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Will I make a hole in the ground?


ally07

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Hi all

We're in the market for a rental at the moment and we saw one yesterday which we really liked. Only (potential) problem is, I know where my tank COULD go, but whether or not I SHOULD put it there is another thing. Basically, it's on the ground floor (no basement) and the flooring is plywood. My tank capacity is approximately 750L, plus glass weight, plus wooden stand - I estimate that it weighs just over 1 tonne.

Questions:

1. Is it safe to put it on the plywood floor if it's on the ground floor?

2. Will it cause any damage to the floor?

3. Can I reduce the damage/ spread the weight more by putting some carpet offcuts underneath the tank stand?

Thanks - I just want to be prepared to argue my case if the landlord does accept our application!

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hey to be honest mate its a huge risk the only way u could have it safely if you could find the foundation braces which spread across the floor and that is the safest way but depending on how big they are you might not be able to get your tank on two of them.have a look at the property under neath the house if you can

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Doesn't matter that it's ground floor.. it's still suspended over the ground.

If you can crawl under the floor then find out which way the joists run(timbers holding the plywood floor)

When you place the tank its direction should be perpendicular to the joists and cover as many of them as possible.

Also important that your stand spread the load evenly across all joist. Forget about plywood or carpet or whatever, that does nothing structurally. So don't have a stand with legs. You need a stand that has a bottom frame that crosses as many joists as possible..

As for if it will actually hold... it probably will if you place the tank on an external wall (closer to where the joists are supported) and follow above suggestions.

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Most stands spread out the weight over a large area so when it goes through it wont make much of a hole in the ground if that is your concern :)

But seriously just do as the others have suggested climb under and have a good look at what joists/piles are under and place the tank on the strongest point. Or strengethen as required, if in doubt get a builder or an engineer to have a look first.

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I have my Tank on a timber floor. I put it across the joists and as close to a bearer as possible.

I also put some 4x2 struts under the center of the joist spans just in case and it holds up 800+ ltrs of water easy.

My joists are 125x50, 440 apart and in good condition.

Would be easier to go messing around under the house if we actually owned the place haha. But if our application is successful, we'll have another look and actually see if it's doable. Will probably have to get an engineer friend to have a look too.

It's a pity - it's such a nice place! :facepalm:

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That is insane! Man, I would NOT want to be the downstairs neighbours should anything go wrong lol...

Anyway - quick update for anybody interested. We managed to find a place for cheaper than the place I posted about. (Turns out, the 'plywood' was just a skin - it was concrete foundation underneath all the while! :facepalm:)

But the new place has an outdoor shed where I can run power to and it's got a concrete floor (just need to check that it's level). So, there's no risk of flooding the house/ wetting the carpet, water change can go straight into the nearby drain and filling up will be with the hose 3m away! :happy2:

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Another question though - does a slightly uneven concrete surface create a huge safety risk for a tank? I know that ideally the concrete should be completely level, but it's an outdoor shed, so I'm not sure how much detail went into its construction.

How uneven is too uneven?

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depends on how your stand is built. for small gaps (up to 5 mm) you could use dpc (damp proof course, available from placies, bunnings etc). anything bigger than that you'd be best to use timber packers (ideally ply as it doesn't compress). how handy are you with power tools?

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lol.. Not very handy. The tank is a wooden cabinet on caster wheels, I think there are about 8 of them if memory serves. I don't think that the unevenness is so bad that I would need timber packers.. (or do I? lol)

To be honest, I will need to go back and have a second look (which will be this Sat), to fully determine how even/ uneven the concrete is. I'm just thinking worst case scenario here whereby the builder who built the shed just couldn't be bothered with a level lol. I HOPE that's not the case, but I'd prefer to have some solutions floating around in my head before facing the scenario haha.

What would be the best way to measure the evenness of the ground? I'm planning to use a level, but that might not be able to tell me if there are little "dips" here and there, which will ultimately affect the way the tank sits.

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the easiest thing to do is put the stand in place and see how it sits. if there are any gaps between the castors and the concrete pack them with a non-compressable material. i would be pretty surprised if there was anything like 1-2cm difference. chuck a level over the stand aswell to see if it needs levelling.

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the easiest thing to do is put the stand in place and see how it sits. if there are any gaps between the castors and the concrete pack them with a non-compressable material. i would be pretty surprised if there was anything like 1-2cm difference. chuck a level over the stand aswell to see if it needs levelling.

OK.. So I put the stand where I want it, and give it a little jiggle? If there are any gaps/ movement, I'll know that it's very uneven. What if there is no movement, but somehow the level shows that the ground is on a SLIGHT tilt (for the sake of argument, the bubble is halfway past one of the middle lines), would that require any packing?

Thanks for all the replies, btw. I'm a complete engineering/ DIY noob, but I do know that I don't want my tank to crack lol!

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your tank being a little bit out of level isn't going to harm it (alothough it will mean an uneven gap between the top and the waterline which can be bad aesthetically). put the level on the stand, if it is out of level lift the low side of the level till the buble is centered. this will give you an indication of how much the floor is out by. if you think it is too much, put some packers under the low side of the stand untill it is level (or close to). then put packers under the castors that have been lifeted off the ground.

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If it is on castor wheels then take the weight of the tank,stand and water and divide by 8 and that is the force on each castor. Not forgetting this is on a concrete floor in a garage not built to the standard required in a dwelling and probably without steel reinforcing. Chances are you will break the concrete floor. Suggest you remove the castors as there will be very little area in contact with the floor.

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