We use a piece of plywood on the ground. Drop bag on plywood, cut with a square shovel. Add to mixer one shovel full with water until desired consistency is achieved. I usually do 2.5 bags per load. That is about what I can fit in my wheelbarrow. Or you can order a truck that will bring it pre mixed. Anything over a pallet worth, I have a truck bring. Mixing 100 bags will take you all day.

I can feel the pride coming off of some of these shots. Damn fine work.

Yes, but it requires a more sophisticated AC system and you have to have a traditional system in conjuction with the floor heating. You can leave the floor heating on low to keep the floor warm and move the excess heat out of the room with the traditional air mover HVAC. In a "dumb" system this heat will just be wasted, in a smarter system it can be diverted to other cold areas of the house.

Havent used premix concrete bags before, but id assume do it much the same as mixing your own stuff. Wouldnt faff about trying to spray anything, personally.

Dont just dump it all in at once. Set it spinning, add some water, then add some of your mix. Let it mix in a bit before adding more mix and water.

I usually keep it fairly wet with the small mixers, only letting it get to your desired consistency near the end. Helps stop it sticking if its wetter while mixing. Make sure you can dry it up enough before full though.

The little mixers are bad for stuff sticking at the back though, no matter what. You can bash the drum with a hammer on the outside to dislodge it. Dont let the mixer owner see you though!

Okay got you. So should I put two boards and then use two vice grips each or will that not be enough?

No, generally you set the floor to a few degrees higher than the desired room temperature and heat loss in the room means the ambient air temperature is a bit lower than the floor. Nice and comfy, and if they do shut off they go down to ambient and then turn back on.

The problem here is that the floor heating elements are being controlled via a temperature sensor on the wall, not embedded in the tile. It leads to big on/off temp swings at the floor.

I love the cats

If you’re talking about Ditra Heat or Strataheat or similar electric floor warming systems, they’re not designed to heat up the room. They provide something like 12-15 watts per square foot. I used Strataheat in a bathroom, about 525 watts for 35 square feet heated in a 100 square foot room (it doesn’t go under the vanity, tub, behind the toilet, etc). Controlled by a thermostat installed in the mortar bed under the tiles. It can get about 15 degrees above ambient. House has forced air heat, can’t speak to a build using the floor heat like a radiator.

You run the underfloor heating off an independent temperature sensor installed in thinset under the tile, not a temperature sensor attached to the wall that might even be in another room entirely.

This takes a bit of work to figure out what temperature setting in the floor corresponds to a comfortable room temperature (usually a few degrees higher than the room) but the floor will be pleasantly warm at all times and not have the big temperature swings you noticed. You also need a controller per room or zone.

The way your friends have it leads to weird on/off switching behaviour of the floor heating as you noticed. It should be controlled based on the floor temperature, not the room.

The next step is obviously a „secret“ Tunnel connecting it to your house

Awesome job mate and really nice documentation.

BEAUTIFUL documentation my friend! Loved the breakdown of expenses as well. The construction quality matches the content!

Really enjoyed going thru this - thanks a ton for sharing

The requirement where I live is 5' away from the lot line and easement, and our utility easement is actually positioned behind that rear fence. The pad was poured at 6.5' off the property line and easement so that the eaves didn't cross the boundary.

Here's an idea: if the floor isn't intended to be the only heating, what you can do is set it to a higher temperature than the central or whatever heat you're using.

If the house doesn't reach the temperature the floor heat is set to, it'll stay on. Basically just underdesign the floor heat so it's not enough for the whole house.

Those are good screws though! I'm a really cruddy DIYer but I use them for (almost) everything. They do seem a bit pricy, but eh.

My vise weighs about 25-30lbs, it would be awkward to lift and try to use it vertically.

Thanks for the feedback!

• Yes, in hindsight, I wish I had poured the concrete a little bit taller. It's sitting about an inch and a half above the soil on the uphill side. At the time, my logic was to try and make it convenient for a riding lawn mower to drive in and out, but I could have made it taller and made a ramp...
• Yes, the bottom plate is pressure treated #2 pine, and there is sill foam between it and the concrete
• I had no idea that flashing should be put around the bottom of the wall osb. Today I learned! We're planning on landscaping around the shed summer, my backup plan if water becomes an issue is to make a trench around the shed first, filling it with stone, then covering it with landscaping fabric and some wood chips or pea gravel.

And not just cat tax, but like cat tax like they just got audited and are paying back cat tax.

Also I have seen houses put together with less skill and care than this shed.

What do you mean by “it’d be heavy”

Wow! I wish there was a "How To" area in the r/DIY because this deserves to be on it. Great post.

You could also use the board sandwich approach and then try to put a vise on them and force it straight. It'd be heavy, but that would avoid any back and forth movement from hammering.

Yes, aim for the bend to get it to bend back. Not too thin, you want to keep the whacks from damaging it.

Biggest concern would be you knock the whole thing from its ground connection. Might have someone on the other side to keep it from moving towards the street. Or use your car to brace in 😂

For a heated floor make sure you use a stone like ceramic or porcelian tile. Tile will have a high thermal mass and take a while to heat up, but will also take a while to cool down. It's only natural for a heater to cycle on and off as it maintains a set temperature but a tile will hold it's heat for hours.

While you can use certain laminates or vinyls for heated floors, they have low thermal masses and will heat up or cool down quickly.

It's the same reason we use bricks for houses. The brick would absorb the heat from the sun all day long and at night it would radiate the heat into the house all night.

Just to make sure I understand what you saying 100% basically make the area flat with a think board so that when I go ham with a hammer it doesn’t dent the metal but should cause enough force to move it?

The small machinist rule was also a good indicator 😉

great workmanship, but some critical feedback regarding the foundation:

• why didn't you raise the floor an inch or so? If there is ever incidental settling, having a little extra height above ground will ensure it won't flood.
• it looks like the bottom 2x4 (used as a "plate") is non-pressure treated. is that true?
• You don't have proper flashing around the bottom exterior of the wall osb. something like your window membrane flashing.

Basically, I am concerned about moisture from untreated wood contact with the foundation, and how close it is to the ground. You did such a great job but it really seems you neglected to consider water damage along the foundation. I hope you live in a dry climate.

EDIT: Here is a kind of blah video, but saying the importance of pressure treated base plates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZAvfCt6IyA Membrane flashing along the outside (under the housewrap) is also important, but a bit less than the plate.