Floor weight capacity?

[DayFive]

Does anyone know how much weight is too much weight for a floor above a basement? Any links to building code sights would be useful. I can’t convince my wife that the floor is not going to cave in from our 75g tank and some other heavy pieces of furniture around it.

Josh

 

[Jeff]

HAHAHA I have a 250 gallon system on hardwood floors on the second floor of a 80 year old house. I have had at least 5 adults standing in front of it. We do not do jumping jacks anywhere near the tank.
They dont make them like they used to though....


Jeff

 

[DayFive]

Thats what I am saying but tying to convince my wife that is not easy without some backup.

Josh

 

[Jeff]

My stuff is on a weight bearing wall perpendicular to the joists.
I was nervous for a short while lol


Jeff

 

[ashtonmitchell]

It depends on the walls and such. Putting a tank closer to a load bearing support for the house would of course make it stronger.... It also depends on what year your house was built.

But just for the sake of it my friend has a 210 gallon all glass aquarium with a 55 gal sump and all the liverock sand etc and has been set up for a while. It's not on a load bearing wall and it's on the second floor of a condo it's still there and we drink beer in front of it sometimes... have parties where people stand near it. and well it hasn't fallen through the floor yet. maybe that will make your wife feel better?

 

[wantsalotta]

75 is not large enough to be concerned about unless your building's structural integrity is severely compromised by something else.

 

[Madman133]

Agreed 75 is nothing to be worried about once you get to 120 then you might want to be alittle more concerned.

 

[dsandfort]

Tell her a regular old waterbed is around 150 gallons.

 

[murfman]

What Dell said!!!!

from;
http://www.my-waterbed-shop.com/pillow.html#8

How much does a waterbed weigh?

A waterbed can weigh up to 1500lbs, but because the weight is distributed over a large area, weight is not a concern. A waterbed weighs less per square foot than a refrigerator. Any house built to modern building codes can handle the weight of a waterbed without a problem.

 

[DayFive]

I think I have convinced her now but when I get a bigger tank it will have to go in the basement. Thanks for the back up.

Josh

 

[pappadow]

I wouldn't worry about it. Wood is a very forgiving building material. You will notice excessive deflections and drywall cracking before you have a problem.
Have you ever heard of a tank crashing through a floor? I haven't.... look at what waterbeds and bathtubs weigh. Well maybe waterbeds aren't a great example because they spread their weight out over a huge area. But bathtubs are comperable.

 

[ashtonmitchell]

except for bath tubs have special/extra bracing under them most of the time to compensate for the increased weight...

 

[bbrantley]

The problem will rarely be complete failure, as many have mentioned. The risk is minor deflection, which can cause all manner of less catastrophic, but still expensive, problems.

That said, you'll probably see no deflection with a 75g unless you're in a very unusual, old house ... and in that case, you'd probably see deflection in other places around the house already from other mildly heavy things. Try to put the tank near a load-bearing wall and perpendicular to the joists if you can.

No modern structure will have any trouble.

Ben

 

[DayFive]

The tank is next to a load bearing wall and perpendicular to the joists. I just needed to prove to my wife that I am not the only one that thinks it is safe. Thanks again for the words of wisdom

Josh

 

[jpierson77]

if you have a newer house, you should have tji's or tgi's, which are exteremely strong. If the tank is running perpendicular to the joist then you are spreadning the load across three if not four joists. Look and see if you can find a number to indicate what joists you have and you can look up maximum floor loadings for your given span of floor. of course we dont set our tanks in the middle of the room but I think you will see that the max floor loadings (which are for the middle of the span) are well above what you are putting on it. I have a 90 w/ 33 gal fuge runing parrallel to the joist centered on the span and it is just fine.