Commercial kitchen dead load

[theonlynamenottaken]

Hey all you fellow number crunchers,

I've got to do a preliminary evaluation to determine what measures will be necessary to put a restaurant on the second floor of a ~1900 bldg. Anybody have any idea of a uniformly distributed equipment dead load? It will be a typical 4-star restaurant kitchen with gobs of stainless steel, ovens, walk-in cooler, ranges, prep tables, etc. The dining area is ~1400 sf so its not going to be a very large volume/flow kitchen. I was thinking in the 100 psf range but really don't have a good feel for this. Any help would be appreciated.

Also, ASCE 7 in table C4-1 gives a minimum live load of 150 psf for non-domestic kitchens. The building code official stated a 65 psf live load for this kitchen. Does ASCE's live load include equipment? I thought kitchen type equipment would be considered dead load....

 

[SacreBleu]

If it doesn't create great difficulty, I would use the 150 psf. The extra cost of structure is usually minimal compared to the equipment, HVAC, and architectural components.
One thing to be cautious - the exhaust hoods, which can be suspended from structure above, can be quite heavy. There is frequently a fire-rating requirement that requires multiple plies of gypsum board wrapped around the ducts.

 

[AggieYank]

I would use 150 psf, but also ask them to give you weights and sizes for the larger equipment to make sure nothing is over your 150 psf. Sometimes, if everything is coming in under 120 psf (which it often does), I'll use 125 psf for my design. The reality is that when you factor in the open space between machinery, you don't have to worry about the kitchen / mezzanine.

 

[MikeT14]

I agree with SacreBleu and AggieYank. You need a better understanding of the actual equipment that will be used.

I recently checked the capacity of an existing two-way slab (designed for 60 psf) for a commercial kitchen load of 150 psf. It was my understanding that the 150 psf accounted for equipment loads in addition to any "people" loads in the kitchen, full sinks of water, rolling trays full of dishes, etc. Anyway, the actual equipment loads from the architect/equipment supplier turned out to be over 250 psf in isolated areas!! I believe the average for the whole floor was pretty close to the 150 psf code value.

 

[theonlynamenottaken]

Thanks for the input. I agree that I need more information on the kitchen equipment and its loads, but the problem is that this isn't a full design job. This is an existing 1904 building and my scope (for the time being) is to get an approximate design for making the structure capable of a kitchen load so they can estimate project costs. After that they'll have actual equipment picked out and I'll have real loads to work with....

 

[AggieYank]

use 150 psf to come up with your estimated design, but tell them it could vary depending on the actual equipment loading. An experienced HVAC engineer / architect would probably be able to give you approximate loadings for the units. From the kitchens / mezzanines I've seen, 150 psf is probably conservative.