Warmboard S Project is underway in Brighton Victoria. A reverse cycle heat pump is being used for the heat source for the underfloor heating, domestic hot water and for cooling in the summer.

When it comes to radiant heat, Warmboard obliterates the competition, achieving a necessary heat output in only 20 minutes. Other products take 3 to 7 times longer to reach that same output. Because of this remarkable speed, we can take advantage of much lower water temperatures, not only lowering your heating bill, but improving the performance, and life span, of your heating components as well.

Guest Shower & Ensuite

Guest Bath Finished….

… except for tiled grate along back wall…

.. and vent in ceiling

  Ensuite shower finished… vent and tiled grate to be fitted

Glass Splashback

…Tiled waste still to be done

Another flyover, with builders rubble and all..

Kitchen cabinetry:

has been finished. Next is to measure  for all the glass splash backs.

Kitchen overview. exterior motor range hood

Island bench

Island bench, gas hotplate ,and two-way pantry cupboard doors

Island bench, two ovens and ‘fridge recess

pantry, back wall & sink

saloon doors into pantry

 Downstairs:

in the “Secret Mens Business”… Finished workstation.

Work Bench SMB

Finished Workstation

Painting:

The outside painting is underway

“SMB” Wall colours

Lounge Feature wall…

…Finished

HQ Feature wall

Inside Feature Walls

Lighting:

The inside now has light and power after Shawn and Pat, from S & E electrical, had been. He said this is the fun bit. (If everything works as it should). He also implied he is constantly reworking the house in his sleep to make sure everything has been installed as and where it is needed, as there is no roof space to correct something or add a feed which I had forgotten to mention. After the commissioning he reckons that there is now parts of his anatomy that are starting to relax after 12 months of tension and puckering.

Shawn Fitting off in SMB

Happy Shawn

Lights over Island Bench

Cluster Lights

Island bench Cluster Lights

Entry Lights

Retaining Wall:

Starting to finish

Coring the Post holes

Posts Cemented in

Post & rail donel

Finished wall

Retaining wall & Steps

Finished Retaining wall

  H(er)Q Feature Wall:

Finished

But before we start…There always has to be one…

Now you see him …

… Now you don’t 

You Idiot.  😂

Nino made the shelving in his workshop. We then assembled it onsite. It all went together like ten fingers in a beautiful fitting glove.  Fantastic craftsmanship Nino

Finished Result

Jarrah Floor:

Over Warmboard …Finished

The photos seemed to have washed the colour from the painted finishes but the floor looks super

Plank Jarrah Flooring installed over Warmboard Hydronic underfloor heating system.

Edging Closer to moving day.

Having a few issues with our thermostats at the moment, but everyone is jumping to help solve the problem. More in the washup.

Photo Finish …. Nearly Guest Shower & Ensuite Another flyover, with builders rubble and all.. Kitchen cabinetry: has been finished. Next is to measure  for all the glass splash backs.

The last week was a continuum of building the two retaining walls. The one on the lower road is 5 blocks high with backing blocks up to third row height. We made the curve of this retaining wall the same radius as the eaves of the house, therefore “Evie” the template was able to be used again.

Each block weighs in at 250kgs and was placed in position using a jib attached to a bobcat.

On the path/road leading up to the “Secret Men’s Business” room, less space was available to manoeuvre the bobcat, and the

wall being only three blocks high at the most, Nino’s Kanga loader did the trick for us. A powerful little machine for tighter spaces. Both retaining walls now nearly finished. Steps are to be included this coming week to complete the walls.

More excitement as Mandurah glass arrived to install the Glass on the walls at the back of the showers. No more shower tiles to clean!  😂 👏

However to get the ensuite one inside to its resting place, the window on the outside wall of the W.I.R had to be taken out so the glass could go straight across the passage into the ensuite. No biggie for a glazier. Here is how we managed…

On the truck..

Going in..

Nearly..

Phew..

In place..

Safely ensconced, with literally mm to spare on either side through each of the openings we passed. Now for the Plumber on Tuesday to fit off.

Ensuite Shower Recess

Now for the guest’s shower. Less of a problem as it is of a smaller dimension and we were able to take it down the passage and turn it into the  guest’s bathroom without too much of a problem.

Guest shower: Back wall

Brad and “Mandurah Glass will be back for the finishing touches to the balustrade, kitchen, office and Secret Men’ splash backs, and fly screens soon.

Cabinet maker will be onsite Monday to install office furniture and “Secret Men’s Business” desks. Electrician failed to show as expected last week and will now be here this week on Wednesday. (I think)

The end is drawing closer. Even although it is Autumn here and the weather rather kind, I have the heat-pump on and the warmboard working with Heatmiser  thermostats set at low temps to acclimatise the house before insulating the floor underneath. All components seem to be working correctly and together at the moment. I will try and collate all we have learned as we worked our way through this heating install as amateurs, with help from those experienced in the field and post it here at the end.

The more I learned the simpler the system became.

Famous Last Words.

    Continuing with the Curves The last week was a continuum of building the two retaining walls. The one on the lower road is 5 blocks high with backing blocks up to third row height.

Progress From the last Four Weeks:

The Disappearing Warmboard & Pex in… 

The Kitchen/Dining..

main Living.Warmboard down

..and the Tiled /Wet Areas

Buttering the warmboard

Laundry

Peter Smith (Nooky)

Playing in the mud

Terry Smith. Bucket by Bucket

Starting to Finish …the Internal Doors

Starting to Finish …the Cabinetry

First carcass

Starting to finish…. the “Secret Mens Business Room

Plastic & reo laid ready

  Corten 3

Secret Men’s Business

Patterns

“SMB” Flooring down

Starting to Finish… the Balustrade:

.. Fix ..

Starting to finish… the Outside Deck

First the ceiling then the BBQ wall, which will also offer some protection from the prevailing West and N/Westwinds.

Starting to finish …The front retaining wall

With Ash getting some (un)helpful advice from Nino the wall with an “Eavie”curve,( the curve with the same radius as the eaves i.e. a curve with a radius of 41.95m) is well under way 

Nino has had to retire an old friend today, as the usual switch on his beloved grinder failed to elicited any action, … even after many hits.

We are looking forward to the coming weeks as we close in on the final rounds. Although the painter is away for another 3 weeks we have Shawn, (electrician) Keith, (cabinet maker) Brad, (Mandurah Glass) Ty, (plumber) and of course Nino and Ash due to complete their part in the coming weeks.

  Beginning the Finishing Progress From the last Four Weeks: The Disappearing Warmboard & Pex in...  The Kitchen/Dining.. ..and the Tiled /Wet Area…

Carpentry plus:

Monday January 30th 2017 – February 10th

We we had to fix the whoops 👀 moment (when we penetrated the pex in the passage) with a standard compression fitting used to join domestic water pipes. It was a neat and small diameter barrel fitting that once fitted, easily slotted into the warmboard grooves with only a very small enlargement required.

Floorboards taken up to fix the pex

  Compression Fitting

Tools required

Pressing the fitting home

Fix in place

Nino had cut and planed the timber for the door frames in his workshop over the Christmas break and they were now able to be assembled and fixed to the doorways. Ash then plumbed, aligned and squared them so as to take the doorstops and architraves. Our internal doors are still on order.

The skirting boards were also able to be fixed. With a curve no less!!

The first of the skirting boards in place.

Cupboards:

Keith Conner from AOK cabinets arrived with all the cabinetry on his trailer ready to be assembled and installed.And so began the wettest couple of February days we have had in a long time. Nino was unable to get home that Friday because of the many road closures between here and his home town of Katanning. Eventually he arrived home on Saturday after taking a circuitous route adding an extra 150km to the journey.

Covered Cabinets

Inside the carcasses are being put together

Getting ready

First carcass

The room is filling up rapidly, and we have only just begun!

Concrete:

Now that the backing boards are down over the Warmboard in the wet areas it was time to apply a bond breaker. Nino chose the usual method here of applying a bituminous paint to the floor.

Laundry

Ensuite

The full wall length water grates we were required to have ( as we were installing large 600mm x 600mm tiles) to create a fall to allow any water to get away were an exorbitant price from a large national plumbing outlet, as they said they had to have them made. $10,000 for three grates. 1 x 2.4m, 1 x 2.8m and 1 x 3.4m. Needless to say we did not proceed.

We contacted a local local manufacturer to make them for us. I don’t know the total cost but we have all the bottom trays and total amount so far is $1200. The inserts are to come. However this has delayed us being able to apply the 4 in 1 mud mix screed to the floors to give us a fall, as they could not produce them for ten days. Small price to pay I guess. But it does put the cabinet maker back and all who follow.

The day arrived when we could install the grates with the mud mix.

Levelling in the Laundry

Playing in the mud

Bedding in the grates

Then followed the floors. I called on some help from friends who willingly took a day of to help. Welcome to the build Peter and Terry Smith.

Worksite

Peter Smith (Nooky)

Hard at Work Mud Mixing

Terry Smith. Bucket by Bucket

We had to bring the dry mix in bucket by bucket, but by 2 o’clock all wet areas were done. Thanks to all.

Ensuite Dry-mix & grate

Tiles:

The floor tiles are now able to be laid once a waterproofing barrier is fixed to where the wall and floor join.

The little powder room is the first to have floor tiles. Surely a pivotal moment in the construction. The Warmboard is finally covered with the finished flooring. only need to grout the tiles in.  

After this momentous feat, Nino was to embark on another, and that was to find a route home.!! He only has to make it back next week for us to continue. 🤓

                Carpentry, Cupboards, Concrete and Tiles Carpentry plus: Monday January 30th 2017 - February 10th We we had to fix the whoops 👀 moment (when we penetrated the pex in the passage) with a standard compression fitting used to join domestic water pipes.

Warmboard, there is simply no other hydronic underfloor system like it. Super energy efficient suitable for new builds and retrofits. Check out http://www.australiansunenergy.com.au/warmboard-hydronic-heating/

First things first.

Wednesday 4th & 5th January:

During the Christmas break all the Jarrah timber for our flooring (which had been unpacked and stacked in the garage) was taken inside the house and re-stacked to acclimatise. We intend to start the ufh to help the process

Monday 9th of January 2017

As I said in my last post, the distance between the loops of pex in the downstairs room  was further apart in places than the optimum of 200mm,

From This….

I asked Peter Taylor from Australian Sun Energy to send us more pex to rectify the problem, which he was happy to do. So while Nino and Ash were away I redesigned the piping to give 200mm between loops.

…To This.                       Happier now 😀

I then replaced the three loops of wrong pex we laid upstairs that would be finally covered with either wooden flooring or carpet (it squeaked in the wamboard grooves when walked on)

Replaced this…

Pex for Downstairs

  With this..

…Brings peace of mind.

The Heat-pump/buffer tank Saga

Before Christmas: Rones Plumbing had been and plumbed the heat-pump and buffer tank up to the house, and connected the pex to the manifolds.Shaun Collins, from S&E Electrical, had wired in the thermostats and control centre and given power to the heat and circulating pumps.

The system was going, but not working properly, we were having difficulty with alarms triggering shut downs and restarts from the heat pump, and it seemed it was all to do with overheating. I tried the temperature sensor in both ports in the buffer tank, labeled as such, no joy with either. Despite numerous requests (from when we first received the equipment)  for a detailed diagram to plumb the specific products we were supplied with (i.e.the model of Heat-pump and buffer tank) all we received were generic drawings which were no help at all. Neither of the two pieces of equipment had any documentation with them whatsoever. Nothing relating to installation, user manuals, plumbing possibilities, error messages, online help… nothing, nada, nix, nought. You would usually get more info with an electric can opener.

The buffer tank has seven inlet/outlet ports, we needed four. And two places to insert a temperature sensor, we need one.

 Not really knowing what the inside tank configuration was, and to the best of our ability with no documentation and safety first being a priority. Below is how the tank was initially plumbed. The inlet from the heat pump and the outlet to the house were plumbed into the ports which had “circulation inlet “and circulation outlet” stickers on the ports.Two other ports had no labels,  a third had “drain”, another had DHW,  and another had two labels, “safety valve inlet” and “cold water inlet”

Initial heat-pump buffer tank plumbing (Wrong)

Didn’t work, called the plumbers back, who obliged without hesitation, and asked them to plumb it my way, so no responsibility on them. Plumbed the supply to the house into the DHW port at the top to get the hottest water into the house. It worked but of course the heat pump was on most of the time as it was continually heating the water coming back from the house and not heating the buffer tank as was the purpose of installing one in the first place. So, Didn’t work. To make matters worse all unused ports are capped and locked in with locktite. Not an easy problem to overcome either without damage, as the heads of the caps do not protrude enough past the casing of the buffer tank to put a spanner on, let alone put a lot of pressure on to break the seal.☹️  Another phone hook-up and I think the problem has been solved, it means getting the plumbers back a third time, I will post the results when they are finished. Just seems sometimes, once you have sold a product and have your money, then you don’t have to worry about customer service anymore.

Back to Work:

Monday 16th January

Nino returned to work and started tiling in the wet areas as the cabinet maker was due at the start of February and all floors needed to be in.  Ash was due to return on the Thursday, so a one man operation it was, and walls first. Another pivotal moment in the build, nearly a B-B-Q moment surely!

Buttering first tile

Laying the first tile

First walls done

Ash returns and the attention turns to the Jarrah flooring. No sooner had Ash laid the first couple of boards Nino was testing it out as a dance floor. Verdict… fantastic.

Ash continued over the weekend and had most of it done by Monday.

I was away in Perth on Monday the 24th and received a phone call. They had pierced a loop of Pex. With three boards to go to finish laying the hardwood floor …. Whoops!! We had decided lay the timber floor the same way as the pex in the hallways to alleviate offcuts and realising  it would still be OK aesthetically. The first hallway at the other end of the house no problems, however the final few pieces ….

One damaged length of pex

Whoops!!

 👀!!

Cut the water off. Joiners required. We don’t have any. Call the plumber, Call Peter Taylor . Don’t panic. Sourced some joiners from “Rones Plumbing” and Pete is sending some from South Australia. We will join it all up on Monday, relay the hardwood planks and finish the Jarrah timber floor. It looks fantastic raw and will look better once it is sanded and sealed.

Kitchen outlook (damp outside)

From the front door

Back to the tiling:  First we put down a backer board over the warmboard in readiness for a 4:1 screed which will enable a fall for water and bed for the 600mm x600mm tiles. Notice the lines indicating where the pex is located under the tile board

Buttering the warmboard

Nailing the tile board down

Just need to waterproof joins

Nearly Ready For 4:1 Mud Mix & Tiles

A few pics of the house from above tend to give a better view of what we are doing

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Lets see what damage we can do this coming week.

Working the Interior First things first. Wednesday 4th & 5th January: During the Christmas break all the Jarrah timber for our flooring (which had been unpacked and stacked in the garage) was taken inside the house and re-stacked to acclimatise.

….The outside

Sunday 20 November 2016 – Sunday 11 December 2016

Its been  three weeks  a millennium or so since the last update and although the speed of the build and the changes to the physical appearance of the exterior have slowed somewhat we are progressing ever forward. Ash has just had a couple of weeks off to attend to some of his other clients needs, and Nino also took the opportunity to take a weeks’ leave and tidy up some loose ends which naturally occur when you are devoting so much time continuously to the one project.

That said the front deck is now almost complete from one end of the house to the other.

Eastern End Finished

East to Main Deck

Main Deck

Main Deck to Western End

I’m the hold up on the unfinished portion of  the Western End. The cladding underneath this bit of unfinished deck (aka: above the Secret Men’s Business door) needs to be done before completing the  deck above, and I have to decide how this is to be finished.

  The entry to the main door  and pantry have been framed and the same Duralife decking has been installed. Eamon Hurley  is the man to ring for orders and quotes.

The finished main Entrance.

We will use leftover  Glass Balustrade channel to frame our entrances with glass (or something else. 😄)

The other two entrances on this south side have also been framed and decked.The pantry

….And the Laundry.

We decided to included a ramp instead of the original stairs after seeing how high the deck was above ground level, that then necessitated a change of framing which was accomplished with little fuss and the usual enthusiasm. ( While I was present anyway!) We figure stainless wire as a balustrade here, so as we can continue it along the retaining wall beside the house.

The service area (Beow) has been set out and a cement floor has been laid to house the  heat pump and buffer tank for the Warmboard, two LPG gas cylinders (for cooking and automatic domestic HW boost) HW storage tank and gas booster for the evacuated tube solar HW system, and two rubbish bins.

Service area

When finished this area will be enclosed with an aluminium strip cladding

The Inside…

Laying the Pex.

To recap: We are having UFH in the downstairs room, this is over a cement slab, and upstairs  UFH is over joists. Warmboard S is used upstairs as it is 28mm thick and is a structural subfloor. Even although downstairs is over a cement slab we could still have used Warmboard R which is a thinner version of the warmboard S. Why we didn’t do this I don’t know, it would have been simpler and probably less confusing for those of us that don’t know anything about UFH.

So we started laying the pex:

Vacuuming the grooves

laying the Pex

As we had not opened any of the pex packages,and thinking all pex we had was the same we started with what was the closest on hand and that was the pex that  came with the consignment of studded or leggo looking attaching board for the downstairs install.

The pex

Close-up of the pex board

Hydronic pegboard arrives

The board  for attaching the Pex (Downstairs)

 It was a plastic oxygen barrier Cobra-Pex as opposed to what we were to soon find out the Al-CobraPex which came with the warmboard S consignment and still packed away in the shed.

Pex for Downstairs

Pex for Warmboard

The two types of Pex supplied

SO….of course the first pex to go down was upstairs and into the warmboard grooves.Bad Mistake: We had three loops of this stuff, designed for downstairs because in the warmboard it squeaks as it rubs on the aluminium when you put pressure on it. I thought it might be OK once the floorboards were set down, but no. And under carpet I would assume not even a chance of it not squeaking. I guess I should have done more research as I will now have to pull up and relay those three loops and replace them with the proper pex.And we have just filled them with water, so the plumber will have to be called back as well. I assumed to much. I assumed that all the pex we got was the same. I assumed all the pex we got would work with both systems. I assumed it would be in big letters somewhere why only certain types of pex works with warmboard (It does state why in the WarmboardS install brochure) and I did look at their approved list and did not find either type we had on it, so once again I assumed that what we were supplied with would work, not realising we had been issued two different types of pex for two different types of installation. Its called a Learning Curve.

Downstairs

The outer inso. barrier

First sections positioned

First of the loops

Finishing off

It also seems the downstairs loops have been laid down with some of the distances between the loops more than the optimum  (I think) of 200mm. Having the room a funny shape probably didn’t help with the layout either.Maybe I will have to shorten these 2 loops, put them closer and add another as we still have one spare flow and return on the manifold.

I have asked Peter Taylor from Warmboard Australia to send me another package of Aluminium pex to redo the upstairs. I have two loops of 100m spare, but will need three. I have also asked again for some documentation on the heat pump, sent from Australian Hydronics, that powers our heating. The pump arrived with nothing. Surely we need something for the electrician, something for the plumber, something for the user. Anything.🤓

We were hoping to get the system heating  before Christmas so as to enable us to acclimatise the Jarrah flooring (now sitting in the garage) over the holiday break. However the electrician has not been in contact so we may now be looking at a setback of a few weeks to our construction time. I hope I am Learning!!

On a brighter note: The house is locked up. Mandurah glass put the last of the glass in and a temporary lock on the front door.

Fitting glass

Fitting top window

Finished door. Made by Mandurah Glass

Ensuite switch-glass

It needs power..

Brad also fitted the switch glass in the ensuite

Hiding the Steel

Hiding the Steel

Mandurah Glass finishing

Some random Pics From 2016

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I think that’s me done for 2016.

A New Year has begun and I guess we will be back at in a weeks time. Hopefully an electrician will ring before then and I will get my anticipated head start with conditioning the floorboards, if not we will continue as before and approach each challenge as a new experience and enjoy the ride.

A safe, happy and prosperous coming year to all.

    Bremer Bay -Much Ado About … ....The outside Sunday 20 November 2016 - Sunday 11 December 2016 Its been  three weeks…

Australian Sun Energy Projects from around Australia featuring Warmboard are recorded on this blog if the owner elects to do so.

Bremer Bay Boat House Project features Warmboard the hydronic underfloor heating system.Follow the blog on www.warmboardprojects.com.au

Why do architects Love warmboard

Architects have complete liberty with design because there are no floor registers or wall or ceiling chases. Furniture can be placed anywhere without regard to registers, vents or wall radiators. And rooms with high, open ceilings and/or floor-to-ceiling windows can be heated simply and efficiently.e are no floor registers or wall or ceiling chases. Furniture can be placed anywhere without regard to registers, vents or wall radiators. And rooms with high, open ceilings and/or floor-to-ceiling windows can be heated simply and efficiently.

Check out our website for more information http://www.australiansunenergy.com.au/why-radiant-floor-heating/