How much weight can floorboards take ?

bigward · Post by **bigward** » 20 Sep 2006, 09:01

I have finally been given permission (from the wife) to upgrade my current 48x12x21 tank to a 48x24x24.

But before I go and buy one I just want to make sure that my floorboards wont give way under the weight.

Does anyone know how to much weight standard floorboards can take ?

Cheers

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 20 Sep 2006, 11:43

I'm sure there's some regulations and rules about it, which varies depending on the year the house was built - really old houses and new houses are better than ones built in say the 60's or 70's. I spent a few minutes trying to google for a building code that specifies the load limit of a floor, but I couldn't find any.

Also, it's not the floorboards that's going to be the greatest problem, but the joists under the floorboards.

A further consideration: The direction of the joists will be important. If you look at the floor without carpet (lift it along one edge somewhere in a corner), you'll see the floorboards going in one way. The joists will go the other direction (so that one floor-board lies on several joists). You want to spread the weight of the tank over as many justs as possible, so you want the tank to stand along the floorboards.

A 48 x 24 x 24 inch tank will weigh around 500-600 kg when filled with water (filled to the brim it takes 100 Imp gal -> 450 liters -> 450 kg). You can "experiment" by taking a few friends that add up to about 600 kg and let them stand at the suggested place of the tank - if the floor is moving a lot, you'd better "fix" the floor first.

I live in a house that I've just relaid the floors on the ground level, with the old joists. My joists didn't look bad, but some weren't exactly prime wood either, and it takes a Juwel RIO400 tank on the floor, no problem.

--
Mats

TP · Post by TP » 21 Sep 2006, 21:16

I live in a first floor flat in a victorian house that has been converted. I was concerned about putting a tank in one of the rooms but spoke to a man that did some work for me on it and he told me the joists would be fine, especially as the tank is against a wall and across several of these beams (as said before make sure the tank is across the beams). The tank is a 72x24x24 and I reckon must weigh about 700kgs. Its been there for a year now without a problem. I too thought about how many people it was comparable to and if you think that you may have 7-8 people in the centre of a room where the forces on the joists will be greater then it doesn't seem so bad.

I was more worried about the two 48x15x15 tanks I have on a two tier wrought iron stand as all their weight is on four small legs about an inch square so the pressure is a lot greater but I filled them up slowly and everything was cool. They've been there a couple of months now without a problem.

I would have thought that if sited in the right place you wouldn't have too much of an issue.

Tony

Reginator · Post by **Reginator** » 21 Sep 2006, 21:30

Before I moved, I was a plasterer in the UK. Many times when we were renovating victorian terrace houses there would be about a metric tonne (1,00kg or 1,000l) stacked up against a load bearing wall without a second thought. As long as the wall is a load bearing one you will be going cross-joist and won't have any problems up to about 1,000 litres of tank. The only thing to consider is footprint. By that I mean what area of the floor is actually in contact with the stand. You want as large a footprint as possible. A tonne spread over a couple of square metres is one thing, concentrated in four small points that add up to a square foot or less stands a good chance of punching through dry old floorboards. A large base of marine ply slightly larger than the stands dimensions will go a long way to correcting that

bigward · Post by **bigward** » 22 Sep 2006, 09:09

Thanks for the replies, I feel a lot more confident now about putting in the new tank after Christmas. My current tank lays across the beams and is next to a load-bearing wall so everything should be ok when it gets upgraded.

Cheers

Iporangensis Headach · Post by **Iporangensis Headach** » 04 Oct 2006, 23:48

I have a 48x15x12 and when i moved out i had to pull the stand "OUT" of the laminate flooring as it went through it. not bother as it was not my floor. i had a Couch and tv in close proximity to the tank as well.

If you are unsure, water seal the room and make sure there is enough water in the tank to fill the room up by 8" that way if the floor gives way a bit and the tank tips over the fish can still safly swim around the room