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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![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
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?
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?
