Floor Support

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ValorieMackison

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 31, 2011
8
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Louisville, KY
I bought a 110 year old house last year. It is currently in possession of the original hardwood floors & no sub-floor. The joists are 16" OC apart, 2"x10".

Currently I run a 10 & 20 gallon, stacked. Also, a 55 gallon. The stands cross the joists, rather than running parallel.

The floor has no issue with these weights. My concern, however, comes into play with my next addition (120+ gallon). In theory, can the floor support 1400 lbs., give or take?

I'm thinking I should add jacks in the crawl space, beneath the tank site. Anyone have any suggestions or am I worried for nothing? Also, I intend to put the new tank on a wood stand without feet, to evenly distribute the weight.

Thanks.
 
I have a 125 on the 2nd floor......2x10 joist 16 OC....haven't had a problem yet.....but my house is only 30yrs old
 

Hello; Here are someweb addresses about floor capacity. The first address is a new one from a postby another Monster Fish forum member a while back. Here are the addresses againwith the first being new to the list. Floor capacity depends on a lot of criteria,there is not a simple 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


 
That floor can definitely hold a 120,150,180 or 200 gallon tank.
 
Thanks for the info/links. With all the other work that has & will continue to go into this house... just wanted to make certain I covered my bases before creating another long repair project.

Thanks again.
 
Oughtsix said:
I can send my mother in law over for a visit which would give the floor a true test.
Click to expand...


LOL

I think your floor would be fine. Honestly I think they built houses better back in the day.
 
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