I'm looking for comments on Hambro vs Speedfloor, or any other similar deck systems.

They'll be used for two floors of an ICF home that I'll be building myself. Probably be around 30'x30'.

Thanks for any info

Vermonter,

We are in the process of setting our Hambro joists. So far looks straight forward. Also, good support from the eng dept and salesman. Points to look for; Does a joist system need shoring? Hambro does not. Do the joists have large open webs for mechnicals? Hambro has a table for their diff joist heights.

Patrick T

Which Hambro system are you using? Do you need a crane to lift the joists?

I forgot to mention in my first post that I'm looking at spans of around 16-18ft.

Thanks

Both Hambro and speed floor require no shoring. Hambro comes with drawings and joist locations where as speed floor doe's not.

However drawings are not really needed on a simple 30x30 just lock the bars in place.

At 16' to 18' hambro becomes quite diffcult to handle by hand . Where as speed floor would be quite easly handled by to men.

They both have access space, although Hambro has  a rather large trianglelar space , bars sometimes are not in line. This reduces availble space.
Speed floor has smaller round holes that are punched out and in line at the factory.

with both systems you can use the lock bar holes for pluming and wires.

Vermonter,

 

We are using the D500.  The joists weight about 6-7 lbs a foot. We have used my tractor for some and by hand on others. The largest we have set by hand are 27 ft. Two guys lift one end on to the wall. Then we slid it to a guy waiting on a scafold. (Note, these are basemnet walls so we are standing at nearly floor height on the outside and the scafold is on the basemnet floor.) Then as we push the joist, the scafold rolls towards the other end of the wall. Then the joist is lifted on to the wall. Easy really. I can lift/move 15' by hand by myself. We have set joists by hand because the crane guy was a bit antsy about our slope. We need to wait to back fill untill the floor is set, catch 22. Once we get to our second floor, crane only.

All our webs so far line up perfectly.

Patrick T

Can anyone comment on price?
Hambro - speedfloor - regular ole shored steel pan

I just installed 32' span Hambro and although we had a crane to lift and install, I believe that I would still be able to install by hand if I had to.
Paul Stevens

I am considering a joist deck and slab floor but was thinking of conventional K joist (probably 10") with standard formdeck and 3 1/2" pour with radiant heat PEX cast in. Couple questions: Why a composite system versus standard joist and deck? Cost? Floor system thickness? What about the cost and labor of the forms? Also, I plan to insulate the underside of the deck to insure the radiant heat goes up. This insulation would be either sprayed foam or board. This is OK on the second floor deck as the first floor will have a ceiling but the first floor is oven unfinished basement so I may have to install a gyp ceiling here too just provide the thermal barrier for the foam. This is money I'd rather not spend - any alternatives you've thought of?

Birdman:

Amvic (and I would think some other ICF manufacturers) have a insulated block that would take care of your situation here. It's call AMDECK and details can be downloaded from there website.

Glen

It's an old thread but here's a current response: Hambro responded to my request by providing a proposal. Speedfloor did not - they only provided a bunch of span charts and pictures of projects but never a proposal. Too bad because they were my favoured product just based on aesthetics (we are leaving the joists exposed). It looks like it will be Hambro.

Does anybody know how exactly to hang pipes and ductwork from these types of systems? Do you screw hangers into the concrete or tie them to the joists?

THanks.