The warm heated floor has recently become de facto the standard for the construction of heating systems in multi-family houses and private cottages. The use of heated floor systems makes it possible to create the most comfortable atmosphere in the room.
Heating systems in warm floors can have different characteristics and function on different principles. When constructing warm heated floors, you can use any type of flooring, so that the warm heated floor can be installed in any kind of room: in the bedroom or in the nursery, in the kitchen or in the bathroom.
A very important element in the design of a warm floor is its substrate. With its help, the efficiency of the heating circuit is greatly increased, whether it is an electric heating cable, an infrared film or a pipe with a liquid coolant.
The main characteristics of
- In order to understand what type of substrate you need - you need to know what the substrate for the heated floor systems is for.
- So, the bottom should first of all have excellent properties of thermal insulation and waterproofing. It should increase the efficiency of the heating system.
- An important property of the substrate is its ability to reflect heat rays.
- The substrate must withstand temperature fluctuations, working in close contact with the heating elements.
- Also, the substrate should not allow water vapor to form when it is heated.
- Excellent additional property of the substrate will be sound insulation.
High-quality substrate is easy to install, has increased resistance to deformation and is environmentally safe.
This photo shows a roll-up under the warm floor, which is equipped with an additional reflective layer with a characteristic metallic luster.
Features of mounting a substrate under the laminate board on the warm floor
One of the most sensitive materials of finishing flooring is a laminate board. It is made of wood, and, as a result, it has all the characteristics of a wooden board, which has both its advantages and disadvantages. When laying a laminate on a warm floor - the use of a substrate is a prerequisite.
In addition to preventing damage to the laminate board due to heating - the substrate under the laminate also serves as a soundproofing device, preventing the final floor covering from being too "loud".The minimum thickness of the substrate floor of the laminate board on the heated floor should be at least 3 millimeters. In the process of operation, such a substrate is somewhat compacted, without losing its insulating properties.
Step-by-step algorithm for laying a substrate under a laminate board on a heated floor
Consider the procedure for laying a foam polyethylene substrate under a laminate board on a heated floor.
First of all you need to remove the workspace. For this you can use a regular broom or vacuum cleaner.
Then lay the spread roll-up backing on the cleaned surface.
. The laid out substrate can be fixed with a double-sided adhesive tape, then proceed directly to laying the laminate boards.
Substrate on heated floors with heat transfer fluid
For any designs of heated floors, the substrate must perform the functions of increasing the heat transfer of the heating elements. In the event that you use a liquid heat carrier - that is, construct warm water floors - your substrate can additionally perform the functions of waterproofing the surface.
When mounting heated water floors, it is possible to use such a substrate, which additionally will be the basis for mounting the pipeline system of the coolant. Such a substrate has special protrusions, in between the piping system is installed.
As a rule, such a substrate is made of foam. One and types of substrate under the warm water floor is shown in the photo.
It should be remembered that a good substrate will have a base foil. In the event that your substrate does not have a foil layer, it makes sense to put a thin foil material on the floor, and then a heat-insulating substrate.
In addition, when laying a warm water floor, you may also need additional laying of the reinforcing mesh, which will serve as the basis for fixing the pipeline system.
In this case, the substrate under the warm water floor will look like a kind of "sandwich", consisting of a foil layer, a layer of thermal insulation and a layer of reinforced mesh.
The variant of such a substrate is shown in the figure.
Substrate under the warm electric floor
The substructure under the warm electric floor is similar in design to the substrate under the warm floor with the liquid coolant. However, in this case, you may not need additional surface waterproofing.
In such a case, a substrate layer is laid on the aligned and pre-cleaned base surface, which may consist of a composite material including a foil layer. Next, a mounting tape is attached to the surface of the substrate, to which the heating cable is attached to the clamps.
Laying a substrate for a heated infra-red film floor
When mounting a heated infrared film floor, it is also necessary to use a substrate with heat-insulating and reflective properties. In this case, the substrate is laid directly under the film of the heated infrared floor. In addition to the roll-up substrate, you can use a wood-fiber board and magnesite slabs as a heat insulator.
If there is no foil layer on your substrate, then you can also design a "sandwich" from a thermal insulator and foil.
A good choice as a substrate for a warm film floor may be a foam foil insulator.
It has a reinforced structure with air sinuses, which have excellent thermal insulation properties and a foil layer, which significantly reduces heat loss in the room.
The foil-coated substrate holds up to 97 percent of the heat rays, which greatly increases the efficiency of your heating system.
Important nuances of
When laying a substrate on a warm floor for any type of finish coat, you need to remember a few important nuances.
- First of all, note that the reflective foil side of the substrate should face upwards.
- The substrate should be laid back to back. In order to prevent heat loss at the joints, the strip of the substrate is best combined with a metallized tape. This will also serve as an additional barrier to moisture and steam.
- Heating elements, be it an electrical cable, an infrared film or a heat transfer fluid piping, must be mounted over a coating reflecting heat rays.