General rule of thumb isn't much help on this. About like asking "as a general rule of thumb, how much wind will it take to blow down my 2 story house?" The answer would be it depends basically on how old the house is. If it's 100 years old and hasn't been maintained, it may not take much wind, but if it's a year old, it may withstand a lot of wind. It would also depend if it was well built or built by someone that didn't know what they were doing. The above answers were good once the age and location were determined. Even then that's not exact as there can be some variables.
Tank upstairs
- Thread starter Dummyforclownfi
- Start date
We have a 105 gallon (weighs 800 lbs empty) sitting on the main floor above a basement. Our subfloor is thick diagonal planking topped with half-inch plywood, topped again with quarter inch ply to even out imperfections---it sits in a corner along the center 'spine' wall of a 1950's rancher. I have been shown houses where a step on the second floor causes the whole floor to quake---that would be a no. If you have a good supporting load-bearing wall and good subfloor, or foam concrete (apartment) I'd say you'd be good: we had to move ours when we took up the carpet and put down laminate, and I'd estimate our weight at about 1600 lbs. [We emptied it down to about 8" to get felt glides under it.]
fabulousfavia
Member
I have a lot of tanks upstaitrs. 55g, 40g, qt, four nano tanks, and a horseshoe crab tank.
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dutch27
New member
IBC live loads for habitable residential space is 40psf live load. I recently did some timber member load ratings at work and got into the loadings and AWC span tables a bit. 3000psf is massive, pedestrian bridges are only designed for 90psf live load, warehouse space for heavy storage is 250psf (I also recently rated a steel storage deck). I'd be surprised if someone was spec'ing a house for 3000psf live load.
OP I would recommend engaging a local engineer or architect if you're concerned. Get a licensed professional to give a formal opinion. If they are wrong, they are liable. They also know your local codes and typical local methods of construction. It's worth it if you're worried. Think of it as an insurance policy.
OP I would recommend engaging a local engineer or architect if you're concerned. Get a licensed professional to give a formal opinion. If they are wrong, they are liable. They also know your local codes and typical local methods of construction. It's worth it if you're worried. Think of it as an insurance policy.
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