Remodeling the office (new floor, ceiling & adding insulation) passive house retrofit - Page 23

Daox · 04-22-14, 08:39 AM

I am stapling through the tongue. I agree, a 18 gauge staple would be great. But, the gun only shoots 20 gauge. The next flooring stapler I could rent shoots 16, and that is too big for the flooring.

I had turned up the pressure to the gun a bunch of times. It just didn't work.

In any case, I worked on it again last night. I predrilled and used 3d finishing nails on it. It wasn't much faster than the stapler, but it also wasn't as frustrating as there was no dinking around with bent staples. We worked on it for about 5 hours and got as far as shown below. It looks like two more good nights of working on the floor to finish it up.

MetroMPG · 04-22-14, 09:21 AM

Halfway there!

I was a bit confused by "3d" nails. I thought all nails were 3 dimensional...

AC_Hacker · 04-22-14, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daox

...We worked on it for about 5 hours and got as far as shown below. It looks like two more good nights of working on the floor to finish it up...

Wow! Looks great. Loads of nice aluminum, close-spaced, thin floor topping... should be way efficient.

I must have missed something... what is the apparent hole in the floor in the lower right quadrant?

BTW, do you have any idea what your combined $/ft2 breakdown is for just the hydronic built up part (no floor topping & associated nails)?

That would be:

PEX
aluminum spreaders
plywood
tar paper or other underlayment
anything else?

I keep hearing about floating "click together" floors... ever heard of such a thing?

Looking good...

-AC

MetroMPG · 04-22-14, 10:30 AM

We put click flooring in. Very easy to work with. Very convincing appearance, too.

There was a problem with the older stuff as it was a press-board type of core, so if you have a spill, you must wipe it up immediately in case it gets in the cracks and causes swelling of the material.

A friend of mine had to re-do a chunk of his kitchen floor after his water cooler sprung a leak and caused the flooring to get all swollen/lumpy along the seams.

There is also high-traffic, spill-resistant (vinyl), commercial grade stuff available.

AC_Hacker · 04-22-14, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

We put click flooring in. Very easy to work with. Very convincing appearance, too.

There was a problem with the older stuff as it was a press-board type of core, so if you have a spill, you must wipe it up immediately in case it gets in the cracks and causes swelling of the material.

A friend of mine had to re-do a chunk of his kitchen floor after his water cooler sprung a leak and caused the flooring to get all swollen/lumpy along the seams.

Thanks, good info!

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

There is also high-traffic, spill-resistant (vinyl), commercial grade stuff available.

The industries that produce this stuff have squashed the vital information on the toxic effects of vinyl, whose effects become magnified when you reduce infiltration.

Please research this issue.

I'm preparing to do a room in a very similar manner to Daox's, and I'm going to use Marmoleum, which is really just a German version of old-fashioned linoleum (linseed oil + clay + other fillers), but they guarantee no toxics... very important to me on a heated floor. I got lucky and found an attractive roll of Marmoleum in a salvage center for 50 cents/ft2. I think Armstrong linoleum (not vinyl flooring) is pretty close to the German stuff... and if you are really resourceful, it can also be found for a song.

Can you imagine spending winters in a very tight house, like Daox is building, with heated, radiant floors that were covered with toxic, out-gassing, hazardous materials?

Oh yum.

-AC

Daox · 04-23-14, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AC_Hacker

I must have missed something... what is the apparent hole in the floor in the lower right quadrant?

That would be my cold air return vent.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AC_Hacker

BTW, do you have any idea what your combined $/ft2 breakdown is for just the hydronic built up part (no floor topping & associated nails)?

That would be:

PEX
aluminum spreaders
plywood
tar paper or other underlayment
anything else?

I don't know off hand, but I'll try to find my receipts and add them up for you.

Quote:

Looking good...

Thanks!

Daox · 04-23-14, 11:23 AM

Phew, its been a few long days / nights, but it is done. We worked on it for another ~5 hours last night and finished it up. The drilling and nailing was much easier overall, though still not quick. It does appear to be a little less noisy on the nailed portion too. Overall, I'm really not worried about it. I've been told the floor has to settle in and it will most likely quiet down. We will see though since it will be heat cycled a lot more than a normal floor would. In any case, last step is the trim!

MetroMPG · 04-23-14, 11:25 AM

Looks good!

But you're going to be heating your cold air return.

Higgy · 04-24-14, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Looks good!

But you're going to be heating your cold air return.

I was actually thinking the same thing.

Looking good Daox!

MetroMPG · 04-24-14, 05:00 PM

... or cooling the juice in the pipe.

Pipe-wrap those suckers!

04-22-14, 08:39 AM	#221
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	I am stapling through the tongue. I agree, a 18 gauge staple would be great. But, the gun only shoots 20 gauge. The next flooring stapler I could rent shoots 16, and that is too big for the flooring. I had turned up the pressure to the gun a bunch of times. It just didn't work. In any case, I worked on it again last night. I predrilled and used 3d finishing nails on it. It wasn't much faster than the stapler, but it also wasn't as frustrating as there was no dinking around with bent staples. We worked on it for about 5 hours and got as far as shown below. It looks like two more good nights of working on the floor to finish it up. Attached Thumbnails __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

04-22-14, 09:21 AM	#222
MetroMPG Infrequent noob Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: 1000 Islands region, Ontario, Canada Posts: 402 Thanks: 37 Thanked 20 Times in 19 Posts	Halfway there! I was a bit confused by "3d" nails. I thought all nails were 3 dimensional... __________________ . To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

04-22-14, 10:30 AM	#224
MetroMPG Infrequent noob Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: 1000 Islands region, Ontario, Canada Posts: 402 Thanks: 37 Thanked 20 Times in 19 Posts	We put click flooring in. Very easy to work with. Very convincing appearance, too. There was a problem with the older stuff as it was a press-board type of core, so if you have a spill, you must wipe it up immediately in case it gets in the cracks and causes swelling of the material. A friend of mine had to re-do a chunk of his kitchen floor after his water cooler sprung a leak and caused the flooring to get all swollen/lumpy along the seams. There is also high-traffic, spill-resistant (vinyl), commercial grade stuff available. __________________ . To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

04-23-14, 11:23 AM	#227
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	Phew, its been a few long days / nights, but it is done. We worked on it for another ~5 hours last night and finished it up. The drilling and nailing was much easier overall, though still not quick. It does appear to be a little less noisy on the nailed portion too. Overall, I'm really not worried about it. I've been told the floor has to settle in and it will most likely quiet down. We will see though since it will be heat cycled a lot more than a normal floor would. In any case, last step is the trim! Attached Thumbnails __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

04-23-14, 11:25 AM	#228
MetroMPG Infrequent noob Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: 1000 Islands region, Ontario, Canada Posts: 402 Thanks: 37 Thanked 20 Times in 19 Posts	Looks good! But you're going to be heating your cold air return. __________________ . To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

04-24-14, 05:00 PM	#230
MetroMPG Infrequent noob Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: 1000 Islands region, Ontario, Canada Posts: 402 Thanks: 37 Thanked 20 Times in 19 Posts	... or cooling the juice in the pipe. Pipe-wrap those suckers! __________________ . To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.