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I am pouring a concrete slab floor with hot water infloor heating. Over this floor I want to put down a maple floor (solid 3/4″ x 2 1/2′ wide). Are there options besides nailing to furring strips? I prefer not to nail through a water line and I would rather not have the space between the concrete and the wood floors.
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Glue plywood and then nail maple. Do a search on this; it's been discussed a lot recently--I don't remember all the details be/c I'm using an engineered product and gluing right to slab, which isn't recommended for solid wood.
*I've powder-actuated-hammered and glued down two layers of 1/2" CDX onto the slab for something to nail into. Nails one per square foot (48 per sheet) fired into where the tubes aren't (it helps to document their location before the pour) and not as deep as the tubes either. Described in a JLC article about 3 years ago.Narrow wood, like you are using, is good. My own 4" wide birch gets some moderate-sized gaps in winter (20% RH in winter) and narrower boards would be effected less. This happens a bit with any solid wood floor, but more so in really cold climates and more so with radiant heat because the floor is the warmest thing in the house instead of the coldest. Get those boards as dry as possible before installation. Keep them stickered (separated by little furring strips with air spaces all around) in the driest place you can find (furnace room?). Consider that multiple layers of wood (or carpet) will slow down heat transfer A LOT compared to vinyl or tile. This will require higher temperature water in the tubing and will create a time lag after the slab is hot before the heat is transfered to the living space. The time lag continues when the thermostat is happy and shuts off the water flow. That hot, insulated slab keeps putting out heat for many more hours and can cause temperatures to go above the thermostat setting. Smarter controls (PID controllers and water temperature valves controlled off the outside temperature) help a lot in any high-mass system. Lots of insulated mass really calls for good controls. Unfortunately, it can be hard to find someone to specify, provide and install the preferred controls, even through they're available. -David
*>will create a time lag after the slab is hot before the heat is transfered to the living spaceDavid, as an aside I have a funny story about the time lag to heat. Currently have house guests and one is considering an addition to his house with RFH. He asked me if I could turn on our heating unit so he could see how RFH preforms!!!!!! (Let's see, in the middle of the hottest week of summer in the South, you want me to turn on the heat for 12 hours so that you can feel warmth come through the 8" slab, and then I'm stuck with trying to cool down a house being heated from that slab?!?!?!?! Maybe I'll recommend elec baseboard!) :)
*Cloud: Yeah, not much to look at, see, or feel when RFH turns on. Mostly an advantage. The only downside I've experienced is when I come in from outside, slightly chilled. There is not a hot place in the house (nor any cold spots). So I take a magazine to the utility room and read a few articles. -David
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I am pouring a concrete slab floor with hot water infloor heating. Over this floor I want to put down a maple floor (solid 3/4" x 2 1/2' wide). Are there options besides nailing to furring strips? I prefer not to nail through a water line and I would rather not have the space between the concrete and the wood floors.