As an additional means of heating the bath, you can choose a floor heating system. The work involves the implementation of several stages, including preparatory work. In order to lay a warm floor in the bath with your own hands, you need to choose one of the options below.
Pros and cons of underfloor heating
Among the advantages of the system is the uniform heating of the surface over the entire area of the room. In addition, the room will not be cluttered with extra heaters that take up a lot of space. For oversized baths, this issue is most relevant. Once you install the underfloor heating system, you can save on electricity bills. But there are also certain disadvantages, which are expressed in the complexity of installation, as well as in the mandatory use of a water pump. Among other things, there may be problems with system maintenance.
After you install a warm floor in the bath with yourhands, pipes during operation can fail, and the breakdown will be quite difficult to detect, especially if the laying was carried out under a concrete base. It is worth considering that steel pipes can subsequently be damaged by corrosion. That is why it is recommended to use metal-plastic or polybutylene. The service life of such materials reaches 50 years.
Types of water floor heating systems
The warm floor in the bath with your own hands can be laid using one of two technologies. So, you can mount the system under a concrete floor. In this case, it will be necessary to use a monolithic screed. Such work involves the application of a sufficiently large number of forces from financial costs. You will have to perform some actions, for the implementation of which you need to have certain skills. It will be possible to start laying the finish coat only after the concrete screed has completely dried. This can take about a month, which stretches the laying of floors over time. The drying time of the screed will depend on the thickness.
The warm floor in the bath with your own hands can be equipped using another technology called flooring. In this case, it will be necessary to use ready-made materials that simplify the task and reduce the repair period. More funds will be spent. This technology can be divided into three methods of work. The first involves the use of a modular wooden system, the second - polystyrene, the third -rack and pinion.
Preparatory work
Before you make a warm floor in the bath with your own hands, you need to prepare the surface, which is true, no matter what technology you choose. The floor will need to be freed from the old floor covering, leveled, ensuring the relative smoothness of the surface so that there are no height differences of more than 5 millimeters over the entire area. If there are deviations from this indicator, then you will need to level the floor with a screed.
Concrete paving technology
If you are thinking about the question of how to make a warm floor in a bath with your own hands, then you can choose a concrete technology for the work. To begin with, a layer of insulation will need to be laid on the prepared surface, which will have to prevent heat from escaping in the other direction. When choosing an insulating material, you need to ensure that its thickness is not less than 30 millimeters. It is important to pay attention to the density, which should be equal to 35 kg/m3, but not less. Most often, polystyrene or penoplex is chosen for these works. It is recommended to use ready-made mats that have special clamps. With their help, it will be possible to carry out the work most simply.
When a water-heated floor is installed in a bathhouse with your own hands, the next step will be to lay a damper tape around the perimeter of the room, which will be able to compensate for the thermal expansion of the concretescreeds. Next, a polyethylene film is laid. After that, you can proceed with the installation of the reinforcing mesh, to which the pipes of the underfloor heating system will be strengthened with the help of clamps. Corrugated pipe will protect the expansion joints. In some cases, a reinforcing mesh is laid on top of it, which allows you to strengthen the structure.
Pipe laying features
Homemade underfloor heating in the bath should be equipped only after you have chosen a pipe laying scheme. Considering the scheme of a water-heated floor, you can choose a spiral arrangement of elements. They can also be laid in the form of a snake. At the same time, approximately 5 meters of pipe will go per square meter of the floor, which is true if the laying step is equivalent to 20 cm. Pipes can be laid with a snail if the room has an overall area. But spiral laying guarantees even temperature distribution.
Hydro testing
At the next stage of the work, it will be necessary to test the system. Before the screed is poured, flaws must be eliminated. Hydraulic tests should last one day, while maintaining a pressure within 4 bar. After carrying out the check, you can proceed to pouring the concrete screed. Its thickness should be 3-15 centimeters higher than the laid pipes. The concrete screed after pouring should be left for 28 days, while the underfloor heating system should not be turned off, butthe temperature of the water in the pipes should not be high.
If you decide to make a warm floor in the bath, then after the drying stage is completed, you can increase the temperature. At the last stage, you can proceed to laying the finish coat.
Polystyrene underfloor heating system
This technology has the advantage of not having to work with concrete. Due to this, it will be possible to maintain the height of the ceilings. The system will be based on polystyrene plates, which will act as a heat-insulating material. These plates are mounted in tandem with aluminum plates on which heat is distributed. In these plates, which have special recesses, pipes are fixed. A plasterboard sheet is attached on top of this structure. First you need to prepare the base, which involves cleaning and leveling it. After the installation of polystyrene plates is carried out, then aluminum plates are laid, which should cover approximately 80 percent of the floor area. Heated floors in the bath with their own hands from bottles are quite often equipped. This allows you to save money and get a durable system.
