I think you said that was pex A. I’m no expert and trying to learn the difference but I thought pex A was the type you used the expander tool on and not the crimp rings? Does it not make a difference?
Hey good question. As far as I know you can use both on pex A but only the expander on pex A not on pex B. If you have any plumber friends it may be good to double check but that’s what I’ve found in my research. Thanks
Thanks! For the forms I did a 2x10 on top but then I had to add another 2x6 to keep the dirt in place on the outside. I reused it all later in the build too.
I don’t think you have to do concrete in your type of situation for a greenhouse. Concrete is just a really good heat radiator. Once you get it warmed up if it’s insulated well underneath. Not quite sure what would be the best set up for a greenhouse but I’ve also heard you can dig a ditch down about 8 feet and it’s constantly 52° down there and you can just have like a vent pipe laid it down there to get some surface area and a fan that circulates air through the pipe under the ground and up into the greenhouse, and it helps to keep it more moderate in the greenhouse. Especially if the greenhouse is made from insulated glass or something.
@@SmartEasyDIYer Thank you! Yes - I would love to do GeoThermal. My sister had it in her house for years. Unfortunately, where I have to put the greenhouse, you can't really dig that deep between the water table and the gas lines that run back there. I won't be right over the gas lines, but there is an easement for any digging from the power company. I hope to be able to get a cheap pellet or corn stove to put in the greenhouse for winter (Illinois). Maybe I could hook up the radiant heat to that and run it under the beds.
You’re welcome. Yes that’s a tricky situation for digging. I’ve considered the geothermal situation for a future greenhouse, but it’s so rocky here. I don’t think I could get down very far. Yes I think you could run some radiant heat out to the beds. Thinking about it now I’m pretty sure my dad did that along time ago to a bed but the greenhouse was attached to the garage so it got a little bit of heat from that as well. You could definitely experiment with it.
This is made by beaver plastics specifically for under concrete. It has just as much R-value as the blue board I was looking at. I got it from a Logix Icf block dealer.
Anyone have any thoughts about rats and pex/foam? I live in a heavy ag area/run a farm, and tunneling rats are common, even under shallow slabs.They chew on anything they find, including pex. With pex stapled to the foam board, I think an unlucky problem could develop after a few years... Is it foolish to tie/suspend the pex to rebar so it can't be reached? Could be hard to step around at 12" on center while pouring, but maybe worth it? And on a slab like this, is surface jointing necessary ( just thinking, you would have to keep pex low enough to cut/hit when jointing....)
So usually pex is on top of the rebar, they pull the rebar up into the bottom quarter or third of the slab as they’re pouring. It would cost more but you could go with a thicker slab like 6 inch so you could have it come up a little more without worrying about scoring it. I don’t see how the rats could be a problem if you would do the thickened edge slab and do something kind of like what I did with the metal on the edge, which I will show in a future video. Also, if you have packed crushed gravel all around the perimeter, it seems like it would be hard for them to dig through that.
@@SmartEasyDIYer Thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge/thoughts - I know the rat thing is probably a pretty niche worry! Believe it or not, my dad poured one of our barn feed-room additions and a few corn cribs/grain bins in the 80's, ~4" thick with (I bet) a skim bit of gravel under. Here and there, where a crack has widened to ~3/8", it's not uncommon to find a few tunnels quite far in from the edges. The critters likely follow the cracks, but they still definitely do some work. Out here in central WI, where there's a fair bit of grain grown and stored, you can find some decent tunnel networks where they winter. But I think you're probably right about the deep edge being a deterrent. I've staked and set my lines for 5" slab, might just do as you advise and raise to 6. Still leveling some fill and digging my footers, but you gave me a lot of good advice to think about while I do 👍
