175 pounds per square foot. Walking on the floor still puts a higher load on it.
A 200# man in size 12 shoes could easily put 200 pounds on 1 square foot (or less) of floor
From above 550 pound stove on a 4'x4' pad = 550#/16' is only about 35 pounds per square foot. Even say you had a 700 pound stove/logs/tea kettle on a 2' x 2' pad, that would be 700#/4 sq ft = 175 pounds per square foot. Walking on the floor still puts a higher load on it.
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
I've got you beat BG. I have floor "joists", actually 4x8 beams, that are 63.5" on center. So the decking spans 5'. Luckily the decking is 2x6 T&G;fir. The insulation company is coming on Tuesday to try and place fiberglass batts up in that 60" span. I have no idea how they'll do it.
A floor that withstand point load of 200 PSF is not always capable of handling 10 square feet of that 200 psf load. The point loading has more to do with the sheeting and the total load has more to do with the structure.
A floor that withstand point load of 200 PSF is not always capable of handling 10 square feet of that 200 psf load. The point loading has more to do with the sheeting and the total load has more to do with the structure.
Do what ever will allow you to sleep better at night. If putting in braces will give you that piece of mind to actually use you stove then it is a small price to pay.
The other plus side is that it will do no harm to put in bracing.
Cozy heat
I can carry 200 pounds (four bags 2 on each shoulder) of feed from the pickup to the feed trough.
I can't hold 200 pounds all day long. same as your floor it maybe could do it for a little bit but we are talking about dropping 5-800 lbs and leaving it there.
The other plus side is that it will do no harm to put in bracing.
Cozy heat
I can carry 200 pounds (four bags 2 on each shoulder) of feed from the pickup to the feed trough.
I can't hold 200 pounds all day long. same as your floor it maybe could do it for a little bit but we are talking about dropping 5-800 lbs and leaving it there.
So if I decided to shore up the floor what would be the best way? Jack the floor up and place blocks? What do I place them on the joists or the boards?
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