Installing radiant heat transfer plates

[Frank lammers]

What type of stapler and size/type staple do I use for stapling up heat transfer plates. Could anyone recommend what make and model staple gun would be suitable.

 

[curtm]

What type of stapler and size/type staple do I use for stapling up heat transfer plates. Could anyone recommend what make and model staple gun would be suitable.

More info would be helpful. I assume you are installing hydronic radiant floor system? To give a reliable answer would require more info as it really depends on what type of system (high mass, low mass, retrofit, etc.) you are installing, the material and thickness of heat transfer plates, the material you are attaching them to (wood subfloor, lightweight concrete, connecting rebar/welded wire mesh installed before you pour the concrete, etc.)

Also, if you are asking what type of staples to use to attach the heat transfer plates I would strongly, strongly advise you to seek professional advice from somebody who specializes in hydronic radiant heat prior to undertaking this project, even if it is just pay them for a couple hours of their time to come look at your design and installation plans to point out any issues or recommendations. First of all - Radiant floors are great systems, my first home came with them and after living with them I couldn't imagine living with something else so I put it in when I built my previous home and the one I currently live in now and highly recommend it as an option to all my new construction, and some of my retrofit, residential customers. While they are great heating systems, that applies IF, AND ONLY IF, the system is properly designed AND properly installed. There are much more to these systems than just the boiler in the basement and a bunch of pipes in the floors. There are some seemingly very minor details associated with the design and with the installation which if they are incorrect will give you a system that is inefficient, does a terrible job of providing a comfortable environment, and which results in a constant stream of repair guys coming out to work on the system for a day then leave and tell you something along the lines of "I think I kind of fixed it...maybe... or at least I think I might have maybe made it a little better".

It is also a system that isn't conducive to fixing design/installation issues that arise after installation. Usually you will have massive amounts of piping most of which is located behind walls, under floors, and many times buried in concrete so correcting any design or installation mistakes will almost always require major demolition and ripping up entire floors and/or walls to fix. I know it sound like a really simple concept; you just pump hot water through the floors which makes the floors get hot which makes the room warm. It is actually far more complex than it sounds. There are a lot of very small details that seem insignificant to somebody who doesn't have a lot of experience and training designing/installing these systems but they are not insignificant; any one of those tiny details can mean the difference between a system that works wonderfully for 50 years and a complete tear out and replacement of not only the system, but also a significant portion of your flooring coverings, ceilings, walls, and even structural members. Things like piping layout, flow balancing considerations/zoning, whether you install a primary/secondary system vs direct pipe vs reverse return, air removal from the system, flow rates, zoning, zone valves/zone pumps/circulation pumps, and even the type of floor covering in each room (tile transfers more heat than wood, wood transfers more than carpet, and even some types of carpet material/weave and carpet pads have significant differences in heat transfer and all of this needs to be considered when you balance the flow to the individual zones not to mention having properly located balancing/zone valves so that you can make adjustment should you decide to remodel or replace flooring in the future. All that is really just a small fraction of the potential things that must be considered for the system and it barely scratchs the surface.

I don't intend this to be calling you out or saying that you are not qualified as you may very well be. I have simply been in several situations where I have had to come in and replace or remediate improperly designed or installed hydronic systems, most of them which were practically new and the designer/installer really got almost everything right, but they just made a few minor errors which were the type of things that anybody who doesn't specialize in these systems would have no idea that they would make the slightest difference.

A well designed and installed radiant system will serve you happily for well over 50-60 years but make sure you know what you are doing before you undertake this yourself because there are some very important best practices associated with the design and installation and they really can make all the differences between a perfectly functioning system and one that is almost useless.