Infloor Heat $10k too much for 44x48

[93L#3008]

Seemed alot to me... just got it quoted with my package...

[Gary S]

If this is a commercial shop you will use for lots of years, the price isn't bad. If it is for occasional use in a home shop, probably too much unless you have extra cash you need to unload.

[geologist]

Seems a bit high to me. Location? Is this for the entire pad, or just the heating itself?

[93L#3008]

Originally Posted by StevenBiars

Seems a bit high to me. Location? Is this for the entire pad, or just the heating itself?

Indiana and its the entire pad with 2" insulation, boiler manifold etc
Home use and quickly looking at other options. This would be 25% of my total building costs.

[hercules633]

93L#3008- I live in montana and have been quoted around 10,000 for a 32x48, just for grade prep, concrete and rebar , pour and finish, and thats with no tubing ran or insulation. insulation is going to cost me 1200 or so to do my self around another 500 for the radiant tubing, and it is 84$ a yard for 4000# concrete, then i have about 3500 figured for a small heating circulation system, the guy will pour and finish for a buck a foot, if i do all prep and metal work, so i would say your price is pretty good. for a total complete package, and you stay clean

[1grnlwn]

That sounds way too cheap. I would question heating matls and design. That price would just cover slab here. No ins tubing or mech. Insulation alone is $1260. Now my comparison may be to robust because I went with 6" concrete and pex b iron on 12" centers etc. I don't plan on doing this again! Make sure the heating design is right, or you will waste the money. Do plenty of internet searches for horror stories.

[danski0224]

Originally Posted by 93L#3008

Indiana and its the entire pad with 2" insulation, boiler manifold etc
Home use and quickly looking at other options. This would be 25% of my total building costs.

Originally Posted by 93L#3008

Seemed alot to me... just got it quoted with my package...

$10k for the concrete and all??? Too cheap.

$10k for the stuff related to the heating (insulation, tubing, piping, manifolds, boiler, controls, etc...)? Probably right there, depending on the level of equipment and installation.

Impossible to judge pricing without knowing the slab and grade specifications, piping diagrams and equipment schedule.

If you are judging pricing without those items (knowing what you are paying for), then you will get what you deserve.

[mx842]

Actually that's not really all that bad if they are going to pour the floor as well. I'm doing a 52x40 and I shop everything.

My concrete alone is going to cost $4500.00 to pour and that does not include the finish grade prep or any of the materials to get it ready to pour. I'm only putting 1" pink board around the inside walls to 8' and leaving the center open that cost me almost $600. There was $100.00 for 6 mil poly that needs to go down under that and then there is almost $400.00 in rebar on top of that. I have about $1600.00 in my manifolds and pex tubing and that don't include my pump or the boiler plus a few other things I will need to buy before I can fire it up. I decided to put as much wiring in the floor as I could and by the time I ran all the conduit and fittings I have another $600.00 plus around $500 in incidentals fittings, plumbing, glue, tape and all sorts of stuff you can never figure in.

I have spent the last 2 weeks of my life digging out soft spots and filling them with stone in all it took 2, 20 ton loads of crushed stone and then I found a guy that would haul me crushed concrete for $285.00 a tandum load and I spreading out the last of 4 loads he has bought me and I just may need another one before it's over. I figured it would take two loads to get it up to sub grade and as of now I'm over $1100.00 on that number.

Also keep in mind all the work is being done by yours truly so my labor is zero or just my own time. I spent a lot of money on prep work that most people doing these kinds of jobs would not have done but this in my floor and I wanted it done right and is the reason I'm doing it myself. If anything goes wrong the only person I have to blame is me.

[jeff5295]

It's really not fair to say the radiant heat is going to be 25 % of your building cost. I assume you were planning to put a concrete slab in regardless of if you were using radiant heat or some other source. What's the breakdown of slab cost vs the radiant specific stuff. I think I paid about $7k for a 36 x 56 slab 3 years ago. I added insulation and pex myself to save some cost.

Does the estimate include the boiler? Will it be a complete function system for this price? If so, doesn't sound too bad.

[Galaxie]

That is a steal for a turn key heated pad of that size.

[93L#3008]

Originally Posted by danski0224

$10k for the concrete and all??? Too cheap.

$10k for the stuff related to the heating (insulation, tubing, piping, manifolds, boiler, controls, etc...)? Probably right there, depending on the level of equipment and installation.

Impossible to judge pricing without knowing the slab and grade specifications, piping diagrams and equipment schedule.

If you are judging pricing without those items (knowing what you are paying for), then you will get what you deserve.

Does not include cost of slab. $10k for complete heating system and installation. If I worked out there everyday or if it was a commercial building yes but for occasional use it is hard to justify paying $10k up front for heat.

[Randy in Maine]

They just poured my floor 40' x 28' with 6" of 4000 PSI with fibermesh. 21 yards at $124 a yard. Total with labor and cutting the expansion joints was $3900. 42 tons of thermal mass.

2" of insulation, 6 mil poly, 5 sheets of 2" foam for the sidewalls and 22 (5'X10') pieces of 6 gauge wire mesh was an additional $1500. I had the excavator guy come back and recompact the base for an additional $60 just before the pour. I installed the vapor barrier, the inslation, tubing and sidewall insulation last weekend.

I already had the boiler (Baxi Luna 330 HT), the pump, and zone valve in the house.

$1000 for 1000 feet of Upanor 1/2" tubing. I bought 500 of those little clips for the tubing (very nice) for an additional $50. The guy will be here this week to hook it all up with shop made manifolds (4 250' loops). I am guessing that will be another $500.

Excavation and fill for inside the building was about $6500. The foundation was another $4900.

About $17.3K total.

[pstnbly]

At least insulate the slab and install the tubing. The insulation will protect the slab and add comfort. The tubing will be there to connect later if you wish. If your floor gets poured with out these things you can't go back.

[danski0224]

Originally Posted by 93L#3008

Does not include cost of slab. $10k for complete heating system and installation. If I worked out there everyday or if it was a commercial building yes but for occasional use it is hard to justify paying $10k up front for heat.

Yeah, it's easier to kick yourself later for not doing it.

[93L#3008]

Originally Posted by pstnbly

At least insulate the slab and install the tubing. The insulation will protect the slab and add comfort. The tubing will be there to connect later if you wish. If your floor gets poured with out these things you can't go back.

I considered laying insulation and tubing myself... anybody know of a good kit to purchase with all that i would need and the estimated cost?

[tdkkart]

Originally Posted by Randy in Maine

$1000 for 1000 feet of Upanor 1/2" tubing.

Yikes, you bought that at the wrong place. Even for Upanor branded stuff that's about twice what it should have been, and there's lots of brands of oxygen barrier tube for $.30/ft or less.

I bought most of my radiant stuff from these guys, so far no issues with any of it:
http://www.blueridgecompany.com/

[Randy in Maine]

Actually it was about 60 cents a foot. Since I did the whole house I ended up with 2 1000 foot rolls and 1 500 foot roll of 1/2", and a 300 foot roll of 3/4". I wanted the good name brand stuff.

Sorry for the misinformation.

[BadgerBoilerMN]

Every system will have a different final cost. We see a lot of money wasted in re-bar, wire, etc. on slabs that will essentially bare no weight. We lay poly, XPS and staple tube to the insulation in most light applications.

We are an Uponor certified contractor in Minneapolis but realize that most of the barrier PEX tubing made in the US is better than is needs to be. It is not the tool so much as the guy holding it.

The real money is spent where the long term saving are found; in the boiler and controls. This is also where professional may be helpful.

Radiant floor heating is an investment in comfort and long term fuel savings. Whether you can "justify" the cost depends on what you really want. If you can't justify the investment for yourself, you might think of resale value. Even if you don't want to heat a slab in the short term, tube should be installed for future use. Slabs with tubing or worth more.

Whatever you heat your shop with, start with a proper heat load analysis.

http://www.badgerboilerservice.com/hrf.html