My Ceiling is Cracking!? Today I set up a new 38 gallon aquarium in an upstairs...
Today I set up a new 38 gallon aquarium in an upstairs room, after I occupied it, nothing happened no creaking. But 2 hours after nourishing it i noticed that one of the downstairs rooms has cracks surrounded by it! The cracks where on the ceiling before, but in a minute stretch across the ceiling, in a line, also 3 other cracks own formed.
I previously had a 29 gallon where the 38 is presently, and had no problems.
What should I do?? I emptyed the tank, but I still enjoy a 30 gallon aquarium, and a 10 gallon aquarium in that room.
HELP! I do not want the tanks to spatter through!
you conversation about a lot of immensity here. you need to down size... it cracken becasue it cant handle the solidity plus, your weight walking around... .your ceiling wont fall contained by ,this is only the sheet rock cracking. maybe you can move them down stairs. and repair the ceiling.
i belive a gallon of water weights 8 lb per sq foot First off.procure a carpenter...second please for you own safety and those around you..relocate the tanks DOWNSTAIRS. The upper member of the house is not meant to have that much asymmetrically spaced weigh on it.
38 gallons of water, if u.S. gallons should weigh approx. 318 lbs, which is not that much. If you donate this however to the 30 gallon and the 10 gallon that was already there, next you would have had a total of 335 + the 318 = 653 lbs.
So, within essence you have approx. 3 people standing within the same spot in that room..make the addition of to that the weight of the glass and possibly the fact that they may be too close together is contributing to the span of the joists anyone pressured into flexing a bit, which then causes your sheetrock joint to give way.
Spread the mass over the room so that there is not so much weight within the same spot, and it should work out. the cracks won't fix themselves though. The integrity of the joint have been compromised and has to be replastered.
If the house is built beside 2 x 8 lumber, then the weight should be smoothly handled. If 2 x 6 was used upstairs, after the flex will continue to cause cracks.
Answers: Your sub flooring has gotten weak upstairs and if of late an aquarium is putting that much stress to cause the ceiling to crack, I would highly consider any move the weight closer to the walls or putting a 3/8" sheet of plywood on the upstairs floor to redistribute the substance more evenly.
In the end you are going to desperately need to own those floor joists replaced which is going to mean a clean roof in the downstairs.
you need a carpenter now!