Slab Prep for Radiant Heat | Insulation, Vapor Barrier & Rebar

[@MasonDixonAcres]

Interested in seeing the exact cost details and where we bought everything for our radiant heat floor system? We have the spreadsheet available on our website! ⬇ www.masondixonacres.com/products/radiant-flooring-cost-spreadsheet

[@davidcurrie6690]

Very clever young bloke.

[@annettehough2792]

The high speed rebar mat tie segment looked like a “Boot Scootin’ Boogie”. 🤣 The prep looks great!

[@MasonDixonAcres]

Hahah we laughed at that too.. construction is rarely ergonomic 😁

[@cnettrouer]

Great attention to detail. Looks good. Your wife is a trooper. I could never convince my wife to tie rebar.

[@MasonDixonAcres]

haha thank you and I agree!!

[@mostrico]

man I just got some concrete done and I wish the guy would have done many of the things you did, amazing job man!

[@joemartino6976]

Good stuff. Really admire your attention to detail.

[@wazirhazratalli5968]

Awesome work! I am waiting for your pour video. I will be Pouring in 2 weeks too. 😁

[@Yeah-Buddy]

Looks fantastic! Great job!

[@MasonDixonAcres]

Thank you! It works really well!

[@albertvonschultz9137]

That's good information that you did. I was planning on using plastic chairs and 3/4 inch Rebar on 12 inch centers with 12 inches of concrete.

[@tylermacmillan3372]

I am really enjoying watching all your videos! So much good stuff to learn before I build! I am very visual so this helps a ton. Thank you

[@MasonDixonAcres]

Glad you like them! Happy to have you! We have videos from the very beginning and will continue to document the journey. SO exciting that you're building to. When do you plan to break ground?!

[@tylermacmillan3372]

@@MasonDixonAcres planning for this summer. Desbarats Ontario. Very excited

[@laurieclarkson9180]

I have 6 mil plastic and I have used it as a tarp to cover firewood, to put under spray painting projects, but mainly I use it over PVC hoops that I have over my 3ft wide garden beds so my flowers and winter crops are covered during winter. So you could do a lot of things with your extra 10 mil.

[@SteffenBoserup]

Looks fantastic! BTW one thing you need to keep in your toolbox at all times is: superglue, or spare sunglasses 🙂

[@MasonDixonAcres]

haha very true!

[@jamescole3152]

Very nice work.

[@metalrooves3651]

Chairs are great.in the history of mankind,no finisher has ever pulled the rebar up during a pour!we flip slabs at tearout and see rebar on the ground!

[@metalrooves3651]

I like that he chaired up that rebar..l use the new plastic chairs at 20 cents each.those bricks ,whole l8ke that ,leave a weak place

[@BenKlassen1]

In the past, before the advent of those twist ties, tying rebar was a lot slower and harder. Looks good!

[@MasonDixonAcres]

haha yep we took the novice route on this one and got the pre-bent ties 😁

[@rinkevichjm]

Did you consider Helix micro rebar instead? Or even mesh? Helix would have eliminated the bricks and ties while mesh would have eliminated the ties. Well now you’re ready for the pour. I’d suggest 26” slump SCC with slag cement in it.

[@laurieclarkson9180]

aw..the disappointment when your sunglasses broke in the center!

[@jaredschrempp4246]

When air testing, can you T all the supply lines and cap the returns? Also did you have a fix on hand during the pour in case of a leak? I'm struggling to find what to have on hand just in case.

[@MasonDixonAcres]

You could do that or just T everything together, supplies and returns. I just had a straight coupler on hand, but I doubt you'll need it

[@mikemaben7485]

One time at band camp We poured a mud matt with concrete truck and layed wire on fresh mud mat poured concrete over mud matt and wire. Tadaaa. Lol

[@user-jy9sl7iz2b]

The vapor barrier has to go underneath the insulation board to keep the moisture from coming up from the ground

[@MasonDixonAcres]

It works in either location. I put it above to a) keep rain from getting between the insulation board and vapor barrier and b) make sure the boards didn't float during the concrete pour

[@ryanrich9186]

If the vapor barrier is so cheap why not do it in both locations? I'm oozing to get educated in this because we are planning our house build, and every bit I can do is a bit I don't have to pay a crew.

[@mvaughn1980]

Have to check building code but I believe a double vapor barrier is not allowed.

[@kurtsuchomel3491]

Good video and 'reinforcing' in regards to the vapor barrier over the rigid board vs taping all the rigid board seams. I liked that, Also...curious about the slab thickness. 3/8" bar on top of 1 1/2" or 2" bricks then 3/8" tubing. Is a 4" slab enough, or would you recommend 5"? I did like the 1'-0" rebar grid for reinforcing and pex layout. It's tedious work, but I think worth it.

[@MasonDixonAcres]

Ours is 5-6". Even a 2' rebar grid would have worked okay for layout, but at 1' every tube run is supported which helps during the pour (the mat gets trampled)

[@erictorbet8104]

Hi, I was wondering if the edge of the slab will rest on the ledge of your stem wall? Is that why you made that ledge with the smaller cinder blocks? If the slab doesn't rest on stem wall, then how are they connected so the slab doesn't shift around? Finally, why does the insulation go all the way down the inside of the stem wall, doesn't the insulation under the slab isolate it from the stem wall? Thank you for documenting this process!

[@MasonDixonAcres]

Insulation extends down for frost protection. The slab does not rest on the interior wall, it rests on insulation which rests on compacted stone base. The small top course was so that you couldn’t see block at the edge of the floor in the finished assembly. Aside from the interior wall footing the slab doesn’t serve a structural purpose and doesn’t need to be connected to the wall directly. In fact, it saved us a lot of cracking having them isolated via insulation, which worked as a control joint. We didn’t cut control joints.

[@erictorbet8104]

@@MasonDixonAcres Okay that makes sense! By the way, did you film the concrete pouring and smoothing of the slab? I didn't see that in your sequence of videos...

[@MasonDixonAcres]

It is unlisted currently as we are still arguing with the batch plant over a delivery error but it will be back to public eventually

[@zacke1807]

Any feedback on why you put insulation then vapor barrier? I see both ways online but no information on why people are doing each option.

[@MasonDixonAcres]

Two main reasons: 1- Didn't want any concrete getting under the insulation, causing them to float during the pour 2- Vapor barrier is better protected from punctures by the crushed stone

[@Bart-dg6qv]

4:13 This picture will haunt me down. How is this even possible?! Man, you design, think, reconsider, check over internet and still end up with this?!

[@MasonDixonAcres]

Not quite following - you're upset with aligning the joints or the one I left with words up?? 😂

[@Bart-dg6qv]

@@MasonDixonAcres No boards shifting, no second layer with another shifting, gaps between boards etc. - basically thermal bridges. People should not follow this. But I'm impressed you did all that by yourself. Plus, for a North America engineering it's still superior to anything I've seen here.

[@regiscarrier996]

@@Bart-dg6qv i am planning a second layer of EPS pannel shifting with first layer, to close thermal bridges. But why would I need for example layer 1 having the sheets shifting with one another?

[@Bart-dg6qv]

@@regiscarrier996 I'm not a specialist, it's just general simple knowledge - you need shifting them to avoid thermal bridges. Plus, I don't feel comfortable with that gravel directly under it. Seriously, look for some European movies about it. It's all crazy science how to get perfect solution. As i said yours is still light years ahead of average Joe's foundation.

[@andysparks7381]

Hey, you're doing great! Did you consider using the wire mat reinforcing coupled with fiber concrete instead of rebar? Much easier.

[@MasonDixonAcres]

I did consider it, but it's really flimsy unless you get the expensive stuff which was more than #3 rebar. I do have fiber concrete anyway. The rebar grid on chairs actually springs back into place after being stepped on.

[@andysparks7381]

Love the Texas nose-blowing at 12:30.

[@MasonDixonAcres]

Hahah I had no idea what you were referring to and just now got around to rewatching the video, totally forgot I did that 😂

[@RealWorldNailsLuvNailz]

Where did you get your 10mil poly? We are doing our foundation soon and it sounds like you got it for a good price

[@MasonDixonAcres]

Amazon! It worked great. Here’s the exact product: amzn.to/3W8DgQh

[@raylebonville7499]

perhaps stager the seams on the rboard as you would wood or bricks?

[@MasonDixonAcres]

You could, it really doesn't make a difference though

[@markusr1308]

What’s the consensus about the insulation foam under heavy loads (like a truck moving in and out every day). I imagine that eventually the foam gets squished and subsequently the floor starts cracking.

[@MasonDixonAcres]

That doesn't happen, the foam supports 25 psi and the concrete won't transmit that much of a concentrated load. You can actually use mineral wool insulation under a slab the same way.

[@metalrooves3651]

@@MasonDixonAcres how would rock wool ever attain the 25psi?

[@bpdp379]

@@metalrooves3651 good question. They say their Comfortboard 80 is rated for under slab applications. Their spec shows 1080psf which is only about 9psi….

[@gentzrayamcclellan6401]

Why the vapor barrier over the foam instead of under?

[@MasonDixonAcres]

Keeps rain from getting between foam and vapor barrier, keeps foam from floating up during pour, and a few other reasons I can’t remember but if you scroll in these comments I’ve answered the same question before

[@huntwiley8281]

How thick is concrete brick chair?

[@MasonDixonAcres]

2-1/4 I believe

[@securenet3]

How much was foam pads and rebar

[@bpdp379]

Not as much as it does now…

[@Tucson20]

Vapor barrier goes under, At least in Canada were its -40 . This would fail inspection here.

[@retiredperson4054]

What thickness and R value would be the best for a two car garage where the concrete would be 4 inch thick and the floor heated with PEX Tubing?

[@MasonDixonAcres]

Depends where you're at, but minimum would be R10 or 2" of xps. We also recently learned rockwool can be used below slabs, we will be using that product next time.

[@retiredperson4054]

@@MasonDixonAcres Thanks!

[@dkraft]

I have yet to find ANY empirical testing on the foamboard insulation under a slab vs two 7 mil plastic sheets, R 10, R3, etc. Sure it "makes sense" but WHERE is the evidence for this ?

[@ezdeezytube]

Why not insulate under support walls and footings? The compressive strength of the foam should be higher than the soil anyway. And lots of heat is lost through footings

[@warrenwalker8170]

drywall t square better then level

[@securenet3]

Be nice if you talked cost per phase

[@MasonDixonAcres]

See our foundation cost video 👍🏻

[@1tbonehamking]

Should I treat my many ant piles before clearing my land?

[@MasonDixonAcres]

No idea really! We don't have any of those around us. Probably not worth the effort if I had to guess.

[@jeffccr3620]

Boric acid I usually use what's left in a jelly jar about a tbl spoon of jelly then dump about tbl spoon of the boric acid in it with a tbl spoon hot water shake well then just sit the jar by the ant den

[@valhallagarage]

Have you ever considered putting the hook into a drill for the rebar so much faster and easier on your hands

[@MasonDixonAcres]

The tool is pretty easy, a drill might be easier but it definitely will weight more

[@mateooffroad]

What was that black metal sump pipe that you screwed down for?

[@laurieclarkson9180]

I know you watched this awhile ago, but they didn't have a load bearing wall there because it's a garage and it would've interfered with their plans/where they park their cars, but they needed to support the ridge beam which will be the horizontal beam right at the top of their roof--so they are installing a pole there that will support the beam and take up less space then a wall. Hope that answers your question.

[@mateooffroad]

@@laurieclarkson9180 Ah, makes sense now. Thanks!

[@bluegarren9361]

Booger 😂

[@MasonDixonAcres]

Glad you caught that 😂 we leave Easter eggs like that in a lot of our videos lol

[@timeilers2036]

its unconstitutional for the government to force you to do business with a third party company!!!!