How to properly design a water-heated floor by yourself

In our country, the water-heated floor was used to heat the premises back in the days of the Soviet Union. That country has not existed for a long time, for such a period of time, it would seem, it was already possible to learn how to install the system on its own, but this is far from the case. For unknown reasons, even today many people consider water-based floors a novelty that has not yet become widespread, so there are few people who know how to design a water- heated floor with their own hands. You can try to correct this omission by using this guide.

In a multi-storey house, it is not always possible to adapt warm water floors, their installation has a specific nature, the system is more adapted to operation in individual construction. The design of additional space heating, built into the floor, has several options.

Water-heated floor with own hands. Mounting on a concrete screed

This method of installation, which involves the laying of pipes in a concrete screed, is the most popular today. It involves several stages.

1. Laying of thermal insulation. If you ignore its installation, the heat coming from the system will go not only to the room, but also to heat the concrete floor of the floor from below, which makes the installation process useless. It is important that the thickness of the thermal insulation is not less than 30 mm. The higher the heat transfer, the thicker the insulation layer should be.

2. Next, lay the damper tape around the perimeter of the room and cover the layer of thermal insulation with a polyethylene film to avoid getting concrete into the joints between the thermal insulation layers.

3. Laying reinforcing mesh for fixing system pipes. The value of the cell at the grid is chosen depending on the step size between the pipes.

4. Pipe laying. This is a very painstaking and responsible stage, the installation must be carried out strictly in accordance with the project.

Pipes should be fastened to the fittings with plastic clamps, with the help of corrugated pipe it is necessary to additionally protect the expansion joints. To give the system a high strength, a repeated layer of reinforcing mesh is laid over the pipes.

In order to qualitatively make the installation, it is necessary to take into account some important recommendations regarding the parameters and the method of arranging the pipes. Usually they are put in the form of a spiral or snake. For each square meter with a laying pitch of 20 cm, about 5 m of pipes are required. If the system involves the heating of a large room, then it is more appropriate to use several loops.

5. Conducting hydraulic tests. This stage is also considered very important and responsible, especially if you install a water-heated floor with your own hands. Tests performed during the day under a pressure of not less than 4 bar will allow to detect and prevent failures in the system operation in time.

6. Pouring concrete. It is better to conduct it with the heating switched on, this will once again make sure of its normal functioning. The thickness of the screed above the water-floor system should be a maximum of 15 cm, it should not be turned on until the concrete fills completely. It is also important to remember that the drying time of the concrete depends on the thickness of the screed, which is approximately 28 days. Only after this, it is possible to start putting the water-heated floor into operation, taking into account the gradual increase in temperature, bringing it to the required rate 3 days after launch.

7. The final stage of installation of the system is coating it with a laminate or other material.

Water warm floor. Installation of polystyrene system

This method has several advantages.

1. Because of the absence of a concrete screed - light weight.

2. The floor can be used immediately.

3. Such a system has a smaller thickness, which makes it possible to slightly reduce the height of the room.

At the heart of this floor are polystyrene plates with built-in aluminum plates, which evenly distribute heat. A sheet of gypsum fiber is placed on top of the system. If the room is supposed to lay parquet, then one layer will be enough, when covering the floor with other material it is better to lay gypsum fiber in 2 layers.

The final stage of laying the system "water-heated floor" with their own hands is the pleasure of cosiness and comfort of the room.