I thought Cecil answered this once, but I couldn’t find it via the search engine…
Landlords often prohibit the use of waterbeds in their apartments saying that the weight could cause the floor to collapse, especially on a 2nd or higher floor.
My waterbed salesman (excuse me, I mean "sleep flotation system salesperson) tells me that a waterbed weighs about as much as a dining room table full of food with 8 guests around it, and if the floor joints can’t handle that, then the apartment isn’t safe to live in!
As for leaks, I’ve had 3 waterbeds before, and even when they leaked, they only leaked a little bit of water which gathered in the liner and then I drained it and patched it and all was well. Do waterbeds ever leak enough to do damage to the apartment?
If the answer is that no, as I suspect it is, that waterbeds aren’t going to damage the apartment via leaks or weight problems, then why is it that so many landlords don’t allow waterbeds? And is it legal for them not to allow waterbeds? Why hasn’t the waterbed industry filed suit against landlords for slander against their products? Is there some sort of anti-waterbed conspiracy between landlords and inner-spring mattress manufacturers?
I dunno about the safety of waterbeds, but as far as the landlords go, it’s there house, and with few exceptions they can make pretty much any rule they want, justified or not.
Their concern is leaks and water damage. Suppose your bed sprung a leak while you were gone for a week ling vacation, that might cause a problem if you didn’t have a liner.
I had a waterbed back when I used to rent. I bought waterbed insurance for something like $10 a year. My landlords were satisfied with that because it would pay for any damage. This was almost ten years ago so I don’t remember where I got the insurance.
OK, so waterbeds COULD potentially cause water damage (thought I think it’s about the same chance of being hit by lightning!). But what about the weight issue? Is it true that they are too heavy for an upstairs apartment, or is that a myth?
There used to be commercials on TV showing a waterbed being fully supported by a bunch of styrofoam cups. The bed of nails principle, I suppose.
First search result on Google for ‘weight waterbed’: http://www.righteous.co.uk/water.html
“The weight of a Waterbed can vary from 200 lbs to 1800 lbs (90kgs - 800kgs).”
“We know of no instance of a Waterbed falling through a floor. The weight of a Waterbed is well distributed and the pressure on the floor is less than that of a refrigerator or a person in a bath of water. The Waterbed rests on a purpose-built plinth that spreads the weight over several floor joists.”
That doesn’t comfort me a whole lot, since bathubs are usually in the floor plan when a house is built, so their weight can be taken into account.
If that table and eight people take up the same amount of space as the 1800 lb waterbed, then the average pressure on the floor would be the same if the table and food weighed the same as two people and they all wighed 200 pounds. I doubt the average waterbed wieghs 1800 lbs, though.
Thank you. I think this convinces me that waterbeds really aren’t much risk to the apartment in terms of weight or leaking… I think today’s waterbeds - or “flotation systems” as they prefer to be called (they ARE much more high-tech than the old bag filled with water concept of the '60s) have much less water in them than the old ones. I would guess that if a waterbag were to weigh 1800lb, these new ones for the most part only contain about 800lb…
The other reason (related to the weight of the waterbed) that I’ve heard: they (the landlords) are concerned that the weight of the bed will crush the carpet underneath and ruin it. (My take: ??? Then shouldn’t they be concerned about heavy wood furnature, etc., also?)
And, the reasoning given by the rental management firm that’s taking care of my Parent’s rented-out house: the potential for water damage. (Which to me, doesn’t make much sense: a busted waterheater, toilet, etc. could cause more damage, since it’s connected to a water pipe that could keep feeding more water into the situation. With a waterbed, you will have at most the amount of water that was in the bed on the floor.)
