Something worrisome

[ellid]

Question for those of you with fairly modern houses:

The Last Homely Shack was built in 1979. It is a raised ranch, with most of the living space on the second floor, over a finished basement and a garage.

Last summer I inherited Betty's piano. It's a 1950's era spinet, fairly solidly built, and of course like all pianos has a soundboard inside. Because I was concerned about the weight, I placed the piano against the wall that is directly over the main beam of the house. The main beam runs the length of the building and is supported by the wall dividing the garage from the rest of the house as well as two lally columns.

Here's part that's worrying me slightly:

Twice in the last week, Roomie has been downstairs watching TV and heard a noise like the house is settling. She's never heard this before, and neither have I in the ten years I've lived here. We checked the ceiling below the piano and saw no bowing or cracking, but now I'm worried that the piano is too heavy for the floor and will crash through the floor into the basement, destroying itself, much of the living room, and the television/VCR/entertainment console.

Should I be worried? Should I get in a carpenter to take a look? I know that helwen and fitzw had a much larger and heavier piano in their much older house, with no problems. The piano is slightly larger than yours, ladyaelfwynn, and was in my aunt's raised ranch (built in 1957) for 49 years with no problems at all.

One thing that may complicate matters: a few years ago the icemaker failed in the refrigerator and there was a small flood in the kitchen, near the wall where the piano now stands. I was dirt-poor at the time and didn't have the money for a professional clean up, and we resorted to spreading newspapers on the floor to absorb the water. It took slightly over a week for the last dampness to disappear, and there's still a water stain on the kitchen rug. Could this have caused the flooring/main beam to rot? The wet area didn't reach the main beam, and there's no odd sounds/odors coming from the area that got wet (under the refrigerator and kitchen).

Any ideas? Should I get this checked? Should I move the piano? Help?

Comments

[tx-cronopio.livejournal.com]

I know absolutely nothing about this! But my gut feeling is that you don't have to worry about it. Still, if you're like me, once the feeling occurs to you, you might as well get it checked out and put your mind at ease :)

[crazykimmy.livejournal.com]

You are everywhere.

[peregrinning.livejournal.com]

Getting a house inspection will ease your fears about the things you have imagined, and will point out things you probably haven't even noticed. I'd say, get the inspection.

May they find all the things that should get fixed, and may most if not all of them be inexpensive and easy to fix.

[peregrinning.livejournal.com]

By the way, that doesn't mean they'll find everything. But I'd rather get their advice than go without and wonder.

[ladyaelfwynn.livejournal.com]

Hmmm....

Pianos are relatively normal things to have in a house and houses are built to be able to house things like that.

I did a search to see how much a spinnet weighs and According to WikiAnswers it seems to be about 300lbs.

If it were my house, I'd probably get it checked out. I'd be worried about subflooring rotting from the water damage.

Your other option would be to move it to another wall if possible.

[canellaphile.livejournal.com]

Hmm... me? I would definitely get the floor/ceiling checked out. Maybe it falling through isn't one of your worries, but doing damage that you might not notice for 5 years? Preventable = do it.

[wishwords.livejournal.com]

I'd hire an inspector for about $300 or so (at least that's what they cost in Houston) for the piece of mind. It's probably nothing, but in addition to checking the piano issue, they will check for a lot of other things that you might not think about. Ask a reputable realtor what thorough, licensed inspectors they use.

[harpnfiddle.livejournal.com]

In my 1950s ranch, and also in my previous 1960 colonial, this time of year brought about some contraction of the wood from the cold. Interesting noises. Now that I've super-insulated the cellar of the ranch, not so much noise. Having someone take a look is always a good idea.

[tena524.livejournal.com]

The home inspector is an option BUT if you;re concerned about the load-bearing capacity of a specific point in your house, call in a consulting engineer. Home inspectors usually have a construction background, but may not have the math skills to calculate the load. An inspector can tell you how any visible damage would affect the value of your home, but that's not really what you wanted to know.

Look in the yellow pages under 'Engineers - Structural' or 'Engineers - Consulting'. They typically charge by the hour, and have the professional training and expertise to answer your specific question.