We have a large indoor area in our basement to bring fish in during the winter. We want to build an indoor pond using concrete blocks as support for the sides. A pond liner would be used to line the area created by the blocks. Our concern is the weight this will put on the basement floor. If our indoor pond is 5X4X3 feet it would be approximately 450 gallons or close to 4500 pounds. Is this too much weight for the floor of a newly built home? Additionally we will have to deal with the added moisture.
Answer:
You're talking about placing roughly six thousand pounds onto 20 square feet of concrete floor. For your own safety, you might get in touch with city hall to ask about the integrity of that poured, 3-inch thick slab. I would be concerned as much because of the weight as because sometimes what is supposed to be 3" thick doesn't make it much past half that. I've just added too many basement bathrooms to be convinced that 3" is the same thickness to everybody.
