We have 7 runs (3 zones)on the main slab here. 40 X 42 with 1 1/2 floors above the garage. Two more zones up stairs. Should be plenty. Progress is looking good Scott. How thick is your slab?
Really nice. Reminds me when I built my 60x80 metal building in 2007. Makes a person proud to create a structure that will last a long time. Even beyond us. Take pictures while it's new. If it's anything like around here spider webs will follow. Build a building, clean the building.
Looks great! Will you finish the cinder block on the outside? A nice parge and dark paint would look nice and preserve the block.
Here is my unsolicited input... My shop has in floor heat.. I did not build it, but purchased it that way. The shop is 38x53.. 2x6 stick building, 10 foot ceiling, well insulated. I have 3 runs of plex in the floor, the tubes are approximately 18 inches apart.. easy to tell when it's fired up, just wet the floor and the area right over the tube dries first. I did this initially to identify where I could drill in the floor to install floor anchors. I work in the shop 7 days a week, thru the brutal central MN winters. The thermostat is set at 70.. and the temp in here never varies over a couple degrees from that. And that is when we open the big 16 foot door to load and unload stuff in the winter. So I would argue that whoever manufactures plex tubing, had serious input into the books that were written, that generated what now is "common knowledge" as to how much tubing you need to put in the floor.. I have relatively little, and it works just fine. Heat source? When I moved in, it was a simple 40 gallon hot water heater.. I took a look at the design, and thought to myself "what idiot thought this was a good idea"... there was nothing to regulate the flow of hot water thru the floor... or more importantly, keep it in the tank so the heater could heat it. First thing I did was go to Grainger and buy a temp controlled switching unit... and put it in line with the system pump. Set the temp and 120* with a probe on the outlet of the heater.. Turned it on when it got cold that year.. worked perfectly.. instead of the water being constantly pumped thru the heater tank, and not picking up any heat, it pauses and cycles.. The first 3 years I lived here that system was in use.. and when it got really cold, below zero for a week or more, the temp would drop in the shop to about 65, with the heater on all the time, in a constant cycle situation. About 6 years ago, the water heater failed.. so I bought a new 40 gallon one and installed it.. big mistake.. the new household grade heaters are such pieces of junk, they are not worth taking out ot the box for this application.. can't take the run time in this application.. this new one started having control and burner issues after a year.. After tiring of fixing the thing constantly, about 2 years later I looked at alternatives.. was just about to pull the trigger on a $2500 boiler, when I came across this unit.. https://www.menards.com/main/plumbi.../12g30-60/p-1444452201722-c-1541513694149.htm This is not exactly the one I got, but same brand and similar specs.. I did buy mine 3 years ago.. HI burner btu and lower water capacity are the key.. This new unit has been thru three winters now, and I can tell you, it cycles, even when it's been below zero for a week. Temp?... it's like the digital thermostat has 70* painted on the face.. Cost?... I spend less than $150 a month to heat the shop, in the coldest winter months.. Most months are less than $100 during the heating season. Compared to the $800 plus a month I spent to heat my last shop, which granted, was much bigger, this cost is an afterthought. I spend more on shop supplies every month.. My point in writing this, is not to criticize what anyone else has done.. I am sure the elaborate setup here that Scott has installed will work perfectly. It's just to offer a different point of view, from my experience. I have had forced air, overheat radiant, and in floor radiant heat in different shops that have housed the business over the years, and I can tell you now, 10 years into my in floor radiant shop, it is superior to any other heating method. In every way. Knowing this, I could not understand why every shop that is built these days, is not using this type of heat... until I happened to be somewhere and saw a book on radiant heated floors.. so I bought it, just out of curiosity. I got thru the first chapter, and realized why this book was written.. to sell product. and I started doing the math, and with a million miles of plex, and an multi thousand dollar boiler, I can now see why folks are not doing it.. cost... I am here to tell you, that you can ignore the books... Every square inch of the floor does not have to have tubing in it... that's massive overkill. Concrete conducts heat pretty well, my floor, with the tubes 18" apart, will vary in temp about 2* from right over the tube, to the 9" mark, between the tubes.. so what, big deal.. You don't need the expensive boiler.. the $700 high btu, low capacity water heater will work just fine.. Mine is actually rated for radiant heat.. add a $80 temp control to the system, and go... the temp control is the key, you have to pause the water in the system, to allow it to radiate the heat into the concrete, and heat the water in the tank. Mine runs at about 125*, and works perfectly. Especially for you guys just building hobby shops. Let the system run at 60* all the time, and then kick it up to whatever your comfortable with, the night before you plan on working in the shop... for instance... get home from the 9-5 on Friday, want to work on the car (or hide from the wife) in the shop all weekend.. kick the heat up the night before. And finally... so you put in a "less than recommended" system in your new shop, and the performance is not up to par... the worst thing that happens is you have to hang a small hanging force air heater to the system... it's not like you have to tear up the floor and start over. I actually know several guys around here, with hobby shops, that do exactly that.. they use the radiant as the base for the heating, at 50 ro 60* degrees constantly, and then when they go out there to work, they flip on the hanging unit to bring it up to a comfortable temp. Plenty of options out there for heat, but in my opinion, in floor is the only way to go, and it does not have to be super expensive. JW
My little shop was here when we bought but had only been built a few years earlier. I sure wish they'd have at least put the tubing in. Shop even has nat. gas (not that they did it correctly but...). I've been in a couple shops w/floor heat and it's so nice.
It has been my experience, and I'm no expert, that bare cinder block is like a sponge for moisture. Over time you will get moss, mildew, etc growing on it. At worse it will get wet, freeze, and break up. If you like it grey, paint it grey. Talk to some mason people in your area and see what they say. Look around at other bare cinder block construction and see if any are 10 years old or more and holding up as you would like it to. Just my 2 cents.
Here in Mississippi no worries about heating the shop in winter. That's when it's nice. I have an oversized exhaust fan but in summer it is not enough. Gets over 100° inside during the daytime for weeks at a time even though roof and walls are insulated. HVAC too expensive to install and run in a 60x80 hobby shop. Someday maybe I will come up with a solution.
There's an old saying.. "what keeps the cold out, also keeps the hot out"! Insulation is only part of it. You need a vapor barrier (usually made from 4-6 mill plastic sheeting) that has ALL the seams taped and the bottom edge sealed to the floor via silicone, tape, staples or whatever! Trust me that all makes a huge difference in not only the comfort level, but how much less your heater and cooling will cycle. If you don't believe me then you need to come check out our shop building. Keith
