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Under pavers snowmelt insulation

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Bob_9
Bob_9 Member Posts: 42
in THE MAIN WALL
What seems to be the best insulation for under pavers? Insul-tarp would conform to the sub structure so, no voids to cave in and cause crooked pavers later. Water could flow away and through the seams.
2" insulation board has a better r-value.
What do you use?
Bob

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  • Hoist
    Hoist Member Posts: 5
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    Insulate or not?

    I'm installing a new snow melting system. My concern is more with underslab water than it is thermal. I'll be snow melting 1600sf with up to 200 btu/sf. Where is the water supposed to go when you seal underneath the cement with insultarp? Rain and melted snow going through the pourous cement and expansion joints will need somewhere to go underground. With a sealed underslab and surrounding building foundations (maybe thru them?), won't I be trapping water under my new slab? I'm new to this site so I haven't read any previous debates on this. My feeling is that I should only insulate/vapor barrier at the edges and prepare the underslab for draining rather than sealing. How much will these R-1 or R-3 "insultarps" really matter at the expense of underslab water damage, a wet basement or damaged cement? Some real-world thoughts would be appreciated as concrete work will be done this summer. Any comments help on this issue would be appreciated.

  • Mad Dog
    Mad Dog Member Posts: 2,595
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    We use Polystyrene boards

    2" thick underneath and 1" on the edge. Mad Dog

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  • Bob_9
    Bob_9 Member Posts: 42
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    Mad dog,
    Why do you use blue board? What are the benefits to that style of installation? What are the drawbacks of other forms?
    Thanks,
    Bob
  • hr
    hr Member Posts: 6,106
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    With any snowmelt system

    you need to address the melt water. It needs to drain away to SOMEWHERE. You certainly don't want that foam insulation floating the pavers :)


    Plenty of the snowmelt driveways in the mountain towns of Utah end up with a huge ice dam at the bottom of the drive way. The snowplow drivers hate this :)

    Let's face it, snowmelt systems are huge energy consumers. Usually in the realm of 5 to 10 times as much as heating loads. The edge insulation is an often overlooked and hard to accomplish detail. It is a big portion of the loss. pay attention to this detail.

    hot rod

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