Your plumber friend obviously doesn't understand how to set up a boiler correctly if the maintenance is a PITA. Radiant works exactly the same as infloor only inverse, the difference being operating cost and comfort. Yes the initial capital cost of infloor is higher but the operating cost is the lowest. I do a lot of boilers every year on that premise. I have some 10,000 sq ft homes that have lower utility bills than some 2500 sq ft homes. And considering that utilities go up an average of 7% per year, operating cost should be a bigger thought than it usually is.
Glycol usually doesn't freeze, it jells up or may become slushy depending on percentage. We recently had a customer of ours slab freeze due to it being disconnected by the owner (whoops haha) and surprisingly it didn't break anything, only caused the pipe to swell a bit near the header. Glycol doesn't expand as much as water so thats what saved him. no leaks in the slab either.
Does that mean no other trade is allowed to use this slope? LolFYI 1/4” / foot is plumbing grade
The problem is the OP, this is the guy that will remove the seals from a roller bearing & re pack it. Frugal is re defined LOL.
No I haven't
I'm talking for all the exterior walls.
That's quite steep. That would be 10" on a 40' long building. Tool chests will definitely roll toward the low end. I've had a 3" slope over 28' and in the present garage there is a 2" slope over 20'. I would be inclined to not have it slope toward the doors as they will freeze to the floor. A trench drain would be my preference with both ends of the floor sloping away from the doors.
From what I remember about our conversation I think he had mentioned that the boilers themselves are just unreliable. Especially compared to tube heaters. I'm not sure what Brand they install but they seem to have constant problems with them.
Not necessarily. Contractors proficient with icf's and that have the equipment can significantly reduce labour costs. Factor in inflated lumber prices, and the gap may not be as much as you think. People that have built in this area in the past year have gone this direction more that usual. I'm not saying it will be cheaper, just something to consider, especially if you like the other advantages to icf's.
NTI are pretty reliable, I maintain a couple of them and an bunch of IBC boilers.
on the outside of the shop signalled by low temp or boiler fault would let you know if there is an issue.
I learned the hard way on mine trusting my concrete guy.
. On my dads we we made a point of good slope. I just built a shop. First one with in floor. Will never do anything else. Recovery time is fine once the slab is stabilized. We open 12x14’ doors many times a day and it never gets behind.
