running over PEX with a motorized wheelbarrow

[orangeracer]

I have tried searching and haven't been able to find anything about it. I am getting close to pour the slab for my pole barn. The building is enclosed so to get the concrete to the back of the pour we are talking about using a motorized wheelbarrow. I have 1/2" PEX stapled to 2 1/2" foam, Dose any one have any experience with this? Would it hurt my PEX or should this work fine? Thanks for any help?

 

[UpstateNY]

Do you have wire mesh on top of the pex ?

 

[orangeracer]

No I am planing 6" thick 4000 psi no wire mesh or re bar still debating on fiber

 

[rancherbill]

Yes it will put the PEX at risk and it will ****** the foam.

Get a concrete pump or pull of some sheathing and come from the sides.

 

[Higgins]

And don't forget to have the PEX pressurized to 100 PSI so if some one nicks the PEX during the poor you will see the results quickly!!!!

AL

 

[chadman]

We just added an extra chute on to the end of the concrete truck when we poured mine. This is something you would need to rent/source on your own as the concrete truck only has a standard chute. We were able to get concrete 30ft. into the building and just raked it the rest of the way.

 

[dieselgarage]

I'm pouring my 60 x64 on October 5th. Bringing in a conveyor truck. But I have mine a bit different. I have my re-bar on stands on 16" OC and my pex tied to the re-bar. Not really possible to use buggies in my situation. I would not run over the Pex. It might seem fine but I have to believe it compromises the integrity of the tube.

 

[kbs2244]

You neeed steel in that slab.
Fiber will not do the job.

 

[Mr onetwo]

And don't forget to have the PEX pressurized to 100 PSI so if some one nicks the PEX during the poor you will see the results quickly!!!!

AL

plus 1 on this.....air not water!!!!!!! P.S.-make sure you have a couple of repair couplings and sleeves just in case!

 

[MonteMike79]

Get a conveyer truck if you can or else a pump. I had to pay $500 for a pump because I couldn't get a truck back to where my garage is. Didn't want to take a chance on ruining 500 worth of pex and all the time I had into it running it over with a buggy.

 

[RVDan]

Or lay plywood over it to distribute the load. The cost of a pile of plywood would pay for a better way though.

 

[Highbeam]

Or lay plywood over it to distribute the load. The cost of a pile of plywood would pay for a better way though.

Great idea.

I used a line pump when I poured over the tubes. Even the line pump has problems since the hose has those fittings that rub back and forth over the pex as the mud pumps.

If you must use a power wheelbarrel or even manual wheelbarrels, use the plywood for protection. The nose of the wheelbarrow has that metal bracket that can cut the pex too.

Ideal, and I have only done one of these on pex. Is pouring the slab using an overhead crane pump line. The only thing to worry about is the metal rakes.

 

[koditten]

You are not going to hurt it with that wheel barrel. you do need some mesh, tho.

I beat the **** out of mine and had no troubles. If you think there will be dozens of trips across it, then their down some plywood.

 

[70redbee]

First of you need rebar and 6x6 mesh. Then you need to rent a concrete pump to go the distance that you require. Any of those other options are going to cause problems with the pex and wire. By the time you buy all this plywood to run over, it is half the cost of the pump. You save the other half by no broken lined or repairs. Take the easy route and it will work out much better and easier in the long run. JUST my 2 pennies worth.

 

[Kirkvkid]

I just had my barn done this spring. The concrete guys I hired used a power buggy as my barn is 30x50 as the doors are on the 30 foot side.

As far as cost of plywood these guys brought their own and took it back with them. Seems like a concrete guy doing any amount of pouring would deal with this often enough to need it. I also hooked up an air line to my pex, and my concrete guy said he had never seen that before and he does a lot of barns. Either way that pex is a lot tougher then you think.

FWIW..If you are hiring someone to do it and they don't have plywood already, find someone else as they must not do heated floors much. If your doing it... plan some jobs out for the wood when your done. It's only 6 sheets if your doing a 50 footer.

 

[xyster101]

Pouring my floor Oct 15 and I am getting a buggy with plywood on the pex.

You need to put mesh down on a floor that big. The mesh should go under the pex though.

Here is a night time pic of my pex zip tied to mesh on top of 2" foam with stone under that. I will be pouring only 4", but I would still add mesh to yours. It is cheap.

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[MonteMike79]

I had mine the same as yours with pex zip tied to mesh. I called around and the pump was only $250 more than renting two buggys. For me $250 extra was a no brainer for the peace of mind to get the pump and not take a chance on ruining the pex. The pump guy also had 'sleds' for the hose connections to sit on as his hose was in 10' sections. It was a lot of setup work and tear down work but worth it to me to not ruin all my money and time in pex I had.

 

[theoldwizard1]

And don't forget to have the PEX pressurized to 100 PSI so if some one nicks the PEX during the poor you will see the results quickly!!!!

AL

More important, make sure you HAVE IT IN WRITING that any loss in of pressure will be repaired by the company laying down the concrete. Make sure to get that signed by someone in authority at the company (i.e. NOT the salesman).

The day of the pout, find the foreman. Walk him over to the pressure gauge. Explain to him that if that reading drops, they will be ripping it out and replacing it. Give him a copy of the written agreement signed by his boss.


I did this on a roofing job that I requested a lot of little extras. The foreman saw the signature and immediately talked to all of the different crew supervisors so that everyone was on the same page. Standing there the whole time, "sidewalk supervising". with a camera, snapping lots of pictures, showed the lowest level workers I wanted to make sure it was "done right".

 

[theoldwizard1]

I had mine the same as yours with pex zip tied to mesh. I called around and the pump was only $250 more than renting two buggys. For me $250 extra was a no brainer for the peace of mind to get the pump and not take a chance on ruining the pex. The pump guy also had 'sleds' for the hose connections to sit on as his hose was in 10' sections. It was a lot of setup work and tear down work but worth it to me to not ruin all my money and time in pex I had.

+1 !

 

[joes169]

We do alot of hyrdronic floors, I own a power buggy, as well as lots of plywood, but I still wouldn't chance it in your case, and I never have either. The buggy will be tough on the foam if nothing else. We just plan on having a tad bit more labor on hand and use them to use hand wheel barrows. The benefit of the small wheel barrows is that you can place the concrete more accurately than with a buggy. If you put someone w/o experience on the buggy, all your puddlers/rakers will be working twice as hard as they need to, and your floor flatness and quality will undoubtedly show it........

 

[BD1]

Most of the pex jobs are with mesh. The mesh is pulled up into the concrete with pex attached. 6'' of concrete on top of mesh may take some time to heat up .