Floor vibration, or bounce, is not a
safety issue — it's a performance
issue, and one that's likely to be important
to homeowners. No one likes to
hear the china rattling in the cabinet
when they walk across the room. But at
what point is the floor stiff enough, and
how can a builder predict how the floor
will perform?
Unfortunately, there's no clear-cut
rule for a builder to follow, and the
physics of vibration are so complicated
that it's no easy matter to design a guaranteed
bounce-free floor (see "Sizing
Stiff Floor Girders," Practical Engineering,
8/97). Also, "acceptable" floor performance
is highly subjective: What's good
enough for one homeowner may not be
good enough for another.
The building