How To Install A Water Heating System In The Floor Under The Screed

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

• Concept
• Positive qualities and disadvantages
• Materials and equipment
• Device options
• Training
• Installation nuances

During the construction of any structure, special attention was paid to the floor and everything connected with it. Currently, there are enough modern technologies that make it possible not only to create a flat base surface, but also to make it warm, comfortable, and convenient. Popular is a water-heated floor, which you can do on your own. And this is all despite the fact that at first glance everything is very laborious and problematic.

Concept

The water-heated floor is especially popular for private buildings. This is the most wonderful option for a heated room. This option of a heated floor for a water installation for an apartment will be more problematic than an electric one.

The water heating system is distinguished by efficiency, low cost, both of the entire process of work and of operation. But the installation of warm floors with your own hands is somewhat more complicated than other types.

A water-heated floor is presented in the form of pipes, which are usually placed according to a pre-established scheme. Floor heating is carried out by hot water that circulates through the laid pipeline.

As for the material for work itself, the best option for price and quality is metal-plastic or polypropylene. But the final version of the material will completely depend on the preferences and the financial component of the issue.

In addition to pipes, the water floor heating system includes other components:

• Thermal insulation.
• Collectors with fittings.
• Room thermostat that allows you to set the required temperature level inside the room.

• Fasteners, etc.

  

It is important in this case to choose the right materials for installation. If their quality is excellent, then the service life of the floors will be several decades. Sometimes on sale you can even find whole sets of products, which include everything that is necessary for a complete installation of the system.

Positive qualities and disadvantages

If you nevertheless decide to mount a warm floor with your own hands, then you should dwell on its main advantages, which attracts a large number of performers to its side:

1. Minimum costs for the process of all work from start to finish. You just need to purchase the entire list of necessary materials.

2. The electricity will not have any effect on the heat flow through the pipes.

   

   Therefore, network outages won't make you sit in the cold. But heating in this case must be autonomous.

3. All elements of the underfloor heating system are perfectly combined with other elements of the coating, regardless of whether laminate or ceramic tiles are chosen for the finishing.
4. It completely replaces classic heating, and, therefore, hides communications and does not spoil the appearance of the entire room. The living area of the room and the apartment as a whole can be fully used according to your own preferences.
5. The connection can be made to a heating boiler, to central heating and to work autonomously without interruptions.

6. There is a significant savings in heat energy. If the room is in a standard design, then the economy will be up to 30%, with significant ceilings of more than 3 meters - at least half.

   

But you cannot immediately go headlong into this system, since in any case you can face certain negative manifestations of the work of a water heated floor. Indeed, in most apartments this will not work. Only private houses are suitable for such heating of internal premises. If the system works in autonomous mode, then there is the possibility of adjusting the heating level of the water supplied through the pipes. For a central heating system, this will no longer work.

If you do not find in time the places of water leakage from the pipeline laid in the floor screed, then there will be a great chance to flood the neighbors from the lower floors. Much will depend on whether the technology for installing a water heated floor has been followed and whether all measures have been taken to consistently perform work without deviations.

Materials and equipment

For a water-type warm floor, you will need to pre-purchase all the necessary equipment, as well as materials for high-quality installation. If a pipe is selected, then its optimum diameter should be 20 mm.

As for the material, it is best to take a proven one - sewn or metallized polyethylene. It will generally be great if it has an anti-oxygen coating. This material is chosen for the reason that it has a smooth shape, does not allow corrosion to appear on the surface, both inside and outside, and the process of installing the system is very simple and takes a short time. In certain areas of the floor, pipes will be laid more densely, which should be taken into account when calculating their total number.

A water-heated floor will require the use of other materials, which are:

• Collector. It can even be called a key element. They can be supplied complete with wall cabinets, which can be installed in the chosen location. The required model is purchased based on the number of inlets and outlets of pipes for the underfloor heating system in a given room. Collectors are equipped with temperature level regulators, pumps, maximum pressure stabilizers.

  

  You can easily connect more than one heating system to them, even if they require different temperature conditions.

• Heat insulating material. It can be polystyrene of appropriate thickness, special foil, plates. But in no case should you forget about this layer in the water-heated floor system in order to keep the heat inside the room, and not spend it on the lower floors.
• Fittings, metal mesh for reinforcement, various fasteners, damping tape around the perimeter of the room, as well as keys.

When the whole set is on hand, you can safely start working and lay the water-heated floor under the screed or other options, and most importantly - on your own.

Device options

When a heating system project is being developed, you should think about and choose a rational pipe layout. Everything can work independently, or together with radiator heating. For each specific option, its own technologies are provided for the installation.

It should be noted that saving money is a priority in the underfloor heating system. Therefore, it is better to spend money once and lay pipes under the floor at a time in all rooms of the house than to perform similar actions with great labor and cost in the future.

Training

Before starting installation, carefully prepare the base. There should be no debris, dirt, and it itself is adjusted to the horizontal level.

This is necessary in order to subsequently fill the same level over the entire area in the room. In this case, the heating of the floor will be uniform.

After that, a layer of thermal insulation is performed using the previously selected material. The foil is laid on the base of the floor to protect it from possible moisture from the lower levels. In addition, this layer will not let the heat from the pipeline to waste, but will store it for return to the room.

A damper tape is attached to the walls, which serves to compensate for the expansion of the screed when heated. Gluing the tape is very simple, as it looks like an ordinary scotch tape. The width is taken approximately 10-15 cm. Everything will depend on the height of the final fill.

As for the specific heat-insulating material, its thickness will affect the location of the floor where the heated water floor is mounted with your own hands. Particular attention is paid to the first floor, located directly above the cold basement. Here, thermal insulation can be up to 25 cm in height. Each material has an almost identical heat conductivity index. Of particular interest are glass wool, expanded polystyrene, foam concrete, mineral wool, etc. There are materials specifically for the device of a water-heated floor. They are presented in assortment in the hardware store. We are talking about slabs with protrusions that serve for laying heating pipes in them. In addition, the installation of the entire underfloor heating system in this case can be performed much easier and faster.

Installation nuances

When the installation of a water underfloor heating system begins, the process should be approached with all responsibility. The duration of the operational period, as well as the durability of the entire floor structure, will depend on the quality of the work. The technology of installing a water-heated floor includes several very important stages in sequence, without which it will not be possible to do:

• It all starts with installing the manifold. In this case, the wall where the installation is made must be strictly vertical. But the distributor is mounted based on the horizontal level. In work, not only an ordinary level can be useful, but also a laser level, which allows you to get more accurate measurement results. The water level is also popular. If deviations along the axes are obvious, then in the future there will be a possibility of incorrect operation of the heating system.

  

• It was said about the preparatory measures earlier, you should also be careful with them so as not to miss a single point.

• The pipeline is installed according to a predetermined scheme. The main thing is that during the installation process they do not bend in any direction. This will only result in damage to the housing and subsequent water leakage. After that, all pipes are attached to the manifold with fittings.

  

• When the collector is connected to the pipes and the entire water floor heating system, testing can begin. Within about 4-5 minutes, the applied pressure as well as the temperature of the water in the system gradually increases. If no leaks are detected in this case, you can turn on the maximum flow rate (pressure pressure). In the absence of certain knowledge in the plumbing and electrical industry, then all types of work on connecting the collector are best left to a specialist.
• Testing was successful - you can start pouring the screed. Initially, a reinforcement mesh is laid on top of the pipeline, after which the solution is evenly distributed over the entire surface of the water-heated floor system. It is worth remembering that the solution must contain appropriate additives that are intended directly for underfloor heating. If there is no time and desire to independently prepare the fill, then you can purchase ready-made mixtures, which are available in the assortment on the construction market. Pouring is performed from the edge of the room to the central part. Experts can distribute the solution with a working floor heating system at a temperature of about 20-23 degrees. But it is still recommended to generally leave it alone until the selected screed option is completely dry.

• When the screed is dry, which usually happens within a month, you can consider finishing and producing the flooring flooring. In this case, the moisture content of the floor surface should not exceed 4%. The components used must be intended directly for underfloor heating. To a greater extent, this applies to heat-resistant adhesive for ceramic tiles. The time for complete heating of the floor will also depend on the thickness of the adhesive layer.

  

All this allows you to get an answer on how to make a warm floor with your own hands. At first glance, the process is very laborious. But if everything is done in stages, step by step, then no difficulties will definitely arise. The most important thing is to choose high-quality material for work from leading manufacturers. But for each specific option, you should choose something special. It will not be superfluous to consult a specialist. The result is a heating system that will not spoil the interior and the aesthetic appearance of the room.

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