burying copper

John Shea

will go over the slab. not sure about additional sub-floor under that. The 'patch' will be about 3"D x 9"W x 8'L. I'm probably being overconcerned with the structural part (however, 1" tube + 1" insulation leaves a thin 1" on top). I'm more concerned with durability of the insulation. Any idea what the approximate thickness of the glass is? only used it on steam pipes upwards of 1 1/4".

Thanks for your reply.

John Shea

A customer wants to eliminate two baseboard units.

The main loop that feeds the two baseboards is inaccesible (for all intents and purposes), therefore, our plan is to cut out the radiation and reconnect the supplies/returns. One of the pipes we would like to bury in concrete to acheive flooring goals.

My questions are: What type of insulation should be used to protect the copper in the slab (from chemical reactions)?

Is there a minimum slab thickness that should be maintained for the sake of structural integrity?

Does anyone make a 'coating' or 'tape' as opposed to an insulation as insulation will greatly reduce the thickness of the floor?

There's about three inches to work with and it's (to my surprise) 1" copper tube.

Wallie recommendations are much appreciated.

grindog

can you use pex

stadler makes 1" pex tubing you should try that

Al Letellier

buried copper

Try to get some Type K copper and bury it with armaflex insulation. Should do the trick. If you only need a small amount, a fellow wet-head should have some or try your local water district. They may be willing to part with a small piece...better than having to buy a full role. I've got some if you're anywhere near Maine.

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Scott Kneeland

buried pex

I put several pieces of ie under doorways at a church to connect baseboard after the 12 year old copper "L" failed. I ran it in armorflex to to cover it. Worked great, it was Stadler Fostapex.

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Unknown

John , what type

of flooring will they be using over the chop ? We often see burn marks in linoleum or vinyl tile where someone laid copper too close to the surface . I'd recommend the thickest insulation you can find and go the full 3 inches below the surface . Fiberglass insulation seems to hold up longer than that crappy black Armaflex when buried . Sometimes we have to rechop a buried pipe and the black stuff just crubles in your hand after being down there a while .

We usually backfill the chop with the fine busted up concrete to about an inch of the surface , then recement . Never had an intergrity issue yet .

John Shea

I'd like to use Pex...

but I'm just too unfamiliar with it; don't have the right tools; etc. Hope to use it in the future. Plus, it's only an 8' run and I'm comfortable sweating copper.

grindog

copper

use type k soft roll so theres no fittings under the floor and if you have to use fittings braise them or use a good type of silver solder

Unknown

Haven't used it in a while

but I've seen some fiberglass that is thick . Thicker than Armaflex . We once did a chop about 20 feet long , 8 inches wide , and down to the dirt - about 4 inches deep . We patched it up the usual way , only about an inch of Sakrete on top . They Pergo'd the entire floor . We went back the next year to replace the boiler and the floor looked amazing still . Good luck on the patch John .

hr

Coated copper is available

in various sizes and types from Kamco.

http://www.kamcoproducts.com/index.asp?content_id=2


hot rod

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John Shea

Thank You ALL..

for your suggestions. I hope to help someone as you have helped me here!

PLUMBERPIERCE

You could always sleeve it in plastic if freezing isn't an issue, if you use 1" soft tubing piece together some a.b.s and snake it through. if you have the room. Or even k tubing and duct tape.

Weezbo

tin foil is cheap *~/:)

sill sealer n Wonder tape is spendier,garage door packing and wondertape will last a while.:)