Will my floor hold??

[ReefSoldier]

I am ready to bring my 6x2x2 Acrylic aquarium in the house and need your advice. Under the house , the link are pictures from under my house and an explanation, do you forsee me having problems, or do I need to add support?

[jsoong]

That is a big tank ... well over 1600lbs. It is a good idea to get a structural engineer to look over the house plans to see if it is safe for such a large load.

The key to load capacity is the joist size & spacing, and the joist span (those numbers we can't get from the pictures). Also important is where you intend to put the tank. If the tank is sitting directly over top the beam & 4x4 supports going to concrete footings, you *should* be OK as long as the load is distributed over a couple posts. But any where in the middle of the joist span & I would not sleep well at night without additional supports.

To repeat - I am not a structural engineer, and a big tank like yours over a wood floor should be looked at by the pros.

[ReefSoldier]

I appreciate your response. The tank will run the wall that is directly above the joist you see. But, I believe to be on the safe side, I am going to add two more 4 x 4 legs on that beam and run one more 2x10 joist under the tanks location just to be safe

[Gunz05gunz]

I would say no. That is alot of weight even for 2x10 beams. It also depends on the joist sizes and O/C as well. I am also not an engineer, but will be very soon. (as long as I pass, haha). Its worth getting it checked by a P.Eng. My guess is he will say no as well.

The good part is that the wood goes through an elastic period. It is a ductile material, meaning it will most likely deform before failure, which you can visually monitor.

Best advice is to contact a licensed structural engineer and show him the floor plans.

Good luck.

[ReefSoldier]

Thank you for the response. I had my neighbor come and take a look. He is a lifelong union carpenter, we came up with a plan to sandwich the existing wood I-Beam floor with 1 inch plywood and add another 2x10 along where the front of the aquarium will run. I am looking at roughly 155 pounds per square foot.

[bill0298]

For what it's worth, I put my 150 over the basement up against the wall and sandwiched my osb beams under the tank with 3/4 plywood to stiffen them up and added a 4x4 support column in the basement.. **Please understand that I'm not a structural engineer***