Concrete slab not level how to level stand...

DavidinGA · 02/07/2013, 08:18 PM

My stand is perfect...

My floor is not...

3 sides are flush on the ground its just this one short side that is crazy bad. What do I do? Shims???

Thanks

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mlott132 · 02/07/2013, 08:25 PM

Pickup a couple packs of plastic shims from Home Depot. Make sure that you fill in the whole gap between your stand and floor.

cap032 · 02/07/2013, 09:20 PM

Get composite shims from Lowes. They are stronger and easy to snap off.

DavidinGA · 02/07/2013, 09:31 PM

Can I use wood?

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DavidinGA · 02/07/2013, 09:33 PM

More specifically can I use paint stirrers?

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DavidinGA · 02/07/2013, 09:54 PM

Success.

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Shaummy · 02/07/2013, 10:27 PM

Is it just the pic or my eyes..or are there gaps under those 2x4's that are on end? I would support those as well with shims to transfer that weight load to the floor...

mlott132 · 02/07/2013, 10:35 PM

I would stay away from wood shims.

DavidinGA · 02/08/2013, 06:10 AM

The corners are actually touching it was just the short middle board that was floating.

The front vertical 2x4 in that last pick are the floating tack boards from rocket engineers diy build design that I used they do not carry any load and not touching the ground.

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mcgyvr · 02/08/2013, 11:46 AM

paint stirrers/shims/wood/plastic/blah blah blah will work just fine..

after its skinned just run trim around the bottom to hide them..no one will ever know your flooring guy sucked

coralsnaked · 02/08/2013, 11:52 AM

Probably that floating laminate flooring is what is causing the problem. have the same stuff in my Austin home. You can use paint stirs but they will compress some under the weight.

Merry Skerry

keithhays · 02/08/2013, 07:51 PM

Your weight bearing vertical beams are not transferring load to the floor. This is fine, but you will need to put bolt through completely through them and the outside 2x4 (counter sink on opposite side). I would also put a 3/4" piece of plywood to cover the bottom this will help with having an even surface. If you try to shim it now, when you put a load on it things are going to shift and then pull apart.

Or, I would start all over again...measure twice, cut once.

cap032 · 02/08/2013, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidinGA

More specifically can I use paint stirrers?

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I wouldnt. They likely wont hold up under the weight. Get a pack of composite shims from lowes. They cost about 3 bucks for a pack of about 10.

cap032 · 02/08/2013, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shaummy

Is it just the pic or my eyes..or are there gaps under those 2x4's that are on end? I would support those as well with shims to transfer that weight load to the floor...

Doesnt appear those boards are load bearing when viewing the pics of the outside of the stand.

keithhays · 02/09/2013, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cap032

Doesnt appear those boards are load bearing when viewing the pics of the outside of the stand.

Probably, but I think I would still put the 3/4" plywood on the bottom. If you shim, shim between the 3/4" and the 2x4's so that that there are not pressure points on the floor. essentially, flip the stand upside down lay the 3/4" across, put in shims between it and the 2x4's until the whole thing is level , then glue and screw. Flip it right side up.

mcgyvr · 02/09/2013, 11:34 AM

holy cow.. keith his stand is WAY overbuilt/plenty sufficient already.
There is NO need to do anything really..stick a paint stirrer under there and move on or frankly he could just leave it as is without anything and never have a problem.
Hes got 3 sides completely sitting on the ground and just a small span floating. I'd just run trim around the bottom just to cover up the gap for visual purposes only.

sleepydoc · 02/09/2013, 11:42 AM

I can't tell from the pics as they don't show the top, the only thing you should need to worry about is supporting the vertical supports since they are what actually holds up the tank. THe horizontal 2x4s on the bottom brace and give stability but don't actually support anything. If 3 legs are firmly supported by the floor, shim the 4th and you should be good. Just be careful not to shim it so much that you cause racking in the other direction. When you're done, check for level on the 4 sides, then across the diagonals from corner to corner.

keithhays · 02/09/2013, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

holy cow.. keith his stand is WAY overbuilt/plenty sufficient already.
There is NO need to do anything really..stick a paint stirrer under there and move on or frankly he could just leave it as is without anything and never have a problem.
Hes got 3 sides completely sitting on the ground and just a small span floating. I'd just run trim around the bottom just to cover up the gap for visual purposes only.

hmmm...if that is overbuilt, what should it have looked like? It appears to be pretty typical, minus the one side short thing.

DavidinGA · 02/09/2013, 12:16 PM

Here is the DIY sketch done by rocket Engineer that I used to build the stand.

Notice the green boards are not load bearing and are only used as tack strips.

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mcgyvr · 02/09/2013, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keithhays

hmmm...if that is overbuilt, what should it have looked like? It appears to be pretty typical, minus the one side short thing.

There is no 1 way "should look like this" or else its wrong. and there is NOTHING wrong with being overbuilt either. Point is that it is overbuilt and as such can have issues like this and not matter a bit. Nothing wrong with a greater safety factor in anything unless the costs outweigh the benefits and you are trying to make money.

02/07/2013, 08:18 PM	#1
DavidinGA Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 2,393	Concrete slab not level how to level stand... My stand is perfect... My floor is not... 3 sides are flush on the ground its just this one short side that is crazy bad. What do I do? Shims??? Thanks Sent by Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and Tapatalk 2 __________________ Giant money pit, but it's a happy pit ;) Current tank: 6ft 210gal SPS, 3~eBay led boxes, 4~80w T5's, sro3000int, RW20's, Reef Angel, reactors, pumps, rocks, sand, yadda yadda yadda...

02/07/2013, 08:25 PM	#2
mlott132 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: NWI Posts: 697	Pickup a couple packs of plastic shims from Home Depot. Make sure that you fill in the whole gap between your stand and floor. __________________ 75 Gallon mixed reef, Trigger Systems Ruby 30S, Lifereef SVS3-24 Skimmer, Eheim 1262, 2x AI Vega LED Lights, 1x Jebao RW-8 powerhead, 1x Ecotech MP-40 powerhead

02/07/2013, 09:31 PM	#4
DavidinGA Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 2,393	Can I use wood? Sent by Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and Tapatalk 2 __________________ Giant money pit, but it's a happy pit ;) Current tank: 6ft 210gal SPS, 3~eBay led boxes, 4~80w T5's, sro3000int, RW20's, Reef Angel, reactors, pumps, rocks, sand, yadda yadda yadda...

02/07/2013, 09:33 PM	#5
DavidinGA Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 2,393	More specifically can I use paint stirrers? Sent by Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and Tapatalk 2 __________________ Giant money pit, but it's a happy pit ;) Current tank: 6ft 210gal SPS, 3~eBay led boxes, 4~80w T5's, sro3000int, RW20's, Reef Angel, reactors, pumps, rocks, sand, yadda yadda yadda...

02/07/2013, 09:54 PM	#6
DavidinGA Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 2,393	Success. Sent by Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and Tapatalk 2 __________________ Giant money pit, but it's a happy pit ;) Current tank: 6ft 210gal SPS, 3~eBay led boxes, 4~80w T5's, sro3000int, RW20's, Reef Angel, reactors, pumps, rocks, sand, yadda yadda yadda...

02/07/2013, 09:20 PM	#3
cap032 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Alabama Posts: 611	Get composite shims from Lowes. They are stronger and easy to snap off.

02/07/2013, 10:27 PM	#7
Shaummy Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Chicago burbs Posts: 857	Is it just the pic or my eyes..or are there gaps under those 2x4's that are on end? I would support those as well with shims to transfer that weight load to the floor... __________________ Shaummy Current Tank Info: Current Tank Info: 90g mixed reef, hermits, snails,Lyretail Anthias,Orange back Fairy Wrasse,Blue Reef Chromis,small blue tang, Flame Hawk, Royal Gramma

02/07/2013, 10:35 PM	#8
mlott132 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: NWI Posts: 697	I would stay away from wood shims. __________________ 75 Gallon mixed reef, Trigger Systems Ruby 30S, Lifereef SVS3-24 Skimmer, Eheim 1262, 2x AI Vega LED Lights, 1x Jebao RW-8 powerhead, 1x Ecotech MP-40 powerhead

02/08/2013, 06:10 AM	#9
DavidinGA Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 2,393	The corners are actually touching it was just the short middle board that was floating. The front vertical 2x4 in that last pick are the floating tack boards from rocket engineers diy build design that I used they do not carry any load and not touching the ground. Sent by Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and Tapatalk 2 __________________ Giant money pit, but it's a happy pit ;) Current tank: 6ft 210gal SPS, 3~eBay led boxes, 4~80w T5's, sro3000int, RW20's, Reef Angel, reactors, pumps, rocks, sand, yadda yadda yadda... Last edited by DavidinGA; 02/08/2013 at 06:27 AM.

02/08/2013, 11:46 AM	#10
mcgyvr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 20,050	paint stirrers/shims/wood/plastic/blah blah blah will work just fine.. after its skinned just run trim around the bottom to hide them..no one will ever know your flooring guy sucked __________________ Who me?

02/08/2013, 11:52 AM	#11
coralsnaked Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Austin / Port Aransas, TX Posts: 1,479	Probably that floating laminate flooring is what is causing the problem. have the same stuff in my Austin home. You can use paint stirs but they will compress some under the weight. Merry Skerry

02/08/2013, 07:51 PM	#12
keithhays Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Tennessee Posts: 1,259	Your weight bearing vertical beams are not transferring load to the floor. This is fine, but you will need to put bolt through completely through them and the outside 2x4 (counter sink on opposite side). I would also put a 3/4" piece of plywood to cover the bottom this will help with having an even surface. If you try to shim it now, when you put a load on it things are going to shift and then pull apart. Or, I would start all over again...measure twice, cut once.

02/09/2013, 11:34 AM	#16
mcgyvr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 20,050	holy cow.. keith his stand is WAY overbuilt/plenty sufficient already. There is NO need to do anything really..stick a paint stirrer under there and move on or frankly he could just leave it as is without anything and never have a problem. Hes got 3 sides completely sitting on the ground and just a small span floating. I'd just run trim around the bottom just to cover up the gap for visual purposes only. __________________ Who me?

02/09/2013, 11:42 AM	#17
sleepydoc Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 3,907	I can't tell from the pics as they don't show the top, the only thing you should need to worry about is supporting the vertical supports since they are what actually holds up the tank. THe horizontal 2x4s on the bottom brace and give stability but don't actually support anything. If 3 legs are firmly supported by the floor, shim the 4th and you should be good. Just be careful not to shim it so much that you cause racking in the other direction. When you're done, check for level on the 4 sides, then across the diagonals from corner to corner. __________________ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 120 gallon, coast to coast overflow w/beananimal overflow. Waveline DC 10000 II return pump, 40 gal sump, Octopus XS200 skimmer, T5 lighting