Walking on pex and supporting the ends?

[thammel]

Well, the footers are dug for my 32 x 28 and they are poured. I ordered the pex from blueridge.com and will have a grueling day in a week or so. They are planning to pour the pad before the framing is done. (By the way, I am taking tons of pix and will be posting the picture story as more is done and it gets more interesting.)

My two questions du jour:

1) The pex will be staped to the 2" thick insulation board. The 6 x 6 wire mesh will be sitting ont op of it and they'll be pulling this up into the concrete. I imagine they'll walk on the pex. Last night at Home Depot checking out Zurn pex, it certainly felt substantial enough for workers to walk on. With 12" spacing, I think it will be tough to guarantee not stepping on it. Do you all think it should survive?

2) With no walls around the perimeter, how do you suggest supporting the terminating ends of the pex? I'll use 3/4 grey pvc 90 degree elbows (6 for 3 loops) and am thinking of clamping these to scrap plywood attached to stakes in the ground. Sound like a plan? I will have a pressure verification setup attached (gauges, etc) I realize that this will make it tough to screed and level right around the pipes, but so be it. I'm planning on terminating these under the stairs to the attic (yep, got a 12' x 32' attic with 6' plus head clearance!)

Thanks!
Tom

 

[kvom]

You don't state what diameter PEX you're using.

With the Radiantec system that I bought, the tubes are connected to the manifold before the pour and pressurized to 50 psi. This ensures that the tube will not collapse either from being stepped on or from the weight of the concrete. It also will show any leakage in the system before the pour.

 

[thammel]

Yes, I will have it pressurized during the pour. I'll be using 1/2" pex. I'll be stapling down about three rolls of 300' each. I'll have the gauges attached but may not have the manifolding attached. The stuff should be arriving Fed ex any day now.

Thanks,
Tom