How to lay a heated floor in an apartment: options for finishing floor coverings

Which coating is better for a warm water floor?

The purpose of a warm floor is to create comfort, not to warm the house. According to standards, the temperature of a heated floor should not be higher than 29 ° C, and for a water floor - 50 ° C. Experts say that a warm floor in an apartment or house performs the function of heating a square meter to a greater extent than this segment loses. And each material has its own different thermal conductivity coefficient. Ceramic conductivity is better than parquet or carpet.

If the floor is water, then you should be more careful with the choice of coating. The temperature of a water floor is not as easy to regulate as it seems. This type of floor takes longer to cool down, which means there is a greater chance of damaging the coating.

The covering for a warm floor is selected taking into account thermal conductivity, cost and resistance to elevated temperatures.

Under the influence of heated water and its heating devices, the floor temperature rises rapidly. If the floor covering is parquet, then the glue with which it is held softens and almost does not fix the parquet. Therefore, it is worth taking seriously the issue of choosing a coating for a water floor.

Laminate flooring cannot heat up quickly compared to tiles. Laminate flooring lasts for about 10 years

Types of water floor covering:

Laminate;
Cork;
Tile covering, porcelain stoneware;
Parquet;
Self-leveling floor.

Laminate flooring is one of the softest, because laminate is not the hardest material. The laminate is laid on a base that is prepared in advance. The laminate covering, 15 mm thick, and the plywood base have thermal insulation properties similar to cellophane foam, approximately 8 mm thick.

The tile coating has high thermal conductivity and heats up well. Tile adhesive does not change its properties at all from exposure to heat and high humidity. The service life depends on the heating elements of the shelf and how reliable they are.

Parquet board, like laminate, is inferior in thermal conductivity to many materials. If the room is humid, this can lead to rapid wear of the parquet. When exposed to high temperatures, the parquet board may shrink in size, so you should monitor the humidity when laying the flooring, not higher than 5 percent. The parquet is laid on a plywood base.

Cork has the lowest thermal conductivity of the materials available. It is made from three types of materials: veneer, agglomerate and their combination. Ideal for use in a children's room. The advantages are: environmental friendliness, many colors, affordable cost, sound insulation (especially for neighbors under the children's room), fire resistance, does not rot.

The self-leveling floor and the tiled covering are the same in terms of the percentage of thermal conductivity. Almost the best covering option for a water floor. Modern and high-quality parts will help you work without complaints for the entire period that you are given for operation. Self-leveling flooring is not a cheap pleasure. In order not to have to repair your floors after three years, you should choose the highest quality coating and not skimp on the material. Engineering assistance when laying self-leveling coatings on water floors will help to avoid unnecessary operations and not to lose money with the material.

Swear on the floor!

Those who want to make a warm floor under tiles or porcelain stoneware, but do not have the opportunity to refill the screed, should opt for heating mats. In this case, the cable is already laid out in an even snake, which means its installation will be very simple. You just need to cut the mesh and place it in the area of the kitchen that you want to heat. The cable on the mats has a diameter of only 3-4 mm, and in general the structure is made of materials that allow you to do without a protective layer of screed - you just need to lay the tiles on top using cement-based glue without heat-insulating inclusions. Naturally, such a floor heats up and cools down very quickly. Compared to a simple cable, a heating mat will cost 15-20% more: for heating 5-6 sq. meters, including a thermostat, will cost about 11 thousand rubles.

Parquet covering on warm bamboo floor

Natural bamboo flooring is a very modern solution. Bamboo flooring offers many of the benefits of both hardwood and grass types. This type of coverage has many pros and cons.

Advantages and disadvantages:

Environmental friendliness . Bamboo flooring is made from vegetation, bamboo is not a member of the red list and is easily renewable. By choosing bamboo rather than hardwood flooring, you can reduce the cutting down of the latter.
Easy maintenance . Bamboo flooring can simply be swept or vacuumed.
Resistant to water . _ Not every wood flooring can match the water resistance of bamboo flooring.
Price and durability . The price will not differ from the prices for wooden coverings; you just have to avoid discounted goods, as there is a risk of buying low-quality coverings.

In terms of durability and strength, bamboo parquet flooring is not inferior to oak flooring.

The disadvantages of bamboo heated flooring are as follows. Scratches. Although bamboo parquet is easy to lay and easier to maintain than carpet, it is always impossible to keep it in perfect condition. Scratches will appear. There is no single assessment of the quality of bamboo flooring.

If you believe the signs, a bamboo tree absorbs all the negative energy in the house, cleanses it and brings good luck. But even if you don’t believe these words, you can pay attention to the price. In a line with other wooden coverings, bamboo is not at the highest place, which allows it to replace any other wooden covering.

Parquet for heated floors and whether it should be laid under the board

Many experts disagree: some are against the combined use of parquet and heated floors, others have the opposite opinion.

Even in the cold season, it is pleasant to walk on the parquet floor barefoot, as it remains warm

Against the combination of heated floors and parquet:

Extremely slow heating of parquet on a heated floor. Heating the room or floor will occur very slowly and will have no effect at all.
Under the influence of heat, the wooden parts of the parquet will begin to dry out and soon the parquet floor will be full of holes. No one likes the constant creaking and look of a hundred-year-old floor.
Difficulties in laying parquet flooring. When laying parquet, there is a high probability of damaging the power and electrical components of the heated floor and leaving it without electricity.

The advantages of parquet flooring are very simple to explain: don’t make a mountain out of a mountain. Everything can be done without problems, if only you have the desire and hands from the right place.

Features of heated floors

Features of electric heated floor:

eliminates leaks and maintenance in the form of flushing and cleaning of pipes;
ease of installation;
high energy costs, but they can be reduced if you use thermostats to regulate heating;
high cost of flooring;
more suitable for use in an apartment;
safety and ease of use.

Features of water heated floor:

difficult to install;
When a pipe breaks, it is quite difficult to find the location of the damage;
Difficulties may arise when installing in an apartment. Connection to the distribution manifold often leads to a decrease in pressure in the entire heating system. The exception is new buildings. They provide for the presence of a riser for connecting pipes to a centralized heating system.

How to cover a warm floor in a house: laminate or linoleum

Not every type of laminate is suitable for laying on the floor. Especially for heated floors, for this type you need to look at special collections with improved thermal conductivity.

What to look for when choosing a laminate:

Marking;
Suitable for water type or electric coating;
For technical specifications;
Thickness of laminate boards;
Durability and abrasion resistance.

Natural linoleum is a high-quality floor covering with excellent performance characteristics

All these points should be taken into account when choosing a laminate. Without taking into account performance qualities, you can choose a low-quality product that will not last for many years and will require replacement and unnecessary waste.

There is a very wide variety of linoleums that can be used to cover the floor. For heated floors, only two types are used: marmoleum and vinyl. The first are expensive, the second is a more budget option, but not inferior in quality to the first. It is worth choosing a non-thick linoleum that will be laid on a warm floor. Before covering the floor with linoleum, you should sweep it and get rid of debris. Linoleum coating can be rough if it covers grains of sand and debris.

Advantages and disadvantages of ceramic tiles

What is better to lay on a warm water floor? Ceramics are popular.

As a rule, ceramic tiles are the most purchased material when installing heated floors. This is due to such qualities as:

high thermal conductivity;
environmental friendliness;
it does not create unnecessary loads on the heating elements;
durability;
good tolerance to temperature changes;
creates a pleasant tactile sensation and looks impressive.

Although the advantages clearly speak in favor of ceramic (tile, porcelain stoneware) tiles, they still have several disadvantages:

for some consumers this is due to its high price;
when the heater is turned off, it becomes as cold as the concrete floor beneath it;
it is not suitable for all rooms, for example, tiles are inappropriate in a nursery or bedroom;
If a breakdown or leak occurs in the system, it is extremely difficult to dismantle it.

When choosing floor tiles, you should pay attention to its internal structure. Under no circumstances should you buy ceramics with a porous base for heated floors, as they transmit heat extremely poorly.

Bamboo carpet and its wonderful capabilities

Carpet has defended its rights to be a floor covering not only in offices, but also at home. Especially in children's rooms. Pleasant touches for little feet and not a cold floor. These are, perhaps, the main advantages of carpet over other floor coverings.

Advantages of bamboo carpet: