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Author Messages Oldest First Newest First bigmac035 Registered Users Posts:4 06/10/2003 1:55 PM   Hi. I am going to be building a new home soon in Wpg, Canada, utilizing Logix ICF's for the exterior walls from foundation to roof. It is a bungalow, and plan on using radiant heating in the basement slab and also for the main floor. I would like to use a 1 1/2" layer of gypcrete or lightweight concrete on top of my plywood subfloor (built on top of a steel beam and v-span floor joists) but I have heard a lot of negative things on using gypcrete. Can anyone provide some info on this for me, or am I better off going with a different system? Thanks... Unregistered Registered Users Posts:2321 06/10/2003 8:49 PM   Greetings, I just went thru this for an ICF customer of mine. My heating contracto who install alot of radiant heat sys said that installin the RH tubes to the bottom of the subfloor, with pans and a radiant barrier under that would work just fine. I'm in the process of replacing my forced air and I was thinking of retro'g my floors,but, I'm going with a boiler that heats the potable water and go with radiators. For one thing if there is any breaks in the sys they are accessable. Ther ios less lag too. I have a couple of suggestions for best results for you. Use a combo radiant barrier(RB)/VB material under your slab. see fifoil.com Install a 2 layer RB to the bottom side of you ceiling joists. If done right the btu gain/loss will be about 5 btu/hr/sf under the most severe conditions. Install a single layer RB (4 mil)to the outside of the ICF. In your area go with the 8" cavity. Unregistered Registered Users Posts:2321 06/15/2003 11:47 AM   I guess my first question would be, how big of a pour are we thinking of? Gypsum based products, of which there are a few, are very desirable if the pour is 2K square feet ot more. Pours are based on a cost per square foot basis and the larger the pour, the less it costs per square. The gypsum pour comes down to the pour itself and the guys actually doing it. I have had some great pours and some not so great pours over the years. There are many advantages to doing a gyp floor over anything else. Noise reduction in the building and less infiltration due to the gyp sealing up around the bottom edge of the floor. But the most important fact is that the tube layout can be taylored to the room it's in. single or double serpentine, counter flow loops and the ability to vary spacing in the room. All of which is unavailable when working in a joist bay. That's not to say joist bay isn't a good application, either. With extruded aluminum heat transfer plates, the output of the floor will almost rival gypsum basd floors. Find a contractor whose core business is radiant floor heating and listen to his advice. He will know far more than just the guys who do radiant as a sideline to the plumbing or HVAC business. Warm regards, www.climatecadvanced.com Unregistered Registered Users Posts:2321 09/19/2006 1:20 AM   Nothing beats Gypsum Radiant Heat. We installed hundreds of custom houses and never had a problem with any of them. You should go 6 inches on center on outside walls. Then from 4 ft off the outside wall go 8-10 inches. For big areas use 5/8 tubing and you go about 600 feet with it. A big advantage to Gypsum heat is the system could be off for hours and the Gypsum flooring is still radiating heat. No other type of system can hold heat for as long a period of time. Other systems may work the same but are nowhere near as efficient as a Gypsum Heating System. "Staple Up" heating systems are the most unefficient and time consuming do to the fact that the black onyx tubing is only 3/8 inside diametor and carries very little water. Which explains the reason for having millions of little black tubes running all over your house which will inevidably get cut or punctured by the arm guy just as your home is about 90% finished. If you have any other questions about Gypsum Heating Systems please dont hesitate to contact me ... www.radiantnj.com Jeff Martin (Daniella Mechanical HVAC...732-) 40yrpatsfan Registered Users Posts:1 05/12/2007 9:24 PM   Can you have finish flooring such as hardwood over the gypsum? PanelCrafters Registered Users Posts:1280 05/12/2007 9:42 PM   Posted By 40yrpatsfan on 05/12/2007 9:24 PM Can you have finish flooring such as hardwood over the gypsum? Sure! There are no, that I know of, restrictions on the type of flooring applied over a gypcrete base. ....jc If you're not building with OSB SIPS(or ICF's), why are you building?
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