Radiant Floor Slab On Grade

This article explains how to avoid some fatal mistakes when installing radiant heat in a concrete floor slab by describing an incompetent radiant heat floor installation along with an explanation of why things went wrong and how to avoid these errors.

Radiant floor slab on grade. The workers in the photograph at page top where our concrete slab. Soil or gravel is compacted and leveled according to plan. Radiant heating system design or installation mistakes that must be avoided. Any necessary drainage is put in place to avoid problems with water touching the slab.

No insulation between the conditioned space and the earth underneath. I m looking at a slab on grade using frost protected shallow foundation design and have a concern about incorporating radiant floor heat. Radiant slab on grade install diary. Insulating a slab on grade depends on at least four factors.

Martin holladay explains insulating a slab on grade in the energy smart details department. The climate the type of foundation whether the slab includes hydronic tubing for radiant heat and the severity of the local termite problem. The installation of a radiant heated floor slab begins by verifying the sub grade has been properly leveled and compacted. Radiant floor heating thermal break moisture barrier.

From a radiant heating perspective it doesn t matter if the slab is actually at grade or is poured several feet below grade as part of a full foundation. Although the heating system installer is probably not responsible for this aspect of construction failing to check for proper sub grade preparation could eventually compromise the embedded tubing circuits. Irc 2015 figure r403 3 1 shows a frost protected slab on grade but has no insulation under or above the slab i e.