Laying underfloor heating under the tiles yourself (video)

Tiled floors have many advantages when choosing flooring in a kitchen, bathroom, toilet or on a loggia. They are more hygienic, durable and practical than, say, laminate and linoleum. But one drawback is still present: the tile is cold, especially for barefoot walking. Laying a tile under a warm floor will help to solve this problem. There are several options for the implementation of such heating, but the installation technology of each is not so difficult for independent execution.

The benefits of underfloor heating

Compared with the usual heating scheme using conventional batteries, the underfloor heating under the tile has a number of undeniable advantages:

• The room warms up more evenly. Heating radiators are located at the edges of the room and raised above the surface. Warm air, rising from them, weakly warms up the floor and the corners distant from radiators. The heating elements of the warm floor pass under the tile layer evenly over the entire area of ​​the room.
• If you install a warm floor in the apartment, you can less depend on the whims of housing and communal services. As a rule, such systems are autonomous and capable of providing space heating at any given time. First of all, this applies to varieties with electric heating elements.
• The use of water heated floors will even save if you install them instead of traditional radiators, by lowering the temperature of the coolant.

Types of underfloor heating

Before organizing such a heating option, you need to choose the appropriate version. By the nature of the heating elements, the floors are distinguished:

• Water. Heating is due to the circulation of hot water through pipes located in the thickness of the coating. Installing a water heated floor under the tile is quite difficult. The construction of a manifold cabinet, the filling and crimping of a system is best left to professionals. This heating option is more suitable for residents of lower floors or owners of individual houses: there is no chance of flooding the neighbors from below if the tubes are not tight.

• Electric. Their installation technology is simpler, so they are more often used for DIY installation. Electric heated floors usually complement the standard heating circuit. They are preferable to water not only in cost but also in a number of other parameters: there is no likelihood of leaks, the heating elements are not threatened by freezing when the current is turned off in the cold season, a more uniform distribution heat.

Features of different types of electric floors

Make the floor electrically heated it is possible with the help of a cable, heating mats or a film with infrared radiation.

The use of a heating cord involves rigorous calculations. In addition, the thickness of the screed provided by the laying technology is the largest among all electric varieties of heat supply devices. But the price of cable floor per m2 will be the lowest.

It is much easier to lay heating mats, which are a cable mounted on a fiberglass mesh. In addition to the ease of laying elements, it should be noted and a smaller thickness of the required screed. It is not more than 30 mm, while when laying the cable - from 30 to 50 mm.

Heating mats can be placed in tile glue, dispensing with screed.

It is very easy to install underfloor heating using film heating material: they do not require any screed. But the film itself is quite expensive. In addition, it is not recommended to be used for heating a tiled surface. The small film thickness and its characteristics determined the use of the material with such traditional floor coverings as laminate or linoleum.

Foundation preparation

Regardless of which type of heating is selected, the technology of laying a warm floor necessarily includes a thorough preparation of the base. The surface should be perfectly smooth and even, both on floors with water heating and with electric. Otherwise, the risk of failure of the heat element increases significantly, and this will already lead to the need for large-scale and expensive repair work.

• The old flooring is being dismantled.
• Examination of the base surface. The protrusions are removed, and the cracks are closed. In especially advanced cases, it may be necessary to equip the leveling screed.
• Grooves are cut for laying the wires in the wall or floor, depending on the elements that make up the selected scheme for arranging the heating system.
• The base is thoroughly cleaned from dust and dirt. It is better to apply wet cleaning.
• The base surface is primed.
• To increase the efficiency of underfloor heating, high-quality insulation is required, which does not allow heat to leave the apartment through the ceiling. Different materials can be used, but most often they prefer penofol, one side of which is covered with foil. The insulator is laid this side up, and the joints are glued with metallic tape.

Thermal insulation should not be placed close to the walls: it is necessary to leave a thermal gap, which is glued with a damper tape. It will compensate for possible changes in the geometry of the screed under the influence of temperature.

• A waterproofing film is laid on top.

Features of the installation of heating elements

Before installing the heat-generating parts of a water or electric underfloor heating, it is necessary to draw up a diagram of their location. When compiling it, you need to consider the following recommendations:

• Do not place warming elements closer than 5 cm from the walls, as well as in the locations of plumbing or heavy stationary furniture. This can lead not only to irrational use of heat, but also to overheating or even to damage the entire system.

• The heating cable is mounted on a special tape with latches, or on a metal mesh with plastic clamps. Similarly, you can fix the water pipes of the heating floor to the grid, but it is better to use special mats for their installation.
• At installation of water floor heating it is important to note that the temperature of the coolant is not evenly distributed across the pipes, so you need to choose a suitable circuit, for example, "snail" or "double snake". They guarantee a more uniform heating of the surface.

• When laying electric heating elements, the correct distance between the turns should be observed, as well as to prevent their contact. The necessary contour of the heating mats is created by cutting with scissors a fiberglass mesh on which the cable is attached, and turning the individual elements at the desired angle.

Installation of heating floors

Before proceeding to the formation of the screed, you should check the performance of the system. To do this, you need to connect to the collector with water floors or a thermostat with electric. Installing these devices is quite complicated. If there is no solid self-confidence, it is better to turn to professionals. Also, a temperature sensor must be connected, located according to the instructions. Usually it is placed at an equal distance from the fuel elements so that it remains possible to replace it in case of failure.

The heating elements are closed with a screed or a layer of tile glue very carefully. You must be careful and careful not to damage the heating device. At the same time, you should try to avoid the appearance of cavities in the screed with air, which can significantly reduce the efficiency of the floors.

Tile laying on such floors is carried out according to the usual technology with only one feature: tile adhesive and grouting material should be designed specifically for heated floors. Otherwise, cracks may appear at the seams due to thermal expansion. The subtleties of installing a warm floor - in the video below.