Author: Matt

Radiant Panel Progress

January 26, 2021 / / 2 Comments

I’ve spent the last few weekends on radiant. With the second floor panels installed, the next step was to run the Pex tubing. To do that you vacuum out the track, put down a bead of sealant that helps thermally connect the tubing to the track, then put the Pex tubing in. You can supposedly “walk it in” but in my experience you have to follow the tubing around with a rubber mallet and smack it into the track.

Installing Pex tubing

I got a couple loops of the second floor done during the week, then Aaron and David came back to help me finish the rest of the second floor loops. I had forgotten my careful previous planning when I bought the Pex, so I wound up using the wrong length coils on the second floor, which led to some unfortunate waste and a hasty order of additional tubing. With the loops down, we cut and fit plywood into all the remaining sections of the floor until everything was filled in.

During that week I got the rest of the joist tape up on the first floor ceiling. I didn’t want to drag the ladder around with the panels down. The next weekend I started clearing out the first floor and of course discovered a list of minor tasks that also needed to be done, like chiseling out a section of blocking that I had originally expected wouldn’t be an issue if we furred out the ceiling, which we wound up not doing. I also had to screw up additional 2x4s as nailing edges in the ceiling in a couple places.

Back of first floor panels

I got the panels down in the back of the first floor, and the next day with Aaron and David’s help we go the rest down. Unfortunately, as we got to the front door, we hit two snags. First, we ran out of panels. I had ordered extra, but apparently not enough. I had a small stack of the return panels, but no more straights, so we counted up what we needed and I got those on order. Second, the subfloor by the front door was too high.

Kitchen panel installation

After all the time I spent leveling the joists and subfloor, this is frustrating. I calculated the height of the finished floor and positioned the door jamb accordingly, but somehow, there wasn’t enough room for the door sweep to clear the finished floor. Better to notice this before I put the radiant panels down, but still a headache.

Since we were out of panels anyway, I spent the week sorting out what to do, considering an engineered floor rather than hardwood, and eventually using a laser level to find that there was a distinct bow in the subfloor. I got out my power planer and a couple block planes and shaved down the subfloor until it was consistent, flat, and low enough for the door to clear it. Even so, I may need to replace the weather stripping.

Screwing down panels by the front door

With that done and the new panels arrived, Aaron and David came back this last weekend and we got the remaining panels and pex installed, but ran out of screws and pex before we could finish. We also got some of the plywood cut and fit, but not screwed down. To finally wrap this up I need more screws, more pex, more plywood, and probably one more weekend.

Second Floor Radiant Panels

January 7, 2021 / / 0 Comments

As I mentioned in my last post, we needed to make some progress on the radiant installation. We’re using in-floor radiant heating for the basement, first, and second floors, with radiators in the attic. The basement has tubing in the concrete slab, but on the first and second floors, this takes the form of plywood panels with aluminum backing. The first step is to design the layout, followed by cutting and fitting the panels to match that layout. The next steps are to apply a bead of caulk and run the pex tubing in the track, perform a pressure test, and then connect the manifold for each floor to the boiler in the basement mechanical room.

Starting layout in the suite bathroom

Sarah and I got started installing the radiant panels on the second floor. Then our nephews, Aaron and David, came down to pitch in. We managed to get all of the panels for the second floor installed, with only a couple small deviations from the plan where measurements were slightly off. We got into a routine where I measured and laid out panels, Aaron cut the needed pieces to length on the chop saw, and David followed us a room behind with collated screw gun.

I was pleased with how smoothly most of this process went, since usually we quickly discover unexpected complications. The trickiest part was where the lines converge at the manifold. the manufacturer recommends putting the converging pex lines into thinset or buying a fancy panel, but instead I used the router to add some additional tracks to the panels. There were also a couple of places where we needed the path needed to bend a bit to fit through a doorway. We have six lines running down the hallway (supply and return from three loops), which didn’t quite fit through the door.

Panels and loops

We also had a couple of moments where we had to re-trace the path of the tubing a couple of times to be sure we had it right. The curved return track pieces can go either direction, so it’s not obvious how things will route with a glance. Sarah even brought up a ball of yarn to lay out in the track to keep things straight.

Squiggly corners, more panels

I’ve started filling in the plywood strips and we’ll get the tubing installed and pressure tested. We’re hoping to knock out the first floor this weekend, and hopefully get the system powered up and heating the house before too long. To do that we still have to reconfigure the core in the mechanical room, which will be a nerve-wracking undertaking, since we’ll lose heat during the process.

Water Heater Distractions

January 5, 2021 / / 0 Comments

The inspector from the bank will be coming around to check on progress. Among other things, I’m hoping to get reimbursed for a rather large bit of radiant heating expenses. In order for that to happen, there needs to be visible progress on the radiant. So that was my top priority…until the water heater went on the fritz.

Not having hot water is a rather immediate problem. The issue was that it was short cycling, so while it was getting hot eventually, in the meant time we’d run out of hot water. I bought the silly thing to prevent that exact problem, and since it was rather expensive, I really don’t want to kill the thing with short cycling.

In the extremely likely event you don’t recall, I have an AO Smith GDHE 50 “Vertex” direct vent condensing 50-gallon water heater. It’s a natural gas combustion heater with a blower, and intake and exhaust lines through the roof. The thing has been through a lot. I originally installed it in the basement, I had to replace the flame sensor after the basement tuckpointing clogged it with dust, I moved it up to the first floor when we redid the basement, moved it back to the basement and it was hooked up by the (previous) plumbers, and then Dean and I re-ran the intake and exhaust from the side of the house to the roof.

It’s worked fairly well through all that. Other than the flame sensor, the only issue was when it was venting out the side of the house the intake would frost up because it was right by the exhaust from the boiler. Since running it through the roof, it’s been trouble free until now. I’ve drained and flushed it a couple of times to keep it in good health, but otherwise left it alone.

From above (blower removed)

I took a look and read through the service manual, and ordered another flame sensor. It seemed the most likely, and I wanted the part on hand if I had to take the whole thing apart. Once it arrived, I started working on the thing, and a collection of tools began to grow next to me: Phillips and flat head screwdrivers, adjustable wrench, nut driver, allen wrench, power screwdriver, hex bit, three bit extensions, socket wrench, measuring tape, pipe cutter, other pipe cutter, pipe wrench, rag, plyers, butane torch, solder, flux, needle nose plyers, gorilla tape, and shop vac.

Un-removable burner assembly

Needless to say, this was a long, frustrating process. I won’t bore you with all the details, just the highlights. The plumbers ran the water supply pipe directly over the center of the water heater, which meant I physically couldn’t remove the burner assembly (I admit to pretending it’s a reactor core). I wound up re-plumbing that, with only two trips to Home Depot only to find that my “shortcut” of using Sharkbite fittings was leaking, after which I just soldered everything. At that point I thought it was fixed and went to bed well pleased.

Easier access

I woke the next morning and took a nice hot shower, then discovered a puddle on the floor of the mechanical room and errors on the water heater screen. An existing fitting, one that I didn’t solder but next to one I did, started leaking. Apparently it got too hot when I was working on the adjacent connection and the solder failed. That flooded not just the floor, but the whole burner. This led to the shop vac, where I literally sucked the water out of the thing.

Water where it should not be (down in the exhaust pipe at the bottom)

At this point it was behaving a better than it had when I started, and I had completely worked out the process to remove the blower and burner, but it still struggled to get through a full heating cycle without an odd gurgling in the exhaust drain line followed by a purge and restart. I checked all the things I could think of, made sure the condensate hose had a trap, cleaned the chud out of the cleanout, checked exhaust pipe slope, but eventually, I went to work on the radiant panels.

Fast Forward

December 21, 2020 / / 2 Comments

With another week of workers here every day, things have continued to progress. The furring and siding is going up, and is maybe three quarters done. Gutters and downspouts have arrived, with one gutter installed on the North side of the house, which is looking basically done at this point. Inside the house, the plumbers and electrician have gotten a lot more of the rough done, and things are starting to come together.

Siding!

Last weekend, our nephews Aaron and David came down to help. It was raining on Saturday, so they started working on the installing the rest of the acoustical tape in the second floor while I worked on the attic radiator line pressure testing (unsuccessfully). We noticed some water coming in on the back wall from the attic door. It didn’t look like a flashing problem though, water appeared to be running down the face of the door and then coming underneath it, through the weather stripping. We spent some time re-shimming the door to make it more precisely level, but I may need to work out some additional water protections, maybe a bead of caulk along the front edge of the door sill? I don’t even know.

Ledger install

That Sunday, Aaron and David returned to help with the back porch ledger. The workers had gotten the Blue Skin (house wrap) onto the back, so our first step was to add some ice and water shield. Unfortunately, the temperatures outside were cold enough that the tar-based stuff wouldn’t stick to the house at all. We tacked it up with some cap nails and then I ran over to our storage unit and got the heat gun. With some patience and only a couple slightly melted gloves, we got it all adhered for the first floor, second floor, and attic ledgers.

Ledgers up, plus siding!

With that on, the next step was putting up the ledgers. We counter sank holes for all the structural screws and got a few started. Here we discovered that it would have been smarter to mark the location of the studs before we put on the ice and water shield, since we had to find them by feel and then transcribe that to the ledger before we could put it up. We got better at this process as we worked our way up.

We got the last of the ledgers attached, though I was short by two screws. I also noticed I had missed the stud when I attached the blocking for the air conditioner mount. Unfortunately, that screw takes a very large bit that I can’t seem to find anywhere, even though I just had it the previous weekend.

Rough plumbing, a bit of electrical, and acoustical tape

The last few days Sarah started putting in the batted mineral wool insulation in some of the interior wall studs that don’t need any electrical or plumbing. I finally got the return side of the radiators to survive a pressure test. I started work on the solar tube install, put in blocking where we’ll have towel bars in the bathrooms and under a squeaking bit of floor at the top of the stairs, put the doorbell back on now that the front door is trimmed, and moved a pile of stuff that may be in the way of the electrician.

Interior wall insulation going in

We haven’t started the radiant floor install yet because we’re waiting for the siding installers, plumbers, and electricians to finish clomping around in an effort to prevent damage. We’ll need to put down ram board on top of it regardless, but we still want to minimize potential issues. Hearing the things getting regularly dropped on the subfloor upstairs is reinforcing that this is a good choice. We’re heading into the holidays, and aren’t sure if the workers will be here next week. We put in a smart deadbolt on the front door so that we can unlock automatically if needed. If nothing else, it means I don’t have to be up and dressed before seven every day.

One Week, Big Difference

December 10, 2020 / / 2 Comments
Foam and Blue Skin

It’s truly incredible how much can happen when a whole crew of people actually show up and work. We’ve seen this from friends and family during demo days, and we saw it when we had the second floor and attic framing done. Now, we’ve seen it with the exterior of the house, and it’s not done yet!

The house has been house-wrapped for quite a while now, and that house wrap has been slowly failing because it’s not meant to be exposed so long. The crew showed up last Thursday and we discussed two options, foam over house wrap, as I had planned, or house wrap over foam, which they were more familiar with.

I’ve come to believe that even when the information I’ve read suggests advantages to one way over another, if both ways work, you go with the one the contractor is familiar with. This is for a few reasons. First, obviously if they’re familiar with it, they’re more likely to do it correctly, quickly, and without unexpected issues. Second, if something goes wrong down the road, they can’t say it’s because you made them do it a different way.

In this case, there’s an additional advantage, which is that it really simplifies the flashing details. The possibility does exist that if water ever did get behind the wrap, the wood is less protected, but it’s both less likely because of the simpler drainage plane, and they’re using Blue Skin instead of traditional house wrap, which is both water tight but vapor permeable, and thus allows drying to the outside. That’s important when you’re using closed cell foam inside, like we are, which may prevent drying to the inside, because trapped water leads to mold and rot.

They also reset the windows, using the clips in the correct way to set the windows to the correct depth for the finished siding and trim. They installed the giant stack of rigid foam and when that ran out, they got some more. Here there was a hiccup, because I noticed a giant stack of pink XPS foam, rather than the polyiso foam I was using. There are a few reasons to use polyiso over XPS. Better insulation value, radiant barrier in the form of the foil face, less damaging to the environment in manufacturing, and most relevant to us, better fire protection.

We’re right on the property line on the North side, and three feet or less to the neighbor’s house. Our neighbors actually had to put exterior drywall over their sheathing for fire protection, but in our case, the polyiso foam acts as a fire barrier, not burning until it’s over 800 degrees.

With the windows reset and the foam installed, they covered everything with the Blue Skin and flashed the windows with tape. I had to scramble with my nephew Aaron over the weekend to get the back porch ledger blocking installed, so they can put the Blue Skin over it and I can put on the ledgers. When we though the house wrap was going on first, that blocking would go after, but with the foam going first, it needed to go on right away. We also got the mounting point for the wall-mounted AC unit bracket prepped. These are just pieces of 2x framing lumber backed by 1/2″ plywood to get flush with the 2″ depth of the foam.

Back of house ledger blocking and foam

This week, while the exterior was still going strong, both the electrician and the plumber showed up and started getting rough work done. Most of the electrical conduit in the second floor and attic is in at this point. Sarah ordered a porta-John to put in the back, since the GC never got one. I got really frustrated trying to finish up the rough install of the radiator lines in the attic, but I think I’ll have it done in the next few days.

We’ve got more nephew help this weekend and we’re going to try to knock out more of the interior wall sound insulation, both the acoustical tape as well as the batted mineral wool, and possibly start the radiant panel install.

Once the last of the Blue Skin is done, they’re going to start on the furring strips and the actual siding. In another week, the exterior of the house is going to go through yet another transformation. We’re pretty excited, even with all the constant banging and thumping while we work from home in the basement.