Favorite Fabrics

Well... funny you should ask...

Some 20 years ago I had my stash in a back bedroom in the apartment I rented. It was an old house - 1930's vintage - upper & lower flats. Plaster walls (not insulated), plaster ceilings. I and my stash were upstairs.

The ceiling of the bedroom directly below my sewing room developed some cracks, and the landlord tried to blame it on my stash.

Hmmm... I only had 100 half-bolts at the time, so...

Weighing it all out, and figuring that the furniture (shelves + sewing machine) that I had weighed about as much as a typical set of bedroom furniture, to say that the stash was the cause of the cracks would have been the same as saying that if four average-sized people were in that room, it would have been sufficient to cause the problem.

'Course... it's not likely that four persons would have STAYED in the back bedroom round-the-clock...

Oh, let's not even GO there!

cjomomma

I couldn't imagine something like that happening. Must have been an old house with weak floors. Plus it would have had to been a crazy amount of fabric.

Melinda in Tulsa

Not something I have to worry about! I only have 3 small shelves on one side of the closet with fabric. My stash is not very big.

quiltlady37

I don't have a huge stash, but my quilting room is quite small so I have my stash...stashed in different areas of the upstairs. I don't think I have a problem, but I am hoping to get a lot of sewing done this winter.

charmpacksplus

Oh no!!! Mine would probably cave in too. But I have a single-story home and fabric in just about every room. Maybe that's why I keep finding new cracks in my concrete floor. :(

akrogirl

I have a single-story, ranch-style home with no basement, so I think I am probably pretty safe. Perhaps it is just as well I don't have a second floor, lol.

Lori S

I have a close friend who is a Structural Engineer. He pointed out to me that residental housing is not build to support the kind of weight, that a sizable amount of fabric can weigh. It is the weight that is not spread over the entire floor to dispurse the load that is the biggest concern. Shelving loads with fabric will create loads at a very specific point. For example if you have a shelf with four posts the weight is on the exact point where each of the four posts rests. To make matters worse I had it all on one wall ( really not a good thing to do). It was the furthest thing from my mind about the weight of fabric ( and it is heavy if you add it up).
Anyway... I moved all of my fabric and extensive amount of books to the basement and bought a de-humidifier. Now I can continue to "build" with out worry.

leiladylei54

Am I ever glad I decided to store my stash out in the storage shed!!! LOL

quiltilicious

I don't think so, but my books caused my main joist to bow at my old house - so much so that our kitchen contractor told us to put an extra house jack in.

If my books and piano aren't going to make this house crumble, my fabric surely won't either.

This place was built in 1915 with dimensional lumber which is at least 1 inch bigger than current code.

kriscraft99

Mine too ~ thank goodness or it really could be an issue