I thought about the block method but one thing I'm concerned about is the fact that we have had earthquakes here and I am worried about the possibility of a crack or leak forming in the event of one. I think that a solidly built wood tank might flex a little better in the event of an earthquake. There aren't many people who have the know how to do a concrete tank correctly and the source I found that did was $6K. That's doable but with all the expenses related to other aspects of this build I chose to go a less expensive route for the structure of the tank...
FLoor leveling and other advice for 2500g tank build
- Thread starter Kentrob11
- Start date
Sorry for the late response. My whole family came down with the flu. Glad to hear the slab is more level than you thought. I think that will make things easier. I've laid concrete block but even I would feel more comfortable building a lumber framed tank. Personally I would do would do something other than a stacked design but your peace of mind is what's important.
If you use PVC I would consider laminating it to the plywood before installing the plywood in the tank. This means you'll only have to scribe, cut and fit once. I think 1/8" is as thick as you'd have to go. And to repeat myself, be sure not use solid PVC and not the sign board stuff with the lightweight, foamed interior. The solid PVC sheet I see always seems to come in gray while the black PVC is always Sintra or some other brand of sign board with the lightweight, foamed interior.
Thanks for the input! Do you think 1/8" is sufficient? I was going to go 1/4"...I did find a source for type 1 (the good rigid stuff, not foam core) in black but was not able to find the 2x2" extruded angle strips to glue the corner seams in black. I figured I would just tape off and spray the corner strips with black. krylon fusion when it was finished...I like the idea of mounting the pvc sheet to the plywood first but then how would I mount the plywood to the tank frame without drilling holes through it?
Sorry, I forgot to mention that you'd have to use pocket holes in the lumber itself. The screws woud then toe-nail through the lumber and into the plywood without puncturing the outer-most veneer and certainly not the PVC. This will be tricky with the stacked design as you'll have to start putting the plywood sheeting in place as you build the frame. I do have to admit in a tank your size this would likely be more trouble than it's worth.
And I suppose you once you get a piece of plywood to fit you could always transfer those markings to a sheet of PVC. You know, thinking out loud here, that would probably be what I do.
I'd also take care to try to keep the plywood box that comes together inside of the frame more straight, square, level, etc. than the lumber framing itself. If you have an area that is really far off you may have to try to shim the plywood out as you go.
As far as the thickness of the PVC, I think I mentioned earlier that that's 125 mils thick, or 125 thousandths of an inch.
A layer of 6 ounce fiberglass cloth is about 4 mils. So your 1/8" PVC would be about as thick as 25 layers of wetted out fiberglass plus a gelcoat surface.
Did you read the recent thread on the FRP sealed plywood tank? Interior edges were sealed with polyurethane caulk. FRP comes in smooth surfaces and lots of colors. I haven't priced it in a few years, however.
The timber may flex, but if you've lined it with something rigid like fibreglass or pvc then that won't flex like the wood and you may end up with leaks anyway. How frequent are your earthquakes??
Earthquakes are very infrequent...There's only been one noticeable one since I've lived here but this tank will be up for as long as I am physically able to take care of it so I want it to be able to withstand anything that comes up. I was even thinking of doing a nice thick corner bead of dow 795 on all the corner joints which should further protect them. PVC sheet at 1/8" thick would bend before it would break if i remember correctly so id does have pliable properties.
CJH- Did you see the picture I posted? I ditched the stacked lumber method for a reinforced stud wall method.
OK so here's another question... Should I build this right on the concrete or do an extruded foam board layer between the base/stand and the concrete?
CJH- Did you see the picture I posted? I ditched the stacked lumber method for a reinforced stud wall method.
OK so here's another question... Should I build this right on the concrete or do an extruded foam board layer between the base/stand and the concrete?
