In the wake of two incidents last weekend involving sinking floors at student homes, the University of Dayton threatened to hold students liable for structural or floor damage caused by overcrowding during large gatherings or house parties.

School officials said they will issue housing occupancy limits this week and students must comply with the safety measures or risk facing financial consequences if problems occur.

But some students said they doubt the university’s actions will change the social behaviors of many fun-seekers.

“I think there will have to be some pretty harsh punishments in order for students to start doing that,” said Kevin Kluesener, 19, a sophomore. “At Dayton, it’s pretty popular to have big house parties, and I don’t think a lot of students will want to go away from that.”

On Friday night, floors at homes on Lawnview Avenue and Frericks Way sank as a result of overcrowding, school officials said. The floors “shifted a few inches” during the gatherings of between 35 and 50 people, the school said.

The floor sank at Frericks Way after six floor joists broke or split, said Dayton Assistant Fire Chief Paul Sheehan. He said it did not completely collapse, and no one was harmed during the incident.

“I am sure it gave everyone in the room a start, but it sounds like the joists were cracked and split,” Sheehan said.

Sheehan said floor collapses are not very common, but the likelihood they will occur increases when homes designed to accommodate one or two families have dozens of visitors.

“I wouldn’t call it a rampant problem, but if you overtax the structure, you can expect that,” he said.

Overtaxed structures have been a problem in the past.

In November 2010, the floor of a university-owned residence at 223 K St. collapsed during a packed party after students were jumping in unison to music. The house was built in 1913, according to the Montgomery County Auditor’s website.

Nicole Will, 23, a first-year graduate student at UD, said she was at that party, and she remembers seeing it “clearly get out of hand.”

“I walked outside the house, but then we heard a whoosh sound, and we could see through the windows that people’s heads were sunk down,” she said. “I am not completely surprised it happened, but it was still kind of a shock.”

Will said she wishes students would be more responsible and use better judgment when hosting visitors.

“There is no reason you need 50 people in your house,” she said. “These houses are not built for parties, they were built initially for an average-sized family.”

Will said unfortunately some students will choose to ignore occupancy limits from the school.

Some UD students said they understood the reasons for setting new occupancy rules, but they doubted most students would follow them.

They said no one was injured when any of the floors sank, and students are not afraid of the same thing happening to them.

“I think people will do something about the houses where the collapses actually happened, but I think other people will say, ‘That won’t happen to me, it was just a one-time thing,’” Kluesener said.

Overcrowding is not the only threat to the integrity of UD-owned student housing.

On Tuesday evening, fire crews responded to reports of a floor sinking in at 218 Kiefaber St., where six students live.

The crews found a soft spot in the floor, caused by uneven floor joists from a previous repair, fire officials said. The two-story building was built in 1901, according to auditor’s records. UD determined the students could remain in the home because there were no safety concerns.

Margaret Barrett, 22, a senior at UD who lives at the residence, said she noticed that the floor began drooping a few weeks ago, and there were no recent events that would have caused it.

“We didn’t have a huge party, just over time it slowly started to cave in near the vent,” she said.