Concrete floors

[hurricane_redbone]

can a 4" concrete floor hold a 150 gal even if its place in the middle of the room? or against a wall as a room devider?

 

[Nic]

it could hold about 500 of them.....

 

[hurricane_redbone]

really? like even if its right in the middle of the room?

 

[canufeelme]

yeah it would be fine anywhere in the room.

 

[IITUFFTOBEATII]

it could hold about 500 of them.....

sigh....

that may or may not be true. there are many factors that determine the strength of your slab in addition to the average compressive strength of concrete.

and when you say will it hold the tank, do you mean will it hold it and not crack? a 4 inch slab is not a particularly big section and if the slab is on a compressive soil the extra weight from the tank will induce differential settling and in time can crack the slab....

which doesn't mean that the slab is not still capable of supporting your tank and if theres a floor covering over the slab you will never see it

 

[IITUFFTOBEATII]

now if you want to know if I would put that tank on a 4inch slab with all other conditions unknown, I would. while the slab doesn't have a large section, the tanks not really that heavy (in relative terms).

 

[b-man]

as stated it depends on a number of things. if it is 4" on grade, i would "guess" yes. but it would help if you know

1) strength of conc. usually given in PSIs
2) thickness of conc
3) any reinforcing (rebar or WWF/wire mesh)
4) bearing conditions underneath conc.

 

[Dan F]

If your house was built to any sort of code there should be several inches of compacted gravel under the concrete. A typical garage slab is 4" thick, a garage floor holds up a 2000 pound + car that sits on less than four square feet (tire contact patches). Your tank weighs around 1200 pounds spread over at least 8 square feet.

I agree with Nic, the floor could hold as many tanks as you could fit in your basement!

 

[kumdoalan]

if you are talking about a normal basement slab then the answer is "no problem"
If a tank this small cracks the slab then chances are the slab was not made to meet the building codes and other things have already cracked the heck out of the slab before you anyway.

If there is a doubt?
Then ask over a few of your bigger friends and coworkers...
If you know 4 guys who each weigh about 300 lbs then just line them up and stand back...

If the floor cracks under them and gives way, then you know it's not safe for your goldfish...

 

[IITUFFTOBEATII]

If your house was built to any sort of code there should be several inches of compacted gravel under the concrete. A typical garage slab is 4" thick, a garage floor holds up a 2000 pound + car that sits on less than four square feet (tire contact patches). Your tank weighs around 1200 pounds spread over at least 8 square feet.

I agree with Nic, the floor could hold as many tanks as you could fit in your basement!

You make a good point, but its likely that the stand has a smaller footprint at the legs than does the contact patch of the cars tires.

What you DIYers dont understand about building code in this case is that the floor just needs to remain functional, which it can do with cracks just fine.

As for having your fat friends stand there for 10 minutes, that proves nothing, settlement occurs over long periods of time. If this is an older home than the structure has settled on its foundation, introducing a static point load in the middle of your floor induces additional settling. If it settles enough and introduces a sufficient bending moment the concrete will crack in tension. It will still hold perform its function just fine, but if its exposed you will see the cracks.

I am by no means saying that this will happen, but it could. And even if it did, it causes no problems other than that cracks in an exposed slab in a living space is unattractive.

My 500+ tank is on a similar SOG, but I rent.....