Does anybody have any experience with a see through floor? Would it just be lexann/plexiglass? Or is there a special type of material that would hold weight a little better. I’m thinking the floor jopist have to be at least 12″ o.c. to support the weight but I don’t even that would be enough to support people and/or furniture. It doesn’t have to be approved by an inspector because it’s going to be in a vacation house, but at the same time I would never build anything where I am not 100% sure of the quality of the floor breaking or cracking. I’m thinking there must be some special manufacturer where they make it thicker than lexann. Any thoughts? Any ideas?
Thanks
Replies
Geoffharris,
The public libray in Winona Minnesota has a glass floor, It's very cool but I don't remember the details. Off the top of my head I think the floor was based on 3 foot centers.
Wow. What a plan!
REALLY curious....
A vacation home with a difference.
I don't believe you. I think you are putting us on. Tell the truth! It's for a college frat house, right? LOL!
Quality repairs for your home.
AaronR Construction
Vancouver, Canada
No...not putting you on....The homeowner has a large 10 foot window on the second floor and the second floor is half framed and lets a lot of natural sunlight onto the first floor. So if he frames the second floor off he will lose all of that light for the first floor.
Any idea of the name of the material that was used in that library?
"No...not putting you on....The homeowner has a large 10 foot window on the second floor and the second floor is half framed and lets a lot of natural sunlight onto the first floor. So if he frames the second floor off he will lose all of that light for the first floor.Any idea of the name of the material that was used in that library?"IIRC there was an article in FHB a few years ago for exactly that same situation..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
I don't believe you. I think you are putting us on. Tell the truth! It's for a college frat house, right? LOL!
Yeah, it sounds like some sort of one-way mirror type of thing!
You been on them up-skirt videos again?;)
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
There's enough peep-show stuff goin' on here, thanks.Quality repairs for your home.
AaronR ConstructionVancouver, Canada
Try this site I looked into this once but client changed their mind
http://www.ibpglassblock.com
Don't know about Lexan, but Plexiglass will scratch pretty easily and I would think it would soon be so scuffed as to no longer be transparent. You could "laminate" Plexiglass--put a layer of real (tempered?--don't know what is used for floors--I know they have glass floors in the rotunda of Michigan's capitol) glass on top of the Plexiglass to protect the Plexiglass.
Yeah, you want polycarbonate (Lexan, I believe) not acrylic (Plexiglass). Much stronger and more scratch resistant.
But still the stuff will be apt to scratch under regular use, so one wonders if a textured material should be used, so that the wear will be concentrated on the high spots, leaving the bulk of the material clear. (Don't know if a suitable textured is readily available, though.)
In any event, either polycarbonate or glass. Acrylic is too brittle and scratch-prone, while polycarbonate is (quite literally) bullet-proof if thick enough, and is plenty strong. Do be warned, however, that it's very difficult to "machine". You'll likely have to make special arrangements for cutting the stuff.
Somewhere on the web there are likely numbers for the strength of polycarbonate. In fact, here are the numbers for standard Lexan:
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES:
Specific gravity (ASTM D 792) : 1.20
Tensile strength, Ultimate (ASTM D 638) : 9,000 p.s.i.
Elongation at break (ASTM D 638) : 130%
Tensile modulus (ASTM D 638) : 3.1x10~5 p.s.i.
Rockwell hardness (ASTM D 785) : R118
Impact strength (73° F) (ASTM D 256) (notched) : 17.0 ft-lb/inch
Flexural strength (ASTM D 790) : 14,200 p.s.i.
Flexural modulus (ASTM D 790) : 3.4x 10~5 p.s.i.
Wear factor against steel 40 psi 50fpm : 2500x10~10
Coefficient of friction 40psi 50fpm : 0.38 Dynamic
I'm guessing someone out there can take the above and give you the equivalent of a 1-1/4" plywood floor, say.
The clear material's readily available as thick as 2", typically in 49x97" sheets. If you don't need "window grade" you can get it up to 4". I would guess, however, that an inch or an inch and a half would be plenty.
Price-wise, though, you're probably looking at some coin.
They did this in the grand canyon, and they have one like it at rockefeller center in NYC.... thick glass...
jeff
Perforated iron/steel floors used to be fairly common in old (ca 1900) office buildings and libraries, to allow light to get through from a central skylight to the lower floors. I gather that gentlemen were on their honor to not look up when there was a lady above (or, God forbid, a Scotsman).
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
Here's the glass they put in our downtown library recently. Not sure of the details, might try a google
View Image
Edited 6/4/2007 3:43 pm by BarryE
Glass block would let through light while still obscuring people's private parts.
As some have said, you gota use glass NOT plastic of any kind. The thicker the glass the bigger the span. The two pictures I have included are at the CN Tower in Toronto.
Also read this: http://www.pilkington.com/europe/uk+and+ireland/english/building+products/for+trade+customers/faqs.htm#faq5
And scroll down to Q #5
BTW it is best not to have the glass span across any joist. You should frame the opening like you would a window in a wall. Otherwise the glass will squeak and scratch.
Edited 6/4/2007 7:08 pm ET by reinvent
There's no reason why you can't use plastic. It's all a matter of working out the numbers. The only problem with plastic, as I said, is that it's more apt to get scratched, but it doesn't sound like this duty would subject it to a lot of wear.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
The place I work at (Miami University) has a glass floor in one of the buildings. It's something like 1 1/2" thick glass plank. I think they are about 8 or 10 inches wide and 6 feet or so long. the planks sit in angle irons which bear on a beam system.
Bear in mind the floor gets a lot of traffic and it is not transparent at all (never was) which is probably a good thing for those in dresses. But the scratches subtley cut down on the light infiltration over the years. And they recently resurfaced the floor which brought the light level below way back up.
I would think a plastic floor would be a little slick in the beginning. And as it started to wear the scratches would concentrate on the traffic patterns of the space causing an uneve n wear appearance over the floor. After awhile all the dirt and crud would lodge in the scratches and be a maintenance problem and be a pain to clean.
I work with 3/4 " acrylic all the time, and while it is very strong it scratches whenever a piece of dust is moved across it. I would never put it on the floor. It is plastic , it will scratch and when the scratches fill with dirt it will be gross and impossible to clean. Stick with glass. Barmo
Yes, but polycarbonate is an entirely different critter. Something like 4x stronger, and 10x more scratch and shatter resistant.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
Where do you find the polycarbonate is more scratch resistant? It's been my opinion that it scratches easier. The thing about polycarbonate is that it is not brittle. You can bend a small piece in double over and over untill you're tired, but plex and acrylic will shatter before even a single bend.
Polycarbonate safety glasses are more easily scratched than plastic lenses also.
Just my experience.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
Google "multiwall polycarbonate +flooring"
SamT
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