Tall Tale?

It’s no secret that parents tell their children tall tales on occasion to modify their behaviors. And I think it’s funny to see when an adult still believes something they were told when it’s obviously grade A baloney!

My FH seems absolutely convinced that an adult can ruin a house’s foundation or floor joists by doing jumping jacks in the living room… I keep telling him he’s crazy and I’m not going to “break” the @#$% house just by doing jumping jacks. I think this sounds like something his old man might have told him when he was little to get him to sit still and be quiet. But he’s adamant that this is no tall tale.

What are your guys’ thoughts? Any validity to this seemingly outrageous claim?

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It’s no secret that parents tell their children tall tales on occasion to modify their behaviors. And I think it’s funny to see when an adult still believes something they were told when it’s obviously grade A baloney!

My FH seems absolutely convinced that an adult can ruin a house’s foundation or floor joists by doing jumping jacks in the living room… I keep telling him he’s crazy and I’m not going to “break” the @#$% house just by doing jumping jacks. I think this sounds like something his old man might have told him when he was little to get him to sit still and be quiet. But he’s adamant that this is no tall tale.

What are your guys’ thoughts? Any validity to this seemingly outrageous claim?

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I think we would need video footage of said activity to properly assess the risk factor to your home.

yep i agree with huntindave!!!!!!!!

Ah, I steer clear of advice on physical activity behind closed doors in one’s own abode.

I bet my fat a*# doing jumping jacks could pull a few nails out. That’s why I don’t do them.

I did a workout program last winter for several weeks and here and there since then which involves all kinds of jumping moves and the hardwood floors are noticeably noisier in that are of our house. I don’t think it would cause a house to implode though if that’s the question, but damage, I would say yes there is some minor.

Bad News:
There was a true story about one Minnesota high school hockey player who after many years of shooting pucks at his father’s garage had knocked it off it’s foundation.
Good News:
He made it to the NHL

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I think this sounds like something his old man might have told him when he was little to get him to sit still and be quiet. But he’s adamant that this is no tall tale.

What are your guys’ thoughts? Any validity to this seemingly outrageous claim?

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It’s more of case of what kind of structure the builder put together. If he did nothing more than “code compliant” for engineering the floor load and deflection rate, get the mudder on stand-by because YES, you can/will have drywall cracks. Under a 40# live load, you can have 1/2″ deflection and still be within the UDC ( Uniform Dwelling Code). So, under a 40# /sqft live load, if the center of the floor dips down a 1/2″, think about what happens on the other end of the lever (floor joist)….up-lift.
I did a quick calc and if I did this correctly in my head a 200# person jumping 1′ into the air would land with about 836# of force. (seems light ) – depending on how far apart their feet are when they land would determine the weight distribution and/or how many joists their load is carried on. But given the weight distributes to 4sqft, that is still almost 210 #/sqft Is it possible? Yes Likely hood of seeing any immediate damage….very minimal. How about using the basement slab?

Ya, what Randy said.

Go do jumping jacks outside. It will give the neighbors something to talk about.

On a side note………….why would you even question the FH???

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why would you even question the FH???

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Glad I didn’t say that out loud.

My motto is ” If you are in good enough shape to run 3 miles a day—You are in good enough shape not to.” That’s my 2 cents.

Thats the most thorough answer to the most random question I’ve EVER read in my life!!!

I would like to know how the heck he is still alive after telling his wife she will collapse the house doing jumping jacks? Seems that would be on the top 10 things to never say to your wife.

I don’t get it

I would think he’d be happy that his FW is excercising

Wow, you guys are the best! I love all of these answers! I unfortunately don’t have any video footage to share.

Thank you Nick and Randy!! I think your answers are what my FH was trying to tell me, but I guess I was having difficulties understanding the logic when he said it. He mentioned something about squeaky floors and the floor joists flexing – I think I need to listen better.

Kevin, I agree! Don’t worry I scolded and cursed at him when the issue came up. He clarified though that the concern had nothing to do with my weight, but just the fact that I’m not an 80 lb kid. I guess my intense aerobic sessions will be moved to the basement, and this is actually the perfect segue into the question, “So when are we going to finish the basement so I can do jumping jacks down there?”!

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this is actually the perfect segue into the question, “So when are we going to finish the basement so I can do jumping jacks down there?”!

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I know a really good contractor to use

Make sure you put a BIG SCREEN TV down there that way you can both use the basement.

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this is actually the perfect segue into the question, “So when are we going to finish the basement so I can do jumping jacks down there?”!

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I know a really good contractor to use

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Sounds like the FH has some work to do

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this is actually the perfect segue into the question, “So when are we going to finish the basement so I can do jumping jacks down there?”!

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and