Laminate flooring and heavy aquariums...

W

wackydan

Fun, not crazy.
Nov 21, 2005
396
0
16
54
Matthews, NC
Little background before I ask the aquarium question...

I'm currently looking into refurbing our dining room, pulling out the carpet and installing laminate flooring - like you can get from Home Depot, etc - the snap together kind.

I was thinking that I might just install true hardwood flooring, but not sure I want to go with that cost, given that this is a starter home, and I don't want to put $$ in that I won't get out when/if we sell the house...

The dining room is onthe bottom floor and the wood covering of choice would be installed over that part of the concrete slab foundation/floor.

So... The thought popped in my head that a 75 to 100+ gallon tank might be too heavy for laminate flooring. I know it can take the weight, but my concern is the weigh tover time showing a seam between sections of laminate - in other words, putting enough pressure on the snap together seem to get it out of wack/warp it....

Anyone have any insight on this? or experience?
 
Won't work. Laminate flooring is put in to float--that is, you don't adhere or attach the boards to the flooring, and the pieces have room to shift (ie, that 1/4 inch spacer all around the edges). With a very large, heavy object, the floor can't expand and contract evenly, and will pull apart as a result. Depending on the brand, there may also be some concerns about it being enough to actually compress and damage the board--this will depend on how big the footprint of the stand (ie, legs with single points of contact versus a long point of contact).

Last year, I went from 2 65's on carpet to 120's. I spent a LOT of time in flooring stores findng out what would be best. And yes, you'll get some goofy looks when you ask if the flooring will be able to withstand X pounds per square inch for 5 years with no damage. But, I ended up going with a 10 foot x 5 foot section of tile. 20" x 20", very pretty. The rest of the room has laminate flooring, with glues seams within 6 foot of the tanks. Once the tanks come down, it turns into a really nice way to break the room into an office.
 
They do move less--but over time, not being able to expand and contract around a fixed point will result in the planks separating at the seams. This is what I was told. The foot print I have is about 2 foot by 9 foot (2 120's, 2 foot by 4 foot tanks with a small 16 inch cabinet between them), in the corner of a room that's 20 plus foot long and about 15 foot wide. Since the planks 'click' together, preventing movement at one point impacts the entire floor.
 
I agree with what oriongirl said. Also, another thing to consider is that the laminate flooring is not at all forgiving when it gets wet. It will ruin it very quickly.
 
And we all know how long it takes to get the floor REALLY wet around the fish tank......

Raise your hand if you have spilled more than 2 gallons of water on the floor, 5 gallons, 10 gallons?
 
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