Can my floor hold the weight?

[katrinatimm02]

Where are my engineers at? I want to upgrade my tank to the waterbox 110.4 (105 gallons including sump). I live in a duplex, we have the main floor.

We were able to confirm that the floor joists will be perpendicular to the tank at 16.5 on center. Likely about 1500 pounds after water and rock, etc.

Will my floor hold it safely? We cannot secure the floor any other way as there is a unit in the downstairs. The house was likely built around 1950s.

Thanks in advance!

Tank specs:
• Dimensions (LxWxH): 1200 x 500 x 550mm (47.2" x 19.7" x 21.7")
• Height with Cabinet: 1450mm / 57.1"
• Display Volume: 301L / 79.6gal
• Total Volume: 399L / 105.3gal
• Glass Thickness: 12mm

 

[Subsea]

A typical residential floor can generally hold around 40 pounds per square foot (PSF) of weight, although this can vary depending on the construction of the house, with older homes potentially having lower capacity; most building codes consider a minimum safe load of 30 PSF for living areas.


If footprint of stand is 4’ by 1.5’ then footprint is
6 sq ft. So 6 times 30 is 180 lbs. Not even close to 1500 lbs. However, that would be in the middle of the room. Next to load bearing wall would hold more.

Proceed with caution.

 

[Rjukan]

A typical residential floor can generally hold around 40 pounds per square foot (PSF) of weight, although this can vary depending on the construction of the house, with older homes potentially having lower capacity; most building codes consider a minimum safe load of 30 PSF for living areas.


If footprint of stand is 4’ by 1.5’ then footprint is
6 sq ft. So 6 times 30 is 180 lbs. Not even close to 1500 lbs. However, that would be in the middle of the room. Next to wall would hold more.

This can't be right... soo a 300lb person has to worry about falling through a floor??

 

[Subsea]

This can't be right... soo a 300lb person has to worry about falling through a floor??

First off: a 300 pound man could not fit thru 1 square foot, but his weight is spread out to other floor joist.

Look up the code.

 

[Rjukan]

Look up the code then.

I did and it says the same values you listed. It's just very surprising to me to read that, since it sounds very very low.

 

[Reefering1]

What if the fat man stands on one foot,equally in-between the joists?

 

[keithw283]

First off: a 300 pound man could not fit thru 1 square foot, but his weight is spread out to other floor joist.

Look up the code.

This isn’t exactly how that works. Think of it more of an average. Not each square foot holding 30 pounds. There is no one size fits all answer for a small area. If we used 30-40 pounds per sf, anybody over 2 years old would be falling through the floor. It’s more like a 12x20’ room can hold 9600 pounds. The more concentrated the weight is, the less safe. Next to a load bearing wall, run perpendicular across the floor joists will hold a 110 no problem.

 

[Rjukan]

This is pretty interesting..

Residential Wood Framed Floors and Aquarium Weights

Find this Article at http://www.cichlid-forum.com, answered me Question, hope is useful to other people. Residential Wood Framed Floors and __af_placement_id--[AFF-PLACEMENT-ID].html"]Aquarium Weights by Kevin Bauman (StructureGuy) Introduction One of the questions that is...

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

 

[Subsea]

I did and it says the same values you listed. It's just very surprising to me to read that, since it sounds very very low.

Yes, I know it seems iow. As I pointed out, the weight is spread out amongst the joist. Locate your load as close to wall as possible and spread out weight as much as possible.

 

[keithw283]

Fwiw my 55 with a 29 gallon sump is on the 2nd floor not against a load bearing wall and idk for sure but I think it runs parallel with the joists so it is likely only on 1 lol.

 

[ryan265]

My 265 sat right next to a load bearing wall for years with no added bracing. Got a lil sketchy when the kids ran through the house as it would create a slight “bounce”. I have since braced it with a double 2x10 running the length of the tank. My honest opinion is you should be fine with a 110 next to the wall…

 

[katrinatimm02]

Wow! Tons of information within 10 minutes of posting. Thank you so much to all of you that shared your knowledge. I really appreciate the guidance

 

[littlefoxx]

I have my 300 gallon on the second floor over an unfinished basement. Floor was just fine, no issues. My grandpa was a spec writer and did the calculations for me when I showed him the area and he said it would be fine. And he was right, no issues there at all

 

[braaap]

I would put a large sum of money on it that the floor is actually stronger because it is an older house. Older homes especially from that era usually used dimensional lumber. They also routinely overengineered things like floor joists.

If what you said is true on orientation of joists and age etc you are likely more than fine.

 

[Asm481]

If you're renting it probably isn't a good thing in most leases. You will probably be fine weight wise but it will bounce.