PEX heating tubing and concrete floors

Hi, when we renovated our brownstone we had hot water heat through radiators installed using PEX tubing to transport the water from the boiler to and between the radiators. The PEX has been great, but the routing has proved to be troublesome. We have a one story addition in the back of the house, half of which is a small room looking out to the backyard and the other is a concrete terrazzo bath room. Because we built a concrete tub into the ground, the builder laid a concrete foundation ~1 foot thick. After the water gets to the bathroom radiator, we ran the PEX through a drilled hole in the wall and then up under the roof of the addition to the other room in the addition.

No matter how much insulation we put in the roof of the addition, the PEX in the roof is prone to freezing when we have the super cold snaps in the winter.

One obvious solution would be to run the PEX between the rooms through basement, but then I’d need someone to drill a hole back through the floor or the wall to route the PEX to the basement.

My question is not so much what to do or how to do it — you’d have to look at the setup– but instead what type of skillset should a person have to come take a look at it and help me figure out what might be done.

Thanks, Todd

luther924

in Heating and Cooling 7 years and 2 months ago

2

Please log in, in order to post replies!

2 replies

Newest Oldest

Master Plvmber | 7 years and 2 months ago

string(1) "1"
object(WP_User)#4933 (8) {
  ["data"]=>
  object(stdClass)#4954 (12) {
    ["ID"]=>
    string(4) "1447"
    ["user_login"]=>
    string(14) "Master Plvmber"
    ["user_pass"]=>
    string(34) "$P$BSHLZQSJWUzjnaSv9fyWJpNYjwcz.u."
    ["user_nicename"]=>
    string(14) "Master Plvmber"
    ["user_email"]=>
    string(24) "info@gatewayplumbing.com"
    ["user_url"]=>
    string(30) "http://www.GatewayPlumbing.com"
    ["user_registered"]=>
    string(19) "2007-08-10 20:40:53"
    ["user_activation_key"]=>
    string(0) ""
    ["user_status"]=>
    string(1) "0"
    ["display_name"]=>
    string(14) "Master Plvmber"
    ["spam"]=>
    string(1) "0"
    ["deleted"]=>
    string(1) "0"
  }
  ["ID"]=>
  int(1447)
  ["caps"]=>
  array(2) {
    ["subscriber"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["bbp_participant"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["cap_key"]=>
  string(15) "wp_capabilities"
  ["roles"]=>
  array(2) {
    [0]=>
    string(10) "subscriber"
    [1]=>
    string(15) "bbp_participant"
  }
  ["allcaps"]=>
  array(4) {
    ["read"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["level_0"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["subscriber"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["bbp_participant"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["filter"]=>
  NULL
  ["site_id":"WP_User":private]=>
  int(1)
}

You would probably be well served by allowing the loop that freezes to run more frequently but at a lower temperature. I’m a NYC licensed Master Plumber but I long ago focused my career on heating and do a great deal of troubleshooting radiant floors and steam systems. www.72fLLC.com

workisfun | 7 years and 2 months ago

string(1) "1"
object(WP_User)#4934 (8) {
  ["data"]=>
  object(stdClass)#4935 (12) {
    ["ID"]=>
    string(6) "184143"
    ["user_login"]=>
    string(9) "workisfun"
    ["user_pass"]=>
    string(63) "$wp$2y$10$PIdNTvrjjvl/VOCMW73N/OMlRywLPQafpivFFsZl0u6nC/7ccb03S"
    ["user_nicename"]=>
    string(9) "workisfun"
    ["user_email"]=>
    string(21) "joshsimilar@gmail.com"
    ["user_url"]=>
    string(0) ""
    ["user_registered"]=>
    string(19) "2017-08-10 13:28:04"
    ["user_activation_key"]=>
    string(0) ""
    ["user_status"]=>
    string(1) "0"
    ["display_name"]=>
    string(9) "workisfun"
    ["spam"]=>
    string(1) "0"
    ["deleted"]=>
    string(1) "0"
  }
  ["ID"]=>
  int(184143)
  ["caps"]=>
  array(1) {
    ["bbp_participant"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["cap_key"]=>
  string(15) "wp_capabilities"
  ["roles"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(15) "bbp_participant"
  }
  ["allcaps"]=>
  array(1) {
    ["bbp_participant"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["filter"]=>
  NULL
  ["site_id":"WP_User":private]=>
  int(1)
}

A very experienced heating contractor, who also enjoys PEX and problem solving. Some just want to do things the same way everytime. Others like the challenge. Ezzy Travis is up to it. He’s in NJ, but often works in BK. ‭ (347) 436-6593‬.