Large garage saves install time on radiant heating and cooling systemIn the past, speed and ef� ciency have not always gone hand in hand. But with Viega’s innovative ProRadiant™ mat, being slow and steady is no longer the only key to winning the race.

L B Builders Construction Group of Moorseville, NC, had been tasked with building a 30,000-square-foot garage in South Carolina, but keeping it warm through the frigid winters would require a state-of-the-art heating system. Brothers Robbie and Buddy Hill, President and Vice President of Hills Service Company of Laurens, SC, accepted the project.

The Hill brothers and their crew would be installing 48 factory-assembled mats from Viega. Robbie Hill, no stranger to geothermal and radiant innovations, had been aware of Viega’s hydronic heating system since the World Scout Jamboree in 1995 when he visited the Netherlands.

“I saw some form of the mat � oor then, and it caught my attention more than other things going on,” Robbie said. “It’s not like the � ooring that we make here, but it was the same concept.”

For years, he kept asking if distributors had the product in stock but until this colossal project, no one did. He got in touch with Mechanical Equipment Sales Inc. in Virginia Beach, who contacted Viega.

The Viega mat allows installers to lay up to 20,000-square-feet of evenly spaced tubing for radiant heating or cooling in an average work day. Installers only need to unroll the complete ViegaPEX™ Barrier tubing package and pour the concrete slab directly over it

without needing traditional reinforcements. Best suited for rectangular or square slabs, a ProRadiant mat reduces labor costs and guarantees proper installation. Viega also provides free custom design support.

Viega partnered with Hills Service Company of Laurens, SC, to install Viega mats in a new 30,000-square-foot garage. The mat’s innovative, engineered design allowed installers to � nish the enormous project in only two days!

“I’ve been in this industry since 1972,” Robbie Hill said. “Installing radiant tubing the old way was pretty labor intensive. With four people it would take 10-to-12 days to install. This new way, all we did was roll it out and tack it down.”

Viega and Hill’s Service Company completed the garage project in two days.

CUSTOMER: L B Builders Construction Group

APPLICATION: Hydronic heating system

LOCATION: Moorseville, NC

CONTRACTOR: Hills Service Company

Installing radiant tubing the old way was pretty labor intensive. This new way, all we did was roll it out and tack it down.

“way, all we did was roll it out and tack it down.”

©2014 Viega LLC

“We have mats in a lot of different types of areas in the garage,” Robbie Hill said.

According to both Robbie and Buddy Hill, the mat system inside the garage has already been tested and works perfectly. When it was 19 degrees Fahrenheit outside, they were able to bring the temperature inside the building up to 68 degrees.

“You don’t think about radiant heat in this part of the world that much,” Robbie said. “It’ll be a way to turn the temperature around gradually as well as dramatically when it’s very cold.”

Vice-President Buddy Hill played a hands-on role at the garage. He had not used Viega products previously but after completing this project, he called the system “superb.”

“It’s a labor saver,” he said. “It went in very slick and it was very appropriate for what we were doing because we had so many square feet to cover. The mats were numbered correctly. Adapting the mats was a breeze too. The whole process was just wonderful.”

For more information on Viega products, visit www.Viega.us, or call toll free: 800-976-9819.