Decking/Dust Covers
Decking/Dust Covers
(OP)
I am a recent grad working for a industrial/commercial design firm and I have a client who has requested our services to design several building components, one which is a deck/dust cover. The owner has yet to decide whether they want the interior walls to support decking for storage or just place a dust cover. I have experience doing storage mezzanines but dust covers are new to me. I was wondering if anyone has had some experience and could explain what these are or show me a detail of what they look like. Thank you in advance for you help.
Adam
Adam






RE: Decking/Dust Covers
My Grandma used to have about 1/4" think hard plastic covers on her couch and chairs. If you slouched at all, you slid right off the chair. Is that what they mean? That is a stupid enough and ill defined enough requirement, that you shouldn’t feel dumb for asking them what they really have in mind, when they say ‘dust cover.’
RE: Decking/Dust Covers
Maine EIT, Civil/Structural.
RE: Decking/Dust Covers
RE: Decking/Dust Covers
So true. For industrial columns and beams we always have an extra load due to the fact that people always load up your structure in ways you never considered. If you put something up in an industrial setting they'll find a way to abuse it.
Maine EIT, Civil/Structural.
RE: Decking/Dust Covers
RE: Decking/Dust Covers
Indoors? Ohio? (Snowbelt, nasty winters, nasty summers, rain and humidity, right?)
Industrial facility, but with office spaces inside?
So, when (not "if" but "when") an office worker starts storing "just papers" on top of the (conveniently inside, conveniently covered) boxes of papers (each 50 lbs, each stacked on storage racks carrying 12 or 15 boxes hitting the "dust cover" at only 4x legs per rack) just what final load do you expect will happen?
Even if a warning sign is painted on the "roof" of the cover, do you think people will leave a nice, flat, heated, covered inside space un-filled?
RE: Decking/Dust Covers
RE: Decking/Dust Covers
For sure it will be stacked to the roof with crap. I refused to design an interior space for less than storage load when I worked down in New Zealand. The job of doing the interior layout was left to another engineer. I've never heard how it went during the recent series of EQs, but I *know* that the structure would have collapsed if they stored stuff on it. Makes me want to go door knocking the next time I'm down NZ way, but I suppose that isn't very professional of me. *smirk*
RE: Decking/Dust Covers
I had the wonderful experience of checking what was once a shop tool crib recycled as a mezzanine inside of a warehouse. The intent was to use it for file storage. The warehouse manager thought nothing of it until an anonymous phone call (from one of the warehouse employees) was made to the local building official. Upon his visit, the 'plan' was quickly condemned - I can't imagine why.
The remedial work needed to strengthen it to a 250 psf storage load was far beyond any savings realized by recycling the crib. In addition, the original crib was too wide to fit a flatbed trailer so it was cut into 3 pieces and welded back together once moved to its new location.
I agree with everyone else who says design it for storage load appropriate for what can fit. I went with a 5 ft depth of paper which is substantially heavier than anyone in management would have expected. This same warehouse manager also saw no problem with storing bagged cement product on a rack whose main beams had a span of about a 10 ft - when placing a pallet of product on the rack it collapsed and pinned the forklift. Luckily no one was hurt.
Ralph
Structures Consulting
Northeast USA