Second Floor Ofuro?
Anyone successfully installed a japanese soaking tub in the upper reaches of their crumbly old brownstone? We are thinking about the structural ramifications of 160 gallons of water. Of course, we are prepared to reinforce the joists right below the tub, but are curious about how the rest of the house is going to take…
Anyone successfully installed a japanese soaking tub in the upper reaches of their crumbly old brownstone?
We are thinking about the structural ramifications of 160 gallons of water. Of course, we are prepared to reinforce the joists right below the tub, but are curious about how the rest of the house is going to take the load, especially since we are opening up the load bearing wall (replacing it with a beam) in the kitchen below.
Anyone have a similar story?
I have installed 2 ofuro tubs on the top floor of a brownstoner and a rowhouse respectively. It is indeed a lot of weight, and we handled it different in both cases. A: we used tripple laminated structural C-joists spanning the entire width of the brownstone, pocketed about 4″ into the masonry bearing walls, on a steel Angle that worked as a ledger. We placed c-joist headers perpendicular to the joists and created a box onto which the tub could sit. A: We used W sections to span the width of the rowhouse. The W sections were again pocketed into the bearing walls. We place W-section as headers perp. to the joists and again boxed out an area for the tub. cast a lightweight concrete pad with re-bar in 2 directions and put the pad on the W-section box. We set the tub town and then roofed into it, and installed copper flasshing and counter flashing around it. Both tubs have been in over a year and we have had no problems. You should consult a structural engineer to get some details. Good luck.