Radiant heat garage floor - retrofit??

[bret]

Back when I was working in a totally unheated garage and had no money, but a lot of time...I made my own version of "radiant floor heat".

[1] large piece of cardboard [like a refrigerator box]
[1] electric blanket from Wal Mart
[1] additional large piece of cardboard

I slid this under my car [a blown injected Fairmont at the time] to lay one as I worked on suspension, brake lines, exhaust, etc. I would slide it over to the workbench if I needed it there. It was cheap, easy to move, very effective and disposable if you ruined it somehow.

Now every building I own is radiant floor heated. It is truly the only way to go.

[califconstruct]

an Option: You could always lay some Granite tiles in there.. maybe a checkerboard pattern.. Galaxy Black, with White. lay down some Nu-heat.. electric underfloor matting, as used in restrooms and such.. only heat the areas you want heated.

I have tiled garage floors with granite and its not too cost involved if your a DIY.
You just need to know how to lay down the electric matting, and scuff prep the floor for it to stick.

beats tearing out your concrete.

overlays would not be thick enough for the heating.

there's also the snap in style plastic floors.. not sure what R value you get from them.

good luck.

[Stuart Adams]

Originally Posted by califconstruct

an Option: You could always lay some Granite tiles in there.. maybe a checkerboard pattern.. Galaxy Black, with White. lay down some Nu-heat.. electric underfloor matting, as used in restrooms and such.. only heat the areas you want heated.

I have tiled garage floors with granite and its not too cost involved if your a DIY.
You just need to know how to lay down the electric matting, and scuff prep the floor for it to stick.

beats tearing out your concrete.

overlays would not be thick enough for the heating.

there's also the snap in style plastic floors.. not sure what R value you get from them.

good luck.

Great floor.

You could also move to AZ.

[Sieg]

Originally Posted by bret

Back when I was working in a totally unheated garage and had no money, but a lot of time...I made my own version of "radiant floor heat".

[1] large piece of cardboard [like a refrigerator box]
[1] electric blanket from Wal Mart
[1] additional large piece of cardboard

I slid this under my car [a blown injected Fairmont at the time] to lay one as I worked on suspension, brake lines, exhaust, etc. I would slide it over to the workbench if I needed it there. It was cheap, easy to move, very effective and disposable if you ruined it somehow.

Now every building I own is radiant floor heated. It is truly the only way to go.

That's creativity right there!

Once you work on good radiant heat slabs you're spoiled for life.

[bret]

One additional logistical problem with "adding" floor heat over an existing slab...unless the slab is specially insulated in preparation for floor heat, the frozen ground will suck the heat out from under the concrete as fast as you can put it in.

[RussMurco]

Originally Posted by bret

One additional logistical problem with "adding" floor heat over an existing slab...unless the slab is specially insulated in preparation for floor heat, the frozen ground will suck the heat out from under the concrete as fast as you can put it in.

That was something I was concerned with and it makes sense as I can leave the heat on 75 for a week and the floor is still 40 degrees!

[glassman]

Talk to a good tile contractor, they can put the "thinset" in the mat and tile over it. My problem with the granite or any other natural stone is the tendency to crack. Plus when using a "checkerboard" pattern, while it looks great, it's a bitc# when you drop something, can't find.

Porcelain tile over a heat mat, some boring earth tone,most functional. IMO

Mike

[Revved]

Radiant flooring is one thing that crossed my mind when building my shop but I didn't follow up on it. Fortunately I'm in North TX and its only cold a few months out of the year that I would use it. I've got full HVAC in the shop and even though I can keep the shop nice and toasty it still gets COLD laying on the concrete crawling under cars. I feel for you guys up north...I just couldn't do it! Thing to consider with radiant flooring is that heat rises so an efficient radiant flooring system will help heat your shop as well.

I can't see a cheap way to do it that would be worth while. To get a good system in there that would actually work I'm sure you are cutting out concrete... time to move!

[Fluid Power]

We just installed radiant tube heaters in my warehouse. I was spending a fortune in propane to use the old Reznor heaters. Everything was cold even though the temp was set at 70*. The new tube heaters work awesome. It is low even heat that heats the slab and everything in warehouse. We can set the temp at 65* and it feels a ton warmer. I asked my sales guy about installing them in my shop at home (30x40) but I was concerned about leaving them at a constant temperature if I was not going to be out there that often. He assured me that they had home units that work just as well and are cost effective and efficient. We bought the reverb-a-ray brand for what it is worth.

Darren

[RussMurco]

Originally Posted by Revved

Fortunately I'm in North TX and its only cold a few months out of the year that I would use it. I've got full HVAC in the shop and even though I can keep the shop nice and toasty it still gets COLD laying on the concrete crawling under cars. I feel for you guys up north...I just couldn't do it!

I just moved here from Dallas a couple of years ago, don't rub it in!

I talked with our slab guy, he reminded me that I have a building that is slightly over the size it was supposed to be so getting a new building permit may invite more headaches. Oh boy!

I may talk to a radiant tube heater rep, it seems like the most cost efficient way to do what I want to accomplish. Bret is right though, that slab sucks away the heat so quickly so I'm doubting how effective a floor-based heater would be.

Or maybe... I'll invent a heated creeper!!!