Assessment of in-place wood floor systems

Structural assessment of in-place wood floors is currently limited to inspection of individual members. This is costly and laborious. Consequently, the continued use or adaptive reuse of old/historic buildings is often in jeopardy because of the lack of an efficient and economical assessment method. A systems approach of assessment is the subject of this research. Floors in four old buildings and several laboratory-built floors were tested. The floor's bending stiffness was determined by static bending tests and its fundamental natural frequency was determined by transverse forced vibration. A model for one way beam action with simple support is the best predictor of floor responses. A technique for using this research to predict stiffness of existing floors is suggested.