Design help for an in wall unit

[chrismhaase]

Hey guys,
I recently moved into a new 2 story house and I have sold my old reef tank and am considering on designing an in wall unit under a stairway. I think I can fit a 75, 90 or 125 long without a problem.

I am farely handy, have air guns, saws and all the goodies. I feel confient in building an ripping out walls, but would like to see some PICTURES and design plans if anyone has them. Also, all suggestions and or direction in this plan will be much appreciated.

PS This has to be exact or my fiance will kill me since this is a brand new home. Thanks for all your help. Chris

[Fly Guy]

Originally Posted by chrismhaase

PS This has to be exact or my fiance will kill me since this is a brand new home.

If you want to keep her maybe you should marry her before ripping any walls of your new home apart

Ill let other people who have done it give you input on how to go abouot doing the inwall thing....but i will offer that you should go as big as you possibly can. Its one thing upgrading a stand alone tank...........its another upgrading one thats in wall. Bigger is better.

Good luck : )

[Geoff]

do you have a pic of the area in question? depending on the construction of the stairs you may have less room there than you think to put a tank. you will need to run some headers over the tank to support the stairs across the width of the tank. headers can be big, expecially if you plan on spanning 6' worth of load.

G~

[motorslave]

Plus you need to consider plumbing and electrical. Under stairs more than likely dont have alot of vertical room, how willing are you when it comes to toting water? sewer and fresh water access is a huge plus. Heres the design for when I do mine.

[chrismhaase]

Here is a picture of the wall in question. I think the longest tank I can put in there is 48" due to stud placement. Let me know what you think. On the inside I have an inside height of 81 inches. Thanks, Chris

[Geoff]

nice butt.

how easy is it to get to the backside of that wall. could you post a pic of the ugly side.

if you can place all of the supporting stuff somewhere else you may have more room for the tank than you think.

G~

[chrismhaase]

To the right of the stars is a half bath, it then has a door that opens to a closet. I will get a picture of that as well tonight when I go home. Basically there is a a 10X10 area. However on the inside there is limited space due to the slant of the stairs, a closet maid shelf that has wetsuits and my bcs hanging. So space is somewhat limited. I could possibly move stuff around though. hmm....

[chrismhaase]

Here is the entrance to the bathroom and into the storage area and then the backside of the wall. Let me know.

[chrismhaase]

I have 80" from the wall the right of the scuba tanks,second picture, to the wall on the left side(where the tank will be) which is the 3rd picture.

[chrismhaase]

also the ceiling height is 81"

[Geoff]

that is going to be tough. if you were to move all of that stuff than you could have a chance, but it would really mean using the whole area for tanks stuff just about. the harder it is to do maintenance the less likely it will be to get done.

G~

[chrismhaase]

Geoff,

The wall right to the right of the pick scuba tank is a wall that is cosmetic and not supportive except for the end beam. What I could do is strip off all the drywall and leave the poll in place. Refering to picture #2. Then the scuba stuff will be next to the water heater. Then I would move that shelf over to that area and then there would be more space. What sould you think then. I could also remove the drywall in the same method on the wall just left passed the door.

[Geoff]

that sounds like it could be a good plan. i would not put a tank in that area that is wider than the distance from the wall on the right to the where the slope begins for the stairs. you want as much room above a tank as possible. reaching under the stairs for anythingin the tank would be really difficult and annoying. now placing a sump under the stairs could be a great thing. how wide is that area i just described? how wide is the area under the stairs, the width of the stairs.

G~

[madscientist]

I started my inwall plan as being under the stairs, but the height really does get you. One of the major things that you really want to consider is having the tank accessable from the front. If you want to restack some rock, place a frag, or clean the glass it gets to be a pita from the back. the other major issue is heat and moisture. that small of a room with little ventalation can be a problem. If you can get a quiet bath fan in there it would make a big difference, but it will be an issue.

[chrismhaase]

MAd Scientist I do agree with you and I am now thinking of switching tank locations. I have now drwn out another plan. Imagine this... as you walk into my house from the front door, there are immediately two rooms; one on the right and the other on the left. The one on the left is a formal dining room- and according to the fiance it is not up for debate. The room to the right, the office is another story. It is open and we were thinking of closing it in with a new wall that would have a french door setup with 2 doors. AS I was working on the laptop today I had a revelation to take it down to one door and have a 7 foot tank, either a 125 or 180 as the divider that could be viewed in the office, hallway or dining room. Then she replyed with a new office setup. I guess this will be a trade off.

DOES ANYONE HAVE PICTURES ON A TANK THAT DIVIDES 2 ROOMS AND IS VIEWABLE FROM BOTH SIDES??? I would greatly appreciate those pictures.