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Civil Engineer Recommendations

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dangalang

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Anyone have a recommendation for a civil engineer? I have the green light to get a bigger tank, the only constraint being it needs to be upstairs. I'd want to get the biggest tank I could and also have confidence I'm not overloading the structure of the house.

Edit: Location is South Bay/San Jose.
 
Check in with Mark Garrison at MG Constructors out of Morgan Hill, feel free to drop my name. They retrofitted and repaired my foundation, came in under bid and under quoted time, and his crew was really friendly and helpful.
 
My last 120 gallon was on the second floor. The main things you want to consider are:
  • If the tank will sit perpendicular to the joists. The more joists it sits on the better to help distribute the weight. Joists are typically spaced 16" so a 48" tank can sit on up to three of them if perpendicular.
  • How close is it to a load bearing wall. The closer the better. If you're placing it up against an exterior wall then it's most likely a load bearing wall.
My neighbor paid $600 for a structural engineer to come out and do a formal calculation and report for the weight capacity of the spot she wanted to place her tank (60 gallons and it was more than ok). If you want to go that route I can ask for a reference and if he services the SJ area.
 
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I've seen several 180's and a few 240&s on second floors which is the main living room kitchen area. Common when houses build start at street level then drop down the hill with a floor or two below. Definitely good to check with engineer who will need to know joist size and spread to make any calculations as mentioned above. Only thing that's kinda hard predicting is if the tank will settle level or lean a touch when it's filled due to sagging joists under pressure heck alota houses have settled outa wack over the years naturally out of level. Another aspect is feeling a slight bounce/flex on door when walking by the tank due to load compression weight..Can feel weird and concerning even though the engineer totally approved the weight..
Good luck
 
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