# Hardwood or ceramic tile??



## Jason Baliban (Feb 21, 2005)

I am buying a house....

I need to decide on the flooring material for one of the rooms that will have an aquarium in it. My two choices are hardwood or ceramic tile. The tile seems like it would be more resiliant to spills and water, however, i am afraid that the weight of the tank may cause cracking in the tile. The tank is a 90 gallon. 

Does anyone have any thoughts or insite on which is should choose?

Thanks

jB


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Congrats on the house Jason! 

My guess would be ceramic too, and I bet it would be fine with the even distribution of the tank weight.

I think hardwood would be a worse choice, since it has the potential to warp and rot with water spills, even if it is well sealed. 
Not that I'm an expert, but that's just what logic tells me.


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## Jason Baliban (Feb 21, 2005)

Thanks Jan!!

Most people are saying that the weight in a good stand is distributed and that should pose no prob to tile.

jB


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Most aquariums are installed against a wall. If the floor joists run parallel to the wall (non load bearing wall), the floor will deflect more from the weight away from the wall than next to the wall. A really heavy tank, like a 90 gallon, weighing around 750 pounds, may, in that situation, crack a mortar joint between tiles. But if the joists run perpendicular to the wall it probably makes no difference which floor you have.

Big spills of water on either type of floor will be a problem if they aren't mopped up quickly. Mortar joints are not usually very waterproof without special effort. So.....my advice: if the floor is on a slab of concrete, use tile. If the floor joists are parallel to the wall, use wood. Otherwise, go with what looks best to you.


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## Jason Baliban (Feb 21, 2005)

Thanks for the input Hoppy.

My thoughts are that after years of small drips, the tile should be more resiliant. I agree that any large spill would be bad!! HAHA As we all know, its impossible to avoid the small drips week after week. I think that would take a toll on wood in a short amount of time. The tank will be on a wall that is supported by a steel I beam.

jB


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

If the floor is built properly, tiles are balanced (no slopes) and woodflooring is built properly with tight seals betweeen the joints, then no problems either way. My house has wood floors and I haven't had any issues with water damaging the wood floor panels. Every aquarium spill, soda spill, etc. just needs to be cleaned up in a timely fashion.

Though you shouldn't have a problem, it might be a good idea to place a slab of wood on top of the tiles to make sure there is even weight distribution, making the tiles crack resistant if there was some unbalance of the tank. 

I vote for wood floors. It makes the tank and room pop more than tile. Tiles make the room cold during the winter too, so no bear feet. 

Good luck with the move, and the new house. 

-John N.


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## Sudi (Feb 3, 2005)

I like hardwood floor better, it just looks a lot better after it's done 
If you don't have young children, or running animals, then spills are no trouble.

Some tiles are nice too, and you could probably put some kind of styrophone pad under the stand between the tiles and the stand.

I vote for hardwood floor, because I'm getting hardwood floor in few months too, and I feel that it will last. (my tank is 75g) Ooo... also the hardwood floor is healthier for you!

Matt


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## kaj41354 (Jul 20, 2004)

You can tell JohnN is a Californian. worried about the floor being too cold for bare feet ;-) Those of us here in PA don't worry about that, snow feels good on bare feet, sorta like sand without the heat


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## RoseHawke (Jan 4, 2005)

*IF* you have the option, i.e., the tank will most likely always be in the same spot, what I would do would be to put in a tile area where the tank is going and the rest of the room hardwood. I have a hardwood floor, ca. 1955 , so of course it's waxed. At the moment I have a bit of carpet padding that is specifically designed to resist spills in front of the tank (same thing's under my area rug so this was actually a scrap.) I have found this to help immensely in keeping inevitable drips and minor spills onto the actual hardwood to a minimum. If water drips onto the floor and I miss cleaning it up I'll have water spots because of the wax finish. Of course with a modern hardwood installation you would most likely have a poly finish and would not encounter this problem.


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## redstrat (Apr 3, 2006)

Just my two cents, I know with the hardwood floor I had while growing up we needed to wax/polish it almost annually and every couple years we had to reseal it to protect it from spills and scuffs because it was in the dinning room. Tile seems like the best solution to me because the lack of regular maintenance other than mopping it clean saves you from having to move the tank in the future just to maintain the floor.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

There is a middle ground here, and it is what I use. We installed a laminate flooring on all of the floors in our condo. Pergo is the original laminate floor, but we used Wilsonite, which the flooring pros say is the best. It resists water very well, cleans easily, and is far more wear resistant than wood. The downside is that if you have a massive water leak you get water under the laminate and that isn't a good idea, to say the least.


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

Jason,

Did you ever decide which flooring you're going with? You're going to have fun with a new house, and on top of that a new 90 gallon setup! Lucky you, we're all jealous! 

-John N.


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## Jason Baliban (Feb 21, 2005)

Yeah, we made the decision last night. We are going to go with 17" tile. Hopefully it will all work out sweet!!

Thanks guys for all your help

jB


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