Has anyone heard of a large tank actually falling through a floor?

[ssilcox]

Gearing up to setup a 220 on the main floor of my house, over a basement. As far as shoring up the floor, I am going to do it right (get an engineer to look at it, etc). Not worth the risk of "hoping" my joists can handle the weight.

From many of the threads I have read about people not being worried about shoring up their floor... has anyone actually heard of a case of a heavy tank actually falling through a floor?

 

[Reef264]

I have heard of it, It happened to a guy I know.He didn't brace his floors and had a Custom 120 Tall, so all the weight was centered on a small footprint.

 

[scoly]

Had a guy local, didn't quite fall through the floor, but he came home one day and his 180 was leaning bad enough that only one o/f was working! Scary!

 

[ssilcox]

I wonder if home insurance would cover such a thing? Can you imagine the call to your agent in a case like that?

 

[Reef264]

I would get my Agent Laughing at a Funny Joke first, then tell him about the "Leak".

I think that home owners does cover it to some extent, I remember reading somewhere where a guy had his Home Owners cover it.

 

[Dr. Reef]

to my knowledge in Oklahoma a regular home owner policy DOES NOT cover a damage to ur floors or house due to ur fish tank. i had to buy custom added insurance along with a extra plumbing and water damage insurance combined to cover any mishaps. just check ur policy and call ur agent.

 

[Shells4]

My husband worked with someone who had a 150g fall thru the floor to the basement. They lived in an older house and didn't have it checked before setting up the tank. It was a total loss. Insurance didn't pay a dime. Thank goodness there wasn't anyone in the basement when it fell. Can you imagine coming home from work to that?

 

[Aquanist]

150g Falling through floors?? Really?

What kind of shacks do people live in there? No building code whatsoever?

 

[albano]

150g Falling through floors?? Really?

What kind of shacks do people live in there? No building code whatsoever?

+1...these all sound like "a friend of a friend told me, that they know a guy..."
...not buying it!

 

[Shells4]

+1...these all sound like "a friend of a friend told me, that they know a guy..."
...not buying it!

Yeah, just made it up because I have nothing better to do.

It was a very old house.

 

[albano]

Yeah, just made it up because I have nothing better to do.

It was a very old house.

didn't say you made it up...but I would question the guy that 'told' your husband about it...
(you didn't say the your husband SAW the damage.)

Very old house or not...a tank going "THRU the floor to the basement" is suspect.

 

[Dr. Reef]

well i cant judge someone for putting a story out here if its true or not but my common sense and experience does tell me it is highly possible in old houses and if tanks are placed in wrong areas. and for most part insurances do not cover this.

 

[sfsuphysics]

didn't say you made it up...but I would question the guy that 'told' your husband about it...
(you didn't say the your husband SAW the damage.)

Very old house or not...a tank going "THRU the floor to the basement" is suspect.

Only way I can think of it going through the basement is
a) This was a DIY jobber that spaced studs too far apart
and
b) they placed the tank such that it wasn't actually resting on studs
or
c) There was a lot of damage to the studs, termites, rot, etc.


My experience with old house is if anything they are built sturdier than houses today, lumber was cheap and plentiful so they didn't skimp, and board sizes were often oversized and MUCH closer to true dimensional lumber.

 

[OH GOD]

I saw the aftermath of a 225 gallon in a trailer that started leaning and the stand collapsed and the tank broke the floor and went through the inside wall it hit. Large tanks don't belong in old rotten trailers.

 

[albano]

I saw the aftermath of a 225 gallon in a trailer that started leaning and the stand collapsed and the tank broke the floor and went through the inside wall it hit. Large tanks don't belong in old rotten trailers.

OMG (or should I just say OH GOD)...I think I've heard about that...was it a double wide?

 

[OH GOD]

OMG (or should I just say OH GOD)...I think I've heard about that...was it a double wide?

:lmao: God will be just fine :lmao: No it was a single wide that had a addition added to it, the tank was viewed from both sides i guess when they added on to the trailer it was not done right and over time i think leaks and water from the tank just rotted the wood and floor and it just gave out one day

 

[Shells4]

It was an old farmhouse. I'm guessing it was built late 1800's/early 1900's. We didn't actually see the hole but my husband went to their house about a year after it happened. They decided to get out of the hobby and he was getting some of the rock that had been in the tank. The rock was still in the basement and he said you could see where the floor/ceiling had been replaced--all new wood. I don't think they made the story up, just a sloppy build on an old house and people with no common sense to get it checked before putting alot of weight on it.

 

[JohnnyAirtime]

Gearing up to setup a 220 on the main floor of my house, over a basement. As far as shoring up the floor, I am going to do it right (get an engineer to look at it, etc). Not worth the risk of "hoping" my joists can handle the weight.

From many of the threads I have read about people not being worried about shoring up their floor... has anyone actually heard of a case of a heavy tank actually falling through a floor?

I didn't have it fall through, but... it rocked REALLY bad.
It was a 125gal (no sump), sitting on two parallel joists about 14' long. The tank sat on only those two joists, and boy was it scary. I ended up bracing the subfloor, in my crawl space; (read more here) It took more than just some perpendicular bracing to keep it from rocking. I had to block the joists, where the tank stand's edges sat on the flooring. Once blocked, and supported... it was solid.

Mind you, I added more bracing when I put in a 240Gal over the same area. And there's a 80gal sump and (2) 25gal frag tanks on the other side of the wall (backside of this tank). It's still... solid.

I wonder if home insurance would cover such a thing? Can you imagine the call to your agent in a case like that?

MY State Farm, only covers the damage done to the property from the water and tank falling over. They DO NOT cover any of the tank parts/pieces or it's livestock.

 

[Dustin1300]

This whole thread just scares me. Exactly why I'm building all my 800 gallon system in the basement Anyone have any pictures of the tank fall throughs?

 

[greg0385]

I beg the differ, i live in a house built in the 70s, i put my house up to any new home. Real oak true 2 inch joist. With 1inch thick oak flooring from a local saw mill. They dont make them that anymore.

I have 200 gallons system and even though i braced the floor it really didnt need it. Not saying every house is built like mine but its a solid built house.