Common Miscalculations When Installing A Water-heated Floor

2023 Author: Philip Bishop | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 07:54

• Correct foundation
• Calculation of materials
• Shrink Tape
• Thermal insulation device
• Reflective film
• Errors when installing pipes
• Bending the pipe
• Choosing a laying step
• Arrangement of furniture
• Danger in violations

At first glance, it is very easy to install water-type warm floors. It is very important to do everything correctly and with the greatest efficiency of his work. Often novice builders are faced with such problems when the warm water floor does not heat. There can be a large number of reasons here, and each of them lies in the technology itself and the sequence of execution of each layer. If you give up one point of the whole process, then in the end you won't be able to get anything positive.

Correct foundation

Before starting the installation of a warm water floor, all measures should be taken to carry out preparatory measures. The base should be cleaned of debris and dust, as all this will negatively affect the operation of the system.

If the surface is uneven, then many will think that everything can be smoothed out by subsequent pouring a concrete screed along the contour. Such errors in installing a warm water floor are often found among those who first start laying the contour.

For underfloor heating pipes, there must be a very flat surface at the base. All irregularities can only damage the pipeline. In addition, in the future, the concrete screed will not have the same thickness above the contour. Therefore, you can not think about uniform heating of the floor in the room.

In addition, the walls in the room must also be brought to normal condition. That is, they are aligned, if necessary, they are plastered, cut off in certain places. If this is not done, then the damper tape will no longer adhere tightly to the walls, sag in some areas. They will no longer be able to show their main function.

Calculation of materials

For the full functioning of the water floor heating system, it is necessary to correctly calculate the warm floor, or rather the amount of materials for installation. Underfloor heating mats as insulation, as well as the length of the pipeline is calculated not based on the total area of the room, but on its useful volume. That is, not all of the subfloor will be covered by the outline. Areas with furniture, plumbing fixtures, etc., are surrounded by a pipeline, since they will not let heat into the room, overheating of a separate section of the laid pipes may occur.

These errors in the installation of a warm water floor lead to the subsequent work on dismantling the floor covering, concrete screed, identifying the problem area of the heated floor contour. All this is spent not only time, but also finances. The calculation technology includes all the subtleties and allows you to get accurate results.

Shrink Tape

When the base is prepared, measures are taken for a high-quality device on the wall of a tape that compensates for the thermal expansion of the concrete screed.

As mentioned earlier, before fixing it, you should prepare the walls, align them. In addition to this, all electrical wires and communications should be bypassed with a damper tape so that it fits snugly against the wall.

If you mount the tape just like, in the future you will not have to rely on high-quality pouring of the concrete screed. A solution will penetrate through it from the side of the wall, which subsequently, during operation, will not allow the tape to show all its qualities. Problems with the floor surface, damage to the flooring will begin.

Thermal insulation device

It is best to press the lower sections of the damper tape with a layer of thermal insulation, where polystyrene is most often used. But it is worth remembering that he will not be able to compensate for those irregularities that may be on the basis of the subfloor. All garbage collection activities should also be carried out before laying it.

If the work is performed by specialists for a certain fee, then it is best to control this process. After all, they can very quickly lay polystyrene, and you will no longer know what the base was like there. Sometimes, even when passing through this layer, you can feel defects from underneath.

When the water floor heating does not heat, the reasons may be completely different. But to a greater extent, they start from the very base, from the layer of insulation. Even manufacturers recommend arranging a thickness of 100 mm. Especially when it comes to the presence of a basement without heating. If you spend less money on the purchase of material, that is, save money, then the layer will turn out to be about 30-50 mm. But during the period of warming up the room from a warm water floor, part of the heat will be spent on heating the lower section, from the basement side. Heating costs will increase and the room will not be warm at the proper level.

Reflective film

To improve the quality of heat transfer to the interior of the house, it will not be superfluous to make a flooring on polystyrene with a special reflective tape.

It additionally has a marking with a division of 50 mm for better fixation in the subsequent pipeline. According to the rules, it must be mounted strictly exactly without deviations and at the same time refueled with thermal insulation. This can be done only when the polystyrene is firmly pressed against the walls of the room through the damper tape. These are also common mistakes in laying a water-heated floor. Some generally simply cut the film around the perimeter of the polystyrene edges along the walls, glue it with tape for fixing. It is impossible to use such material as scotch tape, since it is used exclusively for packaging, and it is harmful to human health.

When the film is mounted on the base, you can start laying the reinforcing layer in the form of a metal mesh. It will not be a mistake to lay a water-heated floor, a reinforcement device over the pipeline before pouring the screed. They are like two alternatives.

Errors when installing pipes

When the reflective film has been laid, you can start installing the underfloor heating pipeline. It is important to choose its diameter, dimensions, total length, height and other characteristics for the correct calculation of the warm floor. It is worth remembering that you also need to choose a pipeline laying scheme, and not experiment with your desires.

The standard version of pipes for underfloor heating is 16 mm in diameter. Some people use 20 mm, but in this case the installation process will take longer and become somewhat more complicated. In addition, the flow rate of water supplied through the system pipeline will increase. An exception is if you want to warm up a large room. In all other cases, it is better to spend more money on thermal insulation in order to eliminate heat loss.

A very small number of performers carry out the following activities, which are very important in order to eliminate errors in the installation of a water heated floor:

• Marking of sections of passage of highways.
• Determination of the number of holes in the wall for the passage of pipes of the underfloor heating system. They all must be carefully protected from damage to the circuit, for which sleeveing is performed.

• Indentation from walls in a room, etc.

  

If all this is done and reflected on a schematic plan, then it will be possible to see areas in the room with problems, as well as possible difficulties in the installation process. The underfloor heating scheme must be drawn before immediate execution. Some simply believe that without it, everyone knows for themselves how best to do it. Nobody wants to waste time on such seemingly trifles.

Without an organized scheme, the laying of the pipeline is a continuous chaos, which will not lead to any positive result. At any stage, the installation of a warm water floor requires a competent calculation and careful approach.

It should also be remembered that some sub-floor areas require more attention from the performers. This applies primarily to the outer walls from the street side. They require more insulation. Some make mistakes and only let one pipe directly against the wall. Everything is evenly distributed around the rest of the perimeter. To achieve uniform heating, the pipeline is laid with a smaller step at such walls.

The indentation at the walls is made for the subsequent installation of the plinth after the floor covering, as well as possible engineering low-current systems. There will definitely be no order here.

Bending the pipe

Frequent mistakes are made when bending the pipe for a specific angle of the system. The skill comes in handy here.

It is easier to work with reinforced plastic pipes than with cross-linked polyethylene. For such actions, there are available means in the form of springs, but still everything is carried out mainly by hand, which is more effective. In addition, when using an external spring and creating a 90 degree angle, it simply clamps. You will have to spend a lot of effort to pull it out of the resulting bend, stretch it along the entire pipeline to the next section. Not only the back will begin to suffer, but also the knees.

On the network you can find a large number of videos that allow you to bend the pipe yourself and without unnecessary effort. You don't have to buy various pipe benders and advertised means, spend money on them.

If you do not follow the basic requirements, everything will turn out to be crooked and oblique. This can be said not that errors in the installation of a water-heated floor, but shortcomings that lead to disastrous consequences and weak heating of the base of the floor around the entire perimeter of the room.

Choosing a laying step

When the markings are made on the base for laying the pipeline, not always even specialists can place everything correctly. The step must be maintained throughout the entire contour. And the spread is up to 100 mm. An exception here is the reduction of the step in certain areas, such as outside walls.

The choice of the step will depend on the power of the circuit. The higher it is, the smaller the step should be. In addition, the distance from the wall to the pipeline must be maintained, which is usually 30 cm. The maximum length of one circuit is 90 m. This is done in order not to lose heat throughout the pipeline.

When you turn to construction crews for help, it is best to first preview their work, read customer reviews. Even in the photo it will be seen how they relate to the installation process and what they are doing to avoid possible mistakes in laying a water-heated floor.

Some may say that under the floor screed, no defects in the location of the pipeline, compliance with the laying step, will be visible. But this can only be said by people who do not understand the work of the system. As a result, the base of the floor will receive heat unevenly across the entire plane, there will be areas with a cold surface, there will be no efficiency from the work of the warm floor.

Arrangement of furniture

The water heat-insulated floor should not be located in those areas where massive furniture will subsequently stand. There is no point in warming up under it. True, in the future, difficulties may arise if you want to make a rearrangement. After all, there may be places where the floor will not receive heat.

To avoid mistakes in laying a water heated floor, you should pay special attention to built-in furniture, monolithic shelving, kitchens, wardrobes, etc. All of them will definitely not require high-quality heating. Under them, you can forget about laying the pipeline.

When a warm floor is mounted under such household appliances as a refrigerator or a washing machine, the circuit may fail, and certain areas will overheat.

Danger in violations

Not everyone knows about what problems can be encountered if mistakes are made in the installation of a warm water floor. When warm water floors are poorly heated, you should think about possible shortcomings of the installation process.

When arranging uneven layers of the entire "pie" of the warm floor, the bending angle of the pipeline will differ. Therefore, uniform heating of the subfloor cannot be achieved. Large costs await those who do not want to carry out preliminary calculations of the underfloor heating system. To do this, it is enough to schematically display in scale the entire contour on a piece of paper.

The main drawback is the extra heating costs. Moreover, in this case, the effectiveness of the underfloor heating scheme will be minimal. When the errors are serious, there is a high probability of a pipeline rupture in a separate section, which leads to serious repairs.

But what to do if you find a low-quality device for a warm water floor, how to avoid mistakes when doing work yourself? It is enough to strictly observe the installation technology, view possible video instructions from specialists, study all the subtleties and nuances. Only in this case it is possible to achieve the desired result and a comfortable stay in the room even after a shower or entering the room from a cold street.

Another option is to hire a construction crew. True, it is better to pay attention to how they do everything and whether they comply with the technology. Careful control will avoid mistakes and problems in the future.

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