Need some advice. Starting a major renovation on my house & plan to install radiant heat. I would also like to install either 2 1/4 or 3 1/4 Quatersawn white oak on top. The first floor is on a uninsulated slab.
I planed to use sleepers w/ 1/2″ ridged insulation in between.
I’m worried about shrinkage. I get conflicting advice from my flooring guys.
Any one have any experience. Thanks
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http://www.healthyheating.com/
Somewhere on rb's site is a dissertation on hardwood floors and radiant.
You need to know what type of heating system you are using. The manufactor will give you this information. Lots of luck.
A couple of Qs to help me out: is the insulation going between the sleepers, or between the sleepers and the slab? What sort of slab is it - extg home, garage or shed, for inst? Have you made provision for using pressure-treated lumber - that'll be wet and will have its own manner of shrinking? Whats the moisture content of the oak? Of the floor? Can you leave the flooring in the room - stacked with lath between layers - for up to a week? Are the sleepers likely to curl up if wet or dry? Do you realise you'll lose 1/2" ins + 1 1/2" sleepers + 3/4" oak - what'll happen at the foot of yr stairs?
At least one A: there will probably be movement - seasonal eg - so IIWM I'd have 1/4" clearance around the perimeter to start with, and thicker basebds, perhaps with shoe molding. That'll cover movement both ways.
Ha, didn't give you an easy answer, eh?
***I'm a contractor - but I'm trying to go straight!***
The system has to be designed and controlled such that the surface temperature does not exceed 80 degF. What this means in a practical sense is that it will be more difficult to heat exterior areas because the output is reduced at this temperature. If you have a space with a lot of exterior wall and hardwood floors, you may need to supplement the floor heat. Depends on many factors, climate and wall contruction being rwo of the most important.