how to calculate floor load capacity?

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onetouch2many

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 8, 2011
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just like the title, wondering if anyone knows a good way to calculate floor load capacity..

I want a bigger tank. I also dont want to pay an inspector tonnes of money to come look

suggestions?
 
there are ways to calculate loads, but there are so many variables.

we can't see the condition of your house, how the joists are laid, what condition they are in etc etc etc.

it depends on many factors.

this may help:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/aquarium_weight.php

the only way to know for sure is to spend the cash on a structural engineer.

anything other than this is just a guess.

what size tank are you looking at?
 
Im in a double wide 2002 trailer. My front of my 300 gallon tank sites on the 10" steel beam and the back I have a triple 2x8x10. Its spread out along 8 floor joists. My floor joists are only 2x6 as well. So it all depends on what you can brace. But a normal house with either 2x8 or 2x10 joists will support a 200 no problem. Just make sure you do with the joists so that you spread the load.
 

Hello; (OLDRECYCLEDPOST some words will run together, this happens when I copy and pasteto the forum)) Here are some webaddresses about floor capacity. The first address is a new one from a post byanother 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.

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 some other sites (Addresses listed below) andfound a discussion of static loads and live loads. Two sites describe how to measurethe deflection of flooring due to weight 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


 
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