P,T. Sole to Conc. over radiant tubing
Nails
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
I need new or olld methods for anchoring P.T. sole plate to concrete radiant floor heat in basement . Foundation crew assured me no tubing would be under walls, tubing installers said they were right on the money. Home owner asked if we could “add a couple of walls and some stuff ” . Crew that poured and finished the floor said they “didnt move nuttin”. I checked the foundation and its 3 -1/2″ out of square. Can you say nervious nervious? Nails
Replies
If the heat is up and running, crank the thermostat up high and spray some cool water on the concrete. The hot spots will dry first.
I always take pictures of details like this before covering them up for future reference.
Add the PT sole plates with PL Premium adhesive and hold them in place for 24 hours with stud wedged to framing above or heavy tol boxes or whatever. This adhesive cures with moisture in the materials and the air and it will weld the plate to the concrete.
I second Piffins post.
A few years ago I had the same dillema(sp). I ended up using a heat sensor that one of the plumbers had, that works the same way as a stud finder it located the tubing to within a1/4 " of each side.
Dave
Nails,
A different trick to finding the tubing is to let the system cool down by lowering the thermostat, then once the slab is cool take a thermal reader (NAPA sells one for about $50, it normally used for checking rotor and exhaust temps) or if you can get your hands on a firefighteing thermal imager works really well and turn the heat back on for about 5 minutes it will show you where the tubes are in the slab. This will also show leaks in the tubing for future reference.
JW
I second (third?) piffin's comments about the PL adhesive. Had to remove a 2x4 I had glued down with PL a little while ago. A few whacks with a sledge hammer were required - and a small amount of concrete came up with the wood. If glued with a minimum of care like cleaning the concrete with a wet rag, that plate ain't going nowhere. But, in any event, always take pictures before pouring!
Edited 7/23/2002 1:34:43 PM ET by Piccioni