# Insulation in warming rooms



## beebze (Sep 24, 2007)

I'm in the process of building a honey extracting shed and Warehouse. I want to know what others have done in there Warming room. I need to know what kind of insulation to use? I'm trying to look it up, I've found info on pex tubing and after hours of research I finally decided on what to use. Right now I need some suggestions on insulation on the floor. Has anyone used vapor barrier under the insulation and what kind? Info would be much appreciated.


Thanks

Andy


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

just use bat insulation in the walls and blow insulation in the atic.
dont worry about the floor, but if you have the money, spend it on floor heat. You will love it


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## bigeddie (Feb 19, 2008)

If you are building on a slab you need to put styrofoam under the slab, the idea is to heat the slab and not the earth with the infloor heat. I have infloor hot water heat in my house and shop, Its great!


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## beebze (Sep 24, 2007)

I'm sorry wasn't explicit enough but you did answer the question. The Pex tubing is for floor heat, I'm using Wirsbo Hepex. The walls will be from 2x6's so will be plenty there. So what kind of Styrofoam? With Styrofoam is there any chance of cracking of the concrete due to weight from forklift traffic? (settling) With Styrofoam I know it comes in 4x8 sheets is that the kind? Is there one thickness over another?

Thanks for reply's so far

Andy


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## bigeddie (Feb 19, 2008)

I used 2" high density styrofoam, pink in color. The base has to be compacted really well,ya know with a mechanical compactor. Then the foam goes down,next mesh or re-rod then wersbo is tied to re-rod to hold it in place, pour concrete and your done. If you do a good job from the start your floor won't crack and you will love it. My shop is about 13 years old and the floor has no cracks. My 1 ton diesel is parked in the shop, I use it all the time so the floor has seen alot of traffic,no problem.


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## bigeddie (Feb 19, 2008)

Yep, 4x8 sheets, then cut where needed.


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## Brian Suchan (Apr 6, 2005)

Floor heat is the only way to go with hot rooms. way better than dealing with stacks of supers when the 2 bottom deeps are the temp of the concrete.


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## soupcan (Jan 2, 2005)

I do think we have some of the pictures of this new honey house being built this last summer that Brian is speaking of.
Please check with your insurance person before you spend any money on your hot room construction.
Some companies have some very strick guidlines as to construction & flame travel.
We put up an all metal building.
Yes it was higher priced to start out with but one thing that was a huge savings was the insurance due to the all metal building & the foil faced 2" hard board insulation!


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## beebze (Sep 24, 2007)

My building is a steel building. Got it 2 yrs ago, it was used. I decided to put new girts and purlins on it, also will be putting new tin on it too. It's fairly a good size building. 60x140 with 18' eves. Used to be an old planer building here in Oregon. The plans called for 3 40' opening not anymore though. Closed them to 2 18' openings and I think a 14 opening. My extracting room will be 25x60, hot room 15x20, and a super storage room will be 36x20. There is a lot one has to think of when putting up a building for this type of use. Places like Beesource has been a great help. I appreciated all the people that pipe in.

Got the rebar today, the people putting it up will start on the drains and Hot room today. I am going with what bigeddie suggested, 2"high density Styrofoam. It's $36 a sheet. (4x8)

Will be in California pretty soon. I hope to be home for the pour. Got to rent a boom truck and paying for some else to do the pour and finish work. Need to start taking some pics. 

Thanks Again

Andy


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## soupcan (Jan 2, 2005)

You may want to ask Brian but I am sure the contractor used the same insul-board ( foil faced one side ) in the floor that was used in the building.
And then he used Barrier Pipe in the floor for the Pex tube heat.


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## brac (Sep 30, 2009)

As was said compact ground, then 2" pink with all seams taped, then vapor barrier, then bar, with pex attached to bar. If you wanna drive on it you should pour 6". 

Sorry can't post picture, its too big. but here is a link http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac262/bracattack/P9303067.jpg


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## soupcan (Jan 2, 2005)

Why all the rebar????


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## brac (Sep 30, 2009)

Cause thats how you build a slab that won't crack, also it gives you something to tie the pex to.


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## dtompsett (Feb 2, 2010)

Just to reinforce what everyone else is saying here... you should definitely insulate the floor. When my father built his new shop a couple years ago (2007/2008), he used 2" pink foam (i believe). He ran the pex for in-floor heat, but hasn't hooked it up yet. In the winter (cold Canadian winter), with a couple electric heaters keeping the shop at a decent temp, the floor is comfortable. Much more comfortable than the 2-car garage we used to do our car work in. 

The ground may be warmer than the air outside, but it's also a huge heat sink... if you're going to pay to heat, you should definitely insulate the floor. 

I'm sure you know this... but plan ahead with PEX... know where you're going to be drilling into the concrete later on (need to anchor something, like an extractor?). And when they pour the floor, be sure the PEX is pressurized... if something happens during the pour and the pressure in the system drops, you know you've got a leak, and you can fix it before the floor solidifies. 

Floor thickness will depend on what you're planning on driving on it, and storing on it. Consult with the concrete guy. When dad had the floor poured, he went extra-deep under a couple spots where he knew the car hoist would be... so the legs of the hoist have extra concrete under/around them. 

And, like BRAC said... compacted ground, foam (taped), vapour barrier, rebar w/ pex fastened to it. A concrete floor is forever... so don't skimp. You can always insulate the walls after the fact... but you can't insulate under a concrete floor. (Wish they'd insulated the floor in my basement... it's cold on the feet in the winter!)


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## brac (Sep 30, 2009)

One other bit of info, if you have a footing, be sure to insulate the slab from the footing, I used 1/2 energy board (the silver stuff) this keeps your heat from being lost in the ground.


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## Countryboy (Feb 15, 2009)

_Cause thats how you build a slab that won't crack, also it gives you something to tie the pex to. _

When pouring slabs on the farm, we used what looked like flimsy hog panels to reinforce the concrete. You would drive a few short pieces of rebar into the ground, and then wire the metal 'fence' onto the rebar to keep it positioned right when we did the pour. The local concrete place sells the reinforcing panels we used.

We never did any pex lines for heating, but wouldn't the metal panels work just as good as a ton of rebar? (Cheaper too.)


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## soupcan (Jan 2, 2005)

7 to 8 inches of fiberglass concrete mix pour is a much stronger slab than one with rebar in it.


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## brac (Sep 30, 2009)

I have also used those metal panels, and they work fine, I might still do a perimeter of re-bar. 
SOUP, is fiber glass, concrete very expensive?


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## Ishi (Sep 27, 2005)

You can not get as smooth of finish on a fiberglass concrete mix floor because if the fiber that sticks out


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## peacekeeperapiaries (Jun 23, 2009)

Ishi said:


> You can not get as smooth of finish on a fiberglass concrete mix floor because if the fiber that sticks out


Fiber-crete can be slick finished just as nice and pretty as regular concrete with wire re-inforcement (no fiber). Yes some fibers stick up initially but they wear off quickly with a few broomings.


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