floor joists to span 25×25 workshop second story
I’m planning on sketchup a 25×25 workshop. The bottom floor is an open 25x25x12′ high space hopefully without a support column. The second floor is a loft with either a gable roof or a gambrill roof. The second story is to be used by my wife as a crafts space, so it might contain tables and chairs, wooden cabinets for storage – nothing too heavy.
How do I plan the second floor with respect to the floor joists? Can I go online somewhere and enter “floor joists spanning 25′ x 25′” and get back “you need 22 i-beams at $260.00 plus 1/2″ decking”? I’m having trouble with this sort of research.
What do I need to do?
Thanks in advance
Replies
You can get wood floor trusses or engineered I-joists that will easily span that far. But - Resist the temptation to make them as shallow as you can get away with.
A few years back I did a thread on floor vibration. The links are all outdated, but there's still a lot of good information there:
http://forums.finehomebuilding.com/breaktime/general-discussion/floor-vibration