new house, fish room, laminate floor & a reef tank

Decz · 06-03-2007, 01:38 PM

Well, let the projects begin!

At the absolute last possible minute we found a new house. It is everything that we wanted plus some! There is a completely finished rec room which will turn into my office/lounge/fish room. It even has a small, walk in closet sized kitchenette...complete with a stainless sink, cupboards and a fridge. The layout is amazing, the kitchenette it right beside where I will place my reef tank. Basically I just have to plumb the water drain line and the freshwater top-up line about 3 feet and through one wall (which will be completely hidden from view).

This room has laminate floors - they are beautiful, but can be a potential disaster should there be a leak. And, I am a total disaster when it comes to keeping the water off the floor. I'm just realizing now that the wall behind me tank needs to be sanded and painted and the carpet needs some serious soaking and cleaning once the tank is moved....

So, that being said I need to come up with a plan for the new house. The reef tank is going in a corner, about 6 feet out from the actual corner and just on the other side of the doorway to my new fish room kitchenette. To save the laminate floors, I was thinking of building a platform to put the tank on - basically just a simple stage riser. Except this one would have lips around the edge, a drain in the middle and have to be sloped somewhat.

I would like to set it up as automatic as possible. My brother suggested that I run a line to a bucket or rubbermaid, then run a bilge pump in that container that connects directly to the outgoing line under the sink. I think I'm just going to plumb a line from the drain to a bucket, then put the bilge pump right in the bucket and plump another line to the out going line under my sink.

Any suggestions?

Decz · 06-03-2007, 01:48 PM

Here is a pic of the little fish-kitchen...

And a pic of the rec room. To the left is the fish-kitchen and to the right is a bathroom. I'm going to put the tank between the two, but on an angle facing towards the camera. The kitchen won't be used for anything but fish things, so the tank can totally block visability to that room without issue. This also gives me plenty of room to get at my sumps and fuge's behind the tank.

OrionGirl · 06-03-2007, 01:48 PM

Bigger concern is to determine what kind of laminate flooring you have and how it was installed. A bit of water isn't an issue for most brands, as long as it's not standing water on the seams for a long time (days), and even then, if the slats were glued together on installation, standing water isn't even a problem. Most newer laminates are put in 'floating'--means the boards are locked to each other, but they are not attached to the subfloor or walls, so you don't get buckling when boards contract/expand with temperature changes.

Why is this important? Because a large, heavy weight will prevent the flooring from expanding/contracting evenly, resulting in buckling and seams pulling apart. When I re-did the basement in my house in Wyoming, I knew I wanted laminate flooring, but that's where the tanks were, and I wasn't sure how the would work together. After a LOT of time talking with the pro's, I determined that there was no way to put the tanks on the laminate. A tank puts more pounds per square inch down than anything else common in a house--fridge, couch, stove, etc. Smaller tanks probably wouldn't cause as much of a problem, but I wouldn't put anything bigger than about a 40 on a laminate floor.

I ended up putting in an area of 20x20 tiles, surrounded by the wood laminate. It was big enough to be used as an office area (that's how we staged it to sell the house anyway!), and looked pretty nice.

Decz · 06-03-2007, 02:03 PM

oh man, I didn't even think of that! It is snap together, floating laminate flooring. No glue.

A friend of mine just had to replace her laminate floor because of a water cooler that leaked while she was at work last week. They entire floor warped and buckled. So that was the only thing running through my head. I didn't even begin to think about expanding etc.

I'll get talking to some flooring shops around here, but the tile option sounds like it might be what is best. Blah... a lot more work than I was planning for!

OrionGirl · 06-03-2007, 02:08 PM

We put the tile in, and then the laminate, but that was mostly logistics. You'll probably want to pull out boards a little but further out than you want the tile down so you can glue them as you put them back in. We glued all the boards going out about 4 feet from the tank, and then along the hallway from the bathroom to the tank. Didn't have any problems, and there was a bit of spillage, though no all out soaking.

Emg · 06-03-2007, 04:37 PM

Dec, how exciting ! What fun to plan !

and....I'd call that a Fishinette....

zanzimog · 06-04-2007, 07:23 AM

Congrats on the new reef rumpus room!

The stuff about laminate flooring is all news to me. Good to know.

Slick Fork · 06-04-2007, 08:05 AM

That looks like an incredigle opportunity! I'm really looking forward to seeing how this all comes together for you.

Some laminates are better than others when it comes to water resistance, unfortunately there's only the hard way to find out once it's installed. Most newer non bargain brands will be ok as long as the water isn't left standing for hours on end and there's not tons of it.

Looking at the pictures, I second the tile motion and would personally set it up so you could stage it as a wet bar or something when it's time to move. That's how our "fish space" will be presented. Tile will probably be less work then developing a sloped platform with a drain.

The laminate should lift up and reinstall easily enough to tile an area, that's the beauty of the floating floor systems is ease of repair. A little extra work now will pay off dividends later!

OrionGirl · 06-04-2007, 08:27 AM

What's funny about the entire thing is that the only reason I even asked a professional before putting in the floor was that I was worried that the weight would damage the floor--dent it or something. My first question was "Would something weighing about 1500 pounds damage the floor?" They wanted to know how many pounds per square inch, and we did a rough estimate of the stand, came up with no more than 10 pounds per square inch...Which is pretty trivial, clearly not enough to damage the board. Then they asked if we were moving something across the floor, and pointed out that a cart or dolly would be best. When I said No, this is something stationary that won't be moving around they gave me that 'look'--you know, the one that says you're crazy, what can you possibly have in your house that weighs anywhere close 1500 pounds? It took a bit of arguing about how much 120 gallons of sand, water and rock + the stand, tanks, and canopy realistically would weigh before they'd explain why it even mattered.

Decz · 12-22-2007, 05:09 PM

Hey, It's been awhile... a long while

Thought I'd give an update, specifically to this thread. After speaking to a few flooring guys we determined that if we placed the tank on an angle, about 7 feet off the wall with a rubberized matt underneath, we'd have very little issue with the floating floors issue that OG mentions above. Luckily for me, with the layout of the room and the space needed for sump and pumps and equipment behnd the tank the layout was fine. It worked well, VERY WELL in fact for about..hmmm..say 4.5 months. I'm sure it would have gone on working for quite some time, but, long story short.. I broke my sump and didn't notice for a few days, it managed to leak - which I also didn't notice for a day or two and consequently the laminate is damaged quite badly. I've dismantled the entire setup and have my tank running in the new 55g sump in another room while I get the flooring repaired. I'll also be building that stand with drains, to accomadate this should it happen again... ugh -- reef tanks, love 'em but they sure are a lot of work! The goodpart of it all is that I didn'thave to worry about a mold issue (the flooding was quite extensive). I keep my tank quite clean, and with the combination of the RO/DI unit removing most organics prior to it entering the system, and the salt, I got off clear without a mold issue.

OrionGirl · 12-22-2007, 05:56 PM

Bummer about the sump! Are you going to replace the laminate with tile?

Decz · 12-23-2007, 12:52 AM

If I can convince the other half that tile is the best solution....

OrionGirl · 12-23-2007, 07:18 PM

This is one reason why Hubbin is glad that I'm in the hobby too. Good luck with that.

zippo · 04-07-2008, 11:12 AM

Fish rooms are nice.

06-03-2007, 01:38 PM	#1 (permalink)
Decz Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Location: Abbotsford, BC Posts: 192	new house, fish room, laminate floor & a reef tank Well, let the projects begin! At the absolute last possible minute we found a new house. It is everything that we wanted plus some! There is a completely finished rec room which will turn into my office/lounge/fish room. It even has a small, walk in closet sized kitchenette...complete with a stainless sink, cupboards and a fridge. The layout is amazing, the kitchenette it right beside where I will place my reef tank. Basically I just have to plumb the water drain line and the freshwater top-up line about 3 feet and through one wall (which will be completely hidden from view). This room has laminate floors - they are beautiful, but can be a potential disaster should there be a leak. And, I am a total disaster when it comes to keeping the water off the floor. I'm just realizing now that the wall behind me tank needs to be sanded and painted and the carpet needs some serious soaking and cleaning once the tank is moved.... So, that being said I need to come up with a plan for the new house. The reef tank is going in a corner, about 6 feet out from the actual corner and just on the other side of the doorway to my new fish room kitchenette. To save the laminate floors, I was thinking of building a platform to put the tank on - basically just a simple stage riser. Except this one would have lips around the edge, a drain in the middle and have to be sloped somewhat. I would like to set it up as automatic as possible. My brother suggested that I run a line to a bucket or rubbermaid, then run a bilge pump in that container that connects directly to the outgoing line under the sink. I think I'm just going to plumb a line from the drain to a bucket, then put the bilge pump right in the bucket and plump another line to the out going line under my sink. Any suggestions?

06-03-2007, 01:48 PM	#3 (permalink)
OrionGirl Miss you, Old Man Join Date: May 2006 Location: California coastline Posts: 6,683	Bigger concern is to determine what kind of laminate flooring you have and how it was installed. A bit of water isn't an issue for most brands, as long as it's not standing water on the seams for a long time (days), and even then, if the slats were glued together on installation, standing water isn't even a problem. Most newer laminates are put in 'floating'--means the boards are locked to each other, but they are not attached to the subfloor or walls, so you don't get buckling when boards contract/expand with temperature changes. Why is this important? Because a large, heavy weight will prevent the flooring from expanding/contracting evenly, resulting in buckling and seams pulling apart. When I re-did the basement in my house in Wyoming, I knew I wanted laminate flooring, but that's where the tanks were, and I wasn't sure how the would work together. After a LOT of time talking with the pro's, I determined that there was no way to put the tanks on the laminate. A tank puts more pounds per square inch down than anything else common in a house--fridge, couch, stove, etc. Smaller tanks probably wouldn't cause as much of a problem, but I wouldn't put anything bigger than about a 40 on a laminate floor. I ended up putting in an area of 20x20 tiles, surrounded by the wood laminate. It was big enough to be used as an office area (that's how we staged it to sell the house anyway!), and looked pretty nice. __________________ ~Sheila tempus edax rerum Ideas do not have to be correct in order to be good; its only necessary that, if they do fail, they do so in an interesting way. ~Robert Rosen

06-03-2007, 02:08 PM	#5 (permalink)
OrionGirl Miss you, Old Man Join Date: May 2006 Location: California coastline Posts: 6,683	We put the tile in, and then the laminate, but that was mostly logistics. You'll probably want to pull out boards a little but further out than you want the tile down so you can glue them as you put them back in. We glued all the boards going out about 4 feet from the tank, and then along the hallway from the bathroom to the tank. Didn't have any problems, and there was a bit of spillage, though no all out soaking. __________________ ~Sheila tempus edax rerum Ideas do not have to be correct in order to be good; its only necessary that, if they do fail, they do so in an interesting way. ~Robert Rosen

06-03-2007, 04:37 PM	#6 (permalink)
Emg Moderator Join Date: May 2006 Location: Northeastern Ct Posts: 3,125	Dec, how exciting ! What fun to plan ! and....I'd call that a Fishinette.... __________________ Blog of my tanks and critters....come check em out and don't forget the archives ! http://emgstanks.blogspot.com/ Eileen

06-04-2007, 07:23 AM	#7 (permalink)
zanzimog smile! Join Date: May 2006 Location: Inside the Beltway Posts: 2,241	Congrats on the new reef rumpus room! The stuff about laminate flooring is all news to me. Good to know. __________________ XOXOXO, Dave Washington DC Area Marine Aquarist Society Hear that crazy rhythm Driving me insane Strike your partner on the bonce! Ooh, I fet no pain! -Spike Milligan

06-03-2007, 01:48 PM	#2 (permalink)
Decz Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Location: Abbotsford, BC Posts: 192	Here is a pic of the little fish-kitchen... And a pic of the rec room. To the left is the fish-kitchen and to the right is a bathroom. I'm going to put the tank between the two, but on an angle facing towards the camera. The kitchen won't be used for anything but fish things, so the tank can totally block visability to that room without issue. This also gives me plenty of room to get at my sumps and fuge's behind the tank.

06-03-2007, 02:03 PM	#4 (permalink)
Decz Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Location: Abbotsford, BC Posts: 192	oh man, I didn't even think of that! It is snap together, floating laminate flooring. No glue. A friend of mine just had to replace her laminate floor because of a water cooler that leaked while she was at work last week. They entire floor warped and buckled. So that was the only thing running through my head. I didn't even begin to think about expanding etc. I'll get talking to some flooring shops around here, but the tile option sounds like it might be what is best. Blah... a lot more work than I was planning for!

06-04-2007, 08:05 AM	#8 (permalink)
Slick Fork Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Location: Wild Rose Country Posts: 278	That looks like an incredigle opportunity! I'm really looking forward to seeing how this all comes together for you. Some laminates are better than others when it comes to water resistance, unfortunately there's only the hard way to find out once it's installed. Most newer non bargain brands will be ok as long as the water isn't left standing for hours on end and there's not tons of it. Looking at the pictures, I second the tile motion and would personally set it up so you could stage it as a wet bar or something when it's time to move. That's how our "fish space" will be presented. Tile will probably be less work then developing a sloped platform with a drain. The laminate should lift up and reinstall easily enough to tile an area, that's the beauty of the floating floor systems is ease of repair. A little extra work now will pay off dividends later!

06-04-2007, 08:27 AM	#9 (permalink)
OrionGirl Miss you, Old Man Join Date: May 2006 Location: California coastline Posts: 6,683	What's funny about the entire thing is that the only reason I even asked a professional before putting in the floor was that I was worried that the weight would damage the floor--dent it or something. My first question was "Would something weighing about 1500 pounds damage the floor?" They wanted to know how many pounds per square inch, and we did a rough estimate of the stand, came up with no more than 10 pounds per square inch...Which is pretty trivial, clearly not enough to damage the board. Then they asked if we were moving something across the floor, and pointed out that a cart or dolly would be best. When I said No, this is something stationary that won't be moving around they gave me that 'look'--you know, the one that says you're crazy, what can you possibly have in your house that weighs anywhere close 1500 pounds? It took a bit of arguing about how much 120 gallons of sand, water and rock + the stand, tanks, and canopy realistically would weigh before they'd explain why it even mattered. __________________ ~Sheila tempus edax rerum Ideas do not have to be correct in order to be good; its only necessary that, if they do fail, they do so in an interesting way. ~Robert Rosen

12-22-2007, 05:09 PM	#10 (permalink)
Decz Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Location: Abbotsford, BC Posts: 192	Hey, It's been awhile... a long while Thought I'd give an update, specifically to this thread. After speaking to a few flooring guys we determined that if we placed the tank on an angle, about 7 feet off the wall with a rubberized matt underneath, we'd have very little issue with the floating floors issue that OG mentions above. Luckily for me, with the layout of the room and the space needed for sump and pumps and equipment behnd the tank the layout was fine. It worked well, VERY WELL in fact for about..hmmm..say 4.5 months. I'm sure it would have gone on working for quite some time, but, long story short.. I broke my sump and didn't notice for a few days, it managed to leak - which I also didn't notice for a day or two and consequently the laminate is damaged quite badly. I've dismantled the entire setup and have my tank running in the new 55g sump in another room while I get the flooring repaired. I'll also be building that stand with drains, to accomadate this should it happen again... ugh -- reef tanks, love 'em but they sure are a lot of work! The goodpart of it all is that I didn'thave to worry about a mold issue (the flooding was quite extensive). I keep my tank quite clean, and with the combination of the RO/DI unit removing most organics prior to it entering the system, and the salt, I got off clear without a mold issue.

12-22-2007, 05:56 PM	#11 (permalink)
OrionGirl Miss you, Old Man Join Date: May 2006 Location: California coastline Posts: 6,683	Bummer about the sump! Are you going to replace the laminate with tile? __________________ ~Sheila tempus edax rerum Ideas do not have to be correct in order to be good; its only necessary that, if they do fail, they do so in an interesting way. ~Robert Rosen

12-23-2007, 12:52 AM	#12 (permalink)
Decz Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Location: Abbotsford, BC Posts: 192	If I can convince the other half that tile is the best solution....

12-23-2007, 07:18 PM	#13 (permalink)
OrionGirl Miss you, Old Man Join Date: May 2006 Location: California coastline Posts: 6,683	This is one reason why Hubbin is glad that I'm in the hobby too. Good luck with that. __________________ ~Sheila tempus edax rerum Ideas do not have to be correct in order to be good; its only necessary that, if they do fail, they do so in an interesting way. ~Robert Rosen

04-07-2008, 11:12 AM	#14 (permalink)
zippo Moderator Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 285	Fish rooms are nice. __________________ We have enough youth, how about a fountain of smart.

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