Warm floors today are becoming more popular, especially among owners of their own homes. It is convenient and practical. The warm floor can be the main source of heat in the house, and can be an addition to the main source. You determine this moment for yourself.
Among the varieties of modern and current underfloor heating systems that exist today, probably the most profitable option financially remains a water heated underfloor heating floor. This option is usually chosen by the owners of their cottages and country houses, cottages and other things. Installation of an underfloor heating floor of this type is completely capable of each person performing independently. You only need to know the technology and process features, that's what we’ll talk about today.
Styling methods
There are several types of laying this floor:
- Using a special screed (cement-sand).
- Flooring (system pipes are laid on special plates, no screed is required).
- Laying on top of a non-finish wooden base (the system pipes are mounted either on the logs or on the subfloor).
Consider each option in more detail and learn about their features. For example, the rules for laying an underfloor heating water under a tile on a different base can differ significantly in the technology of the work.
Screed Option
To perform construction work in this way you will need:
- Special metal-plastic pipe of the corresponding diameter.
- Fasteners.
- Circulation pump for pumping the system.
- Collectors of various modifications.
- Various valves, adapters, fittings of various types and types.
Laying water underfloor heating under the tile
Initially, we lay the substrate on your floor base. A substrate for a warm water floor is required. It will protect against heat loss, which without it will certainly occur. This is especially acute and relevant when working on the ground floor, since the loss of thermal energy will simply go nowhere, into the ground. Next, a reinforcing metal or polymer mesh is laid on the substrate, and a pipe system is installed on top of the mesh. Next, a concrete screed is poured.
The “pie” of a water heated floor under a tile can reach a thickness of 5 to 15 cm, this point must be taken into account when designing a house in the first stages. After pouring the screed and completely drying it, you can lay the tiles. It is noteworthy that tiles with an absolutely smooth surface (without texture patterns) are characterized by better heat transfer. The concrete mixture should be poured in such a way that there are no “shells” (voids), because these defects can lead to gradual friction of the pipes of the system, and this then will develop into a complete violation of the integrity of the pipe, which will result in a very serious repair for you.
Flooring
This method involves the use of special polystyrene plates, which are structurally equipped with special grooves of metal, and the pipes of the system are installed in them. They serve as a heat distributor. This is an alternative to the first method considered, it is relevant in houses with wooden floors. Where a concrete screed cannot be used because of its heavy weight. This system weighs about 7-8 times less in comparison with a concrete screed.
They also choose this method if the ceilings of the room are not too high, we already said that the thickness of the screed of the warm water floor under the tile can reach 15 cm, in some situations this indicator is critical (for example, if the ceilings in the room are 250 cm or lower). There are also other reasons for refusing a concrete screed.
If you are going to make a warm water floor for tiles, there are nuances, because a laminate or other similar coating could be laid on the floor using extruded polystyrene foam with a layer of plywood, and in the case of tiles or ceramic tiles, sheets of such material should be laid under it, as GVL or its analogue.
You need to lay any of these materials on a perfectly laid out flat surface, or a change in the shape of the coated material may occur, which will lead to reduced heat transfer, this should not be allowed.
Water underfloor heating under a tile on a tree
In houses made of wood, only this method is applicable. The method has already proven itself from the best side. Between the logs of the floor, sheets of extruded polystyrene foam or mineral wool are laid. Then proceed with the installation of the system. There are two main ways to lay pipes for this method:
- Modular. For it, special modules are used, which are made of chipboard, where ready-made recesses (grooves) for the system pipes are already provided from the factory.
- Rack and pinion method. In this embodiment, the pipes are placed in the gaps left between adjacent sheets of material (chipboard), the installation is done in special plates. The plate material is high-quality aluminum, the plates have extruded grooves for floor pipes.
After laying the pipes, a plasterboard flooring is arranged, and on top of them you can already lay the tiles.
Which method is better
In general, the ideal option is to fill the screed with water underfloor heating under the tile. This is the most time-consuming way, but worth it. This option will become the main one in our further description of the technology with all the nuances and features of the work. If you follow the entire process technology, you will end up with a great option for many, many years to come.
If this method cannot be implemented in your house, then you should not be upset, because other methods of organizing warm floors in the house are also good and have a place.
Screed method
The base must be perfect, there should be no roughness, bulges or depressions. It is imperative to level the surface. If there is at least some bias, then this will lead to uneven heat transfer.
Now installation of a special distribution cabinet. It will contain various circulation and pressure boosting pumps, as well as a distribution unit for thermal energy along the circuits, valves, an adjustment system, hot water inlet and so on. If there is a constructive opportunity, then you can mount the cabinet in a niche of the wall, but this is not necessary at all. The dimensions of the cabinet should allow working with the contours of a warm water floor.
If you purchased all the components yourself, then you can make the comb (distribution) for the system yourself. Such work requires pipes and various plastic joints. If you make the comb yourself, then you will save a significant amount of money, because the factory brass knot is very, very decent.
Waterproofing, insulation, reinforcing mesh
Next, you can proceed to waterproofing the base of the floor, to save money, you can take the usual film that we use in the construction of greenhouses and greenhouses. The film is laid in strips, with approaches to each other, the overlap of the strips of the polyethylene film must be at least 25 cm. In addition, make the film come on the walls (at least 15 cm). All joints of the stripes of plastic film are glued with construction tape.
Next, we proceed to warming. So that thermal energy is not lost, you need to lay a layer of thermal protection. The substrate for a warm water floor can be from different materials:
- Penofol This modern material, it is used if your system is an addition to the main heating system.
- Extruded polystyrene foam (boards 5 cm thick), this insulation is used if the floor system is the main source of heat in the house.
It is important to know that buildings standing on a foundation slab or on a cold basement require additional insulation of the sexual base of the first floor. This option requires double insulation with extruded polystyrene foam, that is, the thickness should be at least 10 cm.
When you finish with insulation, you will need to glue the edge tape on all the walls. It is glued at the level of future screed. We need such a tape for the thermal expansion of the screed, which will occur according to the laws of physics in the process of working the floor.
Next you need to lay the grid (reinforcing). The mesh significantly and repeatedly increases the physical strength of the screed, protects it from cracking. The pipes of the system are fixed to the grid. To save money, you can fasten pipes to the reinforcing mesh using the so-called plastic ties, it is cheaper than clips or special strips for such purposes.
Contouring
In the case when the area of your room is significant, then you need to somehow visually divide the floor in it into certain sectors. One sector will have its own independent circuit. One sector under the rules is less than forty square meters. This indicator is important for the normal thermal expansion of the screed during floor work. In principle, we completely figured out the design of the underfloor heating under the tile, now we proceed directly to laying the tubular system.
Pipes
There are several common ways to lay pipes of the flooring system for the home:
- Laying by the method of "snake".
- Spiral
- Double spiral.
Pipes are usually delivered in bays, you need to slowly unwind them in the process of work without extra haste, but do not remove the rings in any case, because if you remove the rings, this will cause the pipe to twist and cause it to break.
Laying the pipe on the base starts from the load-bearing wall, if any, in the room (from cold to warm). Thus, it is possible to achieve the same distribution of thermal energy throughout the room. In the mentioned premises, pipes should be laid according to the “snake” method. In rooms without external walls, you can perform a spiral installation, starting from the walls and moving to the center, and then vice versa.
For various verandas, loggias and other such rooms you need to make your own separate independent circuit, because if you make a common circuit with some kind of interior, then there will be noticeable losses of thermal energy. Water underfloor heating under the tiles in the kitchen and bathroom does not have any differences from each other.
Features of pipe fastening
The pipe should not have a hard mount, it should have some free play. Be sure to keep in mind that the pipe bend should never be too steep, otherwise it will happen in a hall, it is optimal to bend according to the formula: one bend radius is five diameters of the pipe section.
The length of the pipe contour should be approximately 50 cm, at the intersection of the pipe and the seam, you must put the corrugation on the pipe. After the installation of the pipe system is completed, it must be filled with water and a pressure set that is twice the working pressure. This is done to find leaks. If there are any, then the water drains, the leaks are eliminated and the test is repeated.
When all the leaks have been eliminated, it is possible to proceed to the final stage of the installation of the underfloor heating water under the tile, that is, to pouring concrete. For the screed, any cement mixture is taken. For example, DSP (cement-sand mixture) is cheaper, but its complete hardening takes one month. Self-leveling mixtures dry three times faster and are easier to work with. But they are more expensive. The choice is yours. Only after the screed has completely dried, will it be possible to reduce the pressure in the pipes to the working one and begin laying tiles.
It is important to buy mixtures from trusted suppliers so as not to experience all the horrors of a poor-quality mixture, which either does not freeze or solidify, but then crumbles.
Laying Tiles / Ceramic Tiles
There is no fundamental difference in the laying of tiles for different reasons. Laying of tiles / ceramic tiles can be described as follows:
- The adhesive, which is allowed for use with underfloor heating, is applied to the tiles.
- Using a special spatula, it is smoothed over the surface.
- After that, the tile is pressed to the floor. It is necessary to press strictly on the center.
- To make the seams even, special plastic crosses are inserted into them (in the seams).
- When three full rows of tiles are laid, you need to check the surface with a level. Crosses should be removed until the glue hardens completely. Next, we report the entire floor using this technology.
- When the adhesive completely hardens (after about two days), decorative grouting of empty joints between the tiles can be done.
It is important to know that the tile spreads strictly when the system is off (disconnected and cooled floor). And only after when all work is 100% completed and the time for finished drying has expired, the system can be turned on in normal operation (reduce the pressure in the system to working).
Conclusion
As you may have noticed from the article, installing a warm water floor is not a difficult task. Everything is within the power of the average person, even without specialized education and work experience in this field. But it is worthwhile to understand that the mistakes made during such work can then require very serious money to eliminate them.
It is noteworthy that you need to perform all the work related to pipes as efficiently as possible, if you do something wrong and later it turns out that your system has a leak, it will be very problematic and time-consuming to fix this problem.
Sometimes it’s easier to entrust such work to professional employees, whose qualifications you have no doubt about, but this event is quite expensive. For the work they usually require exactly the same amount that you spend on all the necessary materials for such work.
In general, underfloor heating is not too cheap, regardless of whether you do the installation yourself or hire workers. Materials cost decent money, but the end result justifies all the means. With the feeling of a warm floor, little can be compared. This is especially true in the cold seasons, when you return home frozen.