No jokes? Get an engineer.

Yup, you need a structural engineer. A good one will come out and measure the depths, spacing, and lengths of the beams and give you an estimate of the allowable floor loads.

I’m not an engineer but I watch HGTV so I can talk like one

2 maybe

How many tote bags?

rd

I currently have 4 machines covering a Six foot buy 12 foot space 72 sq ft on average they weigh less than 250lbs 1000 lbs total.
so 1,000 lbs divided by 72sq ft is a live load of 13.8 lbs per sq ft normal construction should have no problem supporting as many pinball machines as you can put in the room. All that being said looking at those structural pictures have an engineer look at it.

No way, not like that. Or atleast I wouldn't without adding some more structure to that floor.
My floor feels better after adding a couple 4x4's across the beams with adjustable metal supports. Nothing permanent incase I ever sell the house and move to warmer climate.
-Mike

The problem with a wooden floor and wooden support beams is that you can't look inside them: it might still be as strong as when it was installed, but it also could have sufferd from wood rot, woodworm, etc. As others said: a structural engineer could come in handy.

I would not be surprised if it’s more robust than modern construction. Look at those frickin logs. Let us know what the pro says.

I think you need a structural engineer. Someone that is used to remodels and working with older buildings. Call around and describe your issue. See what they say and go from there. Just be prepared. You could be opening a can or worms getting an old building up to code.

Architects and engineers are not the same. One makes structures look nice, the other makes sure structures don't fall down.

I am not an engineer but if having 200+ lb human males standing and moving around on your floor doesn't cause it to cave or bow, pinball machines are unlikely to be a problem. It is more about weight distribution than absolute weight as that will get you first. When just standing, a majority of our weight is on our heels and the area of your heel is fairly comparable to a pinball machine foot. Stepping and shifting temporarily increases the load due to deceleration forces when striking the floor. So you can have easily have loads of well over 100 lbs on a human heel temporarily and frequently while the more static (and therefore less stressful) load of a pinball foot is going to be less than 80 lbs. I wouldn't take my advice over an engineer but I was just explaining my thoughts.

I always wanted to be an engineer when I was little. Choo choo!! Chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga.....

I was gonna throw out a bunch of mathematical equations but decided to go "fun" instead.

Sell off your collection fast and cheap! Safety first.

You don’t need an engineer.
Start with the architect as planned.
You just need some simple floor load calculations base on a visit to your site to check the spans of the joists ,beams and the posts/footings below them.
As a general condition test,can you feel the floor move beneath you as you walk down the center of the room you intend to use? You should be concerned if it does.

I would be more concerned with your wiring than the floor.

Architect = Dreamer
Engineer = Doer

Consult an Engineer...

Hmm... what if you have a few guests and everyone is playing the pins?

We had our house earthquake retrofitted last year. Based on the details that I reviewed, this type of "behind the scenes" type work might be best handled by a structural engineer, but there is certainly some overlap between structural engineer and architect.

Regardless of what way you go, if you get a consult, I'd be interested to know the result. We don't have houses from 1800 in Seattle.

Thanks for the followup. Very nice. But I guess just don't have big parties?

That floor is a lot stronger than it looks. You shouldn't have a problem.

What a cool midieval themed game room you could have in that basement! Problem solved.

The photo with the insulation wrapped pipe, would that be asbestos? Also is that knob and tube wiring? Is the wiring live? Those are questions I would add to any other inquiries.

A freezer exerts more weight per square inch than a pinball machine, just saying.

Those are 100% asbestos wrapped pipes. You should pay the pros to come out and remove all that shit and stay far away from it and never mind the other engineers.

As for your floor, I wouldn’t panic. That house was built less than 20 years after the Revolutionary War. Pins are not going to do anything to your floor unless you took all ten and stacked them in the middle and then you’d still probably have no problem.
You’re good.

I have a different problem. My floor can support a pinball machine collection, but my wallet can't.

Wow, I would definitely meet with an engineer or architect.

After looking at your photos, building a collection of pinball machines would not be my immediate focus.

I am not giving you professional advise, repeat, I am not giving you professional advise. It cannot be construed as such.

I am an engineer. First off, I would imagine any structural defects in those hand hewn joists and columns would have shown themselves by now, assuming they are sound/termite free/etc. That's old growth wood, broski. I would also imagine any defects would have been discovered by your (assuming) competent home inspector, considering you just bought the house.

I would not waste the money. You will never even come close to exceeding the live load for that floor. Considering parking garage decks are designed for 40 psf these days, you'll never come close.

You even math, bruh?

Always, always use a structural engineer!

Glad you got your situation figured out. Looking at your pics I would have said you’re fine but would recommend an engineer if you need absolute assurance. I’m a general contractor that specializes in structural remodeling and have been thru architectural school. I can’t do the technical calculations that a structural engineer can do so an architect would be pointless probably. Also if you did have an engineer out they should give you a stamped report since you’re paying them that you can keep in your files if you were to sell the home later.

That is exactly what I would do. Nothing permanent. But extra security. You are fine though.

Okay, I’ll be the guy that asks.

Any ghosts?

Are they pinball players?

Not sure, as the pics (I'm going on pic #2) aren't that clear, but the white insulation on the pipe(s) look to be asbestos. You may want to have that checked.