Water warm floor by own hands - instruction and Video

Water heated floors - the most economical solution for the full or partial heating of private houses heated with a boiler. When the floor is heated, the temperature distribution occurs vertically from the bottom upwards, which creates the most comfortable conditions in different areas: the air gets warmer at an average of 5 degrees on the floor and the cooler in the breathing zone. This improves overall health and saves energy.

The device of a water-heated floor

To fulfill a warm water floor, which will serve for many years without leaks, it is necessary to strictly follow the technology and all stages of installation. The water-heated floor consists of several layers:

• Waterproofing, preventing wetting of the insulation and concrete screed. Typically, for these purposes, a polyethylene film is used;
• All joints with walls are necessarily insulated from the screed with damper tape - it is necessary to buffer the expansion of concrete when heated. If the room is too large or has a complex shape, and the warm floor consists of several contours, it is also necessary to make deformation seams using a damper tape.
• Thermal insulation - its task is to prevent heat leakage through the floors. As thermal insulation of water floors can serve as mineral heat-insulating mats, and polystyrene plates;
• Another layer of waterproofing made of polyethylene film, preventing the drawing of moisture by a heater from a concrete screed. In the case of polystyrene insulation, it is sufficient to glue the joints of the plates with an adhesive tape;
• Reinforcing mesh or special modules for laying pipes;
• Pipes laid in a contour of a certain shape;
• Concrete screed not less than 5 cm thick;Finishing decorative finish.

Underfloor heating technology

1. Preparing the base under the water-heated floor is a very important step. The floor must be level, without difference in heights, cracks, slope. Otherwise, the system will develop pressure drops, which can damage it. Before beginning the laying of the floor, the basement must be leveled: large cracks should be embedded in the grout, small unevenness can be covered with sand.
2. On the base lay a waterproofing polyethylene film. Strips of the film must go to each other by 15-20 cm, after laying them must be glued with adhesive tape.
3. A damper strip is placed along the perimeter of the floor, as well as in the junctions of different contours. It is made of expanded polystyrene, on one side of the tape there is a self-adhesive strip. To smooth walls the damper tape is glued, and to the rough ones it is fixed with the help of self-tapping screws. The height of the tape should be above the finished floor by 2-3 cm. Surplus is cut already after pouring concrete.
4. Insulation for the floor can be any. But it is more convenient to use polystyrene, cut into slabs. The thickness of the insulation plates is chosen after the heat engineering calculation. Plates are laid back and forth, avoiding the formation of cracks. If large gaps are formed between them, they are sealed with an adhesive tape, so that the concrete does not penetrate between the plates.

1. The heater is laid with a reinforcing mesh. The size of the mesh cells is chosen so that when fixing the pipes it is convenient to withstand the laying step. The reinforcing mesh is laid over the entire floor area.
2. Begin laying pipes from the collector unit, leaving some margin for mounting the pipe to the manifold. The whole contour is desirable to be made from a single pipe, without couplings - they increase the likelihood of leakage.
3. The pipe is fixed to the grid using plastic clamps. Clamps do not tighten tightly to fix the pipe, but do not create tension of the material.
4. Lay the floor contour in strict accordance with the design. The shape of the contour and the way of laying depends on the size of the room. For a circuit with a length of more than 20 meters, it is better to use a contour in the form of a "snail" - it has fewer turns and corners, so a circulating pump with a lower power can be chosen to fill the system. Pipes during laying should not intersect and come close to walls and partitions - this will violate the conditions of heat transfer.

1. After the contour is laid, you can start connecting it to the system. The ends of pipes are carefully laid on the approach to the collector and cut to the desired length with a pipe cutter. Pipe cutter provides smooth edges, strictly perpendicular to the axis of the pipe.
2. At the ends of the pipes put on the compression fittings: union nut, split ring and nipple. Crimping the split ring with a special tool - press pliers.
3. Connect the pipes with the fittings to the manifold. In this case, different pipe diameters can be used, and the connection to the manifold can be made using different fittings.
4. The union nuts are tightened using a key, applying a small force.

1. system In places where the pipes come out of the floor to protect against mechanical damage, special metal corners are installed.
2. The ready-made hot water floor system must be checked for leaks. This can be done both with the help of water, and using compressed air, pumped by the compressor. The pressure during crimping is selected in accordance with the design.
3. If the heated floor consists of several circuits, the system must be balanced. To do this, remove the protective caps of the balancing valves from the collector and twist the valves to the stop with a special wrench.
4. The project should have a table where the results of the heat engineering calculation are summarized. The table shows how many times a balancing valve should be opened for each hinge of the warm floor. Open them according to the table.

1. system. Start the execution of the concrete screed. Mix or order concrete grade 400. Expose beacons from the solution.
2. The system before filling is filled with water or air, so that the pipes have internal pressure, and they are not deformed. Lay the concrete in separate areas, aligning them with the rule and checking the level. When pouring, ensure that the level of all areas is the same.
3. Concrete is gaining maturity within 28 days. It should be ensured that its top layer does not dry out and does not crack, for this purpose the surface of the screed is periodically sprayed with water and covered with film or covering material.
4. The finish coat is laid over concrete: the tiles on the tile glue, the laminate or the parquet - it is necessary with the laying of the substrate, and the linoleum - directly on the concrete screed.

Water warm floors filled with concrete are a proven effective technology that does not require special care. It is necessary to comply with the requirements of the project and maintain the set temperature of the coolant. If the warm floors are performed in the country cottage, and it is possible to freeze the system, it is better to use antifreeze instead of the coolant.

We also recommend reading the list of articles about the warm floor under the tiles with your own hands, as well as about the water-heated floor without the screed.