# No support beams in basement?



## Rattlinggourd (Jul 15, 2010)

We recently purchased a new house. The basement is half finished. Here is the question. Where are the support beams? In most houses there are metal polls hanging down and in this one there are none. We are wanting to redo the basement, but have not clue where the supports are. 
The pictures included show the unfinished side, the finished side and the room at the end. The room at the end is small and the picture is toward the wall that is on the unfinished side. They took it standing in the doorway at the end of the room. The finished side, has stairs on the left had side and a door after the stairs that leads to the unfinished side. The door in the picture to the left is for under stair storage. The unfinished side is facing toward the end with the small room and the stairs are on the right and the door leads to the other side. 
We want to knock out the wall that has the little room and tile it, add a fireplace. Any help would be great. This is my first post and first house, so I finally get to start DIY'ing. Thank you for any help. 

Jeff


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## kwikfishron (Mar 11, 2010)

That wall just may be your support. 

You need to have a structural engineered take a look before you knock out anything.


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## Just Bill (Dec 21, 2008)

Yep, the wall looks like 2x6's, I think that is the support.


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## Rattlinggourd (Jul 15, 2010)

Thank you for the information. Do you think that I could put a 200 gallon fish tank in the room above that wall or would it have to be supported? Also would the support wall just be the one that runs long ways? i.e could i knock the short wall to make the room bigger?


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## DangerMouse (Jul 17, 2008)

A 200 gallon fish tank will set on those 2x6's just fine! Po)

So would a grand piano UNDER the fish tank! LOL

DM


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## Rattlinggourd (Jul 15, 2010)

*thanks*

I needed that. Was wanting to put a fish by the wall and a piano in front of it. thanks again to everyone who answered. I went back to the house and yes they are 2x6's. I am sure I will be asking more questions and a lot of DIYs in this house. This is a great site so far.:thumbup:


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## DangerMouse (Jul 17, 2008)

It sure is, I spend so much time here they should charge me rent! Po)

DM


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## Gary in WA (Mar 11, 2009)

Only *one* main *floor* above the basement, right?

Be safe, Gary


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## Rattlinggourd (Jul 15, 2010)

*kina*

There is master bedroom above the kitchen. The living room is open and has vaulted ceilings. So the bedrooms and living are one floor and above the kitchen is a bedroom with a full bath.


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## Yoyizit (Jul 11, 2008)

Have 10 people crowd together where you want the tank and measure sagging in the basement. Post back. You're looking for differences on the order of 1/4" or so.


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## Scuba_Dave (Jan 16, 2009)

I put a 125g in on top of a 2x4 1/2 wall, with a beam in the basement
Fresh water or salt ?


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## Gary in WA (Mar 11, 2009)

The basement 2x6 wall appears to be 24" on center stud spacing. If two floors above, it should be 16" or 12" o.c., depending on the amount of floor area and/or roof load it is carrying. This is my concern. Is this wall something the previous owner added in place of posts? I notice under the stairs is not drywalled-- as it should be per minimum fire code.

Could you post a picture of the top of the unfinished side at the short wall? 

And possibly one of the studs in the basement wall under the two story area?

1. Where exactly is the tank going in relation to the basement bearing wall?

2. Is the, parallel with the joists, short wall supporting the end opening of the stairs? 

3. What size are the floor joists-- 2x10?

4. What are they spanning from wall/exterior concrete wall?

Maximum spacing of wood studs
Page #199, Fig. 14-8: http://books.google.com/books?id=id...0CAgQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=IRC 602.6.1&f=false


Be safe, Gary


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## Yoyizit (Jul 11, 2008)

Just Bill said:


> Yep, the wall looks like 2x6's, I think that is the support.


Each 8' 2x6 of avg. strength can hold up to one ton without buckling.


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## Daniel Holzman (Mar 10, 2009)

The OPS stated that he wanted to put a 200 gallon fish tank in the room above the wall. That is at least 1600 lbs. As noted by a previous poster, the OPS DID NOT STATE that the tank would be placed directly ABOVE THE WALL, he merely stated that the tank would be placed in the room above the wall. If the room is 20 feet square, the tank could be 10 feet from the wall, in which case it would be supported by joists, not the wall.

While it may be true that the 2x6 wall could support a 1600 lb tank centered directly above the wall and parallel to the wall, it is incorrect and dangerous to suggest that in this particular application the tank can safely be supported by the joists. As previously noted by GBR, the only way to determine if the load can be supported safely is to compute the bending moment on the joists based on the specific load and location, and the size and span of the joists.


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## Rattlinggourd (Jul 15, 2010)

*Salt*



Scuba_Dave said:


> I put a 125g in on top of a 2x4 1/2 wall, with a beam in the basement
> Fresh water or salt ?


 
It will be a Saltwater reef tank. Currently I have a 65g. I am planning to up it to 125 or higher. 200g would be my max. Do you have reef or fresh?


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## Rattlinggourd (Jul 15, 2010)

*answres to gbr*



GBR in WA said:


> The basement 2x6 wall appears to be 24" on center stud spacing. If two floors above, it should be 16" or 12" o.c., depending on the amount of floor area and/or roof load it is carrying. This is my concern. Is this wall something the previous owner added in place of posts? I notice under the stairs is not drywalled-- as it should be per minimum fire code.
> 
> Could you post a picture of the top of the unfinished side at the short wall?
> 
> ...


I dont have any pictures of that area. Here are answers to your questions to the best of my knowledge:
1. it would be directly above the wall about 5ft north(looking at the pic) of the doorway. 
2.short wall (i think) above the stairs. In the pic directly to the right is the wall with the HVAC units to the right. The behind that is a few walls on the bottom floor that has a full bathroom in it. So above the stairs on the first floor is the stairs going to the second. The room upstairs is directly above the kitchen. On the basement level a full bathroom is there. Kitchen above, then another open bedroom with a full bath. Confusing but that is how it looks.
3. I think the joists are 2x12s. They are big. 
4. they span from east to west and sit on top of the concrete basement walls. 

attached is a picture of the living room above the walls and the kitchen. The stairs are on the right and the door leading downstairs is on the right. In the pic facing the fireplace you can see the stairs from upstairs coming down on the left. That is the wall I was thinking about putting the fishtank on. After all of the thoughts I might just place it in the basement on the wall in front of the stairs and put something else up stairs.


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## Scuba_Dave (Jan 16, 2009)

Rattlinggourd said:


> It will be a Saltwater reef tank. Currently I have a 65g. I am planning to up it to 125 or higher. 200g would be my max. Do you have reef or fresh?


I'd go to 180 or 220 if I had to do it again
Mine is viewable from 3 sides

I have a 125g saltwater tank....empty 300g for the future
I actually sold off the corals/fish when my son was born
I only have a clown fish left...planning to buy a few more fish for now

in better days:


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## Rattlinggourd (Jul 15, 2010)

*that is nice*

dont want to get off topic, but that is beautiful. I might just go bigger and put it in the basement. Maybe a piano would be better upstairs anyway. I just wanted to house all the pumps and refugium in the basement then run lines to the main tank. On a side note I have a sailfin tang, couple clowns, gobies, corals, and chromis right now.


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