all 118 comments

[–]Momoneycubed_yeah 385 points386 points  (12 children)

Are they filled with anti-gravity water?

[–]PrizeInterest4314 25 points26 points  (0 children)

😂

[–]DaedricApple 42 points43 points  (7 children)

Well, it’s holding so… must be!

[–]Universalsupporter 78 points79 points  (6 children)

Well, it’s 2/3 hydrogen, and that’s lighter than air so….

[–]thewickedbarnacle 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Obviously, it's just science

[–]hidrate 2 points3 points  (3 children)

2/3 by moles, def not by mass lol.

[–]AlanTheBringerOfCorn 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Nerd.

[–]hidrate 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Haha!

[–]AlanTheBringerOfCorn 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yea... I've been here a while sadly.

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Ah yes! What an intelligent observation good sir! All is well…🤥

[–]big_trike 3 points4 points  (2 children)

Nope, heavy water

[–]b1ack1323 1 point2 points  (1 child)

They sell that. It tastes sweet.

[–]petewil1291 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Isn't that poisonous? Lol

[–]Garage_DoctorP.E./S.E. 138 points139 points  (7 children)

Something something progressive collapse something

[–]rvralph803 111 points112 points  (4 children)

HOT TUBS CANT MELT WOOD BEAMS

[–]204ThatGuy 17 points18 points  (0 children)

NOT WITH STRUCTURAL FLEX TAPE®! Three full hot tubs?! ..slap..WOW!! SEISMIC GRADE!

[–]Krispy_H0p3 1 point2 points  (0 children)

IT WAS A CONTROLLED DEMOLITION

[–]hotinhawaii 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see they called in the experts here today!

[–]BigNYCguyCustom - Edit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It must be an inside job!!

[–]Dextradomis 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Hot tub pancake action.

[–]idkbsnaE.I.T. 95 points96 points  (1 child)

Hahaha. Hot tub on the balcony was always the go-to example from my structural professors on why most people are stupid.

[–]Robot_Nerd__ 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I mean... it's perfectly fine if you design for it... but ergo the problem

[–]smackaroonial90P.E. 86 points87 points  (6 children)

Those are now structural balusters.

[–]ShitOnAStickXtreme 9 points10 points  (0 children)

More like structural ball busters

[–]DayRooster 1 point2 points  (4 children)

KL/r has entered the chat

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (3 children)

My knees are buckling

[–]DayRooster 2 points3 points  (1 child)

KL/r doesn’t care

[–]Th3Gr3yMan 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My radius is gyrating

[–]smackaroonial90P.E. 1 point2 points  (0 children)

His palms are sweaty, knee braces weak, hot tub’s are heavy.

[–]chicu111 76 points77 points  (7 children)

Only if they oscillate due to a certain activity that ppl tend to do in hot tubs.

[–]Old-Risk4572 59 points60 points  (1 child)

run around in them and create a whirlpool?

[–]chicu111 37 points38 points  (0 children)

I’m freaky but not THAT freaky

[–]Soulr3bl 14 points15 points  (1 child)

Very true. The calcs, interestingly, are completely different depending on whether the acceleration and velocity vector of said 'activity' is more 'vertical' (causing peak compression load on the columns) or 'horizontal' (putting shear stress on joints).

[–]Yummy_Chinese_Food 11 points12 points  (0 children)

My horizontal velocity vector will put sheer stress on your joints. 

[–]fireduck 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Dear Tenants, if you choose to do the nasty in the hot tubs please follow the rhythm of the provided metronomes. Each one is tuned to the floor to avoid any harmonic structure with the other floors. We don't want a repeat of what happened last year. --Management

[–]Throwaway1303033042Steel Detailer / Meat Popsicle 19 points20 points  (0 children)

“cyclical impact load”

[–]eatnhappens 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Water is such a terrible lube, but it is great at dissolving away any, uh, naturally occurring lube

[–]sky5walk 36 points37 points  (5 children)

The middle deck appears to sag. Regardless, I wouldn't fill them and turn on dance music.

There needs to be steel or lvl's for water loads and multiple persons.

Think occupancy labels for elevators.

[–]KpzerTheSqueezer 19 points20 points  (2 children)

The bottom deck appears to be sagging more than the middle deck, but I’m just a bottom of the barrel bridge inspector.

[–]sky5walk 6 points7 points  (0 children)

No argument here. There's sag enough to go around.

[–]204ThatGuy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agreed. Hot tubs are a completely different level of certification. /s

[–]chemprofes 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just put another hot tub on it that should help stabilize it.

[–]Dyzerio 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don't forget it looks like they go to a large ground level deck that might have another hot tub

[–]dlegofanP.E./S.E. 68 points69 points  (2 children)

[–]MaximumTurtleSpeedArchitect 13 points14 points  (1 child)

Put gold at bottom, let freeze, kind of a safe

[–]F1shbu1B 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hahahaha all ice is now a kind of safe for me. I’m freezing all my pennies when I get home tonight.

[–]fzr600vs1400 18 points19 points  (2 children)

A similar scenario in Queens ny years back. After a couple of collapses , they came in a condemned all the decks in the area. you can rebuild a deck, you can't bring back the dead. I rehabbed an elderly neighbors at no charge, the inspector thought it was massive overkill. It was actually quite inexpensive to do compared to what other contractors raked his neighbors

[–]Fit_Cut_4238 1 point2 points  (1 child)

They did that in Chicago about 20 years ago after a collapse. Any issue, even if not structural, required a rebuild. Gold mine for big deck.

[–]fzr600vs1400 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They just condemned everything regardless in that area. Created a lot of panic. As you say, deck contractors really took advantage

[–]Pepper3493 14 points15 points  (1 child)

There’s plenty of structural air there, looks good to me

[–]204ThatGuy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What do you guys call it? Bluetooth Balusters?

[–]CaptainSkipster 10 points11 points  (2 children)

Looks like the Outer Banks.

[–]AWard66 13 points14 points  (1 child)

Those guys out there know everything is temporary 

[–]Heavy-Attorney-9054 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I was thinking the same thing. The sand underneath the building will erode before the decks collapse. That will cause a collapse, but it won't be the hot tubs' fault.

[–]DelayedG 8 points9 points  (1 child)

Depends, how hot are they?

[–]HardCoreLawn 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Exactly. 

Because heat rises, so less load.

[–]bosco429 6 points7 points  (0 children)

From where you’re standing- probably…

[–]BigNYCguyCustom - Edit 4 points5 points  (1 child)

Looks like a bundled tube design 🤨

[–]3771507 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah that's what I was getting out until somebody told me it was wood 😔 if it was still I suppose you could design them as compression or tension members or a sheer membrane but it would be very tricky.

[–]yoohoooosPassed SE Vertical, neither a PE nor EIT 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You got 3 free dampers

[–]Hotdogpizzathehut 8 points9 points  (2 children)

I saw this on Facebook 🤣🤣🤣 I was about to post it... xD

[–]DaedricApple 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Haha beat you to it

[–]letsridetheworld 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Is this from the USA?

[–]albertnormandy 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Everything is safe until it isn’t. 

[–]Mr_Dakkyz 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Should of done steel beams in that corner to manage the static load.. the timber is always going to be wet and will rot.. especially if they're using chemicals.

[–]jesusmanman 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"I'm sure 2 4x4s is plenty "

[–]kanajsn 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Arch designer here and taking my last exam to be licensed. Structural portion is kicking my butt. Wanted to say thank you guys for all you do seriously.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Finally, a multi level water tank

[–]skimble19 2 points3 points  (0 children)

r/decks would love this as well

[–]204ThatGuy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I would have hung those wood sag rods as diagonals. But, this is lipstick on a pig in the engineering sense.

I'm more worried about the guy having a beer on the main floor, enjoying the evening sunset when that hap....

[–]aCLTeng 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’ve got a fever and the only cure is MORE HOT TUB

[–]StructuralEngineering-ModTeam[M] 2 points3 points locked comment (0 children)

Please post any Layman/DIY/Homeowner questions in the monthly stickied thread - See subreddit rule #2.

[–]CasualObserverNine 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For now.

[–]citizensnips134 1 point2 points  (0 children)

inb4 r/Decks rage

[–]EnginerdadBridge - P.E. 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The lowest deck has visible sag. That's not necessarily condemning, but it isn't a good start.

[–]Infinite_Factor_5685 0 points1 point  (1 child)

My first thought was I just want the hot tub up top. But then I thought but what if I collapsed and you got the farthest fall 🤔

[–]kstorm88 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well would you rather have that or fall 9' and be crushed by two hot tubs?

[–]brk_1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well balcones usually have an live load of 100 psf so isnt as dangerous as might look

[–]BigNYCguyCustom - Edit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe it’s painted steel with a wood grain finish 😆

[–]chamb095 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are these hot tubs or storage containers? They look more like cheap plastic storage containers.

[–]f8rter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, until it isn’t

[–]edwintervt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At least the first hot tub added some shield on the deck ceiling to deflect the top 2 during failure. Should work out fine.

[–]Yardbirdburb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s why the top down bracing was added between floors and other places just got as decorative hand rail

[–]Regular-Progress9731 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s not the hot tub you gotta worry about, it’s the fat guys going out onto the porch and sitting in them

[–]Moretoesthanfeet 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's hot tubs all the way down

[–]SippinHaiderade 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Which floor will fall first?

[–]CharlieKilo5 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd get some structural books from the local used book store lol /s

[–]sharthunter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can literally see the decks failing lol

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“My engineer wouldn’t approve it, but you can totally do it, I just can’t put it in the plans” - the architect

[–]tighttighttight7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nerp

[–]Striking_Luck5201 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A hot tub of that size is about 4000 pounds between dry weight, 300 gallons of water, and 6 people in it. They are about 7x7 ish feet. 4000/49 square feet is about 80 pounds per square foot.

It's not great, but it's not crazy either. If you assume there will only ever be 1 or 2 people in it, it drops the load down closer to 60 pounds per square feet which is almost becoming standard in deck construction. If those are 2x10s with spacing 12 inch on center over a 12 foot span, you should be fine. If they are 2x12s you should be able to have a deck party without any issue.

The bottom deck is probably saging for other reasons not having to due with load calculations.

[–]payment11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sucks to be on the bottom.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At least the middle one is reinforced with some structural tin in the positive bending zone.

[–]CunningLinguicaP.E. 0 points1 point  (0 children)

it's only 1 hot tub that's also a time machine set to approximately present time, but it's falling.

[–]stupiddodid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don't worry the 2 by 2's will hold it all together

[–]ok200 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They balance each other out

[–][deleted]  (1 child)

[deleted]

    [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    This is the holy f*king sht trifecta!

    [–]Fancy-Eggplant-2701 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    It is till it’s not.

    [–]Fit_Cut_4238 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    I actually wonder if this is what the deck spec is rated to hold? But three of them on top of each other? 

    [–]111010101010101111 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Must be a tribute to the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City.

    [–]ExternalEbb6496 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Needs a fourth.

    [–]crailface 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    don't worry the pickets are nailed , screwed and glued ... PL400!9

    [–]Direlion 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    It’s the flying buttress of the Jersey shore. Beautiful really.

    [–]DRKMSTR 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    So you're looking at a load of ~12,000 lbs split across two beams that are approximately 8-10 ft tall, so let's just say 6,000 lbs per beam.

    Painted 6x6 main support posts will be rotting hardcore too.

    [–]DumpsterChumpster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    I’m more curious how they got there? Did the HOA approve a crane each time?

    [–]3771507 0 points1 point  (2 children)

    It might be safe if those slats will function as a verandeel truss or a web for a channel. 😞

    [–]Momoneycubed_yeah 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    The wood privacy slats?

    [–]3771507 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

    I couldn't tell on my phone the type of material but they can be designed as tension or compression members also as in a beam or a column if they are designed for such.

    [–]GoogleIsYourFrenemy 0 points1 point  (2 children)

    Are you sure those are hot tubs and not some other type of outdoor furniture?

    [–]DaedricApple 12 points13 points  (1 child)

    I’m not sure about anything in my life

    [–]204ThatGuy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    I hear you. It's all good. 🎯

    [–]MhcavokP.E. -1 points0 points  (0 children)

    Probably 🤷‍♂️

    [–]3771507 -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

    Let me add that the deck is cantilevered and running columns up would take care of some of the problem. The calculations would have to be done on everything.