Need help resolving an old obsession of mine...

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So there is this obsession of mine that kind of tapered off but is kind of still there.

So if you take a house or any building, most people would only worry about structural damage only if there was an earthquake or certain termites chewed up the wood or a fire in the house, etc...

I can't understand why people don't worry when one drops a really heavy object on the floor that makes a loud "thump" noise and you feel the groud shake.

Why is it that ordinary people don't even think of "hmm, should we inspect the floor for structural damage?"

I honestly sometimes feel guilty if I dropped something heavy on the floor and I fear for my own safety and the safety of anyone living in the house.

So I don't get it, how heavy of an object and how high off the ground it falls from should we start to question doing structural damage to the floor? I mean, some things in the house are really heavy.

So no one can explain why we shouldn't care about structural damage to the floor?

I don't know if it is common or easy to have that checked. I don't think there have been that many cases of people suddenly falling through the floor to their demise without a larger reason, such as a natural disaster. I think you would have some warning too- like water damage, which is visible, and you will feel the boards getting weaker when you walk across.

DO you find yourself rearranging things in your house to keep the weight distributed? How often does this bother you?

No, I don't rearrange things, and I would keep it evenly distributed for the sake of convenience.

I guess the answer to my problem is that a house is designed so that the floor is sturdy enough for anything to happen? I mean, the ceiling is only 8 feet high so you wouldn't get too much speed when the object collides with the floor.

Besides, it is highly unlikely that you would lift a grand piano over your head and any heavy furniture you carry will go up to your waist max.

Omg, look at me obsessing right there, trying to analyse scientifically why the floor wouldn't suddenly collapse.

I remember once, my dad was holding a flashlight while standing on a stool or bed and he accidently dropped the flashlight making a really loud thump. The first thing my mom said was "OMG, the flashlight is broken" and I found it weird that she didn't even think for one second about the floor.

The flashlight was one of the largest ones I've ever seen, not the small ones.

I think we get used to large thumps so we don't think about checking for damage. If there is no obvious sign of it, why bother? An earthquake is more out of the ordinary, at least for my area, so we might be more inclined to think. Here we get sonic booms from military airplanes that are repaired nearby. We don't check for damage from those. We assume the house is built to withstand that stuff. If the floor started sagging etc, it'd be another matter.

If I lived where there were lots of little earthquakes I'd probably not think about checking after each one, just the big ones.

Kiley

I used to live in a house that creaked like a boat on the ocean. It was really creepy and I always half expected the house to fall down. It does happen occasionally.

Well I've been in the occasional embarrassing situation where I've wished the floor had opened up.