Something in the world of floating have you stumped?
Show Highlights
In this short, salty, and to the point episode, Graham and Ashkahn talk about installing float tanks on the second floor and how to work with contractors and engineers to determine if you need to reinforce your building to support the weight.
While you usually don’t need reinforcement, it’s always good to check. Listen in above or check out the transcript below and, as always, be sure to send us your questions. All questions welcome, from basic industry questions to well crafted stumpers. If Graham and Ashkahn don’t know the answer, they still relish the journey of discovery and educated guessing.
Show Resources
Listen to Just the Audio
Transcription of this episode… (in case you prefer reading)
Ashkahn: We’ve got a question today about being on the second floor of a building with your float center. So, if you’re thinking about putting a float center on the second floor, do you need to do any structural reinforcement to hold the weight of the float tank?
Graham: Let me just say definitively that, it totally depends.
Ashkahn: Yeah, that I think is a very concrete answer.
Graham: Of course, it’s going to depend on the building, how new your construction is, whether you’re in a big multi-story concrete kind of building or whether you’re in an old wooden Victorian house. There’s a lot that goes into it, but shockingly, the overall answer in almost all of those cases tends to be no. You don’t really need to do any extra reinforcement.
Ashkahn: Yeah, most times people bring in a structural engineer to take a look at things and examine it. Often landlords will even require you to do that.
Graham: Which you totally should do, don’t just listen to us and be like, “Oh it’s totally fine,” and go forward with it — a structural engineer is a great thing to bring in.
Ashkahn: It usually ends up being that while the float tank is heavy and all the salt water is heavy and all that, it’s just got such a big footprint. The float tanks are so big that the actual amount of pounds per square foot that’s really being put on, is not really as much as one might think. So it tends to be that a lot of buildings can hold it, even the way they are. Especially newer construction, like newer condo type buildings with strong reinforced concrete and stuff like that, tend to not really be much of a concern.
Graham: Again, surprisingly even for older buildings. Often times those are also good to go. Another good reason to consult an expert before spending a lot of money on reinforcements you might not necessarily need.
Ashkahn: Yeah, it’s always weird and there’s always weird stuff out there. I mean, even The Float Shoppe across the river from us, they’re in an old Victorian house and they brought a structural engineer in to check things out before they started and they found they could put float tanks on the second floor but their first floor was not actually strong enough to put float tanks on. Which is really crazy.
Graham: Yeah, so again, consult the experts and if it doesn’t work out, then you always can reinforce anyway.
Ashkahn: Boom.
Graham: Shakalaka.
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Editors Note: This is a revision of a past blog post, updated to reflect the most current sanitation methods and standards
In a perfect world, you could just pour water and salt into a float tank and it would stay pure and clean and fresh and salty forever. In the real world, conditions in the water are constantly changing, so keeping your water safe and clean takes a fair amount of vigilance.
This post covers how we maintain basic water quality in the float tank, except for sanitization methods, which will be covered in their own beastly sanitation blog post. Stay tuned for that coming out next week!
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This post will explore the intersection of floating with the concepts, beliefs, and experiences related to mental health and wellness, with a focus on anxiety and depression. I’ll explore my own story as it relates to floating before diving into the current intersections of floating and mental health, with a look at past, current, and potential opportunities for research and personal growth.
Massage, Acupuncture, and Float Tanks… A Chat with Sandra Calm
We’ve seen lots of float centers that aren’t just float centers.
Many have massage, some offer counseling, some have yoga classes next door. Lots of people start out either by incorporating float tanks into a larger business, or with float tanks only being one of many modalities at their center. Being specialists in floating, Float On has not mastered anything else.
So, to help gain insight into this growing aspect of the industry, we contacted our old friend, Sandra Calm. She started up The Float Shoppe here in Portland with her husband and podcast sensation, Dylan Calm, back in 2011. When they first opened, they had just two float tanks, and slowly added acupuncture, massage, counseling, along with two more tanks. Talk about expansion!
She was more than happy to take some time for the industry to help us understand just what it’s like to run a center with multiple services by answering some questions.
