Second Floor Storage Load for Local Community Theater 3

[KevinChez]

I am designing a building for a local community theater company. The second floor is office space and storage for costumes and props. There is a typical walk up stair to access the second floor so all props/costumes will be brought up by hand and openings to rooms are standard door size.

Code has light storage at 125 psf. Given the budget I was trying to keep the framing as light as possible but 125 psf adds up quick.

Since it is just a walk up stair I figure I can back off the 125 psf but to what? 2nd Floor retail is 75 psf.

I am going to consult with the architect who is also a member of the theater company to understand their needs.

What are your thoughts on using less than the 125 psf for light storage?

 

[driftLimiter]

Just design it for 125 psf you never know what they will do with the area later on. They may store more than just 'costumes and props'.
ASCE7 is minimum design loading I wouldn't want to try to explain to the B.Dept why I am choosing to go lower because I feel like 125 is a lot.

 

[plausibly_civil]

I personally wouldn't define this as a storage warehouse so I don't believe the 125 psf live load is required. If you look at ASCE 7-16 Table C4.3-1 there are some additional minimum uniform distributed live loads that you can use for guidance. I recently did this for a theater gridiron floor. Maybe your situation would be closer to "Attic, nonresidential storage" which is 80 psf, but in my experience theater props/costumes tend to be more bulky and cumbersome than heavy so typical office live load may be adequate. Using 80psf everywhere seems like a good way to futureproof the space. I wouldn't define this as retail because it doesn't sound like it's open to the public.

 

[driftLimiter]

I could jump on with 80 psf for non-residential attic storage. Also covers 2nd floor corridors. I would also include partition loading per ASCE 7-16 4.3.2

 

[KevinChez]

I appreciate the comments. The space is not really "attic" but I would expect the 80 psf to be more than adequate. I am going to ask the architect what kind of shelving they are planning. There may be vaulted ceilings so they could stack stuff high but again it is only what you can walk up a stair and fit through a typical door.

 

[RontheRedneck]

I've been in situations like this. They typically want a cheap and/or shallow floor system.

I get lines line "Don't worry about it - We won't put much stuff up there". I point out that there's no guarantee of that, and they won't be around forever. And the building could be sold at any time.

Another favorite line I get is "We'll take full responsibility". I tell them that lawyers and judges don't see it that way. They're not an expert, so they can't assume responsibility.


It usually pisses people off. But I don't back down. I wouldn't suggest that you back down too much either.

 

[KevinChez]

Thanks everyone. Deflection is my big concern and breaking their budget with steel beams instead of wood. But I will explain it all to them.

 

[Tomfh]

It's reasonable to use the code minimum for strength design and then use a more realistic loading type for deflection assessment.