I'm thinking about using these for floor support
- Thread starter Dom
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Was the tag and I'm ignoring you just don't feel qualified to offer good advise. I do get a queasy feeling looking at your work area. I've developed claustraphobia as I grew older.
Dburr1014
10K Club member
Wow, 1.5 already?I've already cranked them up 1.5". I guess I could go more. let me shim and see how it looks. If not... back under that floor.
Don't break anything, good luck.
OP
OP
Much less shimming required to get the tank level. I think I will trim the shims and go with it like this... unless there is something that you see which can be an issue. At this point, I don't feel comfortable raising the floor anymore. If this isn't acceptable, the only thing left to do is a piece of 3/4 ply under the stand.
Dburr1014
10K Club member
Looks good. Put a few more shims if you can. When it fills it will be a lot heavier.Much less shimming required to get the tank level. I think I will trim the shims and go with it like this... unless there is something that you see which can be an issue. At this point, I don't feel comfortable raising the floor anymore. If this isn't acceptable, the only thing left to do is a piece of 3/4 ply under the stand.
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I see you did not tag me, and that is fine if you don't want or trust my advice.
I will offer in case it helps anybody else.
Pushing up the center of the floor is fine as long as you are not lifting anything off of load bearing supports (the foundation walls). Even if you did (you would want to shim the joists that no longer touched), the most likely result is cracked drywall or doors that are not aligned like they used to be. This all depends on if the sag happened over time or if the doors and drywall were installed with the sag already in place. That said, lifting joists from the foundation is not likely going to happen with a bottle jack, they are load bearing after all.
If you can't get the tank fully plumb, then level in one direction is better. In this case side to side, leaves only a bit of shimming in one direction. As mentioned above, the more spots that you add shims to, the more distributed the load over them. Think of them as "feet" on the stand, and the more feet the better.
Nice work on the setup.
I will offer in case it helps anybody else.
Pushing up the center of the floor is fine as long as you are not lifting anything off of load bearing supports (the foundation walls). Even if you did (you would want to shim the joists that no longer touched), the most likely result is cracked drywall or doors that are not aligned like they used to be. This all depends on if the sag happened over time or if the doors and drywall were installed with the sag already in place. That said, lifting joists from the foundation is not likely going to happen with a bottle jack, they are load bearing after all.
If you can't get the tank fully plumb, then level in one direction is better. In this case side to side, leaves only a bit of shimming in one direction. As mentioned above, the more spots that you add shims to, the more distributed the load over them. Think of them as "feet" on the stand, and the more feet the better.
Nice work on the setup.
OP
OP
I see you did not tag me, and that is fine if you don't want or trust my advice.
I will offer in case it helps anybody else.
Pushing up the center of the floor is fine as long as you are not lifting anything off of load bearing supports (the foundation walls). Even if you did (you would want to shim the joists that no longer touched), the most likely result is cracked drywall or doors that are not aligned like they used to be. This all depends on if the sag happened over time or if the doors and drywall were installed with the sag already in place. That said, lifting joists from the foundation is not likely going to happen with a bottle jack, they are load bearing after all.
If you can't get the tank fully plumb, then level in one direction is better. In this case side to side, leaves only a bit of shimming in one direction. As mentioned above, the more spots that you add shims to, the more distributed the load over them. Think of them as "feet" on the stand, and the more feet the better.
Nice work on the setup.
That was an oversight. Quite the contrary, I do think of you as a credible source of information.
Understand that I wasn't planning on lifting the center. Its just that the old wooden frame I constructed came free and wasn't supporting anything once I cranked the posts up. So I thought, why not use it?
The tank's front left required a 1/4" shim. On the right, only 1/8". That's a huge improvement from almost 3/4" on the left and 3/8" on the right.
Agree with BeanAnimal. If you gotta go back down for the light, give it a couple days and see if you can get another couple of turns. No big deal if you can’t. It’s really close as it is.
I would suggest that you ditch the wood shims and get some plastic shims instead to reduce the likelihood that the wood shims will compress over time. Especially if they happen to get wet. It’s probably not a big deal, but just a bit more insurance that everything stays where you put it.
I would suggest that you ditch the wood shims and get some plastic shims instead to reduce the likelihood that the wood shims will compress over time. Especially if they happen to get wet. It’s probably not a big deal, but just a bit more insurance that everything stays where you put it.
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I would wait to fill if you want to fiddle with the floor more (not that you want to). I think you can get it close with no shims.
When jacking, you may hear creaking and groaning a bit, but nothing should be sharp and there should not be a lot of resistance. That is why I like the threaded jacks as opposed to the hydraulic. You can feel the resistance.
I don't think you are going to jack anything to the point of snapping a joist or causing any other kin of failure, but just listen/feel for it, if that makes sense. I would hope (assume) that as built, the floors were fairly level and returning the to that state over a few days is not a big deal.
I agree on the composite shims being a good idea but don't kill yourself trying to find them.
You can fashion a skirt board or use shoe mold, etc to hide the shims.
That said, if you are eager to fill and just move on, the shims with no more floor adjustments will be fine.
OP
OP
I'm a procrastinator, so, going slow isn't an issue. In this hobby, it is a good thing.
But there is a new development...
All was level with shims. A few hours later, I noticed the tank wasn't level again, but in the opposite direction. Now the tank is level in both directions without shims.
I'll let it sit empty and allow the floor to settle under the existing weight. I will revisit filling the tank later this week or over the weekend.
Reefering1
2500 Club Member
By "begin filling", you mean "check level and possibly adjust again"?
The satisfaction of knowing It's practically perfect, with no short cuts, is hard to beat!! Nice work, almost done!!
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