Posted by JD Seller on November 18, 2012 at 19:42:41 from (208.126.196.144):
In Reply to: Radiant Floor Heat posted by edj856 on November 18, 2012 at 19:04:12:
Several things to do and not to do:
1)Buy the 5000 lbs mix concrete. It will cost just a little more but is 40% stronger than the normal 3000-3500 lbs mix.
2) Use fiber in the concrete AND rebar.
3) Have the gravel under the concrete well compacted. Not one of those little walk behind vibration units either. I used a end loader with a full bucket of gravel. I rolled every square inch with the front tires to pack it solid. If the gravel is dry then you will need to wet it down some as well.
4) DO NOT cut seems in the concrete if you are using hot water floor heat. If you do then just go ahead and cut the lines before you put them in. They will leak after a few years at every sawed joint. With good solid fill and good quality concrete and rebar every two feet on the square, you will not have cracks. My main shop floor is 48 x 60. It is one single pour and does not have a single crack after 15 years.
5)Put at least 2 inches of insulation under the pipes. It will pay back over time. The pressure of the floor is spread over the entire surface of the insulation board. It will not crush.
Caution!!! Dig footers down several feet around the out side of the building. I would really go down to the frost line myself. Mine are dug four feet here in Iowa. The need for footers it to stop rodents from getting to the insulation board. Buddy put his in using a floating slab. The floor cracked in about three years. The one end sank. We had to break it out. Rats had chewed all of the board up.
6) Use a vapor barrier. Just a good grade of heavy plastic sheeting is good enough. Put it under the insulation board. I used 10 mil under mine.
7) Five inches of concrete is on the light side for a shop floor. Remember this will be for the rest of your life. So a few dollars for extra concrete will be cheap spread over many years. I would go 6 at the minimum and 8 is better. If you can only afford 5 then make sure and have good thick footers at each door so the equipment will not break the edge pulling across it.
The floor is the most important thing in a shop. If it is not correct then the rest of the shop is effected. Also something I did on my shop. It has two inches of fall in the 60 foot length. I hate floor drains. So I just sloped the whole floor out the door. Never have had any issues even washing things in the shop. Just open the door a inch and let the water run out. My doors faces south so the water runs off the approach slab and usually melts of without causing any problems.
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