Quote:
Originally Posted by speede5
In-floor is the way to go hands down and as someone who has had it, I think it's worth every penny. my thoughts;
1. Do you need extra concrete? I did my slab 4" but i spaced my rebar at 12" vs 24 or something like that. I also layed down 2" styro between the rock and the concrete as an insulating layer, which you're already planning.
2. The tubing in the floor only added about $600 to the pour. I layed it myself after the contractors had set up the re-bar. I had three loops of ~150' in a 22x24 garage. my memory is foggy on the numbers.
3. I did mine many years ago and was using a water heater and circ pump. which was very inefficient but still wasn't crazy expensive to run. A proper boiler and pump system would be very efficient. If you're already considering a boiler what is the difference between a coil and running it through the floor.
4. No other heat source will warm up the concrete and it will just be a big heat sink. Depends what you're doing out there, mine is my second home, but laying on the floor in winter and cold soaked feet really suck. I had another big garage with a air heater and one side of the building was always really cold compared to the other, and the thing would cycle a lot. That was 25 years ago though maybe they've made some improvements on that issue.
5. Once the slab is heated it is amazing how fast it recovers when a door is opened. Also if you are in and out with a vehicle any snow/water that melts off is evaporated overnight. And every corner of the building is the same temp. Another bonus is the door never freezes to the slab.
All that said I am in another house now and am installing an overhead gas heater before next winter as I just have a little 220 electric hanger right now. (don't ask about that power bill!). I'm sure the overhead gas will be just fine and I'll be able to work in there all winter but if I was ever pouring I would at least throw the lines in for a future upgrade.
At the end of the day your budget is the driver. If you aren't in there all the time best bang for the buck is the gas heater.
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Thanks - I will have to revisit why my quotes were so high from my builder. My hope is that if I am insulating the slab and it is far enough under ground that the heater should but able to atleast make it comfortable. My garage isn't necessarily going to be a second home but I forsee spending a decent amount of time in it.