Graham,
Did you already built your new house? Leaking floor in concrete, I hope that you did not install copper pipes in it. It was a long time, around 30 years, since I heard anyone do this. If the special plastic pipes for heated floors is against your goals, then you take a substantial risk, otherwise http://www.wirsbo.com/ and find the distributor in your area. No joints in the floor. Hakan At 12:39 AM 12/15/2002 -0500, you wrote: >Here is a link for the exact roofing material I used. I chose an aluminum >colored roof for the (hopefully) enhanced reflective abilities (and the >"paint" would never peel. :) After placing my order (to be trucked in from >another state) a local metal roofing supplier started producing an almost >identical product. It was a bit more expensive per sqft, but it would have >not wasted energy/money being trucked in and would have been more in >keeping with my sustainable goals. This uses no "clips" to install it, >thus it is simple enough for almost any construction crew- sort of like >putting on vinyl siding. Don't forget your Southern overhang, to block >summer sun while allowing winter sun. >http://www.unaclad.com/products/sysview.asp?ID=31 > >In my search tonight I ran across this link it seems to be full of supplier >possibilities. > >http://www.zebroski.com/16-LINKS-CONSTRUCTION.htm#Section%207 > >While I am pleased thus far with the performance of my radiant floors, I am >not sure I would get it again, especially in concrete. I would prefer to >have more access to the pipe . While building my house I met a man looking >for someone to repair his system- 2/3's was non functional (leaky). His >also was encased in concrete with a marble tile covering. No one >(plumber-HVAC) wanted to mess with it. I felt bad for him, he seemed like >a nice little old man, but my plumber wouldn't go either. He only helped >with mine because he was my friend. > >Also I am wondering about the efficiency of the system due to the way a >concrete floor gets "poured" in reality. Supposedly the concrete wire >(which the pipe is attached to) gets pulled up to the middle of the floor >as the concrete is being poured. As I watched however, I would say that >speed certainly takes a priority, and would be surprised if in many places >the wire is not sitting at the bottom of the pad. Also makes me wonder what >happened to my under the floor foam insulation as it has been heated by >this wire/pex every winter. I had imagined walking on this heated floor >would be like a big sun warmed rock. Uh, not so. The heat only goes out in >strips- maybe 8" wide. Beside this warm strip, the floor is "stone" cold. >:) Sort of odd to walk on w/o shoes , you find your kids walking on the >little 8"paths. The room temperature is fine though. In addition to the >solar option, an outdoor wood stove can also be used as an option in >suppling the heat for the pipes. > >A feature I added was to put floor drains in almost every room. My plumber >complained, and talked me out of a few (I should have held my ground) but I >love them. It is so much easier than mopping up dirty water- and the water >goes directly to the drain tile, not the septic system. (A weird code thing >that happened to work out best for me.) Plus kids love to have a water gun >fight inside to clean the floors ;) > >Here is a link on a Net Zero housing experiment >http://web.mit.edu/energylab/www/se/proceedings/Kadam2001.pdf > >Here is a link to Building Science's site. >http://www.buildingscience.com/topten/default.htm > > I went to one of his lectures and ordered his mixed climate book- some >call him "the authority" on moisture proofing buildings. I got my money's >worth, if nothing else the book will wow your building inspectors, as you >try to get some non mainstream stuff approved. Along those lines, see if >you can get you local inspector to go with you to a straw bale demo. Mine >was willing , though I decided against using it. > > I HATE drywall. (Joe from Building Science adores it's draft sealing >qualities, however) It takes way too much labor, has too many steps- >drywall, taping, sanding, painting. It was the worst part of the project >and potentially the most expensive. ($23 a sheet- just labor, 2 years >ago!) But I found almost no reasonable, fire rated approved substitutes. >The best we came up with was using metal roofing material for ceilings. We >like a techy look so we used plain galvanized. We limited it to the >common areas, but have been really pleased. For most interior walls we used >unfinished luon- difficult to match colors of wood, and holes are >unrepairable, but I still like it better than painted drywall. Later we >wished we had used white tile board- (dry erase board) in the children's >rooms. This makes a great wall you can write and erase- tape won't hurt it >either. > >Here is my last link, I thought his ideas inspiring. I read about this >place in Mother Earth News at the dentist > >http://www.cmpbs.org/ > >Caroline > > >Biofuel at Journey to Forever: >http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > >Biofuels list archives: >http://archive.nnytech.net/ > >Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. >To unsubscribe, send an email to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. 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