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Floor - tiles or laminate?


sid
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Sid,

just picked up on this thread.  Pleased you've gone for tiles.

I noted your comment about the underfloor heating being maybe turned on and off.    Underfloor heating doen't really work that way.  You are essentially using the huge concrete slab as a storage heater heated at low temperature (upto 40-45°C max) by your buried coil.  You can turn it off of course but you should expect it to take several days to come back to temperature from cold.  There is the huge slab to reheat and that takes time and energy.  Indeed it was recommended to us (by 2 heating engineers discussing 2 different systems) that night time kick-back temperatures should be no more than 4° below the normal setting for the same reason - it would take too long for the system to get back to its daytime control temperature.

 

Generally underfloor is about the cheapest form of heating there is - except for maybe a wood burning stove where you have to cut all the wood yourself - double warming effect - once cutting the wood and once burning it!

.

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Hello Andyh4

We were told that it is an economical form of heating and that the water temperature would be 28C, which to my simple mind, means that it takes less fuel to maintain. From what you say it sounds as though we would need to run the heating continuously (?), otherwise it would always be trying to "charge up" the large storage heater (the floor slab)? Without a trial run I guess we're going to have to try it for a couple of winter months and watch the oil level go down - always dismaying! Our plan was to run the underfloor during the coldest winter months (it seems to have gone on for ages this year!) and to use the woodburning 'insert' as a top up.

Sid

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  • 3 years later...
As this subject has been brought back up I wonder if anyone can answer my daft woman questions about underfloor heating ......

I have 2 upper floors that I would like to underfloor heat, hence they have joist at the bottom then a type of chipboard layer on top of which tiles have been laid , I will be removing all the tiles as I hate them and replacing with a better colour, before I do I would like underfloor heating laid , is it possible as its not a solid concreat floor , Im worried about movement cracking it , as currently some of the tiles have cracked and loss of heat down wards ( yes I know heat rises ) but some will be lost through lack of insulation..... also how thick would any new layers take from top of the joist to the floor surface .... Thank you
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[quote user="Jay"]He did and very nice it is too!
[/quote]

Hey, thanks Jay! I wonder what brought this one up again?

For anyone undertaking floor tiling, do think seriously about it! It took me ages, working through the hot summer of 2006. The thing I completely forgot to consider was the weight of 92 sq metre's worth of tiles!!

This thread can go back to sleep again now.

Sid

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Well... that's put the cat amongst the pigeons.  We were thinking of having wooden flooring upstairs... it's a mid-priced one and has a 10 year warranty... should we be reconsidering?  does it always ending up worn, cheap and looking shabby?  [:$]
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[quote user="Rose"]  does it always ending up worn, cheap and looking shabby?  [:$][/quote]

Rose I had a laminate floor laid onto underfloor heating in my big (72sqM) kitchen/dining/sitting room in 2003.  I bought a swedish brand - Pergo - which was expensive at the time but it hasn't marked at all from wear.  It still looks wonderful and the only reservation I have is that it was laid right up to the fireplace and I have a couple of small burn marks.  Pergo sent me a repair kit to fix the problem.  In my experience, the lighter the colour of the floor, the more it shows the marks.  After having a large room with carreaux de Gironde with all the polishing they required, there is no going back - laminate is mopped with clear water.  

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Thanks Gemonimo - I'll look them up.  We dont have underfloor heating, it's just the tiles in the bedrooms... apart from being very brown and ugly... are also cold.  We thought wood would be warmer both to look at and to walk on.  [:)]

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We've been thinking of having water-resistant laminate in the bathroom and filling the joins with a sealant, as advised by the shop and a bathroom fitter we happened to speak to in a timber merchant's. After reading this thread I'm beginning to wonder whether that's a good idea, although it isn't an area likely to get huge amounts of wear. Russethouse's friend's solution of good vinyl might be an alternative worth loking in to.

As an aside, my OH went to order marine ply (also recommended by the bathroom fitter mentioned earlier) to put down in place of the floorboards, which aren't level. The delivery charge of £20 seemed a little steep, as we're 5 minutes away from them (needs must as the big car is stuck in France), but the total cost of £166.73  for 2m x 1m seemed very high. My Yorkshire OH seemed in shock on his return!

 

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Hi Gardengirl,

There are several water resistant laminates out there, One I fitted for a customer in the bathroom was Aqualoc from B&Q and so probably from their French outlets too.  I am sure it was successful for some people but due to a slight drip from the towel rad overnight it blew up like a balloon, in order to get the money back under guarantee we had rip up the whole floor and return it.

The best waterproof floor (note not just water resistant) we found was Kahs the demo has a piece of laminate in a small tank of water. My suggestion is if you find some in a shop, get a sample piece take it home and leave it in the sink/bowl to see how water proof it really is. Should save you a lot of time ripping it up to return it.

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Sid, sorry to wake you up again. We're just about where you were three and a half years ago. The underfloor heating goes in next month, (powered by air heat pump) the tiles are chosen. My question is, after your last couple of winters using the system, how much did you use the woodburner? We dont know whether to get a woodburner with the capacity to heat the whole open plan house, or a smaller one to just boost heat levels. Our idea was to keep the underfloor going at a low level for background heat and use the woodburner as and when needed, for example in the evenings.

Your observations would be much appreciated.

Kathy

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[quote user="confused of chalus"]Sid, sorry to wake you up again. .....

 .... Our idea was to keep the underfloor going at a low level for background heat and use the woodburner as and when needed, for example in the evenings. 

Kathy
[/quote]

Hello Kathy

We have used the woodburner quite a bit, but it's been mainly because of the cost of fuel oil over the past couple of winters. I'm a bit of a skinflint and I hate to see the level of oil in the plastic storage tank dropping so alarmingly! This is a bit complicated to explain because I sound as though I'm contradicting myself! The underfloor heating system has turned out to be very effective and quite economical to run. The rooms feel comfortable without any sense of where the heat source is; you're just warm! The house is heated on two distinct circuits from the same boiler and the old part of the house has radiators and is less well insulated and takes considerably more fuel. Thus when we have both parts heated by the boiler the fuel oil is used quite quickly. So, we have woodburners in both parts of the house and in the severe cold weather we light those and turn off the oil boiler, or turn it right down.

The price of fuel oil has come down and we will probably run on the oil boiler this winter, although I must say that it's very nice to have a wood fire to look at on those cold dark nights.

I would recommend installing a decent sized woodburner; it gives you another option in case of power cuts, fuel oil shortage, price hike, etc etc as well as being aesthetically pleasing. You can light it in the evening for a couple of hours on the autumn and spring days. The smaller "poeles" don't appear, to me at any rate, to put out much heat and they usually only take the smaller logs, 33 or 40 cms, which means more cutting of wood.

I can't think of any more arguments for or against, but by all means ask again if you think I can help.

Now... back to sleep for another three and half years.

Rip Van Sid

 

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[quote user="gardengirl "]

Théière, thanks a lot for that. We did look at the B & Q Aqualoc and another brand at a specialist flooring company; I don't remember the name, but it wasn't Kahs. I'll research that brand - it sounds good, and if waterproof probably ££££!

 

[/quote]

Did you go to the place down Richfield Avenue, just before the Cow Lane bridges if you pass Rivermead on the right ? They seem pretty good...

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Underfloor heating must be run continuously, you cannot turn it on and off like a radiator circuit as the response time for heating and cooling is very slow

Maximum circuit temperature 28C, any hotter and you can damage the floor

With tiles, parquet or laminate it should make no difference except the underfloor heating is normally configured and laid to suit the proposed floor finish as the heat output varies due to the materials used

I suggest you ask the installer what floor finish he based his calculations on

Le Plombier
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  • 2 months later...

Hi,

I realise this post was 4 years ago but, I am really interested to know what you chose and how it panned out for you.

We have just gone through the same process and decided on a wood effect tile called 'wenge' (Brico Depot). Looks and 'feels' warmer than the often hard and cold looking tiles we have seen in many houses, but with the cooling effect in the hot summer months. Probably make good use of rugs in the winter. Similar money to laminate at 16 euros per square meter plus fitting.

Time will tell if we have made the best decision, look forward to hearing your outcomes.

Best regards

Tony

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I have used that tile as a capping for rendered parpaing dwarf walls in my car park, the wood effect may look warm to you but it is just another ceramic tile so cannot feel any warmer except in perhaps a physchological way.

I was unusually for me short on my calcs and needed an extra half box, rather than buying a whole box each time I visited either of my  Brico-Depots I asked for an echantillon, due to this the last tiles were fitted several months after the first and it was clear that the originals had faded dramatically, not a problem for me as real wood would also fade but something you should prepare yourself for if you have south facing baie vitrées beside your carrelage.

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