any other advice would be great! :)

The Helix is soft steel with a galvanized coat. I know with full size rebar there is a problem with anti-rust coats in that they tend to get micro-damage during handling and installation. If moisture gets in, then they start rusting at those points and it spreads. Since you are using this as a serious part of your structure I would suggest you look into additives that will make the wall impervious to water, not coatings you paint of the surface, but ingredients that are part of the entire wall. Protect your investment.

That was a good option.

Why are homes and subdivisions built with only "curb appeal" as a criteria? doesn't anybody care anymore about the solar orientation of the foundation or the earth that they are built on? Since the foundation will be there far after the building, why not solar orient it and "air heat" it for the lifetime of the project? The Earth temperature is 55 degrees, why not use it as a basis for your home for the generations to come? A, "radiant slab" only uniformly heats or cools what is touching it, it does not heat the air per say, and moving air in a house just pollutes it and stratifies it. I started doing water heated floors in 1978 in Telluride Colorado, and our customers were happy with it, but now with "air heated" slabs, they are much happier because it is so much simpler and obviously user friendly. The banks and real-estate are running the show, and general contracting must go, "passive" if we want to build sustainable homes.

Why are homes and subdivisions built with only "curb appeal" as a criteria? doesn't anybody care anymore about the solar orientation of the foundation or the earth that they are built on? Since the foundation will be there far after the building, why not solar orient it and "air heat" it for the lifetime of the project? The Earth temperature is 55 degrees, why not use it as a basis for your home for the generations to come? A, "radiant slab" only uniformly heats or cools what is touching it, it does not heat the air per say, and moving air in a house just pollutes it and stratifies it. I started doing water heated floors in 1978 in Telluride Colorado, and our customers were happy with it, but now with "air heated" slabs, they are much happier because it is so much simpler and obviously user friendly. The banks and real-estate are running the show, and general contracting must go, "passive" if we want to build sustainable homes.

I like rerod for its holding of the forms together in all stages(assembly, pour, and holding alignment during cure). I have had forms float in a torrential rain and high wind. I don't see now Helix is cheaper....Easier maybe but not cheaper and then you have to get it dispersed in the cement mix....