Any Engineers out there?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
"Small 360 degree viewing area"..

According to rivermud's acrylic calculator you're going to need 3" acrylic if its supported, or 4.5" thick if its not.

4 sheets of actylic 8 feet long and 6 feet high 4.5" thick has got to be something pretty seriously expensive. $2000 each? (thats a guess). So, while it might be $10,000 to rewire, re-plumb, re-HVAC the house (which would probably be closer to $20,000 the electrical alone would be close to 10) you're not done with the costs by half. Between the cost of sealer and the cost of the acrylic and the cost of mold abatement and humidity control I could easily see this project approaching $35,000.

I think you'd be better off doing what arapaimag did and dig a big hole beside your foundation and create a new underground concrete fish room.

None of which addresses the structural issues.
 
kallmond;3719951; said:
"Small 360 degree viewing area"..

According to rivermud's acrylic calculator you're going to need 3" acrylic if its supported, or 4.5" thick if its not.

4 sheets of actylic 8 feet long and 6 feet high 4.5" thick has got to be something pretty seriously expensive. $2000 each? (thats a guess). So, while it might be $10,000 to rewire, re-plumb, re-HVAC the house (which would probably be closer to $20,000 the electrical alone would be close to 10) you're not done with the costs by half. Between the cost of sealer and the cost of the acrylic and the cost of mold abatement and humidity control I could easily see this project approaching $35,000.

I think you'd be better off doing what arapaimag did and dig a big hole beside your foundation and create a new underground concrete fish room.

None of which addresses the structural issues.
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This is what I was thinking, although I would guess the acrylic will cost a LOT more than that.

I would also worry about the floor. The walls are probably 12" thick, but the floors of basements tend to be closer to 4-6", but,that would be somewhat of a guess as I do not do concrete for a living.
 
Structurally speaking, I'd be most worried about the water pressure separating the walls from the floor. Even a hairline crack would cause an ugly drain, which could also cause some pretty serious washout under the foundation.

I'm typically among the least conservative folks around here, but this is (of course, my opinion) a really terrible idea.
 
do like apapaimag did. best bet IMO
 
I have been thinking of doing this for years. It would be my "Dream" house. Walking on all glass floors :)

I would also worry about the floor. The walls are probably 12" thick, but the floors of basements tend to be closer to 4-6", but,that would be somewhat of a guess as I do not do concrete for a living.
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You are right about the thickness of the floor. Not only that but the base under the floor is not engineered for that much weight. My guess is the floor would crack in many places. May need to either, rip out the old floor, and have someone come in to look at the base and take a soil sample or drill and pin the existing floor with vertical pieces of rebar and add a rebar cage over the existing floor tying the cage to the verticals then pour a new floor with a dry mix of no more than 3-4" slump.

You would have to seal the concrete and the "Seal" would only work as long as the concrete does not crack. A membrane of some sort would work better in that situation.

Then you have to worry about the cold joint between the walls and the floor. Cold joints are VERY week and usually will separate with a hair line separation over time. You would need to seal that with some flexible sealant or seal it by some other means.
 
We're still waiting to get a hold of a friend of his family who is a retired engineer. One person my friend said he spoke to refused to take him seriously. That's not saying much though if you knew this guy.

Regarding the concerns:

Super thick acrylic won't be needed. The plan is for a 360 degree viewing area, but that's not to say it wouldn't have supports. The thought is to use stainless steel window framing bolted to the floor forming a box. The top of this box would be welded together and supported against the floor above. So normal glass thickness for the depth shouldn't be a problem.

Using a pond liner type membrane is impossible. There are 4 support poles that would be a nightmare to make a membrane work, if its even possible. (i can't think of a way) We're thinking Sanitred.

Mold wouldn't be an issue. The upper ceiling would be totally sealed. Thinking plywood with a layer of cheap Linoleum sealed onto it.

The floor is the main concern. We're not certain how thick the concrete is. Sanitred is an extremely flexible product that I think could withstand any slight movement. The "cold joint" as you say, sits on the footers. So for that to drop, the whole wall would have to drop. Its not likely. Bedrock in this area is at 15ft mark at sea level and this house is at the top of a hill. It's almost certainly sitting right on rock. The concern is that the floor could crack under the weight. This is looking like the deal breaker. If the floor was 4-6 inches it would probably be fine. My own floor in my basement turned out to be 3-4 inches once I started drilling on it. It was okay for my tank but probably not for something to this scale. Its possible to pour a new floor and/or interior walls, but then the cost will skyrocket.

For the floor drain, we're thinking of putting a stack in its place as either a stationary overflow, or with an adjustable overflow box.

Filtering would almost certainly be built into the tank via chambered cells.
 
I see you're in the midwest, which means I can't see your house from mine. (And more importantly your 40,000 gallons of water can't come rushing down the hill into my house)

In that case, everything will be perfectly fine, please take and post lots of photos :)
 
wait ur in hanover! im in greencastle! i cant see the disaster either but me an u could car pool out there and check it out
 
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