Brewhouse and tanks on floor with crawlspace under

[thatjonguy]

Has anyone dealt with putting a brewhouse and tanks on a concrete floor with a crawlspace underneath? The concrete in question is approximately 12 inches thick (reinforced, unsure of rebar spacing) and is also 101 years old. I was thinking keeping the tanks close to the exterior walls/foundation to reduce overall stress on the floor. Looking at a 7bbl two vessel brewhouse (skid mounted) and 3-15bbl unitanks, 3-7bbl unitanks and at least 5-7bbl serving tanks.

If anyone has some wisdom, I am meeting with my contractor for a walk through before our written offer on the building later this week.

I am sure our contractor will bring a structural engineer to ensure we should be ok (and I would insist).

Thanks in advance!

[BeachBrew]

Add a contingency to the offer

I would go ahead and make the offer with a floor contingency. The contingency should include a full engineering inspection using the max number of vessels and equipment (plus an increment). A bad floor in this situation would put you out of business.

[yap]

and don't forget to include the weight of the beer in the calcs. I know that sounds stupid but I've seen it before!

[thatjonguy]

Thanks guys! I kind of thought about the offer last night after I posted. I even included the weight of the glycol in my numbers. If I came in and found a tank half way through the floor, I would lock back up and call my brother to open that day

If anyone has any experience of any reinforcements made in a situation such as this I would love to hear them, short of filling the crawlspace in with more concrete.

[beejay]

Get a structural engineer to do a load calc. You'll probably find you are fine. A cheap solution would be tiger jacks if you are not.

[liammckenna]

and don't forget to include the weight of the beer in the calcs. I know that sounds stupid but I've seen it before!

2

...and the weight of the floor itself.

What is the support structure from the floor? Iron beams?, 2 x 12's, on what kind of centre's are they (distance between).

We have a suspended floor in our brewhouse. floor supports are tripled 2x16's on 18 inch centres.

We are 10 hL system, hot liquor tank is only oversized one at 20hL.

To echo previous posters, you need a structural engineer to sign off on your plans. It is likely your insurance issuer will require it.

Pax.

Liam

[revnatscider]

Your engineer will tell you what to do but it might include pouring concrete footers for each tank's foot, through the floor, through the crawlspace below, and into the undisturbed earth below, effectively ignoring the floating concrete floor.