I'm on the Architectural Control Committee of a tall downtown condominium bldg. in Nashville. It gets VERY windy here and we need to establish some lower and upper weight limits for balcony furniture. The Homeowner's Assoc. does not need any light weight porch furniture blowing off and hitting someone! I cannot find any information on wind and outdoor furniture. Any ideas? I can probably get upper limits from the building plans in the office.
Non Sequitur
Feb 22, 18 8:38 pm
probably because it does not exist. Better to require that all condo owners securely tie down furniture when not in use than start weighing everyone's stuff.
joseffischer
Feb 22, 18 8:56 pm
Not to sound unhelpful, but as a COA board member myself, this definitely sounds like the type of cover your *** letter that your lawyer on retainer should be passing out rather than involving architects. As always, CYA letters should basically tell the people involved that they can't do anything, so that when they break the rules and something bad happens, it won't be the board's fault.
Cheers
archanonymous
Feb 23, 18 2:38 pm
you should set the upper limit at like 5 lbs and the lower limit at .5 lbs and cause a hyper-local spurt of innovation in lightweight wind-resistant furniture.
JBeaumont
Feb 23, 18 3:31 pm
I agree that you want a lawyer to write this. I can tell you that when one does, it won't end up with any specific numerical weight limits - it will say things like "appropriate balcony furniture" and "owner's/tenant's/occupant's responsibility to adequately secure". That's because if you state a specific minimum or maximum, or particular means by which items must be secured, and then some misfortune ensues anyway involving something that was complying with those limits, you will be blamed for having allowed them.
From an engineering standpoint a weight limit is insufficient on its own anyway. I've seen a 200+ pound platform bed fly off a balcony during a windstorm (remains of a tropical storm in a coastal New England location - but not even a particularly newsworthy storm). It has as much to do with surface area, shape, and how an object is positioned with respect to the particular gust of wind as it does with weight. You don't want any numbers in your rules about any of this.
tnacc
Mar 4, 18 1:38 am
Thank you for your comments. Serendipitously, just after I wrote this, I met a lady on the elevator from the 20th floor who had just had a balcony chair blow over during an over night wind. She took me up to see it and it was metal mesh and weighed 11 lbs. One would think the wind could have blown right through the mesh.
Your comments and help are appreciated.
Non Sequitur
Mar 5, 18 8:37 am
Angle of wind/suction also can turn a mesh into a solid equivalent. Yay, science!
Miles Jaffe
Mar 5, 18 9:12 am
Fully enclose all balconies or require that all balcony furniture be securely bolted in place with approved anchors.
This thread reminds me of the screen door in the submarine joke.
vado retro
Aug 22, 18 10:17 am
the last thing any architect should do is offer an opinion on this or any related matter. By suggesting a possible solution to you an architect opens him/herself up to a lawsuit as soon as the patio chair on the balcony on the 23rd floor becomes dislodged and plummets, although quite beautifully, to the ground crushing the skull of some hapless passerby. no thanks.
I'm on the Architectural Control Committee of a tall downtown condominium bldg. in Nashville. It gets VERY windy here and we need to establish some lower and upper weight limits for balcony furniture. The Homeowner's Assoc. does not need any light weight porch furniture blowing off and hitting someone! I cannot find any information on wind and outdoor furniture. Any ideas? I can probably get upper limits from the building plans in the office.
probably because it does not exist. Better to require that all condo owners securely tie down furniture when not in use than start weighing everyone's stuff.
Not to sound unhelpful, but as a COA board member myself, this definitely sounds like the type of cover your *** letter that your lawyer on retainer should be passing out rather than involving architects. As always, CYA letters should basically tell the people involved that they can't do anything, so that when they break the rules and something bad happens, it won't be the board's fault.
Cheers
you should set the upper limit at like 5 lbs and the lower limit at .5 lbs and cause a hyper-local spurt of innovation in lightweight wind-resistant furniture.
I agree that you want a lawyer to write this. I can tell you that when one does, it won't end up with any specific numerical weight limits - it will say things like "appropriate balcony furniture" and "owner's/tenant's/occupant's responsibility to adequately secure". That's because if you state a specific minimum or maximum, or particular means by which items must be secured, and then some misfortune ensues anyway involving something that was complying with those limits, you will be blamed for having allowed them.
From an engineering standpoint a weight limit is insufficient on its own anyway. I've seen a 200+ pound platform bed fly off a balcony during a windstorm (remains of a tropical storm in a coastal New England location - but not even a particularly newsworthy storm). It has as much to do with surface area, shape, and how an object is positioned with respect to the particular gust of wind as it does with weight. You don't want any numbers in your rules about any of this.
Thank you for your comments. Serendipitously, just after I wrote this, I met a lady on the elevator from the 20th floor who had just had a balcony chair blow over during an over night wind. She took me up to see it and it was metal mesh and weighed 11 lbs. One would think the wind could have blown right through the mesh.
Your comments and help are appreciated.
Angle of wind/suction also can turn a mesh into a solid equivalent. Yay, science!
Fully enclose all balconies or require that all balcony furniture be securely bolted in place with approved anchors.
This thread reminds me of the screen door in the submarine joke.
the last thing any architect should do is offer an opinion on this or any related matter. By suggesting a possible solution to you an architect opens him/herself up to a lawsuit as soon as the patio chair on the balcony on the 23rd floor becomes dislodged and plummets, although quite beautifully, to the ground crushing the skull of some hapless passerby. no thanks.
Architectural Control Committee ...
RUN!