I am preparing for a major addition/rennovation on my 1888 Victorian in Chicago. Currently, I have a low ceiling in my basement(about 6 1/2 ft high) and am having it dug down so I have approx 8 1/2 feet of clearance. I also am installing a radiant floor heating system in the new basement and throughout the house. Does anyone know a resource I can check out to determine what type of concrete I should have poured for the new basement. I vaguely remember on a prior This Old House project where they used a special concrete mixture for the pour of a radiant floor heating system. I thought it had a certain latex mix or something like that. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.
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The "special concrete mixture" was probably the gypcrete that they pour over conventionally framed flooring to create a high mass system without all the wieght of typical concrete. You may need this if you go with high mass on the upper floors.
Nothing special I've ever heard about special concrete for radiant heat in a basement slab.