Want to free up attic space by moving water tanks

GreeBo

Hey, I have two large cold water tanks and one header tank for the CH right in the middle of my attic taking up most of the usable space...
Im guessing they are only there as its directly above the hotpress but would there be any other structural reasons?
Its a semi-d and Id like to move it back against the back adjoining wall and free up a good bit of usable space for flooring/storage.

So my question is can I jsut move the tanks and supports and plumb over the to new location or would there be a structural reason why its in the middle of the roof?

Cheers.

10-10-20

I just deleted my first reply by mistake, so I'll try again... grrrr...

I had reason to consider moving storage tanks in my house also, so I gave this a bit of thought.
I have a detached house with RSJ support beams located in the ceiling to support the roof. My 2x 80l tanks sit above where two RSJ's meet at 90 degrees, and are surrounded by solid brick walls at that point. The other internal walls are plasterboard. The tank weight combined is approx 160kg.

What you'll have to look at is whether the supporting beams are crossing solid walls perpendicularly, providing support to the tank. The tanks must be installed over flat ply (not crossing the beams) and a plinth can be constructed to further spread and support the weight. If you can locate a position by the adjoining wall which matches this, then in theory you should get the green light...

But hey - I'm only a DIYer - so lets wait for the opinions of others also!

hobie

Food for thought ......

A gallon of water weighs 10 lbs ......

a 50 gallon tank of water weighs 500 lbs ......

an 80 gallon tank of water weighs 800 lbs .....

Proceed with caution and professional advice ..... :rolleyes:

311

A tank should rest on joists that are supported by a wall underneath.

Some houses have joists that are only nailed to the apex of the roof and are not supported by walls underneath.
Common sense will tell you were to put the tank:) ,any decent tradesman would know.

GreeBo

The joists are running from front to back and resting on the front and back walls.
There are then two 2x8's crossing this and another 2 crossing the first two. The tanks then sit on a bed of T&G on top.
I want to move the tanks to a different set of joists, so they wont be moving futher or closer to a supporting wall, if you see what I mean...
o = attic entrance
w = water tanks

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Front wall
| | | | | | | |
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| o | w | | | | attached side
| o | w | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |

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Back Wall


I want to change it to

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| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| o | | | | w
| o | | | | w
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |

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muffler

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Front wall
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| o

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| | | attached side
| o

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| | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |

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Back Wall

Is there a wall below or close to the tanks at the moment - i.e. running from below the attic entrance to where the tanks are and parallel with front and rear walls as shown above?

Mellor

hobie wrote:

Food for thought ......

A gallon of water weighs 10 lbs ......

a 50 gallon tank of water weighs 500 lbs ......

an 80 gallon tank of water weighs 800 lbs .....

Proceed with caution and professional advice ..... :rolleyes:

Luckily we use the metric system which is far easier.
1 litre = 1 Kilogram

Its a semi-D so ill be assuming that its a two story house. Are the upstairs wall load bearing. Stud walls can be load bearing too. They are more solid, double top and bottom.

There are also sizes and conditions for the pieces that cross the joists to support the tank. Its covered in homebond if you have a copy. (you can get the info here if you don't) As long as there aren't supporting walls you should be ok. As all the trusses are equal i imagine.

hobie

Luckily we use the metric system which is far easier.
1 litre = 1 Kilogram

If the $$$$ comes down on your head I suspect it will matter very little if it hits you in metric or imperial units ......

hobie

muffler wrote:

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Front wall
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| o

---

| | | attached side
| o

---

| | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |

---

Back Wall

Is there a wall below or close to the tanks at the moment - i.e. running from below the attic entrance to where the tanks are and parallel with front and rear walls as shown above?

I had a quick look at my tank location ..... the Professional who decided it's location chose a spot with a corridor wall ..... a bedroom wall ..... a further bedroom wall and finally a shower room wall ..... all just below the tank base ...... :rolleyes:

looksee

I really dont mean to sound sarcastic, but genuinely I wouldn't move water tanks if I had to ask for advice about it . I wouldn't move them anyway, and I suspect that the place you are moving them to would be just about over the head of your bed...

GreeBo

yeah its 2 storey, sorry
There is no solid load bearing wall below, Id have to investigate to see if the stud wall is load bearing, but I wouldnt have thought so...in fact I dont even think the joists are touching the wall below as the ceiling covers it (the plasterboard sheet)

@looksee : very few people would get very much done if they only did things they didnt need advice on.
and no, its not over my head, just further along the joining wall of the two main bedrooms...

Fr Dougal

You've also got to consider insulation.
Normally, tanks are located directly above the hot press and the ceiling directly under the tank is not normlally insulated. This is to allow a little residual heat rise through the ceiling to prevent the tank from freezing over in winter. If you move it you should make sure it is fully insulated around and above but possibly remove a little of the insulation from under it.

GreeBo

Fr Dougal wrote:

You've also got to consider insulation.
Normally, tanks are located directly above the hot press and the ceiling directly under the tank is not normlally insulated. This is to allow a little residual heat rise through the ceiling to prevent the tank from freezing over in winter. If you move it you should make sure it is fully insulated around and above but possibly remove a little of the insulation from under it.

yeah, I was planning to just move the insulation form the new location to cover the old location, tanks themselves are already well insulated.

Thanks!

hobie

How about looking for someone with the same house as yours, who have carried out a loft conversion ..... they should be able to give you some idea of the implications of tank re-location ....