J. Clarke wrote:
Alun wrote:


If you're considering under floor heating for a workshop, be very, very
(did I say very?) careful should you decide in the future to drill any
holes in the floor for mounting bolts for heavy machinery Failure to
do so may well result in a few swear words being uttered!


The big problem with in-slap heat is that if you ever break a pipe you have
to rip up the slab. Friend of mine lives in a house that her father (an
architect--see for example Hatcher Square in Savannah) designed that had
in-floor heat. Managed to break a pipe and it turned out to be cheaper to
put in warm-air than to fix the in-floor.

Not sure that is as much of a concern as it was fifty years ago when
copper tubing was used exclusively.

My parents built a home with radiant heat in the floor (concrete slab)
provided by a network of copper tubing. Built it in 1952, sold it 1958,
heard that it started leaking in 1961 and the new owners wound up
converting to forced air (not a bad idea since they could also have
central air). Not sure what caused the failure, seems to me it was some
sort of reaction between the copper and the concrete rather than a
literal breakage of the lines.

Current practice is some form of plastic/nylon/last forever material so
other than physical trauma you should be okay. Just watch what you
mount to the floor and how you mount it as Alun wrote.