Any floor protection under a tank?

[richiev]

Red Sea Reefer 500. We just got new LVP flooring installed. The subfloor turned out to be wood planks (that part of the house is probably from 1950).

Installer suggested before putting the stand back in place I put something under the feet to help with support, such as some plywood. The tank is perpendicular to the direction the boards run.

I didn't have anything they under it before, but given how much flooring costs I'm debating. I could stick a piece of plywood under. If I did, I'd cut it small enough so it wouldn't stick out from under the stand, and be the width of the feet + a bit.

Thoughts? If I went this way, any suggestion on wood thickness?

The other thing I'd like to do is do something to reduce the risk of water getting under the stand. Whenever I spill it almost without question goes under the stand, and it's a huge PITA trying to push the corner of towels under. Putting something under would reduce the chances of water getting to unreachable spots, but increase the chance water gets under that board and is sitting there molding or otherwise causing issues. Another middle ground for that could be to just put squares of wood under each foot, spreading the weight a bit more. That seems complicated though

 

[richiev]

Updated thought if I do this, I'd probably instead either buy tiles, or just keep some offcuts of the planks we have. Tile would be hard and help spread load. LVP would help avoid there being indentations from the stand feet and to a very minor load spread. Both would be waterproof.

 

[finalphaze987]

I went down this rabbithole with my contractor after telling him I needed the corner of my room to support around a ton. Dude looked at me crazy and ended up bringing in a structural engineer to map things out for us. I ended up with a metal plate and an eternally cold floor in my tank area during the winter.

Rather than putting it on wood blocks, would ypu be opposed to putting your current stand on a frame of aluminum extrusion? You'd be able to elevate your stand to deal with spills easily.

You wouldn't need casters, but they do have leveling feet like the ones on my extension box that can elevate it slightly. With LVP, you don't have to worry about denting or scratching luckily, and although it holds up well against water, I'd imagine you'd want to be able to dry it to avoid mold.

 

[finalphaze987]

Just the section pictured.

 

[Galoot]

Updated thought if I do this, I'd probably instead either buy tiles, or just keep some offcuts of the planks we have. Tile would be hard and help spread load. LVP would help avoid there being indentations from the stand feet and to a very minor load spread. Both would be waterproof.

This is the better solution. Plywood will take on any water, LVP planks will not. Make a simple frame the matches the footprint of the stand. The weight will be distributed out from the frame to the floor. And denting from the weight of the feet will happen to the frame and not your floor beneath.

 

[richiev]

Regarding @Galoot / @finalphaze987 type of suggestion, I have some of the extra flooring. My plan is to make a frame the same size as the stand out of the vinyl planks. What I can't decide is what direction to make the planks.

Here's a picture of the subfloor layout and the floor itself. The subfloor is wooden boards, not plywood, given the age of the house. In retrospect I'm debating if I should have asked them to install a second plywood subfloor over it, but it's far too late for that.

The joists run left to right. That subfloor boards run top to bottom. The flooring is laid left to right.

The extra layer of vinyl planks I have laying out in the picture, and I can either lay them:

• top to bottom, running the short direction on the stand, same direction as subfloor,
• left to right, running the long direction of the stand same direction as planks.

My gut says it probably doesn't matter, but going top to bottom would be perpendicular to the existing layer of flooring and for some reason seems better. It will be a lot more cutting of planks, but should be easy m straightforward if I borrow a mitre saw from someone.

Anyone have thoughts? Maybe cc @H2OPlayar since I think you do some sort of mechanical engineering and might have an opinion, and @Srt4eric since he has experiences in all the things it seems.

Here's a pic of the subfloor if helpful.

 

[MichaelB]

I'm confused by the size of readsea tanks, Reefer 500 according to google I gathered is 100 gallons roughly (so going of the assumption that this is correct)

For a 100gallon system provided your not on the second floor, your house doesn't have any soft spots when you walk, you jump up and down and nothing shifts. In my mind you would easily be fine.

As far as the planks I would go with whatever direction you prefered, less cuts, less work, in the end go with what look you think you would like.

Those planks again assuming it's laminate of some kind ? Aren't typically sturdy/ thick enough to make anything structurally sound (in any meaningful way) compared to a extra layer of plywood or osb.

For a 100gallon gallon system, In short I wouldn’t over think things unless there were obvious issues i referenced above. Much Larger systems yes but not for a tank of this size.

Only my opinion, no expert advice by any means.

 

[Galoot]

I concur with Michael. Do what’s easiest to make the frame or platform. You’re over thinking it just a little

 

[Turkeysammich]

Here’s what I learned over the years of thinking about weight and floor joists.
Anything under 120 gallons is fine. The best is to be perpendicular to the floor joists. Try to pick a spot where you can get as many joints as possible even if it’s only a 1/8” on the joints. Plywood under layment will spread the load. Thicker plywood is better. Like 3/4”-1”. If you’re really worried about floor sagging you can jack the floor. Add 4x4 in the opposite direction of the floor joists.

 

[H2OPlayar]

Close to walls are also stronger usually.

Agree here, 125 gallons isn't huge as its 900 lbs spread over 8 ft^2 or so. About the same as a 200 lb person standing on their toes for pressure, and like 4-5 friends giving each other a group hug.

Also, your sub floor looks like is is made of 6 or 8 x 2's or something strong. That will definitely help spread the load over the floor joists better. My subfloor in Sunnyvale was thick like this, and we added some structure to go under the 168 tank, and after the reinforcing, you could jump next to the tank and the tank wouldn't feel it/ vibrate any.

The extra layer of vinyl planks aren't doing anything other than protecting the existing vinyl planks, which is up to you if it has value. My gut is that the tank will compress the vinyl and you'll want to replace the flooring locally anyway after the tank is removed in ten years or whenever.

Does the stand have feet? Those will take a lot of pressure and will dent flooring almost for sure. I would think about making the stand flat along the whole bottom so at least you get a frame of distribution instead of 4-6 small circles.

 

[PjFish]

Did the contractor lay down a roll of that quiet step foam or plastic before the LVP? For water I just tossed down a blue tarp put stand on top once filled with water took razor blade cutting flush with stand.. bottom of stand is 2x6 wood framing with raised plywood floor that sump sits on no feet luckily floor was pretty level so no need for shims. Yes ideally should have put a shower pan liner inside the stand but wanted some protection covering the wood flooring like when water splashes out the top of tank and runs down the sides.

 

[richiev]

General response, thanks for the feedback. The focus in the original post was intended to be about protecting the flooring, not the structure, since as noted by others the planks aren't structural support.

Did the contractor lay down a roll of that quiet step foam or plastic before the LVP? ...

Yes, layer of moisture barrier / foamy stuff laid down

...
Also, your sub floor looks like is is made of 6 or 8 x 2's or something strong. That will definitely help spread the load over the floor joists better. My subfloor in Sunnyvale was thick like this, and we added some structure to go under the 168 tank, and after the reinforcing, you could jump next to the tank and the tank wouldn't feel it/ vibrate any.

The extra layer of vinyl planks aren't doing anything other than protecting the existing vinyl planks, which is up to you if it has value. My gut is that the tank will compress the vinyl and you'll want to replace the flooring locally anyway after the tank is removed in ten years or whenever.

Does the stand have feet? Those will take a lot of pressure and will dent flooring almost for sure. I would think about making the stand flat along the whole bottom so at least you get a frame of distribution instead of 4-6 small circles.

Yes, my thought here was less about the floor buckling or having issues, and more about the planks being protected. I will have enough extra planks on hand that even if they got screwed up they could be replaced. However, my understanding from chatting with the installers is it'll be a lot of work to do that. They would need to start at one wall, remove all the planks up to the one they need to replace, then replace, then reinstall again.

The stand does have feet, not a flat surface.

---
Sounds like the gist is do the planks whichever way is more convenient, and protecting LVP at that point is esoteric enough that I should probably contact the installer and see if they have any recommendation. I'll probably just borrow a mitre saw from someone and start cutting pieces along whichever grain seems to make it less visible.

 

[B the Nano Reefer]

Is your concern about protecting the floor on the pressure points where the feet touch the floor, or from water under the stand, or both? While planks will probably accomplish the former, I would think that if water somehow gets between the tiny gap between the floor and the planks (where you can’t obviously reach it to dry and where no air is going to get), your floors are probably going to be worse off than it would be without the planks assuming you can kinda sorta get under the stand to dry stuff and give it some exposure to air.

 

[richiev]

Is your concern about protecting the floor on the pressure points where the feet touch the floor, or from water under the stand, or both? While planks will probably accomplish the former, I would think that if water somehow gets between the tiny gap between the floor and the planks (where you can’t obviously reach it to dry and where no air is going to get), your floors are probably going to be worse off than it would be without the planks assuming you can kinda sorta get under the stand to dry stuff and give it some exposure to air.

Mostly was indentations and causing issues with the floor itself. Regarding water issues, I was also debating that. Maybe that's a justification to go with my hybrid option where I put the planks down, but only enough that it covers the area where the feet are.

I also was considering trying to build a water barrier at the base of the stand, but I don't see how to really do a foolproof version of that. If it's not tight to the ground, then it does nothing. If it is tight to the ground, it probably just wicks water underneath it... One other option is put some cloth under there to act as the barrier, where at least if it wicks it up it I'd be able to pull it out.

Stupid flooring.

 

[H2OPlayar]

If it helps any, my thoughts are to screw the floor and let the future you solve it. You've got a lot of good ideas, try to not overcomplicate it. Water will go everywhere eventually so mentally just prepare for the floor replacement/refinish in time. I still like the idea of sacrificial vinyl planks and keeping only that for simplicity. For waterproofing, shower pan liner inside if you can, but don't worry too much.

 

[MarcosD]

If it helps any, my thoughts are to screw the floor and let the future you solve it. You've got a lot of good ideas, try to not overcomplicate it. Water will go everywhere eventually so mentally just prepare for the floor replacement/refinish in time. I still like the idea of sacrificial vinyl planks and keeping only that for simplicity. For waterproofing, shower pan liner inside if you can, but don't worry too much.

I live by the “future me problem” rule. But then future me hates past me lol

 

[PjFish]

I used a drip pan under a 75 gallon cichlid tank once that was on a shag carpeted room just painted the edges black worked good..I tossed in one of those small automatic sump/bilge pumps inside on the pan then put the drain hose from the bilge pump into the sump.. Think I had to cut a small square in the stands floor so pump sat on pan..It was an old washer& dryer double pan.
Any sheet metal shop can fabricate one to specs in a couple days..

 

[richiev]

Yesterday I was trying to clean out my overflow section. I had scraped a bunch of dead vermetids and wanted to flush it out with water. I put a bucket underneath, thinking it would catch the water.

This was a very silly plan, and not only resulted in most water missing the bucket while I poured and couldn't see, the bucket also fell over. All of that flooded the thankfully empty under tank storage area and the floor.

I did the best I could on the floor, and afterwards I decided I wanted some amount of water leak control in the stand.

Here's my super basic water control:

The gist is I applied silicone sealant to the edge of the stand, all the way around. My hope being this would lead to all the water falling out the section near the bottom of the picture where the door is. That would then mean at least the water all comes out one area, or pools.

I did the same under the sump itself, but not the far side. My thinking there being it's impossible for me to get to the far end, so I want water to leak out that way, but hopefully not to the center/underneath.

Not my finest diy, but if I tried to get it perfect I would've never done it. It looks better than this picture portrays. The swirls aren't silicone, that's old super glue or something.

 

[MichaelB]

I installed a shower pan linner under my 65gallon sump. Made the bottom of the stand 100%water tight. The only way it could spill out was if water rose above the edges of bottom of stand. Not possible without full tank failure. Because that bottom section could hold 4 times the amount of water than the sumps capacity.

I no longer have this tank as ofnlast week fyi.


My new 200 doesnt have a back plate on the stand kind like yours in the front. So I'm strongly considering trying to diy a peice of wood across the bacn tk be able install a shower pan linner for peace of mind.

210gallon tank, 48 gallon sump
Implies any serious over flow issue would suck like heck if 30 gallons or mpre of water somehow ended up on my floors ='s a potential future nightmare. I would like to attempt to avoid.

In short there is glue you place under the linner and around the sides. There are many utube vidoes that show you how to fold the corners ensuring the end results are 100% water proof.

Forgive the crazy long response. Yet I highly recommend this stand modification to anyone.

Shower pan liner is about $42 at home depot for a 6ft×5ft peice. Glue is about $10. (Comes in a can looking like pvc glue.)

 

[richiev]

View attachment 67076

I installed a shower pan linner under my 65gallon sump. Made the bottom of the stand 100%water tight. The only way it could splill out was if water rose above the edges of bottom of stand. Not possible without full tank failer. Becauee that bottom section could hold 4 times the amount of water than the sumps capacity.

I no longer have this tank as ofnlast week fyi.


My new 200 doesnt have a back plate on the stand kind like yours in the front. So I'm strongly considering trying to diy a peice of wood across the bacn tk be able install a shower pan linner for peace of mind.

210gallon tank, 48 gallon sump
Implies any serious over flow issue would suck like heck if 30 gallons or mpre of water somehow ended up on my floors ='s a potential future nightmare. I would like to attempt to avoid.

In short there is glue you place under the linner and around the sides. There are many utube vidoes that show you how to fold the corners ensuring the end results are 100% water proof.

Forgive the crazy long response. Yet I highly recommend this stand modification to anyone.

Shower pan liner is about $42 at home depot for a 6ft×5ft peice. Glue is about $10. (Comes in a can looking like pvc glue.)

I'm aligned that's a good/reasonable solution. The big thing though is all any of these solutions will help with is a very small amount of water. Realistically only helping catch the equivalent of a slightly leaking bulkhead until you visually see the drips or a leak sensor triggers.

For example, looking at the pic there, it looks very watertight, but the total volume it's going to capture is length * width * height of the area that's free.

My guess is the area that doesn't have the sump sitting in it (which doesn't count) is something like 5cm * 3cm * 5cm on each side.

Let's round way up and say it's 10cm*10*10 * 4. If you ask Google:

(10cm*10cm*10cm*4) in gallons

Google says 1 gallon. So none of these will help with a 30 gallon spill.

I think they're still worthwhile, but good to keep in mind their efficacy.