Anyone live in a trailer?

[chainsaw]

My girlfriend and I are thinking of buying a Palm Harbor "manufactured home" and I want to put a bunch of aquariums in one of the bedrooms. But I'm not too sure if the floor will hold up to all that weight. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[Maillis]

Chnaces are that the floor won't be built to house a fish room however those homes are usually pretty easy to get underneath and you could possibly install some additional supports under the room.

 

[pkremer]

Is this a new mobile home? If so, odds are the dealer that you are purchasing it from can get detailed load bearing specs from the manufacturer. And even if it is not a new home, contacting the manufacturer of the mobile home directly may find you the answers you need for load bearing specs.

Hope you find your answers! Let us know!

Paul

 

[harleychick]

When I bought a trailer many moons ago, I had them "double block" underneath the home where I was going to put my piano and where I was putting my 70 gal. No extra charge. Might not have been needed, but it definitely eased my mind. You might also want to be concerned about the humidity and the problems it may cause if you're going to put a bunch of tanks in one room.

 

[Menagerie]

We used to live in an old cruddy trailer--really old, really cruddy. This was no double wide, nor was it a manufactured home. We had an 80 gal and lived to tell about it.

 

[millipede]

yeah, it really depends. The newer homes are built a LOT better than they use to. Floors and outer walls are generally 2x6's instead of 2x4's. I agree with what's been said. The manufacturere will definitely be able to tell you some specifics. It's usually better to have the dealer talk to the manufacturer though. I emailed the people who built this house to ask a question and they never got back to me. But when the dealer I bought from calls them they get the answers they need. And some extra blocks wouldn't hurt and shouldn't cost anything extra like mentioned already. The one we're in now is brand new and overall pretty sturdy but I have to talk to someone about one area in the kitchen. When I walk past the refrigerator it shakes a little... just from walking.
Depending on what you consider a bunch and how many gallons in each things could be ok and likely better with some extra blocks but if you're thinking lots of tanks with a LOT of weight than something might need to be done to the floor as well.

 

[chainsaw]

Yeah, I'll probably stop by and ask our salesman after i get off work today.

I'll let y'all know the verdict. 8)

 

[BASSNMAN]

Maybe my engineering is off, but check this out. Each one of my feet is about 11 by 4 inches. That is 44 sq. in. per foot X 2 = 88 square inches. Divide that into my weight of 175 = about 2 pounds per square inch when I stand on the floor. A 50 gal tank and stand weighs about 500 lbs. My stand base is12.5 X 48 in, giving it a footprint of 600 sq. in. Divide that into the aquarium weight += .83 pounds per sq. inch. So when I am standing on the floor, I am exerting over twice the weight of my aquarium on the floor! Make sense?

 

[jhd]

Make sense but you are not standing there still for years. Check any floor in any old house. Floor is sagging between beams, you can tell if you put straight edge across the beams. Other than manufacturer specification of the max load, I would buy couple of beams and double it up from underneath. That should fix it. And place your tanks across beams, so that at least two of them are stressed. Tanks if large should be on a board, not on legs, so that weight is distributed evenly.

 

[millipede]

Maybe my engineering is off

giving it a footprint of 600 sq. in

How many stands have that much area touching the floor? I'm sure there are some, but most stands I've seen have legs so the weight isn't quite so evenly dispursed.

Tanks if large should be on a board, not on legs, so that weight is distributed evenly.

what they said...

 

[pkremer]

I don't think there is anything wrong with that engineering equation at all, as long as the entire base of the stand was touching the floor. Mine has 4 little pegs though that the aquarium stands on.

I think basing how the weight sits by stand dimensions when the whole stand isn't laying on the ground would be like using your car's dimensions for pounds/square inch, when in reality, all of your car's weight is distributed on your tires' footprint.

Paul

 

[chainsaw]

um yeah... well, I'm gonna go look into this tomorrow if i'm not too hungover.

thanks guys.

 

[loganj]

Basically, Palm Harbor is one of the better built manuf homes and I wouldn't hesitate to put an aquarium anywhere in it. I had several tanks in my crappy old double wide that we used to live in...it was an '85 model and not built too well. I never saw any signs of sagging in the floors anywhere...at least not due to the aquariums 8O . Anything less than a 6' 150g tank and I wouldn't worry about it. JMHO based on having lived in one. If you're going to have a really heavy tank, you can probably orient it so that it's sitting on top of one of the steel beams that make up the framework of the trailer.

 

[spankerbob]

I would not worry about it, I used to live in an old aluminum sided trailer that looked as though the sixties spit it back up, and I had my hundred in it with no problems, My parents live in a "manufactured home" that was built a few years ago and I would have to say that it is probably better built than a allot of custom homes these days.

 

[chainsaw]

I talked to my salesman yesterday and he told me there should be no problem, but he'll have them put some extra bracing under the room the aquariums will be in.