Reinforcing crawl space

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
DN328 said:
Definitely do other research. It would be useful to have pictures and more information. Is the (steel?) beam held up by floor jacks running parallel directly under your current 200 gallon tank? Also, is the beam then running perpendicular or parallel to floor joists under the crawl space?.
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For the 200 gallon, the steel beam is running parallel across two 16'' floor joists giving support the entire length and width of the tank. There are 4 jack stands holding it up that my husband custom made...he is a welder. He went under the house and tightened then up due to settling after the tank had been in for a couple of months. With the 480 gallon, the joists are running perpendicular.
 
I would sister the floor joists together where the tank will go, then just go with your husband's jackstand plan. If you are in a fairly new house, the first floor should already be structurally sound, and with jackstands and concrete underneath I forsee no issues at all. It sounds like a lot of weight, and it is, but the first floor of a house is designed to withstand quite a bit of extra baggage.
 
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It sounds like you/your husband has a sound plan if he's welding his own post, even better.

So if I understand you correctly, the 450gallon will be sitting on floor joist perpendicular like in the picture, and you will have metal beam(s) and metal floor jacks, correct? I was fortunate that my 300+ (tank, sump, steel stand, etc.) sit directly parralel over the second beam you see in the picture. I then added two more beams on each side (you don't see the third furthest away in this picture). I opted not to sister any joists given I have basically three 4x8 running perpendicular to the joist under (parallel to the tank). A bit overkill I know, but it makes me feel a bit easier. I would think adding the metal beams/stands would suffice for your bigger tank.

Food for thought, if I only had two feet of vertical space, I would ditch the digging and adding cement, and just go with prefab concrete foundation that put the stands on that - but that's just me. Good luck..


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predatorkeeper87, It is a very old house built in 1935. The wood is solid though, no creaking floors.
 
DN328 said:
It sounds like you/your husband has a sound plan if he's welding his own post, even better.

So if I understand you correctly, the 450gallon will be sitting on floor joist perpendicular like in the picture, and you will have metal beam(s) and metal floor jacks, correct? I was fortunate that my 300+ (tank, sump, steel stand, etc.) sit directly parralel over the second beam you see in the picture. I then added two more beams on each side (you don't see the third furthest away in this picture). I opted not to sister any joists given I have basically three 4x8 running perpendicular to the joist under (parallel to the tank). A bit overkill I know, but it makes me feel a bit easier. I would think adding the metal beams/stands would suffice for your bigger tank.

Food for thought, if I only had two feet of vertical space, I would ditch the digging and adding cement, and just go with prefab concrete foundation that put the stands on that - but that's just me. Good luck..


View attachment 1152521
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Yes it looks just like your picture. He is actually not welding the posts. I ordered 6 of these jack stands in the link below. He was originally going to make a somewhat shallow concrete slab then he decided on just getting concrete blocks and digging a bit to set the block down. Now he says he is going to dig out holes and pour concrete in them. The jack stands are minimun 2'tall so some digging will have to take place for them to fit. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0052PLEOY?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00
 
skjl47 said:
hello; I like this. Very wise move.
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Yes there was definitely some settling that occured. He took his leveler down there and said they were also uneven. He raised them up 3/4-1.5 inches until everything was level and tight.
 
Hello; Your husband may already know this about compacted earth. If the house is not built on fill there should be previously undisturbed soil that has been compacted over a long time. That can make a decent bottom for the footers.

Sounds like your husband is making some correct moves. Good luck.
 
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DN328 said:
It sounds like you/your husband has a sound plan if he's welding his own post, even better.

So if I understand you correctly, the 450gallon will be sitting on floor joist perpendicular like in the picture, and you will have metal beam(s) and metal floor jacks, correct? I was fortunate that my 300+ (tank, sump, steel stand, etc.) sit directly parralel over the second beam you see in the picture. I then added two more beams on each side (you don't see the third furthest away in this picture). I opted not to sister any joists given I have basically three 4x8 running perpendicular to the joist under (parallel to the tank). A bit overkill I know, but it makes me feel a bit easier. I would think adding the metal beams/stands would suffice for your bigger tank.

Food for thought, if I only had two feet of vertical space, I would ditch the digging and adding cement, and just go with prefab concrete foundation that put the stands on that - but that's just me. Good luck..


View attachment 1152521
Click to expand...

The jack stands he welded for our other aquarium were great. I wish he would have made the ones for this aquarium. The basement jack stands I ordered have to be screwed down so they aren't really adjustable once they are set in place.

He made the stand for our white room aquarium too. We both worked together to make the wood frame and canopy. I sanded, primed and painted it with glossy white topside boat paint. I custom ordered the sump to how I wanted it and added drain line. I wanted the sump to have filtered city water coming in and dirty water draining out at 2-6 gallons an hour so we never do water changes.
 
skjl47 said:
Hello; Your husband may already know this about compacted earth. If the house is not built on fill there should be previously undisturbed soil that has been compacted over a long time. That can make a decent bottom for the footers.

Sounds like your husband is making some correct moves. Good luck.
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Thank you.
 
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