Structural Engineer?

[michika]

Does anyone in town have a recommendation for a Structural Engineer? I want someone to come out and look at a potential property, and its suitability in regards to a large tank.

[Black Phantom]

I imagine we have a few good qualified people online here that could help you out. I owned a building inspection company for 8 years so I can answer some questions but I'm not an engineer.
What are your concerns with this new place as far as tank instalation goes?

[michika]

I wanted opinions on the existing floor in a basement for the most part at the moment. Its a cement floor in a home built in 86-87. I'm sure I would have had to beef up the floor, but I wanted to know more about it and the foundation. Unfortunately the place sold at some point last night.

What would I want to look for in terms of a foundation if I wanted to put a long, deep, and shallow tank.

[Black Phantom]

You don't need to beef up a basement as it's concrete but upper floors are another matter. If you find a house just repost this and hopefully someone can help

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Black Phantom

You don't need to beef up a basement as it's concrete but upper floors are another matter.

Yep.

The foundation is the walls (with a thicker "footing" at the base), and is not what you are concerned about if you are putting a tank in the basement. A basement floor made of concrete (cement is the stuff in a bag) from that era has a minimum of 2" thickness, but usually 3"+. The concrete has to be poured on undisturbed soil or tamped soil (that's a whole 'nother subject tho). So the soil underneath is very firm. The combinatin of the firm soil and the concrete creates a very strong floor, and if in good condition (no large cracks) wouldn't need any sort of reinforcement. Now, if your tank is like 500+ gallons then you may need to pour a second layer of concrete over top of the existing floor.

On a ground level floor (even if only one storey) or higher then beefing up may be necessary.