After the sub grade was at the proper elevation I put down 10 mil vapor barrier, installed r10 insulation and routed pex tubing for radiant floor heating before the concrete is poured.
When I added an L connecting our house to a new garage build I used regular Formular foam board and barbed clips to hold down the pex tubing. It wasn’t too bad for a 12’ x 18’ area, but if I ever do it again I’ll definitely use a product like you used… so much easier and the benefits of the grid to lay the pex consistently and built-in chairs for the mesh and rebar - worth the extra cost!
For the few pipes which goes in between the two "rooms" where you have the gap, i suggest adding a layer of foam pipe insulation. The reason is to allow them to move if the slab and the concrete foundation decides to move independently. That way it wont shear the pipes. Ask me how I know what a pain that is if it happens... Just buy these soft foam split tubes and put them over the pipes there.
In DK, the concrete coverage of the reinforcement has been increased, due to experience with corrosion and it is statically correct that the reinforcement is worth nothing down on the rock layer. It is the reinforcement that has the bearing capacity when it is located correctly in the construction. We raise the reinforcement with U-profile molded plastic bars, which have the dimensions for the reinforcement to lie correctly. The LEGO plates you use are brilliant, both for holding the pex hoses and for controlling the reinforcement at the correct height, and it is great to use closely supported reinforcement when the concrete needs to be leveled. You can fill the pex tubes with water so they don't float up unless the weight of the reinforcement can hold them down.
For a top notch seal Acoustical Sealant is used in a continuous bead around the perimeter with the vapor barrier inbedded in it. Looks like you did a good job with yours other than that. I prefer to use pool liners because you can get them in many sizes and also up to 20 mil. I like 12 mil just to keep it from getting nicked and pokes during construction. The Acoustical Sealant also works around protrusions. A vapor barrier is a good thing especially when doing in floor heating in a slab. Condensation is prevented against the under side of the concrete. For protrusions and odd places spray foam can also be used to imbed and seal the plastic. Anyone who has dealt with basement mildew will take the belt and suspenders approach. I think you will be well rewarded for doing a high quality job. It will also be extra rewarding should you at some later date decide to put a finished floor. Spray foam a neat job on the perimeter will go a long way to making up for no Acoustical Sealant. With your drain system you will be in good shape. Nice job and interesting video.
I have helped lay concrete with hoses from a concrete pump. It's really hard work. The concrete-filled hose is super heavy. They have some turtle shields under the joints to make moving the hoses easier. We could just as well have had the concrete placed in a heap and then leveled it ourselves with a hand shovel. If you can get the guy you used for the basement walls to put a longer hose on the paver, then you can probably get far in and then maybe shovel the last bit of the floor. The pavers are available in several lengths. They can pump up several floors, so they can probably reach under the house. The advantage of a concrete pump is that you can avoid the concrete sitting on the walls due to concrete spatter.
Well done, good choice with floor heating. You are above most US (or rather non-european) build channels I've watched, but it still seems strange with plain rebar instead of deformed rebar in the slab. But you are using a welded mesh wich is good, most definitly better than just tossing some rebar in it. But then again, probably different codes and/or requirements. Here (in Scandinavia) it's common to use small plastic standoffs that lifts the rebar mesh to the correct height in the slab. And also 8 to 12 inches of insulation below the slab! I will keep looking at this project, quite an undertaking, well done so far!
I think that by not sealing the edges of the vapor barrier, you are directing moisture right up into you interior walls. You mention structures without any vapor barrier, but they let moisture dissipate into the room(s). I would seal that edge with something that you can spray or caulk into the gap between the pex underlayment and ICFs.
When we built we didn't use a vapor barrier. In our area ground moisture isn't an issue. I've had plastic on the concrete for a persod of time and there is no indication of moisture. We are basically built on rock that's very porous.We had to go to 340" for water and even there it's only producing 3-4 GPM.
i think your going to be dry and like toast down there what a great place to work on different projects or like me just chill out great job there fella wish it was mine but i have to work in my garage on classic cars
We built our house 9 years ago. Also with and ICF foundation and in floor radiant heat. I can say that it's phenomenal. Would love to have done the main floor with radiant as well but due to the construction of the house it was cost prohibitive. Still, we do benefit from the heat downstairs.
You probably know that expansion joints are made along the basement wall and the floor is divided into sections so that expansion of the concrete is controlled. The expansion joints are grouted with waterproof sealant, the concrete is partially waterproof, so I wonder if this prevents the penetration of moisture. In DK, they do it as you describe with moisture barriers under the outer walls of the basement and tape it together with the waterproofing, but this is primarily for the sake of directing radon outside the building.
should put sand over the stones then the vapor barrier to stop the stones pocking holes through it. looking good though bud i look forward to your videos
You can run the heat up in the floor of you house to. It looks like it is pretty much open to do that. Now is a good time to allow for that while you are running the basement. If you allow for it now you can run it later both in the new part and old
Pump trailer works great. 350-400 bucks in PNW. It's a toss up...pour floor or spend time messing with the temp wall. Weather is changing but I'd pour floor first. Water won't hurt floor at all. In fact it will help with curing and make it stronger actually. Get yourself a good squeegee
What a great project and the progress is impressive. As a viewer I'd recommend time lapsing the repetitive task, I lost interest watching you tape the plastic and lay the base flooring for the heating, best of luck and great success.
We do things differently in the UK. I'd have gone 300mm up the wall with the vapour barrier and just cut it off after, that way no chance of liquid screed overspill. I'd also put a layer of sand to protect the vapour barrier from punctures.. Also, could you not have got the house built and roof waterproofed, less chance of water pooling in your new basement, with the roof on you can carry on the build throughout the winter in dry conditions. We also get the windows in before screeding, easier to control the moisture content in the air. I have questions about the garage, why the foam and underfloor heating? Will you not be putting vehicles in there? If you are, in the UK we put a 100mm concrete down for vehicle use, 50mm for foot traffic. I'd be a bit worried about heavy vehicles on a foam floor with piping. Sorry about the questions, it's interesting to see how and why different countries do things differently.
I could have built the house above but I am just a one man show trying to do one thing at a time. There will be vehicles in the garage. Normal family cars. It will be nice to thaw them out in the winter when they are covered in snow and ice. And also the basement garage is still part of the entire house system. There will be living space above. That’s why I am heating the garage space also
looks great, IMO i would have used Pex AL vs normal pex. the only real reason is to protect the pex pipe from damage during the pour, its not uncommon to have a rock push too hard on the pipe and damage it. you also get an additional benefit of heat transfer from it but its marginal. Why not have rebar coming out of that footer in the middle? still doing a great job! thanks for the content!
Maybe do the load bearing wall section of concrete yourself by hand. Probably wouldn't take that much time/concrete. That would be less overall pressure on the taped seams, since you were worried about concrete getting past the tape and under the foam.
Are you going to manifold all that up and charge it so you can be sure nothings sprung a leak before and during pouring ? Smart move putting vapour barrier all the way to the wall, the slab will pull back on that as it cures and the slippery surface helps to let it pull back and resist cracking. I would run some 12 mm deform bars around the penetrations and at that internal corner also to resist cracking, bloody concrete always cracks from a weak point in the slab, google it if you don't understand.
Don't know the code in your area but in Europe, those insulation raster boards alone are not sufficient for floor heating, R10 is insufficient, as R20, R25 is bare minimum. R10 is used inbetween floors in multi-floor buildings, never at ground, sub-ground level. Where's no insulation, in green colored zone, there should be corrugated piping covering pex tubes to prevent friction pex to concrete due to a temperature difference... it's crazy if this way is considered proper in US.
I love everything you have done so far.....but using a wood boiler for heat will require you to cut and split crap loads of wood for the winter....I mean a lot of wood....you may want to consider natural gas if you have gas line in the area or propane is good too.....just a suggestion so you are not cutting and splitting wood constantly.
Why not use 4x8 sheets instead of these little ones? Also, what prevents the concrete from crushing the Pex where it goes through the load bearing wall? Note: Other videos showing radiant floor heating don’t worry about alternating seams.
you mentioned that you dont want insulation over the loaf bearing part, but how will the ped tubing be affected? or have you planned for a door where the tubes run? 😊
That can happen but that’s why when the system is up and running I will have mixing valves to be able to control which zones are hotter/cooler than others and I a should be able to equal them out
I was happy to see you posted a video again. I'm just curious. Here they place PEX tubing in a circle and then circle out again and they are usually spaced 15cm apart or less. With the circle/rings not being super long. My living room is about 65m2. Including the hallway and I have 5 groups, is there a reason you did such large groups and spaces apart are so big? As you will need higher heat output to heat it. I think?
Usually the pipes are spiralled in each room and back out because it distributes the heat better - with the zig-zag pattern the water loses heat as it travels down the room and you get uneven heat distribution
Almost 8 inches? That’s outrageous. It would probably take 150 years just to recoup the energy savings to make up for the cost of installing all that foam
