PEX on slab... need some way to replace carpet...

[RobbMeeX]

So I've been searching and searching. I've got carpet in a few rooms. I want to take it out and put pex on the slab. I'm searching for a way to cover the pex and put floor on top. I don't have a lot of thickness at my disposal. I guess the question here is how thin can a PEX installed floor be? I have been looking at can't find a good answer. Maybe I am overthinking this. Can someone help?

[stevehull]

This is not ideal, but here is how I would do it. Remove carpet, baseboards and prepare to pour 3 inches of concrete on top of the slab. Pex secured to existing slab.

You need a minimum of 3 inches for a concrete pour to be firm and not to crack.

Now shave 3 inches off doors, etc . . .

Steve

[Daox]

The way I'm planning on doing it in my office I'm still remodeling is tear my carpet up, put down a layer of rigid foam insulation (prevent heat loss downward and use to adjust to optimum floor height), then wooden spacers for the pex tubing, lay pex tubing in grooves with aluminum heat spreaders (example) as shown below.



Then, you just put your flooring on top of that. In my case I'm going with bamboo. This adds very a minimal amount of thickness to the floor.

[greif]

Most pours use 2 in of gypcrete, if this is an existing floor you made need to reinforce

[AC_Hacker]

Originally Posted by RobbMeeX

So I've been searching and searching. I've got carpet in a few rooms. I want to take it out and put pex on the slab.

It sounds like you already have a slab floor. Almost certainly, the slab is not insulated. We did have a poster from Denmark, as I recall, who actually went in with a metal grinder and cut slots in a pre-existing concrete basement floor for installing PEX... must have been a horrible job to do. We never heard back from him, so I don't know of the degree of success of his method. He had a major PEX project and this was only a small part.

Hot water piped through an uninsulated slab is the way they use to do it originally. There is heat loss downward but that heat loss seems to stabilize to a certain extent, after a while. There is also heat loss around the edges that doesn't really stabilize. I have heard tales of flowers planted around the perimeter off these houses that lasted through the winter!

As far as cracked floors in a concrete pour go, the cracking is to be expected, and crack lines are intentionally put in the concrete to control where the cracks will occur.

Originally Posted by RobbMeeX

I'm searching for a way to cover the pex and put floor on top. I don't have a lot of thickness at my disposal. I guess the question here is how thin can a PEX installed floor be? I have been looking at can't find a good answer.

There is a product called Roth Panel that is high-density foam that is faced with .020" aluminum and the PEX channels are already formed in. The high density foam is about 3/4" thick and offers R-3.5 insulation against downward heat migration. Floor goes on top of this.

Originally Posted by RobbMeeX

Maybe I am overthinking this.

No, not yet.

-AC

[Daox]

That roth panel looks really nice. I don't suppose you have any idea where you can buy it? I didn't see any distributor information on their website.

[AC_Hacker]

Originally Posted by Daox

That roth panel looks really nice. I don't suppose you have any idea where you can buy it? I didn't see any distributor information on their website.

I'd say to use the "contact" tab and ask them directly.

I found a supplier local to me that way.

-AC

[Daox]

Blah... I did that. They gave me a few local places. Nobody will sell to me because I'm not liscensed.

[AC_Hacker]

Originally Posted by Daox

Blah... I did that. They gave me a few local places. Nobody will sell to me because I'm not liscensed.

So what kind of license is required?

I did find a local installer who would sell Roth Panel to me to DIY, but even though the product looks great, the price was pretty horrible.

I'm looking into doing "AC_Hacker Panel". What was holding me back was high density insulating foam. I found some and it's called HIGHLOAD 60 (Dow), R5/in, pretty expensive ($75 per 4'x8'x2"). Thinest is 2". I'm figuring on using a hot wire to cut it into strips, and doing a floor like Vlad did, only using foam (R-5/in) instead of wood (R1/in). I'm figuring on doing a 12'x12' room, and I figure it will take a bit less than 2 panels ($150) to do the job.

It would be so much easier to go with Roth Panel, but it's so expensive.

-AC

[Daox]

I'm not sure exactly what licenses are out there, HVAC I assume. I guessed it would be expensive, most of these 'flooring solutions' are, but it would be SO much faster and easier than DIY... I'd at least like to get a cost. What was the estimate for your 12x12 room? Thats not too far off from what my room size is.