how much weight can my floor take???

[jussy]

i was wondering how much weight my floor can take?
my house is a 3 story, semi-detached and built in the 1940's.
i just wanted to know for future reference in-case i feel like getting a larger tank which id like to put on the second floor.

 

[curiousclam120]

I have a 90 gallon that I'm going to put on the second floor, haven't put in water so I don't know, however my house is only 11 years old. But I did ask the same question to staff at a lfs and they said that one of him had a 75 gallon tank on their second floor, and its ok as long as its not a really old house. Dnt rlly kno much bout that. Hope this helps a little

 

[jussy]

I have a 90 gallon that I'm going to put on the second floor, haven't put in water so I don't know, however my house is only 11 years old. But I did ask the same question to staff at a lfs and they said that one of him had a 75 gallon tank on their second floor, and its ok as long as its not a really old house. Dnt rlly kno much bout that. Hope this helps a little

lol seeing how ur house is only 11 years old and mine is 71 years old
i doubt it's similar but thanks ill still take other opinions(no offence)

 

[HUKIT]

Really without knowing what's holding up the floor that's a tough question, what size floor joists are there, what is the spacing between them, and what is the subflooring made of? I will say they built houses alot better back then but without knowing the answer to those questions I'm only guessing.

 

[jussy]

Really without knowing what's holding up the floor that's a tough question, what size floor joists are there, what is the spacing between them, and what is the subflooring made of? I will say they built houses alot better back then but without knowing the answer to those questions I'm only guessing.

I've attached a a quick sketch of what the room looks like in birds eye view of what i know so far, not sure if it'll be any help
Underneath the room is a garage and where those two pillars are that's a solid wall where my garage and kitchen meet

N.B not to scale

 

[Smitty]

The good point is that the floor joists are running the right way to be able to work it and it is close to a load baring wall.

How big of a tank are you talking about putting there? If you are talking 200+ gallons it may be worth your time to get an engineer to take a look at the house. I say this because it is an older house and over time nails can rust out or other problems can develop.

 

[jussy]

Noooo I'm not that extreme and plus the space where I want to put is only around 179cm
I had the juwel rio 300 in mind
Any feed back?

 

[HUKIT]

With a 90g tank in that placement I would not worry, just try place it across as many support joist as possible.

 

[Smitty]

I tend to agree, I wouldn't foresee any problems with a 90g or so tank because the floor joists should be 2x6 and should be enough to hold that weight.

 

[jussy]

Okay
Lol sorry I was just wanted to make sure that I can have a tank that large
Seeing as current tank is around a 50L lool I thought it would have needed some re-enforcement lol

Wat would you lot say about the rio 300?

 

[HUKIT]

That's not a system we see over here in the states, at least no where I've ever seen.

 

[Smitty]

But it looks to be about a 92g tank which is what we were commenting on.

 

[dollabill420]

A house from the 1940's has better structure. You can park a car in the middle of a 12 x 12 room with supports on side eg. Load bearing walls, if has a post in middle to concrete could be upwards of 10000 pounds spread out, but remember a tank is more concentrated, put in the strongest point with the best load dispersal, cross bracing between the stringers also helps, you'd have trouble even putting a 1/8 inch bow in the floor with anything under 200 gallons, just watch out for dry rot and everything will be all cool, I love old construction with real wood, these new toys are us Lego set houses are nothing in comparison to rough lumber have fun you lucky son of a gun lol

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Water ways around eight pounds a gallon, so you're looking around 720 pounds there plus the added weight of gravel and decorations. If it's a newer building I don't see why not because they have just been built.

 

[Rhino]

I would feel safer putting it in the older home before I would the second. Things were built much better back then.

 

[Grizz]

This question seem to come up a lot Ok here's what i have done for the past 7 yrs strech a string across the floor where the tank will sit then mark the tanks foot print on the floor
Now the hard work you need to find bags of sand or free weights i keep a thousand lbs in 50 lb bags you load the tanks foot print with the sand/weights and watch for any sag in the floor, it will sag away from the string.
By adding 50lbs at a time you can watch for problems and head them off before it's to late Or you could cross your fingers and hope to get lucky

 

[dollabill420]

This question seem to come up a lot Ok here's what i have done for the past 7 yrs strech a string across the floor where the tank will sit then mark the tanks foot print on the floor
Now the hard work you need to find bags of sand or free weights i keep a thousand lbs in 50 lb bags you load the tanks foot print with the sand/weights and watch for any sag in the floor, it will sag away from the string.
By adding 50lbs at a time you can watch for problems and head them off before it's to late Or you could cross your fingers and hope to get lucky

That's a good idea man

 

[jussy]

Thank you every1 for your comments much appreciated
I'll try most if not all the methods.