What's under your stand (and above your hardwoods) - Help me think through this - Bolting some space on

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

I am having to shift plans on where I am going to put this peninsula tank Glasscages is building for me (104(96)x36). The blue tape is where it is going to go. It will stand 1 foot off the wall for access to the plumbing. Yes, this makes my Max S500 completely in the way now, sigh...

My wife is completely on board with any of this. I think to get all my **** out of sight with exception of the display, but she is into this (just not maintenance) like I am, that is uber helpful.

This will have a closed loop with 2 holes underneath. The A400 that will power the closed loop will reside in an acrylic box with a drain. This box will straddle all the bulkheads that are part of the closed loop. The drain for this will go through the wall.

In all the years we have lived in this house, there is one time we used this space/room. It's truly a wasted space. Homes were built before real travel ball, Uber Eats, etc. Formal dining rooms are simply a waste to me these days. We live out of our "breakfast" room. So, I was given the green light to take this space over.

I am walling off the 13.5 x 8 (9 where the tank is) for a gear room/man closet. I have about 3-4 weeks to get this done to stay on schedule. The 36" short side and 96" one side will be "house facing". The other side will be for me in that room, and at night I can open the shades and it would be cool to see this. I think this is going to be pretty cool, once a couple years operational. 2 tanks to consolidate here. So here are my options.

First -
- Mixing station and RODI making will stay in garage. There will be a working sink installed in this space behind the sink (surprisingly easy).
- Sump, frag tank, etc, will sit in a "box" with a 2 inch lip that extends out about 3 inches to catch runover. This will be plumbed to the sink drain or out the wall into my exterior drainage that is 3 feet behind the tank (outside).

1) Leave floors as is. Put something down to act as a barrier. What have you done to protect your floors? I have read through the posts on R2R. Seems like, strictly for a situation for under a tank, you can do pool liners, etc. What about with this room?
2) What I am leaning towards: Pulling up the hardwoods with about a 3 foot parameter around the one side of tank and wall that I have drawn in red. Tile only what you can see (but including under tank). Have a 4" x 1.5" trench cut to form a paremeter around the room like a "L". This would catch mild flood and move water outside. If a seem or closed loop pipe let go, there is no safety to catch that, display alone is nearly 400G.

The good new is that well, first - This is standard real hardwood flooring, nothing special. It's 3/4 that is sitting on T&G plywood. It's nailed but on concrete. So, set expense aside, it's pretty straight forward. Hence our thoughts on pulling it up. I should add, we have had several spills as you can imagine with the Max. What you can't see is a 75G planted tank over my left shoulder. One of the canisters leaked last year when we were gone for 10 days (Murphy is a real person). The floors have that I've been wet and dried" look in several spots. So, if we were to sell, we would have to address this anyway. I can only imagine under the Max. We have had several shopvac emergencies...

Thoughts on any ideas?

 

[tzabor10]

Get an electrician involved. Run at least 3 dedicated GCFI circuits. It will save a lot of hassle if something goes wrong.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

Get an electrician involved. Run at least 3 dedicated GCFI circuits. It will save a lot of hassle if something goes wrong.

1 step ahead. I have 100 amp panel (for non-house power outage needs) I'll hav 5 dedicated circuits for the tank, redundancy, etc) with generator (12K portable) hook up being installed. I am also removing all outlets below the water line and lining the walls (That you cannot see from living space) with sanded plywood that I will paint to match the walls. Fortunately, my meter is 7 feet from that room. So, it's very affordable to do that and worth it. While I am at it, I am relocating my HVAC and living room to this new panel (>100amp in total). Thus if we lose power, we ALL can be comfy. I also have an in wall (or "on"wall dehumidifying system, plus some air moving being installed. I was going to do a 200 Sq ft addition, but ran into several significant issues (some with the town for permitting) that made it really cost prohibitive. I can't justify 3.5X per foot to add vs. what I could sell it for.

 

[Ef4life]

Wood is wood, water is going to damage it long term. Putting some type of barrier over it is most likely going to hold moisture and mold the surface wood, and maybe start to rot the plywood underneath it.

But being 1.5” thick - ripping it out and going with tile isn’t so easy as that’s quite a jump in height from the slab you couldn’t make up without adding something like self level to bring the concrete surface up to closer to the wood so you could have a smooth transition without a trip hazard - or you could find some type of edge trim for the wood to be a dam and have the tile section be a reservoir to keep water spills somewhat contained. But a short step like that going to be annoying to live with imo.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

Wood is wood, water is going to damage it long term. Putting some type of barrier over it is most likely going to hold moisture and mold the surface wood, and maybe start to rot the plywood underneath it.

But being 1.5” thick - ripping it out and going with tile isn’t so easy as that’s quite a jump in height from the slab you couldn’t make up without adding something like self level to bring the concrete surface up to closer to the wood so you could have a smooth transition without a trip hazard - or you could find some type of edge trim for the wood to be a dam and have the tile section be a reservoir to keep water spills somewhat contained. But a short step like that going to be annoying to live with imo.

We have had these made for transition from a major entry way and they work well. I’d do the same. My feet is water getting under the subfloor… the trench would help prevent that. But if I leave the floors as is and deal with it down the road, at least I know the water won’t be under the floor. I need to really think this through.

I’ve got a couple different flooring guys coming, but they aren’t going to “get it”. We don’t have basements here (I grew up in the North) so people who understand I’m home drainage really don’t exist well in Memphis. So it’s a little bit of a sticking point. I have everything covered (I think) except how to manage this most important piece, lol.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

That entry point is used 95% of the time. I wish they would use the front door. Something about having the ability to open a garage door vs opening the front has plagued my family for years…

 

[blecki]

I have nothing between the stand as the wood. Yes, I am aware that this means the leveling feet on the stand tore the finish up. Not worried about it because the only way this tank moves is if I move.

Don't spill water on the floor and I don't see the issue. There's nothing I could do to prevent damage to the house anyway if the worst happens - no amount of 'lip' is going to stop 200 gallons from going everywhere - so I choose to just not worry about it.

Anyway enough spills spread about and the entire floor will have that 'been wet then dried' look with the uneven dark stains and then it will just be 'rustic' instead of 'ruined'.

 

[Formulator]

Mine has been on a wood floor plumbed down to my basement for 6 years and was on a different wood floor in our old house for 2 years prior to that. No extra protection and never had a problem. I think you should focus on redundancy and get a controller with leak detection rather than assuming you are going to have a flood. I also have an extremely loud standalone water alarm on the floor that will wake me up all the way upstairs in my bedroom if there is a leak.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

Thanks everyone. Let me give some further detail.
- Full Apex with multiple points of leak detection, etc.
- Will have a frag tank up and running on day 1.
- Will have a working sink on day one.
- All maintenance will take place in "man closet" AKA fish room (man cave)
- Salt and RODI will be plumbed to the Man closet

The more I read, the more I think, why deal with it now as compared to down the road. The assumption I have is, a flood will happen. If that's the case, tile or whatever won't stop that from getting through the first floor. 1 liter here or there is spot cleaned, like it is now. I have some sore spots as is due to a freshwater issue. I'll have to keep reading and see what some flooring professionals have to say.

 

[Formulator]

Thanks everyone. Let me give some further detail.
- Full Apex with multiple points of leak detection, etc.
- Will have a frag tank up and running on day 1.
- Will have a working sink on day one.
- All maintenance will take place in "man closet" AKA fish room (man cave)
- Salt and RODI will be plumbed to the Man closet

The more I read, the more I think, why deal with it now as compared to down the road. The assumption I have is, a flood will happen. If that's the case, tile or whatever won't stop that from getting through the first floor. 1 liter here or there is spot cleaned, like it is now. I have some sore spots as is due to a freshwater issue. I'll have to keep reading and see what some flooring professionals have to say.

Quick action in the event of an accident is key, regardless of the type of flooring I think. I highly recommend one of these as it will wake you up. The alarm rings at the same frequency as fire/smoke detectors and will trigger the rest of the fire alarms in your house to start ringing.

 

[RocketEngineer]

If the tank floods, you designed the drains wrong. A three-pipe BeanAnimal system that’s sized for your desired flow rates plus a properly filled sump should keep water where it belongs. Then sensors can be used for the very rare double failure.

 

[IrezumiHurts]

OP i think if your tank has a catastrophic failure, there are very few "preventative measures" you can use to save yourself from an insurance deductible.

I would not recommend a liner, or anything under the tank for that matter. I use a bathroom style pile rug runner that i roll out before doing tank maintenance, that deals with most minor spills I encounter.

Keep a bulldog water alarm or similar, they are very loud, dont need much water and are not expensive.

It looks like you have oak, oak and really just about all hardwood is reasonably resistant to water, especially white oak. Red oak is significantly more porous at the end grain but its just gonna get wet occasionally, you arent gonna stop it.

My recommendation is that you plan to refinish the hardwood floors when you move. Its basically like buffing a car, it will shave down the top mm or whatever of wood but expose the new fresh wood underneath, so any water spots and minor superficial damage should go away unless there a4e deep rot issues. Its not prohibitively expensive either in context.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

There is always a dolt in the crowd.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

OP i think if your tank has a catastrophic failure, there are very few "preventative measures" you can use to save yourself from an insurance deductible.

I would not recommend a liner, or anything under the tank for that matter. I use a bathroom style pile rug runner that i roll out before doing tank maintenance, that deals with most minor spills I encounter.

Keep a bulldog water alarm or similar, they are very loud, dont need much water and are not expensive.

It looks like you have oak, oak and really just about all hardwood is reasonably resistant to water, especially white oak. Red oak is significantly more porous at the end grain but its just gonna get wet occasionally, you arent gonna stop it.

My recommendation is that you plan to refinish the hardwood floors when you move. Its basically like buffing a car, it will shave down the top mm or whatever of wood but expose the new fresh wood underneath, so any water spots and minor superficial damage should go away unless there a4e deep rot issues. Its not prohibitively expensive either in context.

Thanks, this is the feedback I have been looking for. To me, I am not worried about my tank overfilling (like someone just mentioned). For example, I recently had a weird scenario play out where I moved something in my sump. Me not realizing under the waterline I pinch the output to my GEO ozone reactor. Overnight, when it was set to run for an hour, the pressure inside the canister grew too great and it blew a leak. It leaked for 20 minutes until the water eventually made it's way to my sensor. My floors are not even (whose are) and who pours water on their floors to see if the water is actually going to flow where you think it is. Freak accident, none the less, it could have been devastating. Joe and Geo are both building my stuff, so I am not worried about the "bean 3 drain" problem. There are things we do that we are unaware of that can really cause a ripple effect. Thanks all.