Underfloor heating - carpets, tiles or laminate?

7 years ago

We converted an old steading into a 3500 sq foot house 8 years ago. There is underfloor heating throughout the ground floor. At the time we weren't sure what flooring we wanted and so put some reclaimed carpet tiles down to keep us going. Eight years on the carpet tiles have done well but we now want to lay the final flooring. Our preference would be for laminate or wood flooring in most areas, carpet in a downstairs bedroom and tiles in the large kitchen / day room. Due to the size of the house we're going to be spending quite a lot of cash and so wondered what advice others would have for the best types of flooring to go with underfloor heating - we don't want to make a mistake!

Featured Answer

A S

7 years ago

Hi, no I didn't, we got a professional tiler to lay them for us...it took the tiler about a week to lay the floor tiles as the original layer of screed wasn't levelled but he didn't find it too difficult. We used a combination off 30*120 and 20*120 tiles so they were quite large and got done in no time.

Good luck

ps. a cold floor on a warm summers day may not be such a bad thing.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (19)

Isidora Markovic
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Hi Tracey,

You could have all three in the combination you want (tiles for kitchen, carpet for bedrooms etc). Tile and stone are the best flooring for underfloor heating - they have the quickest warm up times, best thermal conductivity and heat retention.

Most floors are suited to underfloor heating, but some have caveats - with wood temperatures can't exceed 27 degrees (the same goes for vinyl). Carpet and laminate are ok too, though you have to be careful with carpet so that it doesn't act as an insulator that blocks heat instead. I'd double check with the manufacturer of the laminate for suitability. Hope that's been helpful - if anyone else has tips I'd love to hear them!
Tracey Thomas thanked Isidora Markovic
Tracey Thomas
Original Author
7 years ago
Thanks for the reply. Have been looking at some of the fab wood effect porcelain tiles that are featured on Houzz. My only concern is that we have the underfloor heating turned off in the summer months and tiles could be cold. How do others get on that have tiles please? We live in the Cairngorm National Park so it can be a tad nippy at times!
Related Discussions
StairCase / Underfloor Heating dilemma
Q
Comments (1)
cover the tiles with something thin such as Amtico
...See More
Underfloor heating/wood flooring combo?
Q
Comments (5)
It depends on the flooring. A good engineered laminated flooring may be OK (can have a natural wood surface), but you may have to ask the manufacturer, and you may not get any guarantee. I think Junckers make a flooring designed for this, but it will be expensive. Avoid solid oak, as this has a life of its own. However any sort of timber will reduce the heating efficiency of the floor. A concrete floor with hot water heating is best matched with ceramic or stone tiles (and a few rugs for softness). The limestone tiles we put in this barn conversion have a very 'soft' look. Maybe you could add timber to the room elsewhere?
...See More
engineered wood over underfloor heating!
Q
Comments (3)
http://www.warmup.co.uk/blog/what-is-the-best-flooring-for-underfloor-heating/ Try this link for information on different flooring types and their thermal conductivity. The Karndean / Amtico you mention are Vinyl floor tiles/planks so they are much thinner. However the sub floor preparation (Latex/Plyboard) also add further depth over your under floor heating system. If you choose to go for one of these products please check with your retailer that the flooring is compatible with your under floor heating system. Hope this helps.
...See More
Underfloor heating in whole house
Q
Comments (14)
2. Why underfloor system is not the top rating? There is good thermal mass giving a long lasting for heating, less energy needs to feed as radiators. But infrared spells from this heating go directly to selling but not to lower space of premises. No good convection. Can increase blood pressure if the temperature is not acceptable for you. And another important is the surface glazed or soft (tiles, timber ect.) giving different waves maybe it's not for us. 3. Wall heating system. Same concept underfloor heating just in the walls. Benefits. Can run low and high temperatures. Can design with different angles to heat direct another surfaces true infrared spells. Wall panels never heat the selling opposite underfloor heating. Panels can plastered with clay plaster. Fits in any design. One panel can be installed between 2 rooms. Infrared radiant heat heats not just the premises, but makes a comfortable feeling for all who is alive (humans, plants ect.) The infrared rays were used from ancient times… There is no better feeling than a very cold day, sun-rays going true your body and you cannot feel the cold even if it is windy, the feeling that you get is like someone giving you more energy to your body, – this is an infrared heat. The infrared radiant heat are different, have different wavelengths, heat spectrum changes when the heat goes true different material. For example, heat passes through metal, cement bricks or concrete, natural stones, glass or clay heat spectrum are changes to different waves. The most positive human beings are accepting radiate heat from the clay. The clay has the same heat spectrum as human beings. Radiant heat from the clay stoves or any clay heaters does not only heat or provides comfort, but also has healing properties. Its the same when medics heal us through infrared. More info available just send us short mesage.
...See More
acew1234
7 years ago
I am trying to make the same decision for our new build on Arran...Porcelain tiles, stone or engineered wood...too many choices.
Russwood in Newtonmore do some lovely engineered wood flooring, might be worth popping over to see them.
Tracey Thomas thanked acew1234
R countryside
7 years ago
I have the same query... looking forward to the posts on this. tiles look good but how practice are they... running costs etc?
Tracey Thomas thanked R countryside
R countryside
7 years ago
correction..practical
Tracey Thomas thanked R countryside
A S
7 years ago
Hi, We've just had a wet underfloor heating system installed and decided to use wood effect porcelain. It looks fab, however, we haven't had a chance to test it out as off yet as we haven't moved in...
Tracey Thomas thanked A S
Tracey Thomas
Original Author
7 years ago
Did you lay it yourself and if so, how easy was it to do? Thanks
A S
7 years ago
I will let you know regarding my experience once we move in...I think the most ideal way to run the UFH would be to leave it turned on as it can take quite some time to warm up initially anyway, and control it using a thermostat. There are many smart options available which makes control easier and can be more energy efficient.
Tracey Thomas thanked A S
LTS
7 years ago
Am interested in this too. Leaning towards engineered wood currently.
Tracey Thomas thanked LTS
PRO
Floors of Stone
7 years ago
Hello,

From a tiling point of view, natural stone and porcelain tiles work brilliantly with underfloor heating! Natural stone particularly holds the heat well, so will stay warm even after the heating has been turned off. A lot of our customers are opting for underfloor heating.

We would always recommend employing a professional tiler to lay the floor, and ensure you use flexible adhesive and grout to lay the tiles, so there's a bit of flex as the floor heats up and cools down. You can also use decoupling membrane, which again allows for movement in the floor, and stops any cracks appearing in the tiles.

You also need to make sure you turn the heating up gradually once the floor has been tiled, so you don't 'shock' the tiles causing them to crack.

Another thing to bear in mind, is the depth of the floor as you go between rooms, carpet is going to be thinner than tiles or wood so you don't want any strange steps between rooms!

Hope that helps, good luck with your project.

Sophie // Floors of Stone
Tracey Thomas thanked Floors of Stone
PRO
Cormar Carpets
7 years ago
Hi Tracey, it is perfectly possible to use carpet and underlay over
most UFH systems and many underlay manufacturers identify which underlay is
best for your requirements and needs. Research from the Carpet Foundation has
shown that a carpet and underlay with a combined thermal resistance not
exceeding a 2.5 tog allowed the underfloor system to operate efficiently.

Hope this helps!

Cormar
Tracey Thomas thanked Cormar Carpets
PRO
Contemporary Home Design Ltd
7 years ago
Hi Tracey

Have a look at LVT flooring, they are like tiles but different, you can have them in any effect such as wooden effect, marble effect, ceramic effect etc. Amtico flooring and cavalio flooring do some great LVT floors and these work very good with underfloor heating - because they are not real they stay room temp when the underfloor heating is off - in other words the tiles dont go cold at all. LVT flooring can also be patterned, have a look on cavalio and amticos website.
Tracey Thomas thanked Contemporary Home Design Ltd
kikiamack
7 years ago
We had a wet underfloor heating system installed nearly two years ago during our renovation. Having had different floorings in different rooms, we wanted one flooring product for all the downstairs rooms so we didn't have to have door thresholds and to make the house have more of a cohesive look. I didn't want tile as I don't like treading on cold tile in bare feet when the heating is off in the summer. A friend had had a dishwasher flood which had lifted her wood floor (not sure what type of manufacture). Another friend had Karndean and was happy with it. Once we found out that you can have UFH with Karndean that is what we went for. We're happy with it. It feels nice to walk on and the UFH seems to work well with it.
Tracey Thomas thanked kikiamack
PRO
Woodfloors4u
7 years ago
Hi Tracey,

We understand the importance of picking the right floor as it's a job you only really want to do once. We are the direct importers of solid and engineered wood flooring and have been trading since 2006. If there's one thing we guarantee on it that we know about wooden floors.

We like to give as much free advice and help where and when we can, so here's a few for you.

Firstly make sure if you do go with a wooden floor, that it is engineered, and suitable for underfloor heating. (some engineered floors actually aren't suitable as the adhesive used may not be compatible) Just to assure you, all our engineered wood floors are. The construction of engineered wood, as opposed to solid, restricts the movement of expansion and contraction due to the temperature change of UFH.

Wood it'self is a great conductor of heat and more importantly retains the warmth a lot better than tiles. Also, an advantage of using wood flooring is if it's damaged, scratched/stained, it is easily repairable by simply sanding it down and reapplying oil/lacquer. If tiles were to get damaged/cracked, you would need to replace it.

Why not take a look through at some of the projects we have done as we have several styles from standard planks, herringbone, chevron and Versailles panels.

We hope this helps and if you have any further queries or questions don't hesitate to get in touch.

WoodFloors4u Ltd
Tracey Thomas thanked Woodfloors4u
Tracey Thomas
Original Author
7 years ago
Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all the advice and tips. We've now got lots of research and web looking to do. Veering towards engineered wood for the whole ground floor rather than our original thought of having some of this and some of that. This is why Houzz is such a great site for ideas and sharing experiences. Many thanks again.
Isidora Markovic
7 years ago
I'm glad we could be of help Tracey - best of luck with the project!
maryg2017
6 years ago
kikiamak - just looking through old conversations on UFH and wanted to ask how you have found LVT on UFH? with benefit of having it for a number of years now, are you still happy with LVT? are you needing to run the UFH hotter as I've read that it takes longer to heat up and doesn't retain the heat as well as tiles?

I had my heart set on LVT, but when we considered UFH, I thought tiles + UFH were a must have. If I could have UFH + LVT, I would be over the moon, as I think LVT is cheaper than tiles (I'm going for wood effect), cheaper to fit, and not cold when the UFH is not on! Your experience could very well change my plans from tiles to LVT... :)
Mary Moore
6 years ago
we inherited a slate floor with electric UFH very expensive to run, around 35p ph, but I personally love the cold tile in summer, very refreshing when the house is warm.

Underfloor heating - carpets, tiles or laminate?

A S

Comments (19)

Isidora Markovic

Tracey Thomas
Original Author

Related Discussions

acew1234

R countryside

R countryside

A S

Tracey Thomas
Original Author

A S

LTS

Floors of Stone

Cormar Carpets

Contemporary Home Design Ltd

kikiamack

Woodfloors4u

Tracey Thomas
Original Author

Isidora Markovic

maryg2017

Mary Moore

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Underfloor heating - carpets, tiles or laminate?

Comments (19)

Tracey ThomasOriginal Author

Related Discussions

Tracey ThomasOriginal Author

Tracey ThomasOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Tracey Thomas
Original Author

Tracey Thomas
Original Author

Tracey Thomas
Original Author