Many owners of private houses today install water heated floors. This is due to the fact that they have a lot of advantages. Firstly, with their help, you can increase the comfort of living in the house. Secondly, no additional energy costs are required. Thirdly, the installation can be carried out independently, without spending money on the services of specialists.
Of all systems, the water circuit has particular advantages. It allows you to distribute warm streams over the entire height of the room, ensures hygiene and does not dry out the air. Heating cost savings can be up to 50%.
One of the ways to mount such a system is a concrete screed device. This approach is the most successful, so it is quite often abandoned by the owners of houses with wooden floors.
The installation of a warm water floor is carried out in several stages. To begin with, the rough surface is cleaned of debris and dust. At the next stage, a layer of waterproofing is laid. The damper tape is in motion onnext step. It is located around the perimeter of the room. It compensates for the linear expansion of the material when exposed to heat.
It is important to lay the thermal insulation, which will act as a layer. The next step will be the installation of pipes. The device of a warm water floor on a concrete base ends with a check of the water circulation. This allows you to remove excess debris, air and construction debris. At the next stage, a reinforcing mesh is laid on the pipes. You can close the system with a concrete screed. It can be a semi-dry mix or a self-levelling compound. Once the rough surface is dry, you can proceed to the installation of the film coating.
Which waterproofing to choose
If you decide to use concrete as a rough base, then you need to choose a good waterproofing material for it. If leaks occur, the entire system will prevent water from penetrating down. The most commonly used waterproofing materials are:
- plastic film;
- rolled roofing material;
- mastic.
Polyethylene should have a density of 200 microns or higher. As for mastic, it is the most successful waterproofing material. Experts recommend using it when arranging water floors in multi-storey buildings. This layer can be laid in one of several ways.
When it comes to rolled bituminous materials, they are rolled out on a leveled surface. preparationmay become a thin screed or primer. Rolling is carried out indoors. Cloths should be overlapped. The lower surface is heated with a burner and glued to the base. Joints should be given special attention.
The plastic film must be rolled out, providing allowances for the walls around the entire perimeter. Only 10 cm will suffice. The sheets should be placed with an overlap. Leave 10 cm for the seams. They are connected with tape.
It is not recommended to use polyethylene film in a wooden house with a beam ceiling. The device of warm water floors in the house may be accompanied by the use of liquid mastic. Its application is carried out with a brush or a construction spray around the perimeter of the room. It is necessary to make a layer of 2 cm. There should be no gaps. The material should penetrate into all pores, forming a waterproof contour.
Which insulation to use
Today, many types of insulation materials are known, among them should be highlighted:
- roll;
- sprayed;
- bulk;
- mats;
- tiled.
Extruded polystyrene, mineral wool boards, polystyrene mats with bosses and polyethylene foam rolls are commonly used for water floors. If work is carried out in a private wooden house or apartment on the ground floor, then the thickness of the insulation should be more than 10 cm.
When the material is placed on the second floor,polyethylene foam with a reflective surface will suffice. Its thickness should be 5 cm. The installation of warm water floors in the house provides for the installation of thermal insulation using a special technology. If rolled material is used, then it should be laid end-to-end, the joints should be glued with foil tape. On a concrete base, as well as a wooden surface, mats or slabs are stacked as tightly as possible to each other. Joints should be sealed with tape. The sides are coated with glue, this increases the strength of the joints.
Polystyrene mats are for sale today. On the surface, they have protrusions called bosses. They are used for laying pipes. If there are no such protrusions, then a reinforcing mesh is laid on top of the insulation, to which the heating elements are fixed.
Recommendations for pipe installation
A warm water floor device may involve the use of products made of copper, metal-plastic or polyethylene. The most popular today are polypropylene, metal-plastic and polyethylene pipes. Copper ones are expensive. Plastic has a denser structure. But it has one important drawback, which is expressed in creases in those places where the inflection is made.
Polyethylene pipes are more plastic, but they give off heat much worse. Heating elements are usually laid using the following methods:
- snake;
- snail;
- double snake;
- double snail.
The simplest solution is the snake, which is used most often by home craftsmen. 150 mm must be retreated from the walls. A distance of 100 mm must be maintained between the turns. The maximum limit is 300 mm. Along exterior walls and near windows, pipes should be placed closer together.
When installing a warm water floor in a room with an area of more than 40 m22, two or more circuits must be made. For this, a switch cabinet is provided. For adjacent rooms, one circuit cannot be laid.
Fixing pipes to insulation
If you purchased mats with spikes, then the heating elements must be located in the grooves, additional fixation is not required. When the surface is smooth, you can use reinforcing mesh, tires or plastic clamps for fastening. In the first case, fixation is carried out with plastic clamps. Clips can also act as fasteners, they are available for different pipe diameters.
The device of a warm water floor necessarily provides for checking the system for leaks after installing the heating elements. To do this, water is supplied to the circuit. The generated pressure should be 6 bar. Under such conditions, the system should continue to work from a day to two. Joints are checked for leaks. If deficiencies were found, then they should be promptly corrected.
Types of used ties
For underfloor heating, traditional cement mortar should not be used, as its strength is not high enough. This quality can cause cracks from thermal exposure. Screed can be:
- wet;
- semi-dry;
- self-levelling.
In the first case, we are talking about concrete with the addition of a plasticizer. In terms of content, a semi-dry screed is similar to concrete; a smaller volume of water is added to its ingredients. Above the level of the pipes, the screed should be raised by 5 cm. If the floors in a concrete wooden house are not strong enough, then it is better not to use a concrete screed, as it has an impressive weight. You can use gypsum boards. They are staggered in 2 layers. This technology is suitable for rooms with low ceilings, because the thickness of the "pie" of the floor will not exceed 15 cm.
The device of a warm water floor on a concrete base necessarily provides for the laying of the finishing coat, it can be:
- tile;
- parquet;
- linoleum;
- laminate.
One of the important conditions when choosing is the marking of the material. You should read the manufacturer's recommendations, which indicate whether this or that coating can be used for the system in conjunction with underfloor heating. Experts recommend paying special attention to linoleum and laminate.
Is it possible to lay a warm floor on the ground
Waterunderfloor heating can be laid on the ground if you use the installation method using a concrete screed. This technology achieves several goals. You will be able to make a rough floor and prepare the base for laying the finish coat. This design will include the work that is used to prepare a concrete slab in residential and industrial buildings.
If you correctly lay a water-heated floor, you can protect the room from dampness, provide thermal insulation and prevent floor freezing, as well as prevent cracks in the slab after several years of operation.
Features of the floor device on the ground
The device of a water heated floor on the ground provides for laying a cake, which consists of:
- powders;
- layer of rubble;
- rough screed;
- waterproofing;
- thermal insulation;
- reinforcement;
- finish screed.
Sand is poured onto the base. The thickness of this layer should be approximately 15 cm. The soil is compacted with a vibrating plate. It is necessary to ensure careful tamping to prevent subsidence of the soil. The sand must be compacted using wet technology. If groundwater is located close to the surface, then a drainage system should also be formed.
The installation of warm water floors in a private house at the next stage involves laying a layer of crushed stone. Stone or any other similar material is poured onto the compacted layer. It is also necessary to perform its ramming. Instead, expanded clay is often used. The thickness of this layer, together with sand, should be 30 cm. But the thickness of the rough screed varies from 10 to 15 cm.
Before pouring concrete, it is necessary to lay a reinforcing mesh. If the foundation has a large area, then it will be necessary to provide a compensation distance between the zones. A damper tape is placed in the gaps formed. If you do not use departments to compensate for the load during the installation of the soil base, then in the future this will cause cracking of the screed. You can eliminate the appearance of cracks by filling the screed and covering it with a film.
Further, the structure is watered every day for a week. The device of the floor for water-heated floors on the ground involves the laying of waterproofing. It is located over the entire area of \u200b\u200bthe plate. The ends of the material should go 15 cm onto the walls. After completion of the work, there will be ends that are cut with a paint knife. If the floor will be laid on the ground, then it must be thermally insulated.
If we compare it with a conventional screed, then in this case a screen is laid, which will reduce heat loss. The insulating layer can be polystyrene boards or foam. Expanded polystyrene for a water-heated floor should cover the surface of the screed. The edges of the material should protrude by 15 cm. The optimal thickness of the polystyrene used is between 5 and 10 cm.
When work is underway on a soil base, reinforcement is required. At the next stage, you canproceed with the installation of the water circuit. At this stage, a reinforcing mesh is used, it is laid on a rough screed. The armature serves two purposes. Firstly, it acts as a base for the water circuit. Secondly, it provides reinforcement. This prevents the top layer of the screed from tearing.
Do-it-yourself installation of warm water floors ends with laying the finishing screed. For this, cement mortar is used. Beacons should first be set on the surface, along which the solution will be pulled together and straightened. The finishing screed will act as the basis for the decorative coating, therefore, high requirements are placed on it in terms of plane.
Heated floor under tiles: main mistakes
If you want to carry out work on bulk soil, then you may make mistakes. Quite often they become the cause of the destruction of the plate during operation. The phased production of the "pie" must be strictly observed. Experts advise to carry out heat engineering calculation. It allows you to determine the thickness of the powder, the power of the heating system and the characteristics of thermal insulation.
When installing a water-heated floor under a tile, you can make a mistake, which is expressed in the absence of compensation gaps. Do not neglect the tamping of the powder. If the waterproofing is installed incorrectly, this can cause freezing of the screed and accumulation of condensate. Dampness will form in the room.
On the ground base you must pour sand, then there is a layer of rubble. You can use any kindraw materials, but coarse river sand will be the best solution. The minimum soil density after compaction will depend on atmospheric and weather conditions. These parameters are calculated according to special tables.
Nuances of the work
The installation of warm water floors in an apartment is often accompanied by the need to minimize the height of this system. To achieve the goal, it is necessary to completely remove the old screed. The surface is cleaned of debris and leveled so that the irregularities in the transverse and longitudinal directions are not more than 5 mm. If this value is exceeded, then self-leveling floors or screed can be used for leveling.
The technology of a warm water floor device may involve the use of logs or beams as a draft surface. Laying a concrete screed in this case is impractical. It is better to perform a dry installation. If you abandon the concrete surface, this will create the prerequisites for the emergence of a temperature zebra on the surface of the floors. In order to avoid this effect, the wiring diagram is carried out in compliance with a certain technical solution. To achieve a good result, it is necessary to reduce the pitch between the pipes. Below them are also reflective surfaces, which are also called deflectors.
In conclusion
The installation of warm water floors on a concrete screed necessarily involves the use of thermal insulation. If you do not want to use polystyrene, then you can use its analogues. The main thing is that their density is equal to or greater than 25 kg/m2. If you prefer a smaller thickness, then you should purchase foil insulation with aluminum film as protection.
