Comfort in the house is largely determined by warmthfloor. There are several options for providing heating to the room from below. Water allows you to implement one of the best options for such heating.
Scheme of the device of a warm water floor.Heating with hot water has long been used by people. Central heating is also based on this principle. But modern technologies allow for independent heating, namely, installing a water-heated floor, which undoubtedly solves many problems in the home.
Construction of a warm water floor
Warm water floor is a systempipes laid in a certain circuit through which hot water is supplied. The water temperature is controlled and regulated by a thermostat. Water is heated in a miniature boiler room. The heating process control system includes a distribution manifold cabinet. The protection system includes relief valves, shut-off valves and a return pipeline. Uniformity of pipe laying and maximum coverage of the floor surface is achieved by using mainly three types of laying: snail, snake and a combination of these types. According to the "snake" system, the pipe is laid along one of the walls and then directed in parallel lines to the opposite wall, and at the end returns along the perpendicular wall. The "snail" pipe distribution provides for the direction of the pipe along the perimeter, with each new circle having a smaller radius and similarly returning back, but with a gradual increase in radius. The combined method combines these types of pipe laying. For example, a method is sometimes used when the "snake" laying is used on half of the floor, and the "snail" on the other half.
Mixing unit for underfloor heating.The pipe for underfloor heating can be plastic, metal or metal-plastic. Polypropylene and polystyrene pipes, as well as cross-linked polyethylene pipes, are most commonly used as plastic pipes. According to the technology of laying the pipe system, it is possible to distinguish installation in a concrete floor screed, laying polystyrene foam (foam plastic) blocks on top and placing pipes in the grooves of a wooden substrate. The most widely used design of underfloor heating is based on laying pipes in a concrete screed. This floor is the cheapest, most durable and has good heat transfer parameters. However, this method is considered heavy in weight and overestimated in thickness, so it cannot always be used. In the case of wooden floors for low rooms and in some other cases, it is necessary to use so-called light floors (based on a foam plastic or wooden substrate). The supporting element in these warm floors are foam blocks or slabs made of wood, chipboard, etc. Such floors are much lighter in weight and have a smaller thickness, but are more expensive and have less strength. Light floors are recommended in the following cases:
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Protective layer of a warm floor on a concrete basis
Scheme of warm floor on concrete slab.A water heated floor is made by hand in the following order. First of all, it is necessary to prepare a rough concrete floor screed. The floor surface is cleaned of dirt, and its horizontality is checked. If the unevenness of the rough floor exceeds 10 mm, then additional leveling is necessary. An additional layer of self-leveling building mixture such as a self-leveling floor is applied. Waterproofing must be applied over the leveled concrete coating. The easiest way is to cover the entire surface with a polyethylene film at least 0.2 mm thick. It can also serve as a vapor barrier layer. The film is applied with an overlap of at least 10 cm. However, a vapor barrier film with a layer of foil (foil up) should still be applied on top. The film is applied end to end, and the joint is recommended to be covered with a film with an adhesive layer. A heat-insulating layer should be made over the waterproofing and vapor barrier film. Good thermal insulation is provided by a layer of thin foam plastic slabs 1-3 cm thick. It is better to use special insulation sold in rolls. Such insulation based on mineral wool will reduce the thickness of the protective coatings. To prevent the formation of heat leakage bridges between the floor screed and the walls, it is necessary to apply an edge damper tape. Such edge protection can be provided by a tape made of foamed polyethylene with a thickness of at least 6 mm. The width of the standard tape is 12-18 cm. The tape is applied to the bottom of the wall and goes to the floor so that after the entire warm floor is made, the tape protrudes above its surface along the wall by 2-3 cm. The tape must have an adhesive layer or be glued to the wall with an adhesive composition. An additional polyethylene film is laid between the thermal insulation and the damper tape.
You can use the warm water floor immediatelyafter the concrete screed has dried, gradually increasing the temperature. On top of the thermal insulation, it is necessary to again apply a vapor barrier film, with the foil facing down, and waterproofing made of polyethylene film with an overlap. Finally, the protective cushion for laying pipes is completed with a reinforcing mesh made of reinforcing rods with a diameter of up to 5 mm. A metal mesh with a cell of 15-20 cm is laid on top of the last layer of waterproofing. The task of the reinforcing layer is to redistribute the loads evenly over the entire floor. Return to the table of contents</a>
Installation of a thermal floor with a concrete screed
Water heated floor with concrete screed basedon pipes filled with concrete mixture. To form such a floor, the pipes are laid directly on the reinforcing mesh. Usually a polymer pipe with a diameter of 20 mm is used. It is laid according to one of the schemes ("snake" or "snail"). First, the pipe is connected to the collector outlet. The pipe laying step should be 15-20 cm. The pipe is attached to the reinforcing coating mesh using special clips, taking into account the possibility of a slight expansion of the pipe when heated by hot water. The fastening step is approximately 1 m. Fastening can be provided in other ways: strips or ties (Fig. 1, pipe laying schemes). When laying according to the "snail" scheme, the pipe installation step must be doubled, since the reverse spiral will be directed along the same path in parallel (from the center to the edges). The final laying step will correspond to the standard. Usually, about 67 m of pipe is used for a floor of 10 m² with a laying step of 15 cm, which is considered the optimal option. It is recommended to use a pipe 70 m long. If one pipe length is not enough to cover the entire floor surface, it is advisable to divide the floor into two equal laying contours with the same laying pattern. After installation and fixing of the entire scheme, the end of the pipe is connected to the outlet of the receiving manifold.
Figure 1. Schemes for laying underfloor heating pipes.After installing the heating system, the underfloor heating system must be checked for leaks. To do this, hot water is supplied under maximum working pressure for several hours. The system is considered to have passed the test if the pressure drop is no more than 0.03 MPa per hour with a constant water temperature. Finally, a do-it-yourself underfloor heating system with a concrete screed is made by pouring a concrete mixture into the heating system. For pouring, use a cement-sand mixture with the addition of a plasticizer and reinforcing polypropylene fiber. Recommended proportions are 3 m³ fiber and 22 l plasticizer per 1 m³ of solution. The cement mixture is prepared from a cement and sand ratio of approximately 1:3. The solution is poured with a thick sour cream consistency evenly over the entire floor surface. The concrete coating should form a layer of at least 3-4 cm above the surface of the pipes. The total thickness of the concrete fill is 6-7 cm. After final drying (2-3 days), a test is performed. The water-heated floor on a concrete screed is exposed to maximum working water pressure (0.3-0.4 MPa) for at least 24 hours. After completing the test, the do-it-yourself warm floor can be considered ready. Then you can do the final finishing of the floor. The outer covering of such a floor is best made of materials with increased thermal conductivity: linoleum, laminate, ceramic tiles. Return to contents</a>
Warm floor on expanded polystyrene plates
Figure 2.Scheme of warm floor insulation with polystyrene foam. You can make a water-heated floor yourself based on polystyrene foam (foam plastic) slabs. In this case, the production of a protective coating is somewhat simplified compared to a concrete screed. The foam plastic slabs themselves are excellent thermal insulation, so they can be applied directly to the vapor barrier (on the foil layer of the vapor barrier film). The warm floor is made of a polystyrene (foam plastic) slab measuring 0.3x1 m and 30 mm thick. Such standard slabs have longitudinal grooves for aluminum plates. Pipes are placed in these plates and secured with them. The pipes are completely immersed in polystyrene and covered with aluminum foil. The pipe laying scheme can be either a "snake" or a "snail". Such a water-heated floor does not require pouring concrete on top. External floor covering is usually made by laying chipboard boards with subsequent application of any covering (Fig. 2, installation of the floor on polystyrene foam boards). Warm floors of such a design undergo tests similar to those of floors on a concrete base. Tests are carried out before application of external coverings and after their manufacture. Return to contents</a>
Warm floor on a wooden base
If the house has wooden floors, then nothingthere is nothing left to do except make warm floors in the grooves of wooden blocks. There are two methods for making such a floor (modular and slatted). The modular method uses special 22 mm thick chipboard with longitudinal channels for pipes. When laying such slabs, it is necessary to apply a heat-insulating layer similar to a concrete screed. The slabs are produced in the form of strips 13, 18 and 28 cm wide. The strips are laid on the floor with a gap of 20 mm. The pipes are fixed in the channels with aluminum strips. The slatted method is similar to the modular method, but instead of strips, wooden slats 28 mm wide are used. When laying the slats, a gap of 20 mm is provided between them. The wooden base of the warm floor is installed on the log system. Return to contents</a>
Collectors for the warm floor
To regulate the supply of hot waterstandard manifolds are used. They are placed in manifold cabinets measuring 60x40x15 cm. The cabinet is mounted in the wall or placed close to it. After the manifold cabinet is mounted, hot water is supplied to it, and a return pipe for cooled water is mounted. A shut-off valve and a drain valve are installed between the water pipes and the manifold. Return to contents</a>
Required Tools
To make warm ones, you will need the following tools:
Tools for laying underfloor heating.
- Bulgarian;
- electric drill;
- putty knife;
- paint brush;
- knife;
- scissors;
- file;
- bit;
- a hammer;
- hacksaw;
- hacksaw for metal;
- Screwdriver;
- vise;
- a hairdryer;
- pliers;
- roulette;
- the meter line;
- grinding grid.
Do-it-yourself water-heated flooring is a feasible job. It will require considerable expenditure on hot water sources, but a warm floor will provide heating for your home.
