Too heavy for floor?

[Junk]

No, not bringing Gumby into the shack.

Putting up a bigger aquarium in the family room. It's a 150g that when full, including stand, live rock etc, total will prob weight just over 2k lbs. Approx dimensions are 6' long and 20" deep. It will be against a load bearing wall (outside wall of house). Can't really put any reinforcement columns under the floor, so it's either a go or no go and I'm not interested in destroying the house to make this work.

Do it or don't?

 

[raydouble]

I'm not a structural engineer, that being said do that s***..... and take pictures.

 

[Michael Hanson]

How far from the outside wall to the next set of peers? Is the floor 1andhalf inches thick?Is the floor particle board or plywood? Glu-lams under the floor? Mike

 

[Junk]

House was built in 70's. Joists are 2x6 and 16oc. No piers. Finished basement underneath this room.

 

[Michael Hanson]

How far do the 2x6 free span? How thick is the floor? Mike

 

[Junk]

It's a plywood floor (or it may be hardwood under the carpet - don't really know). Don't know how thick. I'm guessing it's about 24-26' span from front to back of house (just a reg center hall colonial) but in the middle of the basement there are some support columns inside of a wall.

Sounds like you may think I could be pushing it a bit too far?

 

[Junk]

Joists are 2x9 which I never heard of but measured 1-1/2 x 9"

 

[Michael Hanson]

I ask my customers when I build for them about concentrated loads.Books,pianos,pool tables and water beds. I build for those weights. If your floor is not 1and one-half inches thick NO.I also think the 2x6s are prob. maxed out. My 2 cents Mike

 

[Junk]

Thx. Appreciate the feedback.

 

[Michael Hanson]

These are 2x10s in the 70s they were coming up short from the mills.If the floor is one and one half inches thick I would feal alot better if they were on 12 centers.I also dont know how many times the joists have been penetrated with wires etc. or the grade of the joists. Mike

 

[zebrabeefj40]

So, let me see if I got this straight...the tank is 6 feet long and on an outside wall. The floor joists underneath; do they run parallel with the 6' or perpedicular? If perpendicular the 6' tank will be supported by the last 20" of about 6 floor joists next to a foundation wall. That being the case, no problem, go for it and show me the results the next time I'm in Buggerville! (end of March looks like...) If the tank runs parallel to the floor joists with only 2 floor joists holding it up somewhere along the way I think you might have some issues. Angle brackets anchored to the foundation wall underneath or some blocking nailed in between the joists might solve those issues. Either way I'm sure you can make it happen safely.

Nick

 

[Junk]

(end of March looks like...)

What am I supposed to teach you this time?

Joists are perpendicular to the 6'.

 

[zebrabeefj40]

What am I supposed to teach you this time?

...how to be as pleasant and friendly as you are of course!

What kinda fish are goin in the tank? They good eatin'?

 

[Junk]

Salt tank. Don't think you'd want to eat them, but guess you could call them finger food.

 

[Landpimp]

I have over 2000lbs sitting in my safe(including the safe itself), its a much smaller foot print, in and old house and it aint fell thru the floor yet

but I am picking up a MUCH bigger safe.....and I aint so sure I wont have to brace under it

 

[KLF]

As long as the tank is close to the wall, the joists should be OK, as you're not really generating much bending moment (causing deflection), but the load will be mostly in shear. How are the joists attached or supported at the ends at this wall? If they are sitting on a sill, nailed to a joist header, then they should be fine. But, I probably would worry about joist hangers holding that much shear.

 

[agomez]

put it in the basement...

 

[WarDamnEagle]

You're fine with that configuration on an outside wall, perpendicular to the joists. I also had a 150 gal saltwater tank. I built everything myself (tank, filter, etc.). We even had clown fish spawn in the tank twice....never could get a rotifer culture growing in order to feed the fry.

 

[bkfj40]

As long as the tank is close to the wall, the joists should be OK, as you're not really generating much bending moment (causing deflection), but the load will be mostly in shear. How are the joists attached or supported at the ends at this wall? If they are sitting on a sill, nailed to a joist header, then they should be fine. But, I probably would worry about joist hangers holding that much shear.

I'm betting it is platform framed...probably not a single joist hanger used. The typical floor is designed for 40 pounds per square foot live load. 2x10s (keep in mind a 2x10 is 1 1/2" x 9 1/4") spaced at 16" on center being southern yellow pine #2 can span up to 16'-1". Now I don't know if they used SYP up in your redneck of the woods, but that's what I'm using down here and my book was already open.

As mentioned earlier, your tank is close to the wall, so shear is a bigger concern. As far as the load goes, you're looking at about probably 125 psf load. quite a bit higher than 40 psf that the floor would have had to be designed for...but you are also up against the wall.

The thought that scares me is the idea of your fatass looking at the fish. that is gonna be one hell of a point load.


bk

 

[CardinalFJ60]

not an engineer either...

But...we recently put tile on out kitchen floor (~1000lbs). Now...my floor joists are 2x10s but like 24"OC! the contractor ended up "blocking" (I think that's the term) the joists under that area. Meaning they added blocks between the span about every 3' or so and sured up where they attached to the perimeter.