Protecting Carpet

reefkeeperaxm

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Can anyone please tell me what's a good material to place underneath a tank to protect the carpet once the tank is removed, thanks!
 
Sorry for not being clear, I just moved a current 215 gal, and underneath it left a nasty black, soggy footprint. My question is, for the next setup what would be a good material to put under the stand to prevent that from happening.
 
Sounds like you had a leak somewhere. I'd start by minimizing your leaks. Other then that, make your stand design has a little airflow under it I guess. With that much sitting on carpet, it'll never come out matching the rest of the house anyways. Every tank I've had on carpet wrecked the pile and wear and tear on the rest of the space just made it look like complete @ss anyways.
 
You could cut a thick drop cloth to put under your stand. Really if you don't have your stand sitting in a bucket type container, you will never be able to protect your floor from and leaks or spills. My old landlord tried to make me get a 30gal plastic bin to put under my tank "just in case". I never did it. Now I just know that i'll be getting water on the floor, and hopefully at the next house I can put down a small tile or artificial wood floor with a couple feet larger than the footprint of the stand.
 
At Home Depot if you go to the flooring section, there is black rubber mat that is on the big spools. They will cut it to what ever length you need. Then you can trim it to the size of your stand, go about a 1/4 inch bigger then the stand. I use this to protect my hard wood and it works great.
 
At Home Depot if you go to the flooring section, there is black rubber mat that is on the big spools. They will cut it to what ever length you need. Then you can trim it to the size of your stand, go about a 1/4 inch bigger then the stand. I use this to protect my hard wood and it works great.

That's exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!
 
At Home Depot if you go to the flooring section, there is black rubber mat that is on the big spools. They will cut it to what ever length you need. Then you can trim it to the size of your stand, go about a 1/4 inch bigger then the stand. I use this to protect my hard wood and it works great.

+1. That is exactly what I did......works great...I think...Really wont know until I someday move the tank.......
 
If you put down rubber sheeting, plastic sheeting or anything else that cannot breath under a tank stand your flooring will be worse off in the end because whatever water manages to get under it will not be able to dry out and it will sit there and mold, warp and rot your flooring. You are better off with a stand that does not have a bottom so when water does get spilled you can use a wet/dry vac and fans to dry it out when it happens.
 
I cut the carpet out before placing the stand. I figured the carpet looks like crap anyway, so i will replace it after I move. That way if I have any water spill or leak the carpet won't spell under the tank
 
Well I figured either way you're going to spill water sooner or later, I guess the rubber will give a little bit more protection then just having a wood stand sitting on the carpet, too late to have the stand build without a bottom. Probably will damage carpet either way though :(
 
I would cut the carpet out and put a piece of plywood under the stand. Paint the plywood with sealer. I know this isn't exactly what you asked for, but there really is no way to protect the carpet completely. Plus this would make the tank level and no worries about the padding or carpet being un-even.
 
If you put down rubber sheeting, plastic sheeting or anything else that cannot breath under a tank stand your flooring will be worse off in the end because whatever water manages to get under it will not be able to dry out and it will sit there and mold, warp and rot your flooring. You are better off with a stand that does not have a bottom so when water does get spilled you can use a wet/dry vac and fans to dry it out when it happens.


This is a good point and very true, I forgot to mention that in the back of my stand I used a 2 inch hole saw and made 3 half circle cuts along the base for air movement underneith the floor of the stand. I am also in Colorado with very dry air so we do not get a lot of mold.
 
Unfortunately what will happen after a number of years is when you take the tank down you will have carpet under it that has not seen wear for a number of years, while th erest of the room has. Even if the area under the atnk is noit damaged it will look like the rest of the room is really bad! You, can't win.

I have a tankl that has been on carpet for about 11 years, I hate to see how bad the rest of the romm looks when the tank comes down.
 
I agree no matter what you do the carpet will not look the same. You will just have to replace the carpet. Wow rezaktp 11 years my carpet even with out a tank would look bad in 11 years. I need to start taking my shoes off haha.
 
Maybe a nice thick granite slab? Try a looking for a left over remnant from a granite company for your tank? Careful though, might crack? Not the granite expert.
 
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