What does a house weigh? Some mental heavy lifting

Ask the Expert / Darrell Hay


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Q: How much does the average house weigh?

A: First, we need to define "average," then we need to define "house." But, in general, the average house today is about twice as big as the average house 50 years or more ago. But an older house (depending on exact age) will have solid lumber wall sheathing and floorboards instead of plywood, will have heavy lath and plaster walls instead of drywall and likely will have more masonry work.

So when we say "house," does that include the extremely heavy concrete foundation, concrete garage or basement floor? With all those variables, how could we possibly figure out how much a house weighs? There are three methods:

• Totaling the weight of the individual components.

• Pulling out a scale and actually weighing the finished product. (That would be one awfully big scale, but house movers tell me that most houses weigh in at between 80,000 and 160,000 pounds. Of course, this is sans foundation and concrete floor slabs, and house movers typically are dealing with older, smaller structures that have been stripped of many components (but not always).

• Rules of thumb around the construction industry are 200 pounds per square foot for a single-level home, 275 for two levels and 350 for three levels. This figure is predicated on no heavy features such as tile roofing or extensive masonry work, but includes foundation.

To check it out, I built a hypothetical 1,600-foot, single-level home in my head and on paper, based on known delivered weights of given materials. It totaled 345,000 pounds (including 160,000 for the foundation and 30,000 in the garage floor), compared to the rule-of-thumb house weighing in at 320,000. Pretty close! Of course, what good is a house without a deck? In my hypothetical house, I added a deck, a gazebo and a hot tub, which pretty much explains the difference. Adding in the weight of a foundation, slabs, appliances and fixtures to the house-mover's figures, we cross-check pretty well.

Refiguring for the "average" 2,200-square-foot, two-level newer home, rule of thumb comes it at 605,000, which I suspect is on the high side. Why do I think that's high? Because the foundation hasn't increased dramatically in size over my hypothetical single-level house. But then again, I don't have a scale that big, so what do I know?