I am starting a new house in NC and it will have a
pretty steep drive. In the winter we get ice storms
so I would like to install snow melting capability.
I’m on a pretty tight budget so initially I only want
to do what’s absolutely necessary.
My idea is to install tubing in the concrete when the
drive is poured and then finish it up at a later date.
I read through a number of radiant heat threads and
still have some questions:
1: Can I use polyethylene tubing in air-entrained
concrete?
2: My drive is 10ft wide by approx. 100ft long. I
thought I would snake the tubing back and forth
horizontally from the top (house) to the bottom
(street) spacing each run about 1 ft apart, then run
the return line straight back up. Does this sound
reasonable?
3: Do I need to do anything special at the stress
joints?
4: Should I put a foil reflector down first? I don’t
want to put any foam insulation under the drive, but
thought foil might help some.
Any help is appreciated.
– Carl
