Recent Auction Winnings

"Only"

Anyone know where I can rent a small garage in the DC area ASAP ???

Also looking for a good divorce lawyer -

Rich60, I am sure when you started this thread the majority of us knew that it was tongue in cheek funny. I could not resist adding the pun about reinforcening the floor. But when Cfphoto mentioned the scaffold support sale it just made it that much more hilarious.

And yes, even a small pallet load is funny! Sometimes. I Personally received 16 large cartons delivered through the post office last year.That pretty well is a small pallet, and about 60% weighed 50 lbs each carton.

But seriously as collectors or accumulators, most of us never give a second thought to the weight of all those bookcases, shelving, cartons and albums and pages. They add up to considerably more weight than the usual household furniture and if above grade the weight can be a concern for structural damage or collapse.

Good shelves for holding stamp cartons, albums, supplies, etc., and keeping them off the floor are a wise investment. I've got 8 of these and they're rock solid:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product...e=UTF8&psc=1

Most US building codes specify a minimum residential wood frame live load design requirement of 40 psf. In reality that load requirement actually takes into account a certain amount of point loading. That being said, if the shelving units that Dan shows were fully loaded on four levels with catalog/album/stockbook type material and were considered to be an average of 50 pounds per shelf x 4 shelves (top not used) you would have a load of 200 pounds + the weight of the shelving unit transmitting its dead load through the four casters which are point loads. If we consider the caster contact area to be say 2 square inches you have a dead load per caster of 50 pounds/2 = 25 psi. One sf = 144 sq inches and the code requirement of 40 psf gives you an allowance of .35 psi. Thus Dan's shelving unit exceeds the design limit by 24.65 psi. It is something to pay attention to if using on above grade wood frame construction especially if that construction is older or may have hidden compromises from past construction/alteration activity.

Cheers

My loyal staff at work,
I do give them Sundays off.

I'd say you guys have to get yourselves storage bins!

Jack Kelley

I use the original IKEA Expedit shelving units (the thicker ones - not the newer Kallax). They were originally designed to hold records so they hold a lot of weight and fit albums perfectly. They also load-distribute weight on the floor quite well. On top of that, I think they look quite beautiful and there are different styles so you can create a custom stamp room.

My stamproom is on a slab without a basement beneath. I've never actually tested it, but I dream of floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall, cartons of albums. The Earth might wobble a bit on its axis, though, but the floor would (I think) hold! Although I expect (well... I hope, anyway) a couple more decades before it's an issue, I feel sorry for my heirs that will have to clear out my place!

"I feel sorry for my heirs that will have to clear out my place!"

I will take care of it.

Hahaha! Bring the Doan's pills.

I said that ("I feel sorry for my heirs...") because none of them could care any less about my stamp collection. They all just have different interests. For those collectors out there with relatives that share their interest have a great advantage. So much of a hoard can be broken down into 2 piles: crapola, and The Good Stuff. How nice for the family that has a knowledgable surviving collector that can be trusted to go through the hoard and cull out the stuff that has little monetary value. The rest of us should have very clearly written instructions, understandable to a complete novice. After all, we know more about what we have than anyone else.

ETA: On topic - with respect to the original post, the lucky buyer should indicate (just in case) which carton is worth something and indicate which 24 cartons can be given away because no dealer will pay for 24 cartons of 25c SCV stamps. The heirs would probably be better off just taking a tax write-off on most of the stuff, and a sense of 'giving back' to some deserving group. Hopefully, they can get a sense of Uncle-Mootermutt-Left-Us-A-Windfall with the lone carton of goodies.

Mooter - Amen to leaving clear instructions. And an inventory for any special stuff would be icing on the cake.