BY GIANNI UBRIACO
A new and innovative local company has developed a unique way
for homeowners  to retrofit their homes with the comfort
of infloor heating.
Quicksand Heating Solutions, founded and co-owned by sand
technology expert Jerry Shyminsky, specializes in infloor
heating and features a new kind of product that promises to be
quick to install, less labour-intensive, more  effective,
and more convenient than other conventional ways of
infloor  heating.
"I came up with the concept because I've watched people
building new homes, and I've watched them retrofit their homes,
and I thought it was insane, in  regards to the amount of
time and the cost," Shyminsky says. "This is a better
technology."
Developed a year and a half ago, his concept utilizes a low
profile subfloor that houses radiant hot water tubing. That is
then filled with an engineered sand blend that contains radiant
heat with the least amount of hot water  energy required.
Shyminsky is quick to point out that because of its enhanced
thermal properties, the sand is non-invasive to existing
drywall,
insulation, nor wood structure, and isn't subject to hot and
clod spots in the floors.
Instead of having people buy new homes and having them go to
all the trouble of installing infloor heating afterwards, his
company designed the product  specifically for existing
homes.
"To do it as a retrofit with conventional methods, it's very
labour-intensive,"he says.
In fact, he says it would take approximately two weeks per home, whereas his  method only takes three days. That significantly reduces labour costs making  the product more cost-effective.
Although the company only installs the technology for
basements, since it's the most cost-efficient way to heat your
home, Shyminsky plans on expanding into to main floor
applications as well.
However, he says they're still working on that technology
and he hopes that'll be ready within the next year.
He's also looking at doing driveways and sidewalks in the
future as well.
The company opened up in July.  Canadian Hydronics
Council has indicated that growth in the infloor heating
business is currently at 10 percent nationally. It's also been
estimated that more than 40 percent of the approximately 350
homes built last year in Sudbury incorporated infoor 
heating into their construction.
For further information, contact Shyminsky at 626-7263.
