How to find out if a floor will hold my tank

[jason the filter freak]

Your county permitting office will have copies of the plans submitted for permits, which will show the orientation of the framing members and the loading criteria used.

 

'Ric

 

(Registered Archischmuck)

 

Woah ric' you're my hero, ,

[dandy7200]

Plans schmans. Townhouse built in the last 50 years......I'll wager $20 the joist run parallel to the rafters.

[YBeNormal]

Per board foot, long boards cost more than shorter ones. Most houses are wider than they are deep so builders will usually run the floor joists front to back to save money.

[dandy7200]

Most houses are wider than they are deep

 

Houses yes, townhouses no.

[YBeNormal]

 

Houses yes, townhouses no.

 

He did say townhouse, didn't he...

[jason the filter freak]

This is the most help I think I've ever recieved on WAMAS yet, and I will be calling my county permitting office tomorrow to get good news i hope. Otherwise I might just have a 75 RR up for sale. THANK YOU ALL SOO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP!

[rsarvis]

You're smart to do your research now; I should've done that before I set up my tank.

180g, 40g sump, that's a lot of weight. It's up against a side wall of townhouse. There's a slight lean forward, which has me thinkin' "was it like that when i started?" but I don't know...

[Rascal]

You're smart to do your research now; I should've done that before I set up my tank.

180g, 40g sump, that's a lot of weight. It's up against a side wall of townhouse. There's a slight lean forward, which has me thinkin' "was it like that when i started?" but I don't know...

 

I used to have a corner tank with a slight lean forward. Used to drive me nuts, sitting here at work worrying that it was going to topple over and crush one of my kids.

 

Maybe you should take a couple of measurements to serve as a baseline. If you can get an exact measurement of the distance from the top edge of the tank to the wall, you may be able to put your mind at ease six months from now when you're thinkin' "was it leaning that much back in May?" You could also take measurements of the distance from the water to the top of the tank at all four corners.

 

Jason, this might be a good idea for you too, so you will have an answer six months from now when your parents nag you about whether the floor is really holding the weight OK.

Edited May 11, 2007 by Rascal

[Jimmy]

your insurance company might have an add-on policy specifically for fish tanks. My brother-in-law's 125g tank leaked and caused $10,000 worth of damage. Luckily my sister had just bought a $20 fish tank policy and all but a deductible was covered.

['Ric]

Plans schmans. Townhouse built in the last 50 years......I'll wager $20 the joist run parallel to the rafters.

 

Good point! That's most likely the case as well. If you don't have a stud finder, and can't get into the attic/attic has a floor, another option is to try to find the screws securing the subfloor or gypsum ceiling boards with a magnet. They will be in somewhat of a grid pattern, but in one direction they will be uniformly about 16" apart. Most joists back when your place was built would be 2x's placed 16" on center. If they used I-joists or the span was much shorter thy could do 24" on center, but was not as common.