Simple Question About Large Aquariums On Second Floor

[Jon M]

Can't be worse than what you already have there.

Weight is the same but distributed over a larger surface area (less pressure or force on a given area).

That's exactly what I was thinking. Well I just measured from the corner to the couch and I can have a 6' tank either way from the corner so I guess if I end up doing this trade with this guy I'll pull some carpet up and find the way the boards run. Then I'll put the tank the appropriate direction. If no trade, guess I'll just sell the tank and wait for my move to start over fresh.

 

[Glabe]

As much as love pulling up the carpet, I'll go ahead and do this and see if I can make out what I'm looking at. I don't understand the difference if it's against a wall. Either way it's running with the support beams, or against. Either way it has the support of them, right?...

lol, maybe you could try a good stud finder first.

 

[Glabe]

Being an outside wall doesn't help as half of the walls will run parallel and half will run perpendicular with the floor joists.

being an outside wall does help a little because you know there's a wall underneath it to help support the weight. i'd be too scared to put thousands of pounds by an inside wall if i wasn't sure there was a wall beneath it to help support it

 

[Glabe]

in other news, the find function shows that the word "wall" has been said 16 times so far in this thread. this makes 17

 

[skjl47]

Hello; (OLD RECYCLEDPOST) Here are some web addresses about floorcapacity. The first address is a new one from a post by another Monster Fishforum member a while back. Here are the addresses again with the first beingnew to the list. Floor capacity depends on a lot of criteria, there is not asimple answer to the question.

This web address is added to the list http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/aquarium_weight.php It is perhaps the easiest to follow. Note– After reading the new address at the top of the post, I will be using 40pounds per square foot for my wood floor joists.



http://www.ehow.com/how_7485788_calculate-floor-load-capacity.html

The web address above is a site about calculating loadcapacities of floor joists. They use a formula for the strength of a beam: maximum load in pounds = FBd^2 / 9L.

The width of the woodjoist in inches is B (1.5 inches forstandard 2 by dimensional lumber.)

The depth in inches is d (7.25 in for a standard 2x8.)(9.25 in for a2x10)

The distance (span) in feet is L (Unsupported distance)

F is somethingcalled the fiber stress when wood bends. It varies with the type of wood butgraded lumber will be at least a 1,000 number, some are higher.

They use an example of 2x10 floor joists with a span of 14feet on 16 inch centers and come up with 1,019 pd for each joist. They figure the area supported by each joistas 18.7 sq ft. They get 54.5 pd per square foot of floor area. I think this includes the weight of theflooring and anything else that is supported by the joists. I looked at someother sites (Addresses listed below) and found a discussion of static loads andlive loads. Two sites describe how to measure the deflection of flooring due toweight loads.



http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/deflecto.pl



http://www.awc.org/calculators/span/calc/timbercalcstyle.asp?species=Douglas+Fir-South&size=2x8&grade=Select+Structural&member=Floor+Joists&deflectionlimit=L%2F480&spacing=16&wet=No&incised=No&liveload=80&snowload=-1&deadload=10&submit=Calculate+Maximum+Horizontal+Span

I found these sites interesting but hard to pin down for ageneral rule of thumb. Too many variables involved; Type of wood, condition ofwood, dimensional lumber or engineered truss, age of wood and on and on.

http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=62845&page=10

 

[Jon M]

Wall. 18.

I don't own a stud finder nor am I familiar with how they work. If I can find a cheap one I'll consider it but if not I'll just pull up some carpet. Remarkably with how ghetto and crappy our apartments are the carpet is down REALLY good, lol.

Thanks for the information skjl47 I'll read up on it once I get a spare moment. http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/member.php?90622-skjl47

 

[skjl47]

Wall. 18.

I don't own a stud finder nor am I familiar with how they work. If I can find a cheap one I'll consider it but if not I'll just pull up some carpet. Remarkably with how ghetto and crappy our apartments are the carpet is down REALLY good, lol.

Thanks for the information skjl47 I'll read up on it once I get a spare moment. http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/member.php?90622-skjl47

Hello; Wall to wall carpet is often stretched tight on tack strips along the edge of the walls. It will have to be re-stretched to put it back properly if you pull up a section. This will require a knee kicker or carpet stretcher and some knowledge of how to do this. Some carpet types are glued down. Just a thought that may add some extra complications. Good luck.

 

[Jon M]

Hello; Wall to wall carpet is often stretched tight on tack strips along the edge of the walls. It will have to be re-stretched to put it back properly if you pull up a section. This will require a knee kicker or carpet stretcher and some knowledge of how to do this. Some carpet types are glued down. Just a thought that may add some extra complications. Good luck.

Thanks for the tips. This aint my first rodeo pulling up carpet.

Okay, here's the results guys. It appears to be concrete? At least it looks that way. There is a soft foam material under the carpet and then what looks like a solid slab of concrete. Although when I knock on it it does sound hollow. Should it sound hollow?... Here's a picture.



On a side note the guy I'm trading tanks with on Saturday said he remembers doing some work on these apartments back in the day since he's lived locally for over 25 years and said he believes these floors are "split concrete slabs" whatever that means.

 

[Jon M]

Any feedback on what it looks like is going on under the floor? I'm anxious to see feedback on this. Does this look like cement to anyone else? What else could it be besides concrete? I see no nail patterns in it.

 

[blue phantom]

If your building rectangular rather than square the joist's will run parallel with the two shortest of the four outside walls, ALWAY'S. this is to keep the span between bearing point's to a minimum, And yes a wider tank is going to spread the weight out. I've been remodeling homes for fifteen years.