EcoRenovator - View Single Post

Vlad · 05-01-12, 10:04 AM

Here is my radiant floor project:

I decided to put radiant floor heat when my house was already framed. I realized that I needed to do many changes like stair case rise etc. I started reading about radiant floor system construction and basically found 2 types:

1 Pex tubes buried in concrete
2 Under subfloor staple up

I didn’t want to deal with concrete in already framed house (3 store house framed without 1.5 “ layer of concrete in mind).
I realized many cons of staple up system like: a lot of drilling between joists (my joists are @ 12”). Also performance of this system is not the best and requires high temperature.

One day I was watching YouTube about radiant floor. Everything was concrete or staple up. Accidentally I hit one of the videos and I can see somebody showing how they sell MDF panels with grooves and one side is aluminum foil. The price for this MDF reinvention was just extreme and shipping made it impossible. I started thinking about what if I can buy MDF and router groove. At one point I think “why MDF???” MDF has ton of glue in it that has formaldehyde. Heating MDF inside your house is not a good idea.

So I ended up using just 1x2 wood strips (the actual size is 3/4x 1.5). They are:

1. As cheap as dirt
2. Can buy everywhere
3. Just plain wood, no glue
4. Thick enough to fit 0.5” Pex tub and will have gap on the bottom, so Pex tube will be suspended and will not touch the subfloor.

So, with this idea I started experimenting and here some pics to understand it better:

As mentioned before I used:

1. 1x2 wood strips
2. Aluminum foil HD 2' wide from Costco
3. Strips are stapled down and top layer of plywood is screwed down to subfloor through wood strips
4. I used Omega shaped aluminum heat distributing plates. They distribute heat and hold Pex tubes suspended from subfloor (omega shape helps holding Pex tubes in place while you install top layer of plywood. This is very critical)
5 Top layer of plywood is painted black from the bottom.

05-01-12, 10:04 AM	#202
Vlad Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Windsor ON Canada Posts: 229 Thanks: 4 Thanked 30 Times in 22 Posts	Radiant floors Here is my radiant floor project: I decided to put radiant floor heat when my house was already framed. I realized that I needed to do many changes like stair case rise etc. I started reading about radiant floor system construction and basically found 2 types: 1 Pex tubes buried in concrete 2 Under subfloor staple up I didn’t want to deal with concrete in already framed house (3 store house framed without 1.5 “ layer of concrete in mind). I realized many cons of staple up system like: a lot of drilling between joists (my joists are @ 12”). Also performance of this system is not the best and requires high temperature. One day I was watching YouTube about radiant floor. Everything was concrete or staple up. Accidentally I hit one of the videos and I can see somebody showing how they sell MDF panels with grooves and one side is aluminum foil. The price for this MDF reinvention was just extreme and shipping made it impossible. I started thinking about what if I can buy MDF and router groove. At one point I think “why MDF???” MDF has ton of glue in it that has formaldehyde. Heating MDF inside your house is not a good idea. So I ended up using just 1x2 wood strips (the actual size is 3/4x 1.5). They are: 1. As cheap as dirt 2. Can buy everywhere 3. Just plain wood, no glue 4. Thick enough to fit 0.5” Pex tub and will have gap on the bottom, so Pex tube will be suspended and will not touch the subfloor. So, with this idea I started experimenting and here some pics to understand it better: As mentioned before I used: 1. 1x2 wood strips 2. Aluminum foil HD 2' wide from Costco 3. Strips are stapled down and top layer of plywood is screwed down to subfloor through wood strips 4. I used Omega shaped aluminum heat distributing plates. They distribute heat and hold Pex tubes suspended from subfloor (omega shape helps holding Pex tubes in place while you install top layer of plywood. This is very critical) 5 Top layer of plywood is painted black from the bottom. Last edited by Vlad; 05-01-12 at 10:19 AM..