Hydronic Flooring Systems Over Existing Slab

Depending upon which size tubing is used one or two runs of radiant tubing are installed between each set of sleepers.

Hydronic flooring systems over existing slab.

Hydronic systems tend to be cheaper to install than their electric counterparts beginning at 6 per square foot as opposed to 8 for electric. The flooring then goes right on top of this slab. 2x3 s may also be used are just as effective and usually much cheaper in cost. In some cases you will also need to add extra support for the sub floor to withstand the heavier weight of your filler material.

If the basement will get a concrete slab the pex can go down before the pour attached to a wire mesh or clipped onto rigid foam insulation. Make any turns rounded avoiding sharp turns that can kink the tubing. Lay the water tubing on the concrete floor in a continuous back and forth manner. In screed hydronic heating systems are installed using an insulation barrier polystyrene foam over the structural concrete slab.

Use care not to nick the tubing. An equally effective form of hydronic heating is in screed heating. Connect the plastic tubing to a pump which is connected to a separate water heater that circulates hot water through the tubing. You re going to lose a lot of energy heating the slab ground if there isn t some better insulating layer like foam boards.

But adding radiant heating under carpeting may be redundant. Screw down a track with precut grooves for plastic tubing to the plywood subfloor. If there s already a slab in place the tubing goes over it using the same low profile panels used for a second floor retrofit. Due to the excellent insulating properties of carpeting radiant heating systems will experience efficiency reduction and thus may require that the thermostat is turned up higher than it would be with hard flooring.

The polythene floor circuits are then fixed on top of the insulation barrier before a smaller top layer of screed concrete is applied. With this method 2x4 s are laid flat across the existing floor 16 on center to create sleeper bays. According to a study conducted by the georgia institute of technology school of textile engineering. Secure a plywood subfloor to the concrete slab.

Removal of an existing floor will vary greatly in cost depending upon the material and room size. Your only thermal break between your hydronic heating and your existing concrete slab is 1 2 osb routed down to 1 4 under the lines.