A crew of the concrete subcontractor’s men showed up this afternoon to lay down the rigid insulation on top of the washed rock. It was really quick going at first until they had to start doing the more detail work along the plumbing/diagonal area that rolls off towards the thickened edge. All in all I was happy with the quality of work although I think a table or skill saw would have done a much better job cutting even, straighter pieces for the transition to the thickened edge.
I took a few pictures while they were laying down the foam.
Look How Level Everything Is Starting to Look!
A Little Closer View of the Detail Work around the Plumbing and Transition to the Thickened Edge
It’s pretty good… although not perfect. Guess that’s just the overly particular engineer in me!
After they were finished securing the foam they rolled out a 6 mm poly vapor barrier to go on top of the foam, between the foam and concrete. This should keep any moisture and harmful gases like radon out of the house.
Poly Vapor Barrier with a Few Strips of Rebar To Keep It from Flapping in the Wind
Nice Detailing around the Pipes; Just A Few Areas to Patch up
Still A Few Places to Make Right
As they were finishing laying the the last few pieces of foam it was obvious that they were running short and skimped on the detail in a few areas. I will definitely be talking to someone tomorrow about this rather large gap in the foam. This slab is supposed to be thermally isolated from the ground below, and a large area like this without insulation would create a HUGE heatsink.
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Yeah I've never really thought that having concrete guys do the insulation is the best idea, much rather do it myself. Did you put in any provisions for possible radon mitigation in the future?
I hear you there Brian! After going through this, I realized it might have probably been better to have my GC do the rigid insulation himself. Just a difference in mindsets where a finish carpenter is a little more used to carrying a tighter tolerance than a concrete crew were close is good enough. In the end I am happy enough with the results and just super excited to see the concrete start flowing.We put the poly down to help with any radon issues and may install some piping in the sub concrete stone that is vented up through the attic and out of the house. Will figure that out on Tuesday with the plummer.