Make me feel better

[sslarison]

I live in Southern CA in a house that was built in 1960. The house is not flat on cement, it has a small 2-3' crawl space under it. (I dont know what the technical term for this is but its very common) All of my friends houses are the same. I currently have a 50 gal running and will soon be upgrading to a 100. Is there any risk that the tank could wiegh too much and possibly fall through? It will be up next to a wall and I've heard that will help. My Dad came over and said it should be ok due to the wait being distributed over 6'. (But he wasnt sure) Can you help? :idea:

Thanks, Scott

 

[Anonymous]

Having lived in many similar homes in pretty much the same area, the only time I ever worried about it was if the tank was in an upstairs unit/room. If you're really worried about it you might consider figuring out a way to displace the weight over a greater area. <shrug>

 

[sslarison]

So you had a similar situation and had no problems? How big was your tank? I'm thinking that it should'nt be a problem but I'm no structural engineer.

 

[Len]

You should be fine, but what I did with my tank was to have someone go into the crawl space and build extra supports directly below the tank. FWIW, my house was built around the same time and it supported a 80 gallons with no problem.

 

[Anonymous]

There are a few homes here and there in Michigan like that.. - I'd try to get a licensed contractor to come out and take a look and get an idea from there. Just don't expect him to sign on anything other than a check from you though.. :wink:

If you want to give some more details though (if you can) I'd be willing to give my two cents but like I was hinting above with the contractors, I wouldn't necessarily be giving you my blessing by doing so. (AKA: "I won't be held liable by this, but...")

Is the wall you're planning on putting it next to a load-bearing wall?

How do the nearby posts look? - What about the joists? - Floorboards? - All in solid-looking shape with no noticeable sag or rot or anything else?

What about the sizes of everything? - How big are the posts, what size / type of joists are they?

If you were to put the tank in place as you're planning would it run parallel or perpendicular to the floor joists?

If its perpendicular, how many joists would it span?
If its parallel, is it near a post or an outside wall at all? (How far?)

Theres lots to look at but its pretty quick and easy if you're familiar with construction. - Offer a contractor a quick $50 to take a look without signing off on anything and you'll probably get an honest, unbiased opinion.

I don't know if they'll do it, but you might want to check your local housing/zoning department and ask them for some names of local remodelling contractors if you don't know of some already. Hopefully they'll give you a list of the more quality contractors but I don't know if theres any legal issues that would prevent them from giving you anything like that..

Good luck.. - Take your time..

 

[SnowManSnow]

I'm with Len.. you can put extra support down there with not much trouble... They even make jacks for sagging floors that you COULD go ahead and put in place just in case somthing sags.. I think you'll be ok if your build on either 12 inch or 16 inch centers... not sure what the code is in CA when the house was built.

 

[Anonymous]

You might want to check to insure you are distributing the weight over several floor joists. (the joists are perpendicular to the 6' length of the tank. But being as you next to the wall/foundation you should be ok.

Bob

 

[sslarison]

I dont really know what a load bearing wall is but Its a wall in my front room that my heater is on. I will look to see whick direction the joists go.

How do I add more support?

 

[Anonymous]

A load-bearing wall would be a wall that carries the weight of the roof straight on through to the ground.

If you can see beams/posts/jacks down in the crawl space that line straight up with the wall then its probably a load-bearing wall. - Having your tank next to one of these and setup so that its perpendicular to the joists will give you the best margin of safety. - (Well, adding more support would give you the BEST, but you know what I mean..)

Adding extra support amounts to bracing your joists with beams and posts (or floor jacks more likely..)

Basically, take a 4x4 post (or sandwich together a pair of 2x4s) and place it under the joists where your tank will span. - Then take a floor jack (or two) and run it up under the beam and tighten her down (crank 'em up actually..) - Just don't get carried away with it and push the jack up too high or you'll push the floor UP instead of just holding her level.

 

[Anonymous]

You might want to check to insure you are distributing the weight over several floor joists. (the joists are perpendicular to the 6' length of the tank. But being as you next to the wall/foundation you should be ok.

Bob

Absolutely agreed, perpendicular will be better than parallel.

I dont really know what a load bearing wall is but Its a wall in my front room that my heater is on. I will look to see whick direction the joists go.

How do I add more support?

A load-bearing wall is just what it sounds like - it bears the load of the roof and upper floors (if there are any). What might be easier, but will likely be more expensive, is to get a home inspector out there just to check. My sister is a home inspector up in the San Francisco area, and they will check for wood rot and such that would be your biggest problem. Adding more support can be done in many ways, depending on what's under the joists. You can't just wedge some 4x's directly on the ground, for instance, but if there's slab you might be able to get away with it (assuming it's of the correct thickness).

I went with an 80gal on a 2nd floor apartment no problem, and 180 in a single story (typical-typical Cali home). These weren't my tanks, but belonged to customers of mine.

 

[myreeef]

Hey Scott,

Under my house is a fine sand, so I bought six 12 inch cement pilons and two 4x4 by 8 foot long redwood heart beams to support my 450gal 8 foot long tank. My crawl space is about 12 inches... I don't know why they call it a crawl space cauze I had to slink and squerm under there on one of the hotest days of last summer.

I thought I would die, but there is no way my floor would have supported the tank. This may be overkill for your tank, but it should help to stop any bounce to the tank when people walk by it.

 

[sslarison]

Yeah. Currently my 50 gal is very stable but when you stand next to it and bouce a little you see the tank bounce too. I sure this is pretty common though.