Im currently doing a job estimate for marble tile that is to go over this type of radiant floor 1 12 concrete. Concrete pour for a radiant floor living building chronicle. We live in northern minnesota, just built a new house and put radiant heat in the basement floor. The workers in the photograph at page top, where our concrete slab. This article explains how to avoid some fatal mistakes when installing radiant heat in a concrete floor slab by describing an incompetent radiant heat floor installation along with an explanation of why things went wrong and how to avoid these errors. My question is about tolerance of pex infloor piping to cracking and slight movement of the basement floor slab. Meaning would i have to worry when the concrete cracks. If youve installed radiant heating in your home, you may wonder what type of floor can be installed over it. Effect of radiant floor heat on tile mastic or adhesive. Heating your home with a forcedair furnace isnt your only option when you have concrete floors. Effects of radiant floor heat on some tile grout or on caulk used instead of grout at expansion joints and intersections do this or youll be sorry later protection of the slab against cracking that will telegraph up through the tile. Concrete slab radiant heat use an electric or hydronic system. Radiant heating system design or installation mistakes that must be avoided. All the necessary components of a wellengineered and efficient hydronic radiant floor system are explained in a straight forward and nontechnical manner.
Radiant tubing location the depth of the tubing in the slab will affect the heat output of the system. From start to finish, robillard says this model of infloor heating is one. Radiant floor heat film with antifracture membrane, gray and black questions page 2. This method of radiant floor heating in concrete requires a rigid and sturdy subfloor construction so the concrete floor will not crack from bending. Maximum temperature for radiant heat terry love plumbing. If radiant floor heating is to be installed without a slab ongrade or on the. Quite simply, concrete floor radiant heat is a system of pextubes that carry hot water. Laminate flooring on top of a radiant heated floor is the perfect solution. How much does it cost to install radiant floor heating. Weve discovered slab cracks in the floor tiles and some of the. Radiant heat warms a floors surface through electric mats or water tubing installed on the surface of a concrete floor and encased in an additional thin layer of concrete or thinset. This is known as reflective cracking, and it can be easily prevented by adding a crack isolation membrane during installation. Janes radiant install radiant floor heating yourself.
Recently i came a cross a basement in floor radiant system, and there was cracking of the concrete slab and some hollow sounding areas of the slab. Its usually the same as the foundation, and it can be a concrete slab or a. Which kinds of floors can be applied over radiant heat. Thin slab over radiant finish options greenbuildingtalk. Mistakes to avoid when installing radiant heat in a concrete floor. Accommodating radiant heat in slabs concrete construction.
How to install radiant heat in concrete slab and foundation. The heat from the radiant heated floor rises to heat all surfaces in a room or home. How to install radiant heating over preexisting concrete. If it is not, you can have a floor heating system that is inefficient, costly to operate, and may not work at all. Small surface splits checking, particularly at the ends of planks, should be expected with installations over radiant heat and does not constitute a product failure. A radiant heated concrete slab has far too much definition to be branded as.
Heating the home using radiant heat concrete floors is a new technology that provides. However, there is simple solution using geoloop leak seal that is usually effective, and may be worth your while. Learn why radiant heat in your concrete floor may or may not best for you. The floor was dried in place before installation and measured for moisture before installation. There was a leak and the only way to find and fix it was to jackhammer the living room floor. Finished suspended slab with hydronic radiant heat. Im concerned about the new slab only being 2 being prone to excessive cracking. So even if there are no existing plans for the radiant floor heating or a snow melting system, installing pex tubing in it may turn out to be a good decision. Infloor heating works well heating spaces of all size and use. For coefficient of expansion of concrete using various aggregates see, design and control of concrete mixtures, portland cement association, 2003. Radiant heat for concrete slab on grade high card heating. Talk to janes radiant about getting your project started todaywe are here to make your diy infloor heat installation project simple and successful.
Our home is about 12 years old and has radiant heat tubing in the concrete slab floor. Home foundations and floors are made most commonly out of concrete. When the radiant heat is turned off, moisture once again starts to seep into the wood sub floor and radiant slab. Or radiant heat can be an electrical heating element embedded into a very thin concrete overlay, then tiled, carpeted, or have wood flooring installed over it. The first part contains a general overview of radiant heat and its various applications. Information on radiant floor heating, including benefits of concrete floor heat, lower heating and energy costs, warmth, design and installation tips, and more. You might want to do an inch and a half thick slab pour and separate it into ten foot or smaller box areas with say a. Radiant floor heating how to heat concrete floors the concrete. Water temperature in the tank is set to 115 degrees with 10 degree offset. You can save energy and create a healthier, more comfortable living environment by having the floor itself distribute the heat from the ground upvia a radiant in floor heating system. Recommendations for radiant heat lumber liquidators. Use thermoslab radiant heating for under concrete heating to warm residential or commercial buildings.
I am looking into radiant heat in a basement slab and thought about the concrete cracking. Radiant floor heat film with antifracture membrane. The boiler usually runs at 160180 degrees and there is a mixing loop that mixes some of the return water back with the supply to feed the radiant zones. You can save energy and create a healthier, more comfortable living environment by having the floor itself distribute the heatfrom the ground upvia a radiant infloor heating system. Basic materials for radiant floor heat installation in a slab. What needs to be done to make sure the wood floor will not develop cracks from the radiant. But hydronic tubing is very flexible, so some cracking should not be. The systems depend largely on radiant heat transfer the delivery of heat directly from the hot surface to the people and objects in the room via infrared radiation. More conventional forms of heating address the heat loss of the structure, while radiant floor systems address the heat loss of the human body.
Check out our video how to install radiant floor heat tubing in a slab on. What do you recommend for painting a concrete floor with radiant heat. Installing pex tubing for concrete slab underfloor heating. The pipes, embedded in the floor, carry heated water that conduct warmth to the surface of the floor where it broadcasts energy to the room. I think you have yourself provided an explaination for the cracking applying too much heat too soon after the pour. There are many ways to heat a home, but most of these methods are inefficient, cost a lot of money to run, and provide inconsistent temperatures. Introduction a slab on grade is defined as any concrete slab poured over excavated soil. The cost does vary, depending upon the type of radiant heat system you install, and the number of rooms you install radiant heat devices in. John siegenthaler, pe, recently published an article reporting on his modelling various tubing depths for a slab under a wood floor. Radiant floor heat frequently asked questions the concrete. Radiant floor heating tubing installation methods radiantec. In addition, tile flooring will not expand as it warms or contract as it cools. The concrete being used for the radiant floors is even more unique than the concrete that greater georgia poured last summer for the buildings footings and foundation. Remember, since you will only have 1 chance to pour the concrete slab, you will only have 1 chance to put the pex tubing in it.
The best floor coverings for radiant heated flooring. Top 10 best radiant floor heating systems consumeraffairs. The second section gets down to the nitty gritty details of actual radiant floor installations. Deeper tubing requires increased water temperature for a given heat output. The perfect radiant floor heating system would have no floor covering whatsoever polished concrete screed, for example, is an ideal finish and although unusual, is a very attractive option.
Installing a radiant heat unit on an alreadybuilt concrete floor has a number of. If you spot cracks in your garages concrete floor, there could be an underground waterline leak. Watch as robert robillard, also known as a concord carpenter performs a full installation of the tempzone radiant heating system. Installing pex tubing for concrete slab underfloor heating is one of the easiest ways to install radiant heat. A few different ways of installing radiant floor heating exist.
First ill be installing radiant heating with thin set mortar, then going over the top of the radiant heat with my 2 slab and then polish. It could also leave the installer having to defend why the floor heating system isnt at least partly responsible for cracks in the slab or other defects. Frequently asked questions about concrete floor radiant heating including how hot is it, tube leaking, air conditioning, zoning, etc. As long as proper precautions are taken, it is perfectly fine to install laminate over a. How to install a wood or tile floor over radiant heated. The concrete is the direct conductor of the heat energy that is transferring into your room and this is. When installed in a concrete slab, radiant underfloor heating is very efficient and comfortable. Mistakes to avoid when installing radiant heat in a. Is it possible to install hardwood flooring over the concrete, or will i be forced to use ceramic tile. My guess is that the heat supplied exceeded normal curing requirements for the gypcrete and voids formed around the tubing. Barring that, turning on the heat may have just accelerated the drying process and the cracks you mention may have occurred eventually even without the infloor heat.
Radiant heating systems supply heat directly to the floor or to panels in the wall or ceiling of a house. Hydronic radiant floor heating systems use a boiler to heat up hot water and a pump to circulate the hot water in plastic pipes installed in a concrete slab. Control joints after pouring concrete over the pex tubes. How to prevent your tile floor from cracking warmlyyours. While it is simple, it is very important to do it correctly. Best types of flooring to be installed over radiant heating. We have been told that this may be due to thermal cracking or shocking. Floor tile install on concrete where we discuss cracks that. How it works the radiant panel association illustrates six ways to install radiant floor heating in your home. Generally, hairline cracks in the concrete will not present an issue to the tile floor above. What is a good and secure method to have control joints made in concrete that was poured over pex tubes for radiant floor heating. Can i put laminate flooring on top of a radiant heated floor. Gypcrete contractor said some hairline cracks were normal but when he heard the temp, he said shut off heat until it gets fixed.
How to really foul up a radiant heat concrete floor installation mistakes to avoid. Radiant heat beneath wood flooring involves tubing in concrete, or tubing under plywood sub floors. My question is about tolerance of pex in floor piping to cracking and slight movement of the basement floor slab. Two of these floors have cracked after turning on the heat. Instead of blowing hot air through a vent or pumping hot water to a baseboard radiator along the wall, radiant heat warms up the entire floor. Porcelain and ceramic tile are great conductors of heat, so your home will get the full benefit of the radiant heating system. Radiant heat is becoming increasingly popular in the united states, although some people are worried about how much it will cost them to install radiant heat in their homes.
Combines radiant floor heating with ditraheat uncoupling technology to prevent tile and grout cracking and quicker, easier positioning of loose heat cable. Radiant floor heating how to heat concrete floors the. The radiant heat tubes are in gypcrete poured to justbelow the top of the sleepers 18. If enough water seeps into the concrete floor, it can also cause discoloration. Since the concrete slab installation is fairly simple, many people fail to follow some simple yet very important steps thinking that it will work no matter what. Was finally time to pour the gypcrete in the main level. Excessive heat, rapid heating, andor failure to maintain humidity levels between 30% and 50% is likely to result in cracking, cupping, squeaking and other forms of floor issues. Workers from greater georgia concrete pour a special mix over tubing to create the kendeda buildings first radiant floor. My radiant heating system will be an integral part of this slab. If you can find a company that is willing to try and fix a radiant floor leak, the demolition of finished floors and concrete, plus the cost, is incredible and may not always prove satisfactory. Quite simply, concrete floor radiant heat is a system of pextubes that carry hot water throughout a concrete floor or slab.
Concrete floor heating learn the truth about radiant heat. Installing radiant heat in concrete slab and foundation. The subfloor of your home is the material that is below what you walk on, like your carpet. The concrete slab installation is one of the simplest and most efficient ways to install radiant heat. Why must there be air clearance and what pad should i use under the heat film in between the concrete floor and this. Warm up to the opportunities presented by radiant floor heating. From a radiant heating perspective, it doesnt matter if the slab is actually at grade or is poured several feet below grade as part of a full foundation. How can we exclude any damage to the tubes when the joints are sawn in the concrete.