Radiant Floor Heating Repair in Santa Fe, NM
Radiant slabs are normal in custom and adobe Santa Fe houses because the mass likes even water heat. Uneven rooms are usually air, a zone, or a mixing valve — not a “dead slab.” We pressure-test and infrared before anyone talks about jackhammers. 505-316-4231.
Radiant slabs are normal in custom and adobe Santa Fe houses because the mass likes even water heat. Uneven rooms are usually air, a zone, or a mixing valve — not a “dead slab.” We pressure-test and infrared before anyone talks about jackhammers. 505-316-4231.
Content reviewed 2026-10-01.
Find the leak without wrecking the house
A pressure drop on one manifold loop is a clue. Thermal imaging on a cold morning is another. We isolate loops. Only then is a cut discussed.
Adobe mass is why radiant is here
Thick floors and walls like slow water heat. A forced-air swap is a different house. We repair the hydro you have before we talk about ripping a slab you paid to pour.
Mixing valves and short-cycling
The slab is a thermal battery. A boiler that slams on and off is usually mixing or a control, not a dead loop. We meter that before anyone prices a new boiler.
Slab, staple-up, and the leak you cannot see
Radiant in Santa Fe is either tubing in a slab or tubing under a wood floor. A slab leak is a location problem first. We do not jackhammer a guess. We isolate loops at the manifold, we find which loop loses pressure, and we use the tools we have to narrow the spot. A staple-up leak is often at a fitting that was buried without a reminder of where it sat. Manifolds that were labeled in pencil in 2004 are a gift. We label them in a way that survives if we are the ones who touch them.
Mixing valves and floors that are too hot
A slab does not want boiler water at 180 degrees. The mixing valve exists so the floor stays in a range that does not crack finish or cook a wood floor. A failed mixer is why the floor is either cold or too hot to stand on. We test the mixer before we talk about a new boiler. Actuators on the manifold fail one loop at a time. That looks like “the radiant died” in one room. It is an actuator.
Boiler side versus floor side
The radiant page is the floor loops. The boiler page is the machine that heats the water. A lot of “no heat” calls are a boiler that is locked out, and the floor is innocent. We check the boiler pressure and the flame, then we check whether hot water is crossing the mixer. Air in a new loop or a loop that was drained for a remodel will keep a room cold until it is purged. Purging is ordinary. It is not a new system.
Vacant houses and frozen tubing
Tubing in an exterior wall or a slab that is left unheated can freeze and split. The split shows up as a pressure loss when you fill it in the spring. Glycol and a maintained boiler are the prevention. We do not promise a slab repair will be invisible. We do promise we will not open more floor than the isolated loop requires. If the finish is tile, you should hear that tile may have to come up in that bay.
What we need from you
Manifold location, whether the system has glycol, and whether one room or the whole house is cold. Photos of the manifold save a trip. If you have the original loop drawing, leave it on the manifold. We rarely get one. License 384927. Phone 505-316-4231.
At the manifold
Loops are labeled or they get labeled. We see which actuators are open, which are dead, and whether the supply from the boiler is actually hot at the mixer. A cold manifold with a firing boiler is a pump, a mixer, or a valve, not a slab leak. A single cold loop with a dead actuator is that actuator. We replace it and we confirm the loop warms. Pressure on a glycol system is checked against the temperature, because glycol pressure moves and people drain and fill with straight water and then wonder why it froze. If you do not know whether you have glycol, we can test. Do not let anyone refill with plain water if the system was designed to sit cold.
Finding a leak without destroying the floor
Isolate, pressure test, narrow the loop. Thermal imaging helps when the floor finish allows a temperature difference to show. It does not work through every assembly, and we will not pretend it does. If the repair means lifting tile, you hear how much tile before we start. Staple-up under a crawl can often be repaired from below, which is the better day even if the crawl is unpleasant. We take that route when it exists. A manifold fitting that is the leak is the best outcome and we look there first.
Leaving it in a known state
Pressure written down. Glycol or water written down. Loops labeled. The boiler setting that feeds the mixer written down so the next person does not turn the boiler up to 180 to “make the floor work” and cook the tubing. If a loop is abandoned because it is leaking and you chose not to open the floor, that room will not heat, and the note says the loop is capped. Call 505-316-4231 with a photo of the manifold if you can get one. It changes what we bring.
New loops are a different job
Adding radiant to a room that never had it is a construction project with a boiler or a water heater that can feed it. We will not tap a domestic water heater that is not rated for heat and call it radiant. The page you are on is repair and service of systems that already heat a floor. New work gets a walk-through and a separate price. Mixing them is how a simple actuator call turns into a remodel on the invoice.
Loops, mixers, and floors we do not want to open
The manifold is the job site until it proves otherwise. Actuators, the mixer, the supply temperature, and which loop loses pressure tell us more than a story about a cold tile. A dead actuator is a part. A mixer that has failed open is why the floor is too hot. A boiler that is locked out is not a floor leak, and we will not start there with a jackhammer. When a loop does lose pressure, we isolate it and we use the access that already exists: the crawl under staple-up, the manifold fittings, the thermal difference if the finish will show it. Tile comes up only when the leak is in the slab and you have approved that mess. Glycol gets tested or identified before anyone adds water. Labels get written so the next call is shorter. New radiant in a room that has never had it is not this repair. It is a build, with a heat source rated for it, and it gets its own walk-through. If you have the original drawing, put it on the manifold before we arrive. If you do not, a phone photo of the manifold still helps. 505-316-4231. Tell us one room or the whole house, and whether the boiler is firing.
Manifold photos save a crawl
Open the cabinet, photograph the whole manifold, and photograph any gauge or mixer. If one actuator is a different color or hanging loose, that loop is the suspect. If every loop is cold and the boiler is dark, start with the boiler. If the floor is wet and the system loses pressure overnight, do not keep adding water for a week. You are feeding a leak and diluting glycol if it is there. Shut it down and call. We would rather find a manifold drip than open tile because the system was refilled until the stain showed up in the ceiling below. 505-316-4231. Say slab or under-floor if you know, and say whether the house is lived in or sitting empty.
What we actually get called for
Not a generic list — these are the failures this climate and housing stock produce.
Cold patch on the floor
Air or a closed loop. Sometimes a leak.
Boiler short-cycles
Mixing or a control. The slab should not slam the boiler on and off.
Noisy manifolds
Air or a pump on the wrong speed.
One wing of the house cold
Zone valve or a loop we can isolate at the manifold. Not automatically a demo.
How a job runs
Manifold first
Gauges and valves before floors.
Infrared or pressure
Cold-morning imaging or a documented pressure drop on one loop.
Repair the hydro
Pump, valve, or a documented loop leak. Jackhammers last.
Questions people ask before they call
Can a radiant leak be fixed without opening the whole floor?
Often yes if we can isolate the loop and the leak is at a fitting or a short accessible run. A mid-slab pinhole is surgery. We will not pretend otherwise.
Electric mats versus hydronic?
Mats are baths and entries. Hydronic is the house. We service both; we do not convert one to the other as a first offer.
Do you replace PEX in a slab?
Only after isolation proves that loop is the leak. We will not open saltillo because a room is cold and someone guessed.
City pages that stay
Radiant Heaters stays on this URL. Santa Fe, Los Alamos, and Española each have one plumber page. Other towns 308 here or to those three. Call 505-316-4231.
Need radiant heaters?
Lobo Tech · NM license 384927 · 1259 Coriander Rd, Santa Fe · 505-316-4231