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ILJL
 
location:
Northern Ghana
Gender: Female
 |  | Floors: Safe/ Unsafe signs and suggestions
< on 8/21/2006 2:15 AM >
|  | | | I've looked for a thread on this and have come up with a couple pages of suggestions that mostly concluded 'figuring out if a floor is safe is a learn-it-yourself' kind of thing. I understand that; it depends on the location and a catch-all rule can't be made to judge if every floor is safe or not.
However, there must be some sort of method for getting across a floor that you already know is unsafe/ questionable or some suggestions as to keep from falling through.
I'll share my basic knowledge of floor safety, but I'm sure people with more floor experience can add helpful tips, etc.
- I find it helpful to study the ceiling of the floor beneath the one I want to get on to. Are there holes/ light coming through/ damp spots/ sagging? Watch for these places on the next floor.
- Open windows or windows without panes in them let in a lot of moisture on to floors, causing rot and weakness, so the suggestion of hugging the wall in this case is not the safe thing to do.
- If you can find the joists or stable support beam lines, walk over those.
- In a building I explored in today, someone had put big cardboard boxes over holes and weak spots on the floor, which seemed very deceptive and dangerous. Again, look for things like that.
Hopefully this was helpful to someone.
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DeMiNe0
     
location:
Brooklyn, NY
Gender: Male
DeMiNe0.CoM
| |  |  |  |  | Re: Floors: Safe/ Unsafe signs and suggestions
<Reply # 1 on 8/21/2006 4:54 AM >
| | | | From being a fire fighter i can shed some light on unsafe flooring.
Besides all the information in the above post, here is a little more:
Ceiling/Floor joists are about 16 inches apart, and run parelle to the studs in a wall. If you can see the studs in a wall, or locate some with a large recking bar, or wall laser (about 10 bucks at walmart), then the floor joist should be directly sticking out beneith it. The joists are the safest thing to walk on. Remember though, nothng is ever totally safe.
You can always use a long tool to check floor weakness too.
Pay attainion to floor creeks. The sound a floor makes, can tell you how stable it is.
If the room has extensive water damage, BE CAREFUL. The floor could, and will more then likely be rotting.
Just because your in the bottom floor or basement, dont think that the floor is safe. Some floors are raised.
[last edit 8/21/2006 4:56 AM by DeMiNe0 - edited 1 times]
HtTp://WwW.DeMiNe0.CoM |
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Pravus
location:
Chicago Area
Gender: Male
Now the two key words for tonight - "caution" and "flammable"...
| |  | | Re: Floors: Safe/ Unsafe signs and suggestions
<Reply # 2 on 8/21/2006 12:04 PM >
| | | | I wouldn't fully trust the cross beams either.. You really have to go slow and feel for give and probe before you shift your weight.. which isn't always 100% either..
When me and a buddy were in an old house we were upstairs and the floor was a lil shady so I was walking on the crossbeams and tryin to go slow.. what I didn't know is halfway down the the room the celling of the downstairs is rotted out and the cross beam is just gone, but the floor on the second level is still there.. Eventually I made my way to that point, I went through the floor and managed to grab the crossbeam in front of me and my buddy managed to grab my leg as I went down.. I'm rather lucky because under me was old rusted farming equipment, I all saw when I looked down was rusty spikes making a lil deathtrap below me..
Not saying the crossbeams aren't a good idea.. but you somewhat need to plan for it to give out on you.. Plan for the worst and hope for the best..
Live to Serve, Serve to Live.. |
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blackhawk
This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.
location:
Mission Control
UER newbie
| | | Re: Floors: Safe/ Unsafe signs and suggestions
<Reply # 3 on 8/21/2006 9:07 PM >
| | | | Ha, ha an abandoned house with it's own punji pit. Swell. Just what you need.
When water has been seeping in for years in wood, and even concrete structures... the joker's wild. Anything goes. I once ran across a collapsing floor the was disappearing behind me, I barely made it. When they go, they go!
Just when I thought I was out... they pulled me back in.
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