Coatings for water, infrared, cable and rod heat-insulated floors, general recommendations for their selection, features of floor heating systems. A warm floor covering is a material that transfers energy from heating elements to a room. Due to the fact that it works in high temperature conditions, the requirements for it are much more serious than for simple floors. Some coatings are capable of deteriorating from heat, others can act as an insulator, suppressing heat radiation and making it difficult to heat a room. We will tell you how to choose a covering for warm floors in this article.
General recommendations when choosing a covering for a warm floor
By their design, warm floors are divided into electric cable, carbon rod, elastic infrared and water. All these heating systems can be combined with finishing materials that play the role of an external warm floor covering. These include: linoleum and parquet, plywood and laminate, cork and carpet, tiles, polymer and vinyl materials.
The following recommendations for choosing a topcoat are suitable for all types of underfloor heating:
- For underfloor heating systems installed in a bathroom or kitchen, tiles are best suited as coverings. It is resistant to dirt and moisture and is highly reliable at an affordable price. Due to the huge variety of materials, you can choose a tile with the required texture for any interior.
- If it is necessary to make a heating structure for high mechanical loads, ceramic granite tiles can be the best coating material for a warm floor. This finish is perfect for water and cable underfloor heating, is durable and has a good appearance. The floor heating system can be used as the main source of heat due to the fact that the thermal conductivity of the stone is very high.
- If the warm floor will serve as an additional source of heating, you can put carpet or laminate on top of it. Any of them will accumulate heat well even with a low heating system power of 110 W / m2.
- It is best to use a parquet board or cork as a wooden covering. The main thing in this case is not to allow an increase in the heating of the system above 27-30 degrees. As a last resort, compact portable radiators can be used as additional heaters. In order to avoid mistakes when installing a warm floor, it is necessary to analyze heat losses before laying a wooden covering and compare its data with the heat flow diagram, averaged temperature and the rated power of the heating system.
Features of the choice of coverage for a warm floor
The design features of heating systems affect the choice of external floor covering. In electric floors, heat is generated by electricity. At the same time, cable, mats and heating infrared film are used as heating elements. The rod system works by means of carbon rods that are connected together by a conductive busbar. Water and cable underfloor heating is arranged with a concrete screed, and its presence is not necessary when installing rod and infrared systems. Any underfloor heating heaters are mounted on thermal insulation. For this reason, all the heat they give off goes up to the outer cover.
Warm water floor coverings
They are selected for strength, appearance, installation complexity and thermal conductivity. Very often, tiles are used as a covering for a warm water floor. It is durable, resistant to abrasion, temperature changes and is an excellent heat conductor. However, ceramic tiles are not suitable for all rooms, therefore, such a coating with a water heating system can most often be found in the kitchen, in the bathroom and in the hallway.
The combination of tiles with a warm water floor is successful for the reason that its surface has a fairly low hygroscopicity - the cladding practically does not absorb moisture. In addition, due to its high heat transfer, the tiles, when heated, release most of their heat into the room. This is especially true for cladding with a smooth surface. Changes in the level of air humidity and temperature conditions in the room do not have a particular effect on such a coating.
Another suitable material for this type of underfloor heating is laminate. It is a 6-8 mm thick wood fiber board. It is distinguished by simple installation and lack of deformation. For a water-heated floor, you should choose a moisture-resistant laminate covered with a special water-repellent wax.
These properties are displayed on its packaging using special markings. The laminated coating in this design is capable of withstanding a load of 500 kg / m2… Another advantage is its high thermal resistance, which is up to 0, 10 m2xK / W and does not allow the material to deform when heated.
Warm water floor can be made for cork. Such a coating, in combination with a heating system, is both comfortable and resistant to various damages. Over time, it does not sag and retains its characteristics even when the temperature of the coolant rises to 70 ° C.
When choosing a cork cover, we recommend non-glued types. In the middle of such products there is a layer of MDF, and on top they are covered with a wear-resistant protective layer and decorative cork. The installation of the cork cover is quite simple - its slabs are interconnected by “thorn-groove” locking systems, which speeds up the assembly of the warm floor.
Another type of floor heating recommended for use with a water heating system is linoleum. It is moisture resistant and retains its structure up to 27 degrees. When working on the floor, the material evenly distributes warm air over the entire area of the room. The most suitable for this case is multilayer PVC linoleum. However, when installing the coating, it must be borne in mind that its heat and sound insulating types will retain heat, preventing full heating of the room.
Vinyl flooring goes well with a water-heated floor due to its high moisture resistance. It can provide a structure with reliable waterproofing.
Parquet flooring for such a floor is not as reliable as tiled or laminated. Wood deforms over time from temperature changes and the influence of air humidity. Therefore, these parameters have to be maintained artificially in order to maintain the attractive appearance of the warm floor. Nevertheless, a parquet board is chosen for it quite often because of the presentable type of material.
Warm infrared floor coverings
Infrared flooring works well with many topcoats. On top of it, you can lay linoleum, carpet, tiles, parquet, cork and laminated material. If cork or wood is incompatible with other electrical surfaces due to the likelihood of fire, then in comparison with them the infrared floor is absolutely safe. The infrared heating system can only reach a temperature mark of 50 ° C, at which a fire cannot occur.
Linoleum can be used as a finishing coating for a warm floor with infrared heating, but it is better to lay it on a hard pre-prepared layer of moisture-resistant fiberboard, plywood or magnesite plates. This coating is laid on top of them, and a special substrate is used to dampen the noise.
Laminate panels are also considered a good option for infrared heating foils. They are quite sensitive to changes in temperature and humidity, which are not typical for this room heating system. The panels can be stacked on top of a backing or protective film.
Ceramic tiles work well with infrared floors. The reason for this is the high thermal conductivity of the cladding material, which increases the efficiency of the heating system. When tiling an infrared floor, take into account its poor adhesion to the surface of the heating film. To ensure the necessary contact, a screed is made or an additional layer of gypsum rigid sheet is created.
Warm cable floor coverings
Such a floor is distinguished by a high degree of heating over 45 degrees and an uneven arrangement of its elements. For this reason, the most suitable topcoat for it is ceramic tiles. It has high thermal conductivity and is characterized by significant thermal inertia. In addition, unlike vinyl flooring, tiles do not deform from strong heat. The harder and thicker the finishing material of the floor, the greater the duration of the heat output it has.
The advantage of electric underfloor heating tiles is the possibility of laying electric mats or heating cables using glue. This finish allows cabling in combination with a concrete screed.
Cork and parquet flooring for cable heating systems is absolutely unsuitable due to the high probability of fire and deformation.
Elastic coatings such as PVC and linoleum are more suitable for cable floors than their wood counterparts. Their main advantage lies in the small layer thickness of up to 4.5 mm. Such a finish to the least extent prevents the spread of heat from the cable heating elements into the room.
Due to their elasticity, polymer finishing materials tolerate expansion and contraction well during temperature fluctuations. In addition, certain types of vinyl coverings can be laid safely on the cable floor. They are expensive and of high quality, characterized by thermal stability and high fire safety. Such coatings do not support combustion and do not deform at high temperatures due to the presence of small shell rock, quartz chips and chloride in their composition.
Coverings for warm core floor
The core heat-insulated floor is best used under the tiles. To lay this material on top of carbon rods, it is recommended to use mixtures specially developed for underfloor heating - cement or epoxy with appropriate additives. The total thickness of the coating together with the adhesive must be more than 20 mm.
The dimensions of the tiles for the core floor are taken no more than 300x300 mm, and the materials for its production must be ceramics or natural stone. A layer of adhesive composition 6-8 mm thick reduces the likelihood of deformation of the coating, which often occurs during the thermal expansion of the material.
The carbon core floor can be finished with artificial materials - laminate and linoleum. Before installing the floor, you need to pay attention to the product marking, indicating the possibility of combining the heated surfaces with the finishing coating. In this case, the temperature of the core floor should not be set higher than 21 ° C - otherwise, the laminate may deform and dry out from the action of mechanical loads and heating.
In combination with a warm core floor, linoleum has proven itself well. It practically does not lose its characteristics during compression and expansion of the base from fluctuations in the temperature of the environment.
Wood flooring for this type of underfloor heating should be carefully selected. Mosaic thin parquet slabs with a thickness of 8-10 mm and made from acacia, ash or oak wood are suitable. With a sharp increase in temperature, the tree can shrink or expand, this causes the formation of cracks in the parquet. To avoid such consequences, it is necessary to strictly monitor the temperature of the floor heating.
How to choose a flooring for a warm floor - watch the video:
That's all. We hope we helped you figure out which flooring is best for a warm floor. Such systems are very convenient and beneficial in terms of creating a comfortable microclimate. If desired, the temperature in the house can be regulated using automatic systems or manually.
