Big tanks on Texas foundations

[HM3105]

Hey all,

For those of you who have bigger tanks, was there any concern about how it would impact the foundation of your house? I've been considering adding a larger tank but one of the concerns I have is whether it will harm my foundation with our wonderful Texas clay.

Is it more a matter of placement (i.e. don't put it in the corner of the house)?

Thanks in advance..

 

[Sherman]

How big are you going? Where are you going to place it? I think Home Slabs are 2000-3000PSI. A 200 gallon weighs @2500+-lbs. but the weight is spread across the weight of the stand. Someone else will have to chime in with the math and stand-weight Distribution. But, Even if you balanced the 200 gallon tank on one 1"x1" leg, you would be fine. [smilie=lol.gif]

 

[DaveJ]

Yes its a concern. I would have the floor/foudnation inspected and any drain or feed lines mapped to see where they run to insure the foundation is not already compromised. An already moving/moved foundation couple be a bad deal on a large tank,

 

[pjracer]

Never had a problem. Had a 300


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[Guest]

+1 with davej get foundation checked first before putting tank up. If you put tank up and level the tank and add livestock then in the future you do have foundation issues then you might have to relevel the tank and that might have to be done by removing the water to adjust it


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[rickyb]

My foundation was done at 3500psi if I recall correctly. I also added the tank on top of one of the concrete trenches. So far no problems that I can tell.

 

[TiberianSun]

I've got a 450G and a 300G and haven't had any issues. I would not recommend putting flooring under the tank though. We did under our 300G and I'm sure it will be dented if we ever move the tank. Most homes in Texas are a slab on grade type construction. With the slab sitting on solid dirt you wouldn't have an issue. Also since the load is spread out over a large area it would be less of an issue.

If you have a pier and beam house then it's a different discussion. The strength of the floor on a pier and beam constructed house is based upon the size of the joists in the floor.

 

[Laser]

I had an engineering firm come out and access my garage where the tank was going to be placed and all was good as no lines of any type were running in the concrete and so they had no worries with the load being spread out over the entire 11 foot x 4 foot area(1000 gallons and 350 gallon sump below). I was thinking they would have suggested to make improvements but not the case. I would only be concerned if I had a pier and foundation.

 

[HM3105]

Thanks everyone!

Seems like I should consider talking with an engineer. Our house is roughly 12 years old and we haven't notice any thing yet. The tank would probably be around 6'x2'x1.5' so around 120 gallons, sump volume would approximate 75 gallons. I was considering placing it in one of the downstairs front rooms but on am interior wall rather exterior wal, not sure if that matters or not though.

 

[Laser]

@HM3105 wrote:

I would have no concerns with a tank that size. 500 or more you may want to consider making sure..

 

[mukymuk]

Agree. 120 gallons isn't enough to be worried about. That's less than 1lbs/sq. in. I'm not a structural engineer, but that number strikes me as insignificant. Honestly, I wouldn't be concerned with a 1000 gallon tank either as it would be spread out over more area as a matter of practicality anyway.

I was briefly concerned with this issue when I built my 425 gallon tank. After a few minutes of back-of-the-napkin math, I convinced myself that weight/area factor was at least an order of magnitude away from being a concern. So far, Newton seems to agree with my calculations.

That said, if the earth moves under your tank, you will have to deal with it. It will move; it's just a matter of time.

 

[Baldguy]

Agree with others. When you said "big tank" I was thinking 500+. No worries with yours.