Crete-Heat with Rebar

[600SL]

I'm interested in a product called Crete-Heat insulation, see the link. It looks to be pretty good. But I'm trying to figure out a way of suspending rebar over it. Looks like standard chairs will just fall over. I have seen very few pictures where people are just placing the rebar on top of the mat. but that doesn't seem appropriate for a 6" concrete. Am I correct in thinking the rebar should be at the center of the concrete. Therefore I would need to suspend the rebar ~1.5" above the high spots on the Crete-Heat or 2.5" about the low spots. The attached picture is the only one I can find with rebar installed. The installation will be on a 28' x 16' garage floor located in CT. Any advice would be appreciated.

Crete-Heat, LLC | Floor Panel System | Grade Installations

Crete-Heat, LLC insulated floor panel system is an easily assembled modular board, insulation, vapor barrier (10-mil polystyrene film), and radiant floor tube holding grid that allows for simplified installation of hydronic radiant floor heating systems. Contact us for a floor panel system.

crete-heat.com

 

[Rusted Nut]

For a slab on grade, a single mat of rebar should usually be at the lower third mark. Three legged wire chairs should work for you.

 

[jack stand]

That's more of a convenience product that for the same money would buy much better (r value) insulation and 6x6 steel mesh for some additional concrete reinforcement and something to tie the pex to.
Buy some blue or pink exp and have your flatwork guy supply you with 4x8 or 5x10 6x6 mesh sheets and you can run the pex with a couple of bags of zip ties.
My garage slab, actually all radiant I put in is a layer of poly, a layer of 2" foam, #4 bar (pic you grid) on bolsters (or chairs) then 6x6 mesh sheets.
Now run your tubing.

 

[600SL]

For a slab on grade, a single mat of rebar should usually be at the lower third mark. Three legged wire chairs should work for you.

Thanks for the reply. I'm not finding any wire chairs anywhere except for dual and triple chairs for footers. But I did find these which look small enough to fit either on top of the raised sections or the taller one below.

1" - 1 1/2" Plastic High Chair with Tapered Feet - White Cap

The OCM Uni Chair is an all purpose individual high chair ideal for use on wood, steel, and concrete. It is also well suited for TILT-UP applications. They have been tested and approved for Department of Transportation(D.O.T) use.

www.whitecap.com

 

[600SL]

That's more of a convenience product that for the same money would buy much better (r value) insulation and 6x6 steel mesh for some additional concrete reinforcement and something to tie the pex to.
Buy some blue or pink exp and have your flatwork guy supply you with 4x8 or 5x10 6x6 mesh sheets and you can run the pex with a couple of bags of zip ties.
My garage slab, actually all radiant I put in is a layer of poly, a layer of 2" foam, #4 bar (pic you grid) on bolsters (or chairs) then 6x6 mesh sheets.
Now run your tubing.

Thanks for the reply. Agree it is more convenient and cost about 2 times as much. But its a small garage in the end the cost is $600 more for the Crete heat foam over the 2" 4' x 8' foam boards, but you save money on the wire mesh and it rally comes with the vapor barrier built in. I will probably add vapor barrier anyway. Both products are rated at R10. Sounds like your running your PEX at mid plane on top of the rebar and mesh. I though the pex had to go on the bottom?

 

[jack stand]

No towards where you want the heat.
(But I imagine that in "real life" it's splitting hairs)

 

[RAB]

I have been looking into radiant in floor also. There are lots of different opinions on where in the slab it should be set and how to go about it. To answer the original question, I saw someone use small concrete bricks to hold the mesh above the insulation. It seemed like a good inexpensive way to do it. As another note, I recall having seen someone say the rebar can float up with the pex strapped to it so keep that in mind if you choose that way.

 

[jack stand]

Normal 1/2" pex line wouldn't float rebar in water let alone concrete.

 

[PoorUB]

As another note, I recall having seen someone say the rebar can float up with the pex strapped to it so keep that in mind if you choose that way.

Not going to happen! If the rebar and PEX got too close to the top, someone pulled up on the pex when pouring the slab.