Fundamentals
Green Roof Loads Explained: Weigh It Wet, Place It Right
Extensive sedum adds 0.6-1.5 kPa; an intensive garden can add 10. How to weigh a green roof saturated, zone it honestly, and take it down to the footings.
Elena Marchetti··10 min
Fundamentals
Balcony and Cantilever Slab Loads in a Takedown
No midline partner, a moment on the edge, and a see-saw that can lift the far support: how cantilevers and balconies actually load their structure.
Elena Marchetti··11 min
Fundamentals
Stair Loads on Beams and Landings, Done Properly
Inclined weight over cos-pitch, escape-route live loads, and a two-stage path to trimmers and walls: why stairs punch above their plan area in takedowns.
Elena Marchetti··10 min
Codes & standards
Wind Uplift on Roofs: The Tension Path Explained
Roofs live in suction, worst at edges: net uplift is factored suction minus reduced dead weight, and light roofs turn design into tension-path work.
Elena Marchetti··10 min
Codes & standards
Seismic Weight Calculation From Your Dead Loads
Effective seismic weight is the takedown wearing a second hat: dead load plus partitions, equipment, storage and snow shares, summed per storey honestly.
Elena Marchetti··10 min
Codes & standards
Wind Load Calculation Basics for Gravity Engineers
Wind is dynamic pressure carried by a lateral load path you can walk like a takedown, and your dead load model is the resistance in every uplift check.
Elena Marchetti··10 min
Load paths
UDL on a beam from tributary area
Turn a floor pressure into a uniform line load on a beam: multiply the tributary width by the load. Here is the method, beam self-weight, and the two-way equivalent UDL.
Sam Rivera··5 min
Load paths
How to calculate beam reactions from a slab
A slab loads a beam, and the beam passes that load to its end supports as reactions. Here is how to find them by statics, for uniform, triangular and trapezoidal loads.
Elena Marchetti··4 min
Fundamentals
Concrete slab self-weight calculation
Slab self-weight is thickness times density. Reinforced concrete is about 25 kN per cubic metre, so a 150 mm slab weighs about 3.75 kN per square metre. Here is how to get it right.
Sam Rivera··4 min
Codes & standards
Typical floor live load values by occupancy
Floor live load depends on use, and codes set minimum values by occupancy. Here is a reference table for offices, homes, retail, storage and more, in kPa and psf.
Sam Rivera··4 min
Load paths
How to do a structural load takedown (step by step)
A load takedown traces gravity loads from the slabs down to the foundation. Here are the five steps, a worked column, and the checks that catch errors.
Elena Marchetti··5 min
Load paths
Foundation reactions from a load takedown
The foundation reactions are where a takedown ends: the load each column and wall delivers to the ground. Here is how to read them and turn them into foundation design loads.
Elena Marchetti··4 min