risk of damaging foundation cable with plumbing?
swimmermom
17 years ago
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swimmermom
17 years agoRelated Discussions
Heating Cables
Comments (85)I think the heating cables or copper tubing are more efficient because they can be directly wrapped around greater area of the root ball or the pot and with proper insulation, you get the most heating to the roots per unit energy spent. You can support more plants with heating cables or copper tubing, but depends on how you design it. They would not be efficient if you design it and use it like a mat. The mat would have a lot of unused surface area that is not being used to directly heat the plant's roots. You would have to hope the thermal conduction of the soil is very good in order to spread the warmth from the bottom to most areas. Soil is very poor conductor of heat unless you keep the soil moist all the time. You will also need to add a hi/lo switch (about $14) to the heavy duty heating mat because it could potentially cook the roots at 135 deg F. Most soil heating cables have built-in thermostat kept at around 74 deg F. For citrus, you need at least 55 deg F to have some growth. Above 90 deg F soil temperature, citrus roots could be stressed out. A temperature of 135 deg F could be fatal to the roots where it has direct contact with the mat. The rest of the roots will be protected because soil is a poor conductor of heat, but depends on the moisture content, organic matter and other soil physical properties. There are practical uses for heated mats but would have to buy the hi/lo switch so temperature would not exceed 90 deg F. For me, I think it is still worthwhile to buy the heating mat. There are many instances where you need a quick fix, and heating mats would do the trick if you don't have time to spare....See MoreSuperior walls precast foundation
Comments (79)So when Superior Walls started many years ago anyone could install the walls. Today that is not true. Only the franchisee can install the walls. I purchase my walls from Great Lakes Superior Walls out of Grand Rapids Michigan. The have a number of crews and when completed the crew certifies the install. They also have a site guy name Lon that inspects all the installs when completed and he also comes and makes sure all the blocking is installed on the walls as bracing. Hope this helps it's a great product that I have personally used to build 200 to 300 homes since 2000. Jim Moline...See MoreRepiping for existing concrete slab, flat roof foundation
Comments (2)Turns out that for our 60-yr old house, we have copper pipes being attached to galvanized pipes (interior). Apparently not ideal. I assume you mean the developer con-game where all the below-grade and beneath-slab runs are cheap galvanized, while all the risers and stub-outs are copper, so the happy home buyer THINKS they have "all copper" plumbing, then decades later the galvi completely rusts away... SURPRISE!... the phookin' Bastiges! ASIDE: I'm always surprised to hear about concrete slab construction in a seismically active area like SF Bay... always thought it would be too "brittle"...? Do I understand that you also have a concrete ROOF, with zero attic space? Do you also have hollow concrete block walls (aka CBS)? These will really limit your options... OTOH, sunlight and weather will never ever damage exposed copper, painted or not. Careless roofers, maybe, UV rays, nay way. Anyway, concrete slab is the norm here in So-Fla (Hurricane Alley), with a shallow peaked roof, and at least a small attic space, PLUS we don't have the freeze issue mentioned by first respondent. Here, when the original (galvanized) pipes beneath the slab give out, the new replacement copper is typically just run straight up the exterior wall from the service entrance (which is outside the footer/foundation/walls), through the soffet (copper pipe painted to match stucco walls), and then branched off in the attic to where it needs to go. So except for that one main feed, the rest is out of sight. Same with output of the water heater, except it's vertical output is interior. This exterior pipe run can be avoided if service entrace is outside of a utility room--or relocated there--since you can then punch straight through the block, and go vertical inside, typically right near the water heater, i.e. do all your ceiling punches and exposed piping in one spot. New copper feeds for interior fixtures are fished down interior walls, but of course you still have to knock out some drywall to tie them in, and retire/cap-off the old feeds coming up through the slab. (Plumber ain't fixin' the drywall either!) Outdoor hose bibs and pool showers usually result in more of the "dreadful" exterior pipe runs, again, unless it's outside a utility/laundry room. Essentially, with Florida CBS construction, you can't run/hide pipes inside the hollow vertical channels of the block walls, because the wall is topped off with a solid poured-in-place concrete header, which starts below attic level. (In fact the roof trusses rest on top of--and are tied to--the top surface of this header.) SUMMARY: 1) I would be VERY wary of Option 3, and it sounds like you are; 2) I would like more details on your roof, but I'd be very reluctant to punch any new holes in it... OTOH, you probably have stack vents and all sorts of other "penetrations" already, so... 3) Exterior pipe runs, if horizontal, and low to the ground, could be camoflauged with landscaping...? Paint to match in any event. And there's always those "architectural" (aluminum) channels used to cover bundles of conduits and cables. 4) You GOTTA have indoor plumbing, or the neighbors will say bad things about you, LOL!...See MoreAdding island plumbing in a post-tension slab
Comments (2)Thank you for the explanation. You are right I don't like the column or the sump pump. Outside the house is a concrete patio adjacent to the foundation so that would have to come up in order to tunnel under from the exterior. Sounds like we may need to stick with the current U shape (with an island in the middle). My last hope is that when the house was built in 1996 the builder put in a pre-plumb for an island sink option that is hidden under the current island. I've been in a few of my neighbors houses and they don't have a sink in their island but I suppose there's a slim chance its there and most buyers didn't want to pay the tract builder extra money to put in the sink. It was common in the area at the time to pre-plumb for the sink and then charge $1K to finish it. I'll see if anyone on the HOA board knows before tearing things up to check myself....See Moreswimmermom
17 years agoventupete
17 years agosnoonyb
17 years agoswimmermom
17 years ago
Holli Barrett
5 years agoHolli Barrett
5 years ago
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