In Slab Radiant Heat

The stapler is pricey but damn it worked perfect. I used wire mesh and suspended it in the concrete above the tubing. Fastening the tubing to the insulation, I wasn’t worried at all about the mesh floating and cutting a line when cutting joints.
 
Yeah I didn't want to spend the extra cash on one just for a one time use, any interest in renting it? I don't have a problem sending ya a nice deposit. Cutting a line is a concern of mine, how thick is your slab?
 
thatguy69 said:
Yeah I didn't want to spend the extra cash on one just for a one time use, any interest in renting it? I don't have a problem sending ya a nice deposit. Cutting a line is a concern of mine, how thick is your slab?
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My slab is 6” thick. You are welcome to use it. I thought the same thing, damn I’m going to use this once and put it on a shelf. Just shoot me a pm if you want to use it.
 
I’m ready to get back to work on my shop after a short winter break. Here are some pictures from Dec. when we poured the floor.

I’m also looking for R-19 unfaced insulation in 93” wide rolls. I have found a few suppliers within 3 hours of me to call tomorrow, but am open to other suppliers including online. I am located in 45013 (SW Ohio).

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thatguy69 said:
Looks good pal, finally got my pex/remesh/rebar down. Pouring concrete tuesday. I ended up finding a stapler through a friend, thanks for the offer on yours.
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No problem on the stapler. I hope the pour is going well today, post some pics for us.
 
pour went great,had to pump 400 foot since i have a bridge halfways down my drive thats not rated for a cement truck. plus i wanted them to pump rather than buggy over the pex. had no leaks and my pressure gauge never dropped at all.:rockwoot: tried uploading pics and didnt have any luck. keeps saying missing token error?and i dont have a photobucket account. Anyways im glad that part of the build is over,and ready for the next.
 
thatguy69 said:
pour went great,had to pump 400 foot since i have a bridge halfways down my drive thats not rated for a cement truck. plus i wanted them to pump rather than buggy over the pex. had no leaks and my pressure gauge never dropped at all.:rockwoot: tried uploading pics and didnt have any luck. keeps saying missing token error?and i dont have a photobucket account. Anyways im glad that part of the build is over,and ready for the next.
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Great to hear it went well. I watched my pressure gauge the whole time they poured just to make sure. Are you going to finish the interior? Heat?

For pictures I upload to imgur.com and then copy the forum code and paste it in the text box.
 
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Marked for good info. I have radiant heat floors in the house, and it's awesome, but I did not install it.


I'm debating doing it in my shop, but, more than half of it's already poured with no piping. Probably 45x40 of the 45x72. We have a wood boiler that runs the house system and two hot water tanks in the winter. The wood is basically free. It's got a separate pump on the boiler for a second system. I'm not sure how one side being cold and one being hot would effect things. Expansion, cracking, or ??

The easy way out is to do my final pour, insulate, and use the boiler in a used fuel oil furnace to heat the air. I'm not looking for a 70 degree shop, just something that knocks the chill off.


Meyers Farms - Let me know what you find for insulation. I think mine is around 90" beam to beam. I know they make rolls that have a 3" lip on each side that overlaps onto the beam on each side. Roll it, nail it, done.
 
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Bersaglieri that sounds tricky,i know some people have poured over an existing slab so that they could have radiant heat but you are in a differant boat. i would say as long as you have a good expansion joint inbetween the heated/non heated slab you would be ok though. A short breakdown of my project,I dug down around the perimeter of the barn 2 foot and insulated it with 3.5" EPS(R15),which is the same stuff i used under my concrete. i was able to source it in akron for 15 dollars a sheet which is half of the price of the 2 inch xps board. i put down my 1,750 ft of pex and then laid down my 4x8 sheets of remesh on top of that. 5/8 rebar 3' on center on top of the mesh and then i put a lot of extra in the garage door entrances and also where the baseplates for my mezzanine will sit.i feel bad if somebody has to break this slab up someday lol.Next step is to acid stain the concrete and then seal it,but your supposed to wait 28 days after the pour to do that. im going to finish the interior with a white tin ceiling/painted osb walls. for insulation i got a quote for 1 inch close cell spray foam for the walls,r19 batts over that,and r38 blown in ceiling for 3660 with tax and labor,i dont really think i can beat that material cost wise much less counting the labor to do it all(building is 36x40x14). for heat i scored a takagi tankless water heater on facebook that was lightly used,i am going to try using it and see if i cant get a few years out of it, a lot of guys seem to have great luck with the takagi's as they are rated for both on demand/radiant floor heat.Sorry for the long read,just trying to cover the details,let me know if the pictures work,im using imgur for the first time.
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I’m curious why in the northern states everyone builds wood frame pole buildings with wood trusses. I took a trip up north a while back and all builds were wood frame. In the south, buildings are constructed with a steel frame which are usually bolted together he we. Sometimes welded.

It makes no difference to me personally, just curious as to why. For a storage only building I would rather wood frame.

Though I live on the coast, so metal framework is a must for windstorm purposes. Wood frame would need all sorts of metal straps anchoring the structure back to the slab.
 
Bersaglieri said:
Meyers Farms - Let me know what you find for insulation. I think mine is around 90" beam to beam. I know they make rolls that have a 3" lip on each side that overlaps onto the beam on each side. Roll it, nail it, done.
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The only insulation I can find in a 93” width is Textrafine. It is made by Anco Products. I contacted Anco and there are several dealers in the northeastern part of Ohio as well as a few in northeastern Indians. I was hoping for somewhere closer. I can get 4’ wide rolls from Menards, but I’d much rather eliminate the seam between posts.

On the boiler note, what brand boiler do you use and are you happy with it?

thatguy69 said:
Bersaglieri that sounds tricky,i know some people have poured over an existing slab so that they could have radiant heat but you are in a differant boat. i would say as long as you have a good expansion joint inbetween the heated/non heated slab you would be ok though. A short breakdown of my project,I dug down around the perimeter of the barn 2 foot and insulated it with 3.5" EPS(R15),which is the same stuff i used under my concrete. i was able to source it in akron for 15 dollars a sheet which is half of the price of the 2 inch xps board. i put down my 1,750 ft of pex and then laid down my 4x8 sheets of remesh on top of that. 5/8 rebar 3' on center on top of the mesh and then i put a lot of extra in the garage door entrances and also where the baseplates for my mezzanine will sit.i feel bad if somebody has to break this slab up someday lol.Next step is to acid stain the concrete and then seal it,but your supposed to wait 28 days after the pour to do that. im going to finish the interior with a white tin ceiling/painted osb walls. for insulation i got a quote for 1 inch close cell spray foam for the walls,r19 batts over that,and r38 blown in ceiling for 3660 with tax and labor,i dont really think i can beat that material cost wise much less counting the labor to do it all(building is 36x40x14). for heat i scored a takagi tankless water heater on facebook that was lightly used,i am going to try using it and see if i cant get a few years out of it, a lot of guys seem to have great luck with the takagi's as they are rated for both on demand/radiant floor heat.Sorry for the long read,just trying to cover the details,let me know if the pictures work,im using imgur for the first time.
DiON95w.jpg

KoKZbXY.jpg

s5eyNOI.jpg

8sajmGv.jpg

gJTHjWn.jpg

WhOkDoO.jpg
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That’s a great price on the insulation, I wish I’d have found that deal! I got the 2 inch xps for about $21.50 per sheet. Your insulation price definitely sounds cheap! Glad to hear the building is coming along so nicely. I’ve never been around the acid stain. Is it for aesthetics only?

Red Sleeper said:
I’m curious why in the northern states everyone builds wood frame pole buildings with wood trusses. I took a trip up north a while back and all builds were wood frame. In the south, buildings are constructed with a steel frame which are usually bolted together he we. Sometimes welded.

It makes no difference to me personally, just curious as to why. For a storage only building I would rather wood frame.

Though I live on the coast, so metal framework is a must for windstorm purposes. Wood frame would need all sorts of metal straps anchoring the structure back to the slab.
Click to expand...

I’m unsure why wood frame is so popular? I priced a metal building before I built mine and it was a considerable price difference. Maybe because we don’t need the hurricane protection so we generally gravitate to the wood buildings instead of steel for budget purposes.
 
The acid stain is just to breakup the color of the concrete so that stains don't stick out like a sore thumb down the road. I'm spraying 3 or 4 colors in a random pattern. Then I will use ghostshield 8510 over that. Supposed to be the best sealer that will hold up to shop use, Welding sparks and slag etc
 
I have No problem with slab heating.

Something to consider, it does nothing to control the Moisture (Humidity) in fact it creates it.
If you want to control the Humidity you will need IN addition Mechanical Air.

Of Course our Shop Store products that will rust.

The New shop will have it all, Mini Splits , Mechanical Air, Slab Heat, Moisture removal and air filters, Its worth the extra $$$$$ to spend when building. Now that being said it all depends on usage and storage.

Yes, its Plus To own Your Own Construction Company in addition to TC Diesel, is one of Four companies I solely Own.

Now back to the slab heat, slab heat works until -0 and constant traffic. You must keep Circulating the air, Fans work, but its wasted energy.

Its also unlikely to keep at 75F slab heat for 65F room height temp, on 12+FT sealings.

Do it now and spend the $$$$ for the Mechanical Air, in addition to slab heat.
 
That's strange, the guy next door that has it in his 40x100 said the only downfall is that it makes his building too dry?he only heats with radiant in floor heat. I have a 6 mill vapor barrier under 3.5" of foam. Where is the moisture going to come from?
 
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I live in MN, when you bring in Vehicles in from rain or snow its going to melt and create moisture , In Slab heat has 0 evacuation, unless added circulation, the Humidity will skyrocket, The Shop will jump from 30% to 80% in 30 Minutes, From 1 vehicle loaded with snow and Ice, the System removes 1GPH and Has a backup of 2GPH.
 
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We have in floor heat in out shop and when bring trucks in full of snow it does get a little humid but we leave ceiling fans on med/low speed and it helps alot. If gets to bad i turn on the exhaust fan for 10mins or so and takes care of it or turn on the waste oil burner.
 
We have been 100% slab heat since 2003. I have ZERO moisture problems in my building. IE, we can leave a bare, machined engine sitting in the shop and it will NOT rust. We also have machine tools and they do not rust at all. Anyone with machine tools knows that if you don't oil raceways, they will rust after using. I have no problems with that.

My 350K BTU waste oil boiler is heating 18,800 sq ft...12000' of it is 24' roof, 8" concrete with 1" foam under the slab, the rest is 16' roof, 5" concrete, with no slab insulation. If it's 10* or below for more than a day, I have to fire up the 400K btu natural gas boiler to supplement the heat. ALSO, between the 2 buildings I have a breezeway that has fabric doors in it, and it it drafty. Without that draft, I probably wouldn't have to supplement the heat at all.

We also don't notice it being any dryer than the outside air is in the winter.

As far as maintaining temp, we have 3 large doors...two 40'x15' hydroswing doors, and a 60'x18' hydroswing...that one takes 2 minutes to open, and over a minute to close. If I open those doors for a half hour, it's cold in the shop for a half hour after I close them. Recovery is not a problem. Boilers are on a timer, so the thermostat has to call for heat for 15 minutes before it fires the boiler. That cuts down on the door being open for 5 minutes calling for heat.

Slab temp usually runs about 68-69* to maintain 64-65* air temp. Water enters the slab around 120* and will exit in the 70* range.

Chris
 
Chris, thanks for chiming in. Your shop is the one that sold me on floor heat. It was around zero the day I visited and it felt like summertime in your shop. No cold feet is what sealed the deal.
 
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