Radiant Heat

My last post I spoke about the importance of the right insulation. I choose blown in insulation over batt insulation because of its cost value,and because blown in fills the wall cavity completely. I have since moved on to installing radiant heat in the new
bathroom addition. The radiant system is from The Radiant Floor Company in Vermont. There are various methods of installing radiant heat that depend of different factors for determining the correct method. The bathroom addition was over a unheated crawlspace that was on grade. I isolated the pex tubing from the unheated crawlspace using the "sleeper method" . This works by sandwiching the pex tubing between two layers of OSB plywood. Below the first layer of subfloor is the insulation barrier that is between the crawlspace and bathroom. Next is a thin layer of fiber reinforced aluminum stapled directly to the first subfloor. Resting on top is the 1/2" pex tubing. The pex is 8"on center and sits between a 3/4" channel made with 2x3 lumber. The pex is pushed into the channel with malleable aluminum plates that form to the shape of the pex. Final layer is another subfloor that rests on top of the sleepers (2x3 lumber). This method allowed me to create a subfloor that is also the heat source for the room.