Case Study

TheBuild.TV Chooses Ecowarm RadiantBoard For A Historic Firehouse Rehab

Hook & Ladder Co. #3 in Jersey City was built in 1896 and served until 2005. Anthony Carrino turned it into his family home, and every RadiantBoard panel and every foot of PEX went down in a single day.

LocationJersey City, New Jersey

StructureFirehouse, built 1896

ProductEcowarm RadiantBoard

Install timeOne day, whole building

Hook and Ladder Firehouse No 3 in Jersey City — Hook and Ladder #3 in Jersey City. Remodel and photo by Anthony Carrino.

From firehouse to urban residence

In September 2019 WBI partners Morgan Muir and Hoyt Corbett travelled to Jersey City to work with former HGTV host Anthony Carrino on a radiant heat deep dive for season one of The Build TV. Anthony was converting Hook & Ladder Co. #3, a station that opened in 1896, served the Jersey City Heights neighbourhood until 2005, and was placed on the National Historic Registry in 2015, into his own home.

High ceilings, brick walls, early twentieth-century industrial construction and multiple zones normally make comfort expensive in a building like this. Anthony's search for a solution ended with Ecowarm RadiantBoard, chosen for day-to-day comfort, heating efficiency, zone control and cost performance. He has since married, had a daughter and moved into the firehouse full time. The dog you will see in the thermal image below lives there too.

Why a dry panel was the only realistic option

A historic shell rules out most radiant approaches. There was no appetite for a concrete pour over existing framing, and the original wood subfloor had to stay. RadiantBoard adds between 5/8 and 7/8 of an inch, works directly over wood, and runs at a low supply temperature that suits an older boiler system.

No concrete pour in existing structure	Yes
Floor height increase	5/8 to 7/8 in
Compatible with historic wood subfloors	Yes
Supply temperature, safe for older boilers	90 to 120°F

Source: WBI ThermalBoard and RadiantBoard specifications for retrofit applications.

Morgan Muir, Hoyt Corbett and Anthony Carrino at the firehouse — Left to right: Morgan, Hoyt and Anthony at the firehouse in 2019.

Watch the install: eight minutes, start to finish

Before the crew arrived, Anthony had strung overhead wires for a motorised trolley camera he drove by remote, capturing the whole radiant heat installation from above. He half-jokingly complained that the tubing went down so fast the camera struggled to keep up.

Eight minute radiant heat installation video with narration and overhead time-lapse. Video by Anthony Carrino.

How the panels went down

The crew laid out every board to the WBI layout drawing, a design service included with every order, using short offcuts of PEX to align each board with the next. Once the layout was set they lifted each board, ran construction adhesive along the underside, set it back down and screwed it off.

The alternative is a 3/8 inch sheathing staple, two per specified location, driven in opposing directions so they form an X in cross section. Panels arrive pre-routed, so there is no drilling and no retainer plates on site.

The product you guys make is incredible. I absolutely loved the install process. What you provide is literally a “paint by number”. This is a level of efficiency that is un-paralled.Anthony Carrino

PEX tubing being laid into Ecowarm RadiantBoard channels — Photo by Anthony Carrino.

Overhead view of the RadiantBoard installation in progress — Overhead frame from Anthony's remote trolley camera.

The kitchen, before and after

Kitchen area during the radiant installation — Panels and tubing going in where the kitchen would be.

The finished firehouse kitchen — The same room finished, heated underfoot.

Not having hot and cold spots when you’re stepping on and off the tubes underneath the floor, having the conductivity spread out across the aluminum, small boards that are easy to carry on a construction site, the ability to cut the boards with a table saw, and having everything pre-drilled — it’s just incredible. Everything ran without a hitch.

Anthony Carrino, The Build TV

Proof in the thermal image

Thermal image of the heated floor with Anthony and his dog — A thermal image taken after the cabinets went in, showing even output across the old firehouse floor. Anthony's dog picked his spot.

The finished rooms

Finished living room with radiant floor heating — Living room.

All photos by Anthony Carrino.

The deep dive interview

Anthony also recorded a separate long-form interview with Morgan and Hoyt for his Deep Dive series. It runs about 36 minutes and covers why RadiantBoard is built the way it is.

Morgan and Hoyt, and 70 years of radiant experience between them
Why the aluminium sits on top, for better heat transfer
Aluminium is 1200 to 1500 times more conductive than plywood
Light weight and panel size, and why that matters upstairs
Radiant comfort and mean radiant temperature explained
Loops and zones
PEX pipe rather than PEX-AL-PEX, and why
Cutting, screwing or stapling, and routing special channels
Why two SKUs can cover almost every job

Deep Dive on The Build TV, approximately 36 minutes.

You can check out my Deep Dive interview with them, below, and you can just see how passionate they are about what they do…even after 30+ years each, in the business.Anthony Carrino

Behind the scenes

Anthony predicted the exact day the panels would be installed a month in advance, which is how the WBI team booked flights that far out. That kind of scheduling is the mark of a contractor who knows how to run a job, and his television experience made him unusually good at drawing out what a homeowner actually wants to know about radiant heat.

The firehouse has its own engineering set pieces beyond the floor. The firepole from the office down to the garage had to satisfy both child safety and code, then be repositioned when the swing-out garage doors became an overhead door in an angled room. The retractable protection cage with retractable metal firestopping is worth the watch on its own.

The result is two videos that are better than anything WBI could have scripted.

Anthony Carrino filming at the firehouse — Anthony on site during filming.

Why it works for residential and commercial retrofits

Two-panel system with panel-by-panel floor plans, for fast and intuitive installation
Shipped factory direct to the job site
Single-person panel size, easy to move in tight and multi-storey spaces
Undercut PEX channels, walk-in and retainer-plate free
Lightweight at roughly 2 lbs per square foot
No pre-drilling needed, fastener and nail-gun friendly
Low profile at 3/4 inch for difficult applications
Easier LEED certification: US plywood, aluminium with recycled content, water-based no-VOC adhesives