Moved into townhouse would like to place 125 along outside 2 nd floor wall one guy thinks it would be okay, had two forty breeders along this wall w/o issue , Want to know if a 125 and 40 gallon on second floor outside wall would support the weight, Please chime in as I want to reset up reef in 125, Thanks
125 in Townhouse
- Thread starter j tavares
- Start date
SGT_York
New member
date of construction and location will give a general idea as per the building codes when the home was constructed. for a real answer you will need to know the size of the support beams their length and the distance between each one.
If the home is in a city or otherwise zoned area and constructed within the last 40 years you will be ok, provided there is no damage.
If the home is in a city or otherwise zoned area and constructed within the last 40 years you will be ok, provided there is no damage.
1MP3R1AL
New member
^agreed. Just because the home was made after a certain date doesn't mean it wasn't built correctly. I've helped with construction and have seen some very shady work done on million dollar homes. You never know what's under drywall until you detect an issue, and by then it's always too late. Hire a pro.
skeeter_ca
Active member
You should be fine.
My experience with contractors is they will be glad to take your money and tell you what you want to hear. They wave their hands around, feel the wall, put their ear to the floor, swing a dead chicken over their head and pronounce it safe to put an aquarium there. Not like 5 years down the road if something ever did happen you could find them. They would just lie and say you told them it was going to be a smaller tank or this or that. I hate contractors(no offense). If it's on a load bearing wall (outside wall) and the beams are running perpendicular to the tank it will be able to carry more than enough weight.
skeeter
My experience with contractors is they will be glad to take your money and tell you what you want to hear. They wave their hands around, feel the wall, put their ear to the floor, swing a dead chicken over their head and pronounce it safe to put an aquarium there. Not like 5 years down the road if something ever did happen you could find them. They would just lie and say you told them it was going to be a smaller tank or this or that. I hate contractors(no offense). If it's on a load bearing wall (outside wall) and the beams are running perpendicular to the tank it will be able to carry more than enough weight.
skeeter
SGT_York
New member
unfortunatley the only way an engineer can make an assessment is by looking at the plans or ripping out the drywall. If your home wasn't built right and somehow passed inspection the engineer certificate won't cover the damages (differing site conditions clause). Unless you are willing to have your drywall removed there is not much a structural engineer can do. (They can use cameras for only small holes but that won't give them the whole picture)
An engineer assessment without looking under the drywall amounts to nothing more than swinging a dead chicken. There is no magical ability just science and facts that an engineer can't get to. So in practice engineers use what is called correlational curves to determine the capacity of your home based on the age and building code at the time. There is no other way to determine the capacity without drawings/removing drywall.
An engineer assessment without looking under the drywall amounts to nothing more than swinging a dead chicken. There is no magical ability just science and facts that an engineer can't get to. So in practice engineers use what is called correlational curves to determine the capacity of your home based on the age and building code at the time. There is no other way to determine the capacity without drawings/removing drywall.
woodnaquanut
Active member
Although I do like your 'swing a dead chicken' phrase, I disagree with you and question your ability to give advise. Let's start with not all exterior walls are load bearing and some interior walls are load bearing. Second, it's joists not beams running perpendicular to the tank that give the best support.
No one on this forum can truly say it's OK to put a tank in spot X. We are dependent on the OPs ability to accurately describe the on the ground situation. If the structure is covered (finished space) it will be extremely hard to judge the accuracy of someone inexperienced with construction. That is why, over and over, the best advise given here is 'hire a pro'.
adova
Premium Member
It is relatively easy - just go to AngiesList or whatever and find a certified Structural Engineer. HomeAdvisor.com is another source. Mine was $85 / hr with a 3 hr charge. I was a bit lucky as my basement was exposed in the area that I was interested in because my previous tank was down there and I had just ripped out the fish room.
Getting architectural plans should not be a major issue for most current home, either.
