How To Avoid "wet" Methods Of Installing A Warm Floor

2023 Author: Philip Bishop | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-24 22:24

• Benefits
• Types of structures
• Materials used
• Laying the water circuit
• Polystyrene base
• Wooden flooring option
• Features of laying under tiles
• Underfloor heating device for laminate

Warm floor in the modern world is considered not a surprise, but a must. It has proven itself well and is replacing conventional radiator batteries from the market. There are a large number of technologies by which a warm water floor can be arranged. This led to the fact that many wanted to know how to make a warm floor without a screed.

Benefits

Underfloor heating without a screed has a large number of advantages over other technologies, among which are:

• It can be arranged regardless of what foundation there is.

• There are practically no losses in the distance from the floor to the ceiling when installing the entire structure.

  

• The load on the floor is significantly reduced due to the low weight of the entire “pie”. This allows you to install a water-heated floor without screed, even in old buildings with a wooden base.
• There is no waiting time for the concrete screed to dry after pouring. You can start finishing the flooring immediately after the water warm without screed is made. You can arrange the heating system on a wooden base, on a concrete floor, as well as on logs.

Consequently, there are no special preparatory measures for the installation behavior of such a structure for high-quality heating of the entire room. Works can be carried out even by novice professionals. The main thing is to fully comply with the technology and start doing it only after becoming familiar with the main subtleties of the work.

Types of structures

Installation of a water-heated floor without a screed can be started if the basis for it is prepared. It can be:

1. Tree. Special modules with special tubing. The size of the channels must fully match the selected pitch of the underfloor heating pipeline. Most often, modules for underfloor heating without screed are made of OSB or chipboard.

2. Polystyrene. Presented in the form of plates with a standard size of 1.5 * 0.5 meters. They have special fasteners designed for high-quality fixation of pipes with a selected pitch. The plates themselves are fastened to each other using a lock connection.

   

Attention should also be paid to the pipes that will be used in the above structures. In addition to especially popular polyethylene or metal-profile, copper pipes or stainless steel pipes can be purchased, which have a higher cost. It is easier and more convenient to work with XLPE pipes with excellent performance characteristics. Among their advantages, the ability to withstand aggressive environments is distinguished. Using this material, the service life of a warm floor can be up to several decades. The main thing is that the installation technology, as well as the operating conditions, are fully observed here.

Most often, pipes are purchased in coils. It should be noted that it is better not to stretch the loops, as it can happen by the pipe bending in a separate section. It is best to systematically unwind it while laying it on the base.

Materials used

Laying underfloor heating without screed involves the use of not only the pipeline itself and all components as a base (polystyrene, wood), but also a coating on top of pipes. This can be a moisture insulating material in the form of a substrate and a floor covering used for decoration (tiles, carpet, laminate, etc.).

The coolant can be not only water, but also any type of antifreeze. They will not be able to have any negative effect on a thin water-heated floor without a screed.

A slab of expanded polystyrene serves, among other things, as thermal insulation, so that heat does not go into the rough base and lower floors, but is completely transferred into the room. The width of the plates of the wooden modules can be 13, 18 or 28 cm. Everything will depend on which step of laying the pipeline is chosen in a given situation.

Under the pipes themselves, the flooring of the heat distribution plates is made. Most often they are made from aluminum or galvanized steel. They have a special groove in the center where the pipes themselves, as well as stiffeners, are laid. When buying, it is worth paying attention to the groove diameter, since it will depend on the material of the warm water floor contour.

Laying the water circuit

Before installing a water-heated floor without a screed, you should think about the layout of the system piping. For this, a plan is first drawn on a sheet of paper, which is subsequently transferred to a real basis. Among all the schemes, a "snake" or "snail" is distinguished. In addition, there may be a combined method, when both schemes are combined in one room for better heating and the efficiency of a water-type warm floor.

The most popular and the best in terms of characteristics is the "snail". In this case, the heat is evenly distributed over the entire surface due to the alternation of the pipes of the incoming hot heat carrier and the outgoing cool one. If necessary and if there are edge zones in the room (external walls), the pipeline spacing is reduced for better heat distribution.

The "snake" scheme is better suited for small premises. If it is necessary to install a warm water floor without a screed, even in an average room with an area of more than 10 m ², such a scheme can be used, but its version will be arranged - a double "snake". In a conventional design, the coolant and, therefore, the base of the floor will warm up at the beginning of the warm water floor circuit and will be cool at the outlet. This type of installation of the water circuit is best used in combination with a "snail".

Depending on the purpose of the premises and the requirements of the project, the installation step is selected. It will also differ depending on the substrate on which you are laying. The largest step difference is provided for the "snail" scheme, where it can be from 10 to 300 mm.

Polystyrene base

Installation of underfloor heating without screed can be carried out on a polystyrene base. In simple terms, this is an ordinary foam, which has sound and thermal insulation qualities. During operation, it does not rot and can last a long period of time.

At the beginning of work, you should study the technology of how to make a water-heated floor without screed on a polystyrene base. Here everything is done sequentially and in stages:

• The base thickness for polystyrene is 30 mm. It is with these sheets that the base is laid under the warm water floor. In some situations, more insulation may be required. Then you will have to additionally create a layer of polystyrene plates.

• When laying slabs directly on a rough base, the latter must be carefully prepared. To do this, align it with any type of screed, after which all debris and even dust are removed. Irregularities under the flooring of the plates, as well as the mobility of the base, must not be allowed.

  

• For polystyrene plates, a step of 15 and 30 cm is characteristic. They have special grooves (bosses) on the upper part, where the pipeline is laid out. To ensure that the plates are securely fastened together, special snap locks are used. It is worth noting that the grooves on the slabs can be not only straight, but also rotary, which should be paid special attention to. Everywhere you should adhere to the pre-arranged layout plan.

• If necessary, special markings are made on the surface of the polystyrene plates to improve the quality of the pipeline layout. This is most common with the universal lug plates.

  

• The laying of aluminum plates in the grooves is preliminarily carried out, and then the pipes are laid according to the plan.

• At the end of the entire structure, the substrate is laid through the pipeline of the warm water floor system to protect it from moisture, as well as the selected flooring option. It is worth noting that, depending on the coating, you should choose the best screed option: for ceramic tiles, a dry screed in the form of chipboard, plywood or moisture-resistant drywall is best suited.

  

Wooden flooring option

Another option, according to which a water-heated floor can be arranged without a screed, is a wooden flooring. He most often settles in wooden buildings. At its basis, a special module can be selected, or it can be laid on a rack base. Both of these options are basically identical. The difference lies in what is used for installation. For a modular system - ready-made modules in the form of wood-based panels, with integrated grooves for high-quality pipe laying. For rack and pinion - boards or slats.

Wooden floor heating without a screed must be performed in the following sequence, which is required by the technology itself:

• The modules are laid on logs with a step of 60 cm. Waterproofing together with insulation is distributed between the arranged logs. That is, a space is created to improve the quality of heating from the operation of the entire system. The spaces between the modules are 20 mm. This created space is necessary in order to compensate for the thermal expansion of the material during operation. The clutch of the modules is classic - using special locks that simply snap together.
• With a rack type, subfloor should be laid. The distance between the slats must be such that the pipes of the system can be placed on them. Everything will depend on the circuit for the circuit.

• The layout plan must be followed, regardless of which installation option is chosen - modular or rack.

  

• On the system of modules, metal plates are laid in which the pipes themselves are placed.
• If the topcoat is hard and more than 10 mm thick, then it can be laid directly on the resulting structure with a laid backing to improve sound insulation qualities. For floor coverings such as linoleum or tiles, wood is specially prepared.

Warm water without screed allows you to create an excellent heating system in the room, as well as improve sound insulation qualities.

Features of laying under tiles

Laying underfloor heating without a screed under the tiles has its own characteristics that you need to know when you do it yourself. This flooring material is popular in areas such as bathrooms, kitchens or corridors. Everything comes from its practicality, high quality, long period of operation. In addition, everyone can take care of the tiles.

The nuances are that an additional coating should be laid on the polystyrene plates that protects against moisture. In this capacity, GVL sheets can be used. After that, you can start laying the tiles. Even in this situation, the base for polystyrene boards is extremely flat. Otherwise, you may be faced with the fact that a warm water floor without a screed under the tiles will reduce heat transfer due to deformation.

Underfloor heating device for laminate

Anyone who has chosen this floor covering for finishing can make a water floor under a laminate without a screed. The whole technology consists in the fact that the material is fastened using special clips and fastening bands.

Until the moment you perform a water-heated floor without a screed under the laminate, several very important steps should be taken:

• Identify the location of weighty furniture in the room. It is not rational to place the contour of the warm floor under it. It will not bring any efficiency. It is worth paying attention to the fact that if there are heating radiators in the room, near them, or rather under them, it also makes no sense to arrange the pipeline. It is forbidden to lay various carpets or rugs on top of the pipeline system.
• The laminate must be ventilated. You should think about this in advance and do not forget about the point. When laying it, leave a gap around the edges. The thickness is usually taken from the finger. In the future, all this is sealed with a plastic skirting board.
• Before starting to lay the laminate, the system should be turned on to create a microclimate in the room. The laminate also has to lie in the habituation room for a certain time. All these subtleties will make it possible to exclude even microdeformations of the material.

Observing the technology, it is possible to install a warm water floor without "wet" methods. For this, a polystyrene base or wooden flooring is used. If you follow all the points, the work can be done on your own. As a result, you will get a really high quality and heated base in every room.

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