Streamline Design Ltd, British Columbia

Kevin Simoes of Streamline Design Ltd tells of his first experience using Warmboard. The Gabriola project is a post-and-beam home in British Columbia and features over 3000 square feet of Warmboard-R.

“We chose Warmboard for its ease and its convenience. The structure was built on an island, so we knew the construction costs were going to be high. Costs for using concrete for the radiant heating were especially high, so we knew that would not be a viable option. In fact, Warmboard was the cheaper option and definitely had a positive impact on the budget. Combined with its performance claims, Warmboard became the natural choice.

Working with the Warmboard has been a great experience. The design team was fantastic. They were responsive and easy to work with. They answered our questions promptly and produced working drawings very quickly. And while we provided only the architectural design (we were not the installers), the feedback from the contractor was very positive as well. The installation drawings provided were very helpful and easy to follow, and they were pleased with how quickly and easily [the panels] went down. The ease and speed of the installation was actually one of the great benefits with Warmboard. It definitely made an impression.

The homeowner was very pleased with the install and subsequent system performance as well. They have also remarked that they have really noticed the savings on heating costs.

Overall, we have had an incredible experience work with Warmboard. The team is very professional, easy to work with and always happy to help educate architects, installers and the clients. And you have a great product! The team at Streamline has been very pleased to team up with Warmboard on additional projects and we look forward to specifying the product on many jobs in the future.”

Kevin Simoes
Streamline Design Ltd.

Helios Roofing, Helios Construction, BRITISH Columbia

In this Warmboard Works we hear from Louis Lu of Helios Roofing in Burnaby, British Columbia.

“The existing house has 2 stories and 50 years old. The previous heating system used forced-air heat, and the ducting was claiming a lot of space, especially in the attic. The owner wanted to increase the available space inside the house, but were not able to change its physical size of the structure. The homeowner was considering radiant heating as an option.

We had the architect and interior designer to do some research on radiant heating, and they foundWarmboard. The architect recommended Warmboard-S because it could be used as the subfloor and the control systems would take up a minimal amount of space. The homeowner agreed and the project began.

We gutted the entire interior of the house and rebuilt with LVL beams (and Warmboard) to create open spaces throughout. We completely transformed an traditional single-family house into a modern smart home, with all the latest technology built inside.

Along with Helios Homes and Contracting Ltd., we redid the structural, the framing, the roof, insulation, drywall the landscaping and even the swimming pool. The house contains all new plumbing, heating, lighting and an array of smart entertainment features (alarms, 3D home movie theater, smartphone and touch screen home monitoring systems, retractable vacuum system, zoned background music via bluetooth, and a piano stage with wireless mini microphones inside) along with a cigar and wine cellar, gym, sauna and massage table, pool table and more. It is an incredible 6000 square foot home, and it is all covered with Warmboard.”

Pro-Star Mechanical, BRITISH Columbia

Wilf Scheuer of Pro-Star Mechanical talks to us about a unique build on top of a mountain on Gulf Island in British Columbia.

“We’ve been quite happy with our Warmboard experience, had no issues whatsoever. It was easy to work with, and we’ve done a number of Warmboard projects. I think we may have done the first Warmboard ever in BC and we recommend it highly.

Warmboard was a good product for this particular job because it’s on a remote access Gulf Island.  The project is on the top of a mountain above Mayne Island, so it’s quite cold up there as compared to being lower down. It took them five years to finish the job, but it’s a really beautiful architecturally designed home, the best views in the world I’ve ever seen. It overlooks the ocean, Active Pass, and the other islands.

So when talking to the client we gave different options and both the client and ourselves found that Warmboard was the best solution. The owner wanted a high quality system that was compatible with a geothermal heat pump because we drilled three holes 350 FT deep into the mountain.

With the combination of Warmboard, geothermal and the water furnace heat pump he’s got an excellent system that runs reliably and is economical. It’s economical to heat the home as compared to other fuel pipes in the Gulf Islands, which would normally be oil, propane or straight electric, so he’s probably saving 70% of heating costs as compared to traditional sources and it has really good performance.

We find that the heat is very, very even throughout the home and is quite satisfying. It has a lot of glass in there too so in homes with large amounts of glass it’s important to have good distribution systems for your radiant heat so that heat is applied evenly throughout the home so you’re not getting cold sitting by a window.

 

Overall, Warmboard seemed to be a really neat package that had good performance of heating; he liked the idea of a smooth floor, extra structure, and that he could use it for temporary heating even before the floor was finished.  

Aside from the fact that Warmboard gives you very even heat, it seems to move the job along quickly. For the heating contractor it gives you a good guide for installing.  The installation ease and performance of the product is superior to other methods like concrete topping or stapling underneath and insulating. With Warmboard you just have to snap the tubing in there with a rubber mallet.

We’ve worked with Uponor quite a bit and Watts, and in slab, under slab, under joist, topping on top of plywood, ceiling radiant, wall radiant, virtually every way of possibly doing it, and I think the Warmboard situation probably is the simplest and easiest… an elegant solution to radiant heating a home.”

Pro Star is a family owned and operated full-service mechanical contracting business dedicated to serving the HVAC needs of Vancouver Island and the Gulf Island communities with honesty and integrity since 1988.

Victoria @ prostar-mechanical.com
www.prostar-mechanical.com
Find them on Facebook