How to brace crawl space?
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Joe Heavy
Community Member
I made adjustable columns I work with metal but you can buy them at Lowe’s or Home Depot
I have the 525 XL. I just placed it against a load baring wall--traversing the floor joist. I did not have floor jacks in the basement. My tank has been up for a year and a half and it's level with no issues.
DBR_Reef
Active Member
not sure if someone already addressed this, but bottle jacks are not a long term solution- they will leak very slowly over time. It might take years, but it is just unnecessary maintenance. Also, you probably don't need any extra support, but a stiffer floor never hurt.
Potatohead
Valuable Member
I was thinking the same thing, unless they are screw-type jacks you are relying on a seal and valve inside the jack to hold everything. I would just use a 4x4 across the beams and then more 4x4 as studs under it, instead of jacks.
PhreeByrd
Active Member
Definitely, bottle jacks are absolutely wrong. Use a screw jack of the type WVNed posted. They are inexpensive and available at every home center, and are suitable for long-term use.
Use at least 4x6's as cross members under the joists, with the long side vertical. Cut them long enough to span all of the floor joists under the tank. If one side of the tank will rest above a space between joists, cut the 4x6 long enough so that it spans to the next joist. I have no idea what the dimensions of a 525g tank are, so I can't say how many cross members and jacks to use, but I'd space them no more than 3-4' apart. If the tank is wide, you might need two jacks per cross member. Set the jack posts on bearing plates of pressure-treated 2x10 or 2x12, and make sure those lay flat and the jacks are plumb. Before filling the tank, set all the supports in place and just snug them up to the joists. Inside the house, make sure the floor is level and doesn't bounce. Then start filling the tank. Check the jack posts periodically to make sure they all stay snug and have equal pressure on them. Settling is most likely to occur at the ground, so watch those bearing plates. Adjust the jacks to maintain level across the joists and floor, and to keep equal pressure on the jacks.
After everything is done and set up, I'd check the jacks at least every couple of weeks for the first few months to make sure nothing is settling. Adjust as necessary. After that, I'd look at them every 6 months or so, or maybe as long as a year if everything has remained stable and needed no adjustment.
And definitely, if you have questions, talk to a structural engineer. Sketch up the floor structure, including joist size and spacing, with accurate dimensions and total filled weight of the tank, stand and anything else that needs to be supported. Be sure to show how the tank/stand will be located above the floor joists, and note what the floor decking material and thickness is. Around here, even if they have to come to your house to inspect, an engineer will give you a recommendation for a couple hundred bucks. Peace of mind is priceless.
Use at least 4x6's as cross members under the joists, with the long side vertical. Cut them long enough to span all of the floor joists under the tank. If one side of the tank will rest above a space between joists, cut the 4x6 long enough so that it spans to the next joist. I have no idea what the dimensions of a 525g tank are, so I can't say how many cross members and jacks to use, but I'd space them no more than 3-4' apart. If the tank is wide, you might need two jacks per cross member. Set the jack posts on bearing plates of pressure-treated 2x10 or 2x12, and make sure those lay flat and the jacks are plumb. Before filling the tank, set all the supports in place and just snug them up to the joists. Inside the house, make sure the floor is level and doesn't bounce. Then start filling the tank. Check the jack posts periodically to make sure they all stay snug and have equal pressure on them. Settling is most likely to occur at the ground, so watch those bearing plates. Adjust the jacks to maintain level across the joists and floor, and to keep equal pressure on the jacks.
After everything is done and set up, I'd check the jacks at least every couple of weeks for the first few months to make sure nothing is settling. Adjust as necessary. After that, I'd look at them every 6 months or so, or maybe as long as a year if everything has remained stable and needed no adjustment.
And definitely, if you have questions, talk to a structural engineer. Sketch up the floor structure, including joist size and spacing, with accurate dimensions and total filled weight of the tank, stand and anything else that needs to be supported. Be sure to show how the tank/stand will be located above the floor joists, and note what the floor decking material and thickness is. Around here, even if they have to come to your house to inspect, an engineer will give you a recommendation for a couple hundred bucks. Peace of mind is priceless.
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