Failed Radiant Floor System

I am buying a house with an Entran II radiant floor heating system. This system has a known high catastrophic failure rate. The house is rastra block exterior construction and a flat roof with no attic. I am considering removing the tile floors, installing an electric floor radiant system and retiling.

Does anyone have any thoughts on the practicality of this system or other ideas on a fix?

Reply to
vwhite
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I am buying a house with an Entran II radiant floor heating system. This system has a known high catastrophic failure rate. The house is rastra block exterior construction and a flat roof with no attic. I am considering removing the tile floors, installing an electric floor radiant system and retiling.

Does anyone have any thoughts on the practicality of this system or other ideas on a fix?

Reply to
vwhite

Wow, a quick search turns up more bad information than I have ever seen on one product. Looks like the failure rate may be 100% This has to be a HUGE factor in deciding to buy this house. Maybe you could get in on the class action lawsuits to defray some costs. Me, I would stay away from this house unless the price will completely offset the cost of a rework.

Reply to
DT

Yikes! I hope you are aware of the class action law suit.

It's no wonder the house was for sale.

You didn't mention the condition of the rest of the system and how/where the tubing was installed. Almost any replacement system is going to be expensive If the boiler or heat source is in good condition and the tubing is accessible, I'd replace the tubing with PEX. The electric floor heat isn't very economical to run and has it's own set of problems. You should get an engineer to look at the situation.

Reply to
hawgeye

have ever seen on one

Reply to
vwhite

are aware of the class action law suit.

system and how/where the

Reply to
vwhite

Be careful. I would recommend meeting with an attorney BEFORE purchasing as Goodyear is challenging claims and you are aware of the fault prior to buying the defective product. many people have been disqualified from a class action suit because they knowingly purchased a product with the intent of suing (only to learn later that they were disqualified.)

At least you would feel justified in continuing with the purchase after only investing $200 for a consultation.

Reply to
Dennis

(Sorry about the double reply.) I reviewed the class-ction lawsuit and it would appear that all current owners are eligible for settlement. According to the judge's order, "deadlines to submit a request to Re-Join the Settlement, exclude yourself from the Settlement, object to the Settlement, appear at the Approval or Fees/Expenses Hearing for the Settlement ARE NOW PAST." (This would only ffect you if the previous owner had filed for settlement.)

The deadline to file a claim is 11/17/09, and you would need to prove that the hose has failed by that time.

You can find all the details at:

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Good luck.

Reply to
Dennis

Given the above, the price of the house should obviously be at least the $10,000 lower to cover the cost of the lost heating system and probably a lot more if the foundation needs to be repaired. I wouldn't replace the junk system with an electrical one though. If the ceilings are high enough, it would be better to build a new hydronic floor heating system on top of the slab, assuming that's the type of hydronic installation method there. Come to think of it, it might be possible to pump some kind of foam into the old hose to turn it into insulation in the slab. In any case, an electric heating system won't be what you want--too expensive/too inefficient.

Reply to
Alan

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