Technology of laying a warm floor under the tile - 10 steps to success

Which option should I prefer?

Heating of the floor covering from the mains can be represented by a heating cable or a thermo-mat. The advantages and disadvantages of each of the types of electric underfloor heating were discussed in detail in the corresponding article. Now once again briefly talk about which option is best to choose.

The electric warm floor of the cable under the tile is cheaper, but at the same time the calculation of its length and the mounting itself are more difficult. It is recommended to use it in case you can sacrifice the height of the ceiling( because the screed will be thicker).

As for the heating mat, it has a number of advantages,in fact, is an improved version of the conductor. The peculiarity of the design is that the same cable is already placed on a special fiberglass mesh, which allows you to withstand an even step between turns.

In addition, the convenience of the thermometer is that to calculate the material you only need to calculate the area of ​​the room and on the basis of this parameter, choose a roll of a suitable size.

Which option to give preference to you, but we still advise you to use the laying of an electric mat, besides this option has a lot of positive reviews on the Internet.

Laying technology

In this article we will consider laying a warm electric floor under the tile using a heating cable, as well as a special mat. The preparatory work will be similar, the difference will only be in the main process.

Step 1 - Prepare surface

First you need to remove the old floor covering and clean the surface of the debris. If there are no defects, you can do without a screed( rough).If the floor has irregularities, it is necessary to initially level them with a solution that is 3 to 7 cm thick.

Step 2 - Creating the

Scheme Before calculating the work, it is necessary to draw up a scheme for connecting the electric underfloor heating to a tile where the step of laying the wires or the heatingmat.

Recommendations for drawing up the scheme:

• from walls, it is necessary to retreat at least 10 cm;
• in the places of furniture installation without legs, as well as household appliances, it is forbidden to lay material( heat transfer will be difficult, and all warm air will return back to the conductor, which will cause its overheating and failure);
• does not have to be laid straight. You can gently trim the grid to bend the path in the desired direction. This option allows you to reduce power consumption, emphasizing heating only on the necessary areas.

Step 3 - Calculation of material

If you decided to make a warm floor under the tile with your own hands as the main heating, you need to carry out a calculation taking into account that 1 m2 will require a heater with a power of at least 140-180 watts. For the auxiliary heating system, the power can be used, not more than 140 W / m2( it is possible and 80 W, all depends on how well the room has been insulated).

All you need is to calculate the area of ​​the room( length * width) and take away from this value the area occupied by furniture without legs and household appliances( because under them to lay the material is prohibited).As a result, you will get a useful heating area. After this, on the basis of the result obtained, the total heating capacity of the heating element and its length are determined. The heating power of one meter of heating cable can vary from 16 to 21 W / m.

For example, if the area of ​​the room is 10 m2 and you selected a heater with a power of 100 W / m2, then the total required power of 1 kW is obtained. We choose a cable 20 W / m, the length of which should be 50 m( 1000/20).

The thermometer is selected on the same principle, based on the usable area and the required power. In addition, it is necessary to purchase a mounting tape, which will be used to mount the heater to the concrete screed.

Step 4 - Checking the old electrical wiring

As you know, for a room of 25-30 m2, a fairly powerful electric floor heating is required for the tile, which will have an appreciable strain on the electrical wiring in the house. You must calculate the current cable cross-section and determine if your wiring is suitable for a new heating system. If it turns out that the diameter of the wires does not match, it is necessary to replace the electrical wiring in the house with a new, more powerful one. Also check that the circuit breaker and the RCD match the new current load.

Step 5 - Thermal insulation surface

Now go to the installation and the first thing you need to do is to heat-insulate the surface under the laying of an electric warm floor. This will determine the effectiveness of the system, as well as its cost-effectiveness. The best insulation in this case is foam foam - a roll material with a self-adhesive layer and a foil coating. All you need is a butt joint to glue the entire concrete surface, after which the joints should be sealed with foil tape. It should be noted that penofol should go a few centimeters to the walls, to improve the thermal insulation of the room.

If you want to reduce the height of the room slightly, instead of penofol, you can put another insulation, for example, polypropylene or styrofoam.

At the end of the robot it is recommended to glue a damper tape around the perimeter of the walls, the purpose of which is to compensate for the expansion of the coating when heated. Also it is necessary to put a metal mesh on top of the heat-insulating layer, which will prevent direct contact with the heater and will simplify the process of installing an electric warm floor under the tile.

Step 6 - Installing the

Temperature Sensor To monitor and control the system, it is necessary to install a special thermostat and temperature sensor. The thermostat is a regulator( mechanical or electronic) with which you can set the optimum temperature regime, as well as the on / off time of the system. It is mounted in the wall, next to the sockets.

As for the temperature sensor, it must be installed in the floor itself. To do this, a special wall shroud is created in the wall from the thermostat, which is vertically directed to the ceiling. Further the sensor is placed in the corrugated pipe and is led to the place of temperature control of the electric warm floor under the tile. This place is the middle between the two turns of the cable, and there should not be any intersections near it. The corrugator protects the sensor from damage, and also allows access to it at any time( for example, when it fails).That end of the corrugation, which will be in the screed, for reliability it is recommended to fill with sealant so that the solution does not get inside.

Step 7 - Check the heater

Before installing the cable( or mat), it is necessary to measure its resistance. This value should not differ from the passport data by more than 10%.To do this, you need to use a special device - a multimeter( shown in the photo below), which also determines where the phase, if there is no color marking of the wires. If the resistance corresponds to the nominal, then it is possible to install an electric warm floor under the tile.

Step 8 - Fastening the cable( or thermometer)

Now that the surface has been completely prepared, it is necessary to fix the heating element. If you use a cable, mount it using a mounting tape, as shown in the photo:

In this case, it is also recommended to use plastic clips that will make the process of attaching the electric underfloor heating to a tile easier and faster.

The distance between the turns must be the same over the whole area, otherwise the electric heating of the floor will be uneven. Heating mats are easier to stack.the distance between the turns is sustained along the entire length. All you need is to spread the material according to the scheme and connect it correctly to the thermostat.

When the installation of the electric underfloor heating under the tile is complete, it is necessary to check the correctness of the connection by measuring the resistance with a multimeter. The resulting value must match the one you measured before stacking.

Step 9 - Filling the screed

In order to make a concrete mortar, you need to prepare the following material ratio:

• 4 parts of sand;
• 1 part of cement;
• 5 pieces of rubble;
• 0.6 parts of water;
• 1% of cement mass of special plasticizer( gives elasticity solution).

It should be noted that the amount of water should be small, otherwise there may be cracks in the screed. As for expanded clay and perlite, they are categorically forbidden to add to the solution. These materials disrupt heat transfer and are one of the causes of overheating of the conductor.

The thickness of the screed cake should be between 3 and 5 cm. It is not recommended to go beyond these values. After pouring it is necessary to wait until the solution solidifies completely. Despite the fact that the screed will solidify in a couple of days, it will dry completely after 4 weeks( and maybe more).Before this time, it is forbidden to turn on the electric warm floor.

We also draw your attention to the fact that the screed is only required if a heating cable is used. The thermomat can immediately serve as a base for the tiles.

Step 10 - Laying the tiles

After the screed is seized( 2-3 days), you can lose no time moving to the floor tiles. Do this is recommended only if you have experience, because you need to make sure that the surface is strictly horizontal. The tile "sits" on a special glue, after which the installation of an electric warm floor under the tile is finished!

That's the whole technology of laying yourself. We recommend you to watch a video in which you can see some of the nuances of the event:

Also read:

• The cheapest and economical heating in the house
• Advantages and disadvantages of the warm floor
• The best manufacturers of electric underfloor heating