Floor Loading Calculator

Floor tile ratings are typically expressed as a distributed PSF figure, but a rack cabinet doesn't actually spread its weight evenly across its footprint — it rests on a small number of leveling feet or casters (supportPoints, typically 4). distributedLoadPsf divides total rack weight by footprint area, while pointLoadPerSupport divides the same total weight by the number of support points, so a rack can pass the distributed check while still concentrating dangerous load on individual tile locations under its feet.

maxEquipWeightLbs works backward from the floor rating: it multiplies floorRatingLbsSqft by the rack's footprint area (from rackWidthIn × rackDepthIn) to get the total weight the floor can support under that footprint, then subtracts the empty rack cabinet weight (rackWeightLbs) to isolate how much equipment weight remains before the floor rating is breached.

The calculator assumes a standard hot/cold aisle layout with a 4 ft cold aisle and a 3 ft hot aisle shared between adjacent rack rows, so each individual rack is allocated half of each — 2 ft plus 1.5 ft, totaling 3.5 ft — added to its own depth before multiplying by rack width and rack count. This gives a floor-area estimate that accounts for walkway and airflow clearance, not just the bare rack footprints.

Yes — the two checks aren't automatically consistent with each other. The explainer notes that point load is an approximation of concentrated load at each support foot, but real floor panels and pedestals have their own rated concentrated-load limits set by the manufacturer, separate from the distributed PSF rating. A rack showing isWithinRating = 1 for distributed load can still exceed a specific tile's point-load capacity, so unusually heavy racks should be checked against the actual tile and pedestal spec sheet.