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Sand?

Duncan_9
Duncan_9 Member Posts: 33
in THE MAIN WALL
My eyes about popped out of my head when I saw John Siegenthaler's recent PM article mention sand as an underfloor heat conductor!

Man, was I relieved when he mentioned several reasons NOT to use it!

Two images come to mind: Picture a giant ant farm. Imagine sand in the building living space. Everywhere... forever.

Is this actually an accepted building method?

Comments

  • jp_2
    jp_2 Member Posts: 1,935
    sand

    I wouldn't recommend this to a customer, but I'm thinking of roughly that for my small cabin. I would add some portland as a binder to improve heat flow and keep mice out. the cabin has 50/50 window to wall ratio so theres really no heat mass to carry heat once wood stove goes out. after all gypcrete is about 50% sand anyway. so it would be more like a poorly mixed mortar bed I guess.
  • hr
    hr Member Posts: 6,106
    Duncan,

    the other thing that blew me away was tht difference that 1/8" air space makes. If the gyp shrinks down below the sleeper a good portion of the HX rate goes with it. Interesting.

    And I agree with the insect issue. Some type of crawly critter will take up residence in warm sand! Maybe even the type that devours wood, as in the subfloor below that sand! You could end up with a sand filled ceiling below, the old "hourglass" trick :)

    Keep an eye out for the April issue. Siggy has been busy on a flow reversal article with some modeling!


    http://www.pmmag.com/CDA/ArticleInformation/features/BNP__Features__Item/0,2379,116124,00.html

    hot rod

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  • Mark Eatherton1
    Mark Eatherton1 Member Posts: 2,542
    Alternative methods...

    As an alternative to sand, why not consider sheet rock? 5/8 inch sheet rock sells for about 1 $ per square foot. If it gets wet, it dries out. Bugs don't like to eat it. It can be cut to fit any size. Gaps can be filled with simple sheet rock mud.

    I did a 8X12 Tough Shed for a radio personality that was living on top of a hotel once. I used Entran Onyx sandwiched between layers of sheetrock. The heat source was a 6 gallon electric water heater. The guy LOVED it. I heard he still has the shed in his back yard.

    ME
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