Can a wardrobe fall through a floor? I live in a mid terrace house built in 1899

[Katherine L]

(see details below)? We recently purchased and put together a very large and very heavy solid wood wardrobe. I am probably being parnoid (it is the first house I have brought and worry so much about it...I think I am just a born worrier!) but I am concerned the weight may cause the floor boards to break. When we moved in we had rotten floor boards at the front of the house in the lounge which we replaced and installed a damp course. I think this is where my worry orginates from. Can anyone put my mind at ease? I would most grateful

[TallPaul]

The wardrobe falling through would be the least of your worries. If that happened the joists (the things the floorboards sit on) would have snapped, and the whole of your upstairs would end up downstairs.

[Greedy as a pig]

It's definitely possible in your circumstances and is potentially very dangerous. Get a professional to take a look at it

[gramma might know]

I know how you feel. My first house was built in 1842 and I worried about absolutely everything.
If you're worried about this one piece of furniture, cut a 1/2" thick piece of plywood and place it under the bottom of the wardrobe. The plywood will disperse the weight over the area of the floor in question and can be removed when you feel safe!

Good luck!

[xenon]

Cast iron baths were instaslled in old houses, and I never heard of a bath crashing through a ceiling. It takes 5 burly men to lift a bath. !!!

[Suki Boo]

The damp usually rises to a metre from ground level, so damp should not be a worry, however we used to own a Victorian house & we did have to replace all the floorboards as we had woodworm, the joists were fine.

Victorian Houses were built to last, so you should be fine, I would check the floorboards for evidence (tiny bore holes usually a sign)

[angel]

Am not trying to be funny. But it would be funny if I did.

[*KGB*]

it could but unlikely

[Bilbo]

The weight of the wardrobe is spread over a reasonably wide area and presumably there are no point loads to pierce the boarding. Don't forget the floor is supported by substantial timber joists which transfer the load to the supporting walls, and thence to the foundations.

If you do overload sound boards they will deflect a bit rather than collapse or break and may show cracking in the plaster of the room below, but this seems very unlikely in the situation you describe.

The Australian opera singer Dame Nellie Melba once owned a concert grand piano which she had in her Paris apartment. All the weight of a massive cast iron frame was concentrated on just three legs with tiny casters. These regularly punched their way through the floor boards so that one or other leg ended up in the flat below - eventually she had to get rid of it. The school I attended acquired it and it continued to repeat this feat - punching holes in the wooden floor of the assembly hall, but never actually falling through. This is an extreme case - I doubt if your wardrobe comes anywhere near this kind of loading.

It is possible to reinforce the boarding under the wardrobe if there is any problem (which is what we had to do at my school ultimately) but this seems so remote a possibility as to not worry about.

Hakuna matata, as they say.

[just me]

stuff like that only happens in the movies. Consult with an engineer if you are really concerned.