Testing

[John K]

Any ideas on field testing for L/360? I know the famous jump test and successful as it is. Are there any other methods used here?

[RandyL]

Speaking of deflection, are all new houses built now not supposed to have L/480 or so? If thats the case then all houses should be good to go...right?

[John Bridge]

I think John is talking about deflection of the subflooring, which has always been a problem for us high school drop-outs.

I don't think there are any feasible tests you could perform on the job. What it always comes back to is what has been tested and what has passed. I talked to a couple guys from Boise Cascade down at Coverings and asked that very question. They did a lot of beating around the bush, and in the end it turns out that they really don't want to commit to anything on the panels they make. The do put out stats, though. It's just that you need to be an engineer to figure them out. Bob Campell can do it.

[Bill Vincent]

John, IF you want to get technicikal, you could always stretch a chalk line across the floor between two nails (or screws). You're going to have to set the string to an eyeballed height, otherwise your weight will throw your measurement off, and then set down about 6-8 bags of thinset in the middle of the span, and step back and check out the difference. that should give you a pretty close estimate of what the deflection is and then all you have to do is do the math to see if it meets the standard.