How do I find out...
 

How do I find out if my tank will fall through the floor or not?

I live on the 6th floor of an apartment building and I want to know if having a 150gal tank is out of the question. I just moved in and so far everything from my 77gal is in a 20 gal for the mean time.

Is it possible?

Thanks,
Spencer

Is it a old building or a new one? Newer ones are usually concrete floors.

If its concrete you will probably be ok. But if it is an old building made of matchsticks and sugar packs Id be very wary.
Even with concrete, I would choose the placement very carefully. Look for the pillars running in the walls. Try to place it so these pillars take the load.

On the 6th floor :eek: I wouldn't do. I know there use to be restrictions on waterbeds in apartments. If you own it check with the strata council, if you rent, check with your landlord.

the older building are probably the safer ones. i knew a guy who lived on the 3rd floor in a 2 brd apt who had around a 1000 gallons of water in tanks around the apartment. he has a structural engineer certify that it was safe and had to carry some serious insurance but no problems.

Yeah, it's an older building from the late 70's early 80's era that I own. The building is 17 stories tall and definitely concrete; it’s really solid I know this because it’s really quiet.

I don’t really want to chance it – I want to be sure. Maybe I’ll just set up my 77gal instead.

-Spencer[/quote]

If the floor is concrete, you're fine.

If it helps, I lived in an older apartment on the 4th floor, it was a walk up.

At one time I had a 77gal, a 46gal, a 29gal, 37 gal and a 10gal all setup in my living room. :lol: Thats almost 200 gals and my building was all wood, not concrete. Did I mention I lived there for over 2years too. :mrgreen: I had insurance too just to be safe. :mrgreen:

I had a friend that was a fancy pants Architect and advised me its best to put tanks against low bearing walls. That meant the out shirt walls, no inside walls. For example, the hallway wall that runs with the outside hallway of your unit. Also the wall along by a balcony, etc.

If your building is concrete then your all set. If your tank is 6ft long instead of 4 ft thats even better to since it will stretch to cover more footage and be better supported. Best of luck in you decision!

:mrgreen:


p.s. Also to if your really wanting to know where your wall beams are there is this gadget at Canadian Tire for about $50 that is a meter that points a red spectrum at the wall and detects where your beams are. I've never tried one myself but bet it be a cool toy. :mrgreen:

Load bearing walls are also concrete in these buildings, so the CT gadget won't do much good. When I worked in high rise construction, we would land a crane load of steel anywhere at all on the deck (floor area) and the load would almost always weight more than a 150g tank.

Hey good to know! :mrgreen:

It's a 4-foot 150gal. that I’m thinking of buying off a friend. I currently have a 77 gal that isn't set up which is also 4 feet long but obviously much lighter.

What type of insurance should I be buying for this? My car was stolen 2 days ago from work and so far I hate insurance!

Thanks in advance,

Spencer

I just got apartment insurance which you can add right with your car insurance policy. Think it was an extra $17 bucks a month for me. Its good to have regardless, covers other things like theif, fires, etc.

If you own your place though you will already have condo insurance. :wink:

Go ahead with the 150 gal! Like Reef Raf said, the concrete can take it no prob. If you think of it this way, you have 11 stories above you. If it could be a problem, the building would have collapsed by now, or very soon. I know where you are coming from though, it is alot of weight.

I'd be guessing but if you had it on a wall opposite your bathtub, that area should have some beefed up support. It would work well if your a shower kind of person.

Please somebody with construction experience stop the madness.

I'm no engineer but I do have some common sense to administer.
The tank will weigh somewere between 1275 and 1500Lbs.

Now imagine you have a small party at your place. You got 6 buddies over to watch the Hockey game. They average 250Lbs each that's 1500 pounds. Now are you going to send some of your buddies home because you are worried your floor is going to collapse? Maybe you'll tell them to take turns watching in the living room so there's only 3 at a time? Of course not!

Your 150 is fine. If your floor can't handle it, you should probably move anyways. The waterbeds bylaws have to do with flooding not weight. Certainly placement close to a support wall would be much less stressful on the floor. There may be less flexing if it was a wood floor as well. As for cement, no problem at all.

Water damage insurance however is a good idea. Unfortunately if you have a flood it's your downstairs neighbors that will suffer the most.

Thanks!

I just wanted others opinions on the matter and I got what I was looking for.

-Spencer

I could come over jump around if I don't fall through.....your good to go :eek: