Hi Houzzers,

I'm in the middle of building a 6m single storey extension to my house. This will create one large open plan area of 80m2 downstairs in which I intend to install UFH. This will be tiled with some lovely scandi wood effect porcelain tiles to maximise heat output, whilst retaining the design style I like.

I'm trying to figure out the best way to run UFH through the property. The problem is that the ceiling height in the original house is only 2.3m, so I really can't afford to lose too much height. These are my options as far as I can see:

A low profile system using a board like this kit here This will add 15mm to the height, and I can tile directly on to the board. This is the easiest and most obvious. However, the cost is circa £4,200.
A cheaper kit such as this which includes a different type of backing board. This one will require a self-levelling compound on top of the board before the tiles can be laid, so the total cost is circa £3,500 even though the kit looks like it's only £2k-ish.
Dig up the pre-existing screed in the old house and lay a normal UFH system like this before re-screeding. Cost is just under £1k for the system, plus the cost of removing and re-laying the screed. This is almost certainly a silly option, but putting in here for comparison.

The problem I have is that the cost difference is insane between laying UFH in a new build screed, and retrofitting. For all you expert Houzzers out there who know about UFH:

Is it possible to run a mixed system? So for the extension it's a standard UFH kit with 16mm pipes set into the screed, whilst the old part of the house runs on a low profile kit. There are some savings to be had this way.
Are there any low profile kits out there which (i) include a backing board which can be tiled directly onto without levelling compound and (ii) are cheaper than £4k?
Any other recommendations for this type of build? The old part of the house is becoming a kitchen, whilst the new part is living/dining.

Thanks guys, any advice would be very much appreciated!

Dom

Kings Road

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