r/HomeMaintenance•
werubim

Can vibrations caused by the use of exercise machines cause damage to a house?

I live in a lower duplex with a concrete foundation and brick walls. The duplex is connected to neighboring duplexes on both sides.

I sometimes use an elliptical machine to exercise on the main (ground) floor. When I am exercising vigorously, I can tell that vibrations are being transferred through the floor to other objects, since a nearby lamp-stand shakes just a bit.

Is it possible that I am damaging the property when exercising like this? The vibrations are "subtle" i.e. I cannot hear them, and although I do see them, they are quite small: the lamp-stand shakes, but at a very low "intensity", so to speak.

Also, I'm wondering if a mitigating factor here is my use of an elliptical machine instead of a treadmill. The elliptical machine I'm using creates frictionless resistance using magnets which greatly reduces the impact my strides create against the machine and the floor itself, as opposed to a treadmill which would fully absorb the weight of my strides.

Any info would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Posted Jul 16, 2017, 9:33 PM UTC

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