How To Independently Mount A Water-heated Floor

2023 Author: Douglas Hoggarth | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-24 11:23

• Introduction

• Tools and materials

  • Materials for laying underfloor heating
  • Required tool
• Getting started

Introduction

Floor heating was first used in ancient Rome and Korea. The underfloor heating system consisted of a stove and channels that were laid under the floor. When burning fuel, warm air passed through the channels and heated the floor surface. The special arrangement of the channels made it possible to retain heat for a long time.

Modern underfloor heating uses other sources of heat, electricity and hot water. Water heated floors are more economical than electric ones. However, in some places their use is not acceptable. In multi-storey residential buildings, it is prohibited to use a water-heated floor connected to a common heating system, as this disrupts its normal operation. And in the summer, during the period when the heating is turned off, the warm floors do not work. Another disadvantage of underfloor heating is a decrease in the height of the room by at least five centimeters. And with a ceiling height of two meters and forty centimeters, this is essential.

However, all the disadvantages of a water floor heating are nothing compared to the comfort that a person experiences with a similar method of heating. The warm floor is very pleasant to walk on. The distribution of heat in the room is more even and over the entire area, unlike batteries, which distribute warm air according to the principle of convection. Water underfloor heating is also called a "low-temperature heating system" since the water temperature in them is +35; +45 degrees. Installation of water heated floors is not difficult. This is a system of pipes through which a heating medium (water) circulates between the floor and the floor covering.

Tools and materials

Materials for laying underfloor heating

In order to install water-heated floors, the following tools and materials are required.

First of all, you need the tube itself. It is sold in bays.

Another basic material, without which the underfloor heating installation cannot do, is thermal insulation laminated with aluminum foil. It significantly reduces heat loss to the lower layers of the floor and distributes heat more evenly.

For the subsequent pouring of the floor, cement and sand are required. The cement-sand mixture is calculated from a ratio of 1: 3, that is, one part of cement to three parts of sand. Water is poured empirically so that the mixture is neither very liquid, but also not very thick. A thick mixture does not even out well, and a liquid mixture spreads over the floor. You can use the "self-leveling floor for warm floors" mixture instead of a cement-sand mixture.

You will also need the necessary little things. Such as tube mounts, self-tapping screws and dowel-nails.

In order to expose the beacons, you will need alabaster or Volma plaster.

You will also need a beacon profile.

Well, that's all about the materials. Now let's move on to the tool that will be needed during work.

Required tool

The first and main tool that is needed during the repair is a hammer drill. Not a single repair is complete without it.

Another basic tool is a concrete mixer. If you need to fill a large area (and in small areas, water heated floors are not made), then you will not mix much by hand.

Well, all sorts of small tools: a hammer, scissors for metal, a spatula. A glue gun, harsh thread and a metal ruler will also come in handy.

Getting started

Before laying water-heated floors, it is necessary to prepare the surface. It is best to remove the old screed completely to the concrete. This is done so that the warm floor lies on a hard base. If the base will "play" then the cement-sand screed, with which the pipes are poured, may burst over time. And this will lead to the fact that in the place where the ligament broke, the tubes will fray and you will have to make repairs again. Then we put thermal insulation on the cleaned base.

The thermal insulation is laid in strips with the foil side outward and fastened together with adhesive tape. Foil tape is recommended. But if it is not there, then the usual clerical will do.

After the thermal insulation has been laid, fasteners for the pipes are installed.

The fasteners are installed in twenty centimeters increments and approximately one meter apart.

It is very important to calculate the length of the tube before starting to install the hardware. You can take the approximate length of the tube at the rate of six linear meters of the tube per square meter of the room area. If one bay is not enough for a room, then not one, but two contours are maintained.

The photo shows that the tube is laid in a "snake", that is, one end of the tube is the supply of hot water, and the other end is the return flow.

We lay foil-clad insulation along the edges of the room. It is necessary so that the walls do not take heat away.

The tubes are laid and it's time to fill the floor. There are two types of materials used for filling. Cement-sand mortar or self-leveling floor. In order for the floor to be on the same level, it is necessary to mark the water level in all rooms on the walls.

And then connect them in one line. This will be "zero".

On this line, markers are glued to the opposite walls with a special glue gun.

The thread is pulled between the markers.

Beacons are placed against this thread.

With a metal ruler, set one size along the entire length of the thread.

To do this, self-tapping screws are screwed into the floor and the thickness of the screed is set by wrapping or unscrewing them. For a water-heated floor, the recommended screed thickness is six centimeters. If the distance from the thread to the floor is 50 cm, then the distance from the top of the screw to the thread should be 45cm. Self-tapping screws are installed at a distance of 50cm. apart.

After all the screws are exposed, beacons are formed.

Self-tapping screws, up to the cap, are coated with "Volma" or alabaster. After the beacons have completely dried, a beacon profile is installed on them and fixed with the same mixture.

Beacon strips (or "skis") are set to the length of the rule.

After the beacons have completely dried, the floors are filled with a cement-sand mixture or a "self-leveling floor" mixture.

The mixture is leveled by the rule. You can walk on the cement-sand screed the very next day. But until it is completely dry (and this is a week), you cannot load the floor.

In summer, when the temperature is high, the screed should be watered and covered with polyethylene to avoid cracks.