Love the build so far. We like lots of pictures. I am coming along for the ride.
I would definitely pull up the MDF sitting under the tank stand. It is not very water resistant and will swell. Better to just replace it with 3/4 ply.
BTW, was your tank pretty manageable with 4 people? Can I assume 2 would not be sufficient?
How does the MDF look? Keep in mind that any water out of the tank might make it's way to the MDF underneath.
If the tank is NOT going to be moved/slid you could leave the small lip and place the tank inside it. .
This still does not take into any account of water going down the tank in an overflow situation.
That underlayment is covering the entire subfloor. If it is indeed a composite board - they put thinset over it for the tile and it didn't seem to effect it - then removing it in just that area isn't going to do much if there's a major water incident. May as well just paint that area and move on from there. If you want the stand to sit flush with the tile floor, put a piece of Hardy Board, Durock or some other cementitious board in that area of suitable thickness. Then just caulk around it. It shouldn't be a problem.Here is a picture of the area after the tile and backer board has been removed exposing mdf and the sub floor is under that. Now as it sits a 3/4 on top of the mdf will bring me flush with the tile surrounding the tank. Well it will bring me a hair over the tile. The MDF is actually in great shape.
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Two decent size people can lift the tank if you want to take that chance. Its more bulky then anything. If I had to guess its around 350 to 400 lbs.
That underlayment is covering the entire subfloor. If it is indeed a composite board - they put thinset over it for the tile and it didn't seem to effect it - then removing it in just that area isn't going to do much if there's a major water incident. May as well just paint that area and move on from there. If you want the stand to sit flush with the tile floor, put a piece of Hardy Board, Durock or some other cementitious board in that area of suitable thickness. Then just caulk around it. It shouldn't be a problem.