floor protection

George Patterson · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 241

Patrick wrote:
> Does anyone have any suggestions or experience in placing "something"
> under a tank stand to help protect hard wood floors?

How about this. Build a catch basin the same size as the inside of your cabinet.
What it's made of isn't as important as the fact that it's waterproof and can
hold at least 5 gallons of water. Place that on legs about 1" high. The rest of
the stand should be built around this. If I were building a stand, this would
form part of the bottom.

The 1" gap will prevent any water from seeping in between the bottom of the
basin and the floor. Assuming it's the same size as the stand, it's larger than
the tank, and should be able to catch anything serious.

George Patterson
Worry doesn't improve the future; it just ruins the present.

Archived from group: rec>aquaria>marine>reefs

Wayne Sallee · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 526

Then water would spill outside of the basin, and
seep under the basin.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne@WayneSallee.com

George Patterson wrote on 1/11/2008 10:51 PM:
> Patrick wrote:
>> Does anyone have any suggestions or experience in placing "something"
>> under a tank stand to help protect hard wood floors?
>
> How about this. Build a catch basin the same size as the inside of your
> cabinet. What it's made of isn't as important as the fact that it's
> waterproof and can hold at least 5 gallons of water. Place that on legs
> about 1" high. The rest of the stand should be built around this. If I
> were building a stand, this would form part of the bottom.
>
> The 1" gap will prevent any water from seeping in between the bottom of
> the basin and the floor. Assuming it's the same size as the stand, it's
> larger than the tank, and should be able to catch anything serious.
>
> George Patterson
> Worry doesn't improve the future; it just ruins the present.

Wayne Sallee · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 526

I would not remove the stand floor if it's high
enough above the house floor. If the bottom of the
stand looks like 4 2x4's on their side, and the
stand floor on top of that, then you could modify
the front 2x4 by cutting out an arch, so that you
have full access to under the stand.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne@WayneSallee.com

Patrick wrote on 1/11/2008 8:13 PM:
> Dave,
>
> Thank you for this suggestion. I really like the idea, and would never
> have thought about doing this. The stand does have a "floor" under the
> cabinet, so unless I do what Wayne suggested and modify it, maybe by
> removing the stand "floor", I would only be able to seal the outside
> part of the stand, but I think that would still give me a better measure
> of protection the wood floor.
>
> Thanks Patrick
>
>
> atomweaver" wrote in message
> @207.115.33.102...
>
>>>
>> You really don't want to put anything between the tank and the floor.
>> What
>> I'd say you want to do is isolate whatever water hits the floor from the
>> wooden structure of the tank stand. When you find the right place for
>> the
>> tank, run a wide bead of silicone caulk against it and the floor, and run
>> the bead both a half-inch up onto the wood of the stand (more of a flat
>> ribbon of caulk at that point, than it is a caulk bead), and a half-inch
>> over the floor itself, to form a caulk 'dam' a half-inch high. Do the
>> same
>> thing on the inside of the stand frame, if the stand has an open-bottom
>> interior.
>> Then, just like a caulked tub, for 5 or 10 bucks, your stand will be
>> isolated from the water, no wicking under the frame, and the floor can
>> still be easily cleaned/mopped up. Silicone caulks can be peeled off of
>> finished wood with a minimal amount of residue to clean up, if you
>> ever had
>> to move the tank. Just keep an eye out for if the tank gets bumped,
>> as the
>> caulk bead could crack. Its a cheap/easy patch repair if you catch sight
>> of a crack.
>>
>> DaveZ
>> Atom Weaver
>

charlie · Joined: 27 Sep 2007 Posts: 7

"Wayne Sallee" wrote in message $gcl$2@registered.motzarella.org...
>I would not remove the stand floor if it's high enough above the house
>floor. If the bottom of the stand looks like 4 2x4's on their side, and the
>stand floor on top of that, then you could modify the front 2x4 by cutting
>out an arch, so that you have full access to under the stand.
>
> Wayne Sallee
> Wayne@WayneSallee.com
>
>
> Patrick wrote on 1/11/2008 8:13 PM:
>> Dave,
>>
>> Thank you for this suggestion. I really like the idea, and would never
>> have thought about doing this. The stand does have a "floor" under the
>> cabinet, so unless I do what Wayne suggested and modify it, maybe by
>> removing the stand "floor", I would only be able to seal the outside part
>> of the stand, but I think that would still give me a better measure of
>> protection the wood floor.
>>
>> Thanks Patrick
>>
>>
>> atomweaver" wrote in message
>> @207.115.33.102...
>>
>>>>
>>> You really don't want to put anything between the tank and the floor.
>>> What
>>> I'd say you want to do is isolate whatever water hits the floor from the
>>> wooden structure of the tank stand. When you find the right place for
>>> the
>>> tank, run a wide bead of silicone caulk against it and the floor, and
>>> run
>>> the bead both a half-inch up onto the wood of the stand (more of a flat
>>> ribbon of caulk at that point, than it is a caulk bead), and a half-inch
>>> over the floor itself, to form a caulk 'dam' a half-inch high. Do the
>>> same
>>> thing on the inside of the stand frame, if the stand has an open-bottom
>>> interior.
>>> Then, just like a caulked tub, for 5 or 10 bucks, your stand will be
>>> isolated from the water, no wicking under the frame, and the floor can
>>> still be easily cleaned/mopped up. Silicone caulks can be peeled off of
>>> finished wood with a minimal amount of residue to clean up, if you ever
>>> had
>>> to move the tank. Just keep an eye out for if the tank gets bumped, as
>>> the
>>> caulk bead could crack. Its a cheap/easy patch repair if you catch
>>> sight
>>> of a crack.
>>>
>>> DaveZ
>>> Atom Weaver

put in a tiled area under the tank and extending out a bit. there is no 100%
way to prevent water damage to a wooden floor otherwise.

Wayne Sallee · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 526

That would require damaging the wood floor in that area.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne@WayneSallee.com

charlie wrote on 1/14/2008 12:20 PM:
> put in a tiled area under the tank and extending out a bit. there is no 100%
> way to prevent water damage to a wooden floor otherwise.
>
>

Patrick · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 14

I appreciate all the input and ideas, thanks. I think I'm going to modify
the stand a bit and try to be extra careful (for what good that will really
do). I really don't want to get into modifying the floor.

Thanks everyone Patrick

"Wayne Sallee" wrote in message $m39$1@registered.motzarella.org...
> That would require damaging the wood floor in that area.
>
> Wayne Sallee
> Wayne@WayneSallee.com
>
>
> charlie wrote on 1/14/2008 12:20 PM:
>> put in a tiled area under the tank and extending out a bit. there is no
>> 100% way to prevent water damage to a wooden floor otherwise.
>>

charlie · Joined: 27 Sep 2007 Posts: 7

"Wayne Sallee" wrote in message $m39$1@registered.motzarella.org...
> That would require damaging the wood floor in that area.
>
> Wayne Sallee
> Wayne@WayneSallee.com
>
>
> charlie wrote on 1/14/2008 12:20 PM:
>> put in a tiled area under the tank and extending out a bit. there is no
>> 100% way to prevent water damage to a wooden floor otherwise.
>>

i meant replace the wooden floor with tile. the floor installer should do
this when the floor is built. if you already have the floor when you want to
install the tank, have a floor installer come in and remove the wooden floor
in that spot.

that would be the best looking and most safe option.

KurtG · Joined: 10 Dec 2007 Posts: 57

Patrick wrote:
>> charlie wrote on 1/14/2008 12:20 PM:
>>> put in a tiled area under the tank and extending out a bit. there is
>>> no 100% way to prevent water damage to a wooden floor otherwise.
>>>

Why not put the stand in an acrylic tray or similar?

Wayne Sallee · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 526

charlie wrote on 1/15/2008 9:42 AM:
> "Wayne Sallee" wrote in message
> $m39$1@registered.motzarella.org...
>> That would require damaging the wood floor in that area.
>>
>> Wayne Sallee
>> Wayne@WayneSallee.com
>>
>>
>> charlie wrote on 1/14/2008 12:20 PM:
>>> put in a tiled area under the tank and extending out a bit. there is no
>>> 100% way to prevent water damage to a wooden floor otherwise.
>>>
>
> i meant replace the wooden floor with tile. the floor installer should do
> this when the floor is built. if you already have the floor when you want to
> install the tank, have a floor installer come in and remove the wooden floor
> in that spot.
>
> that would be the best looking and most safe option.
>
>

That would require damaging the wood floor in that area.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne@WayneSallee.com

Patrick · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 14

That would be ideal - the section of the floor that the tank stands on being
tile instead of the wood, but it's cost prohibitive as far as I'm concerned.
And then it ruins the floor, which is more important than the tank.

Thanks though Patrick

"charlie" wrote in message $i8$1@aioe.org...
>
> "Wayne Sallee" wrote in message
> $m39$1@registered.motzarella.org...
>> That would require damaging the wood floor in that area.
>>
>> Wayne Sallee
>> Wayne@WayneSallee.com
>>
>>
>> charlie wrote on 1/14/2008 12:20 PM:
>>> put in a tiled area under the tank and extending out a bit. there is no
>>> 100% way to prevent water damage to a wooden floor otherwise.
>>>
>
> i meant replace the wooden floor with tile. the floor installer should do
> this when the floor is built. if you already have the floor when you want
> to install the tank, have a floor installer come in and remove the wooden
> floor in that spot.
>
> that would be the best looking and most safe option.
>