Do-it-yourself warm water floor - step-by-step installation instructions. The device of a warm water floor with your own hands: what will you have to face during installation? How to make a water heated floor

Water or hydraulic floors are the most common type of insulated floors. Firstly, the water floor is lower in price during installation and subsequent operation. Secondly, you can do it yourself, without resorting to the help of professional stackers, which means reducing costs. Thirdly, the water floor is considered safer for human health, compared, for example, with electric, infrared, where electromagnetic radiation is an inevitable consequence.

The water floor has two types of installation.

First - concrete system, at which the concrete screed becomes the base, it accumulates heat. Such a system is good in individual low-rise buildings with strong ceilings.
Second - decking system, which is used in wooden "light" houses, attics, where a concrete screed cannot be used, since the ceilings cannot support its weight. The flooring system is also used in multi-storey buildings, especially in “Khrushchev”, where the floors are made of slabs with a limited load.

The floor becomes a source of heat in the room, providing horizontal uniform heating in any part of the room. Heat travels vertically, creating a natural "feet warm, head cold" effect, unlike radiator heating where heat travels up and then back down.

Such a heating system works especially well where there are high ceilings. The air does not dry out, the apartment warms up evenly. Aesthetically, hydraulic floors also benefit, since there is no need for wall-mounted radiators, and space is freed up. In addition, a water heated floor is economically beneficial in operation, its energy consumption is lower, which means that the cost of maintaining the system is reduced.

Disadvantages of hydraulic floor

When choosing a water floor, heat losses should be taken into account, which should not exceed 100 W / m2. To reduce them, you should take thermal insulation seriously. If heat losses are high, it is better to combine water floors with wall-mounted radiators.

Laying underfloor heating in toilets and bathrooms has its own challenges. Often, the water heating pipe is connected to the heated towel rail pipe, which leads to elevated temperature floor is overheating.

Difficulties arise where low ceiling, since the screed above the pipes must be significant in thickness, it is necessary to raise the floor to a height of approximately 10 cm. And if the bathroom is located above a cold basement, the rise reaches 15 cm. Additional costs also fall on strengthening the floor slabs and other supporting structures, as well as reinstalling doors.

What is required for installation?

To install a hydraulic underfloor heating you will need:

boiler for water heating;
pump for pumping water (often built into the boiler, but sometimes you need to purchase additionally);
pipes that are heating elements(it is better to choose metal-plastic ones, with approximately a twenty-millimeter diameter);
distribution pipes and valves to bleed air from the heating system;
fittings for connecting pipes and all hydraulic mechanisms;
a collector or several collectors (in a wall-mounted box, with supply and return pipelines and a control mechanism);
shut-off valves that connect pipelines to the manifold;
heat-insulating and waterproofing materials, reinforcing mesh, special damper tape;
additionally - self-leveling building mixtures or building materials replacing them and means for leveling the subfloor.

Floor preparation and leveling

Laying a water floor heating system requires careful preparation of the base. To begin with, you will have to completely, to the base, dismantle the old floor screed and level the floor horizontally. The surface after dismantling the screed must be thoroughly cleaned of debris, particles of the old screed, dust, dirt, deposits.

The cleaned base of the floor must be covered with a heat-insulating, and then a waterproofing layer. After the necessary manipulations, a damper tape must be fixed around the entire perimeter, then laid according to the lines passing between the pipe contours.

Warming is necessary so that there is no heat sink down. Foamed polyethylene (penofol) covered with foil is best suited. If there is a heated room on the floor below, any will do insulation, the most reliable - polystyrene foam in sheets. Its thickness is approximately 20-50 mm. If you insulate the floor on the ground floor, which is located on the ground or above a cold basement, you will have to resort to an expanded clay mound, and choose thicker polystyrene sheets, approximately 50 - 100 mm.

Modern building materials offer special heaters with special channels for pipes. They are more expensive, but more reliable and less troublesome to install. When the insulation is laid on the floor, a reinforcing mesh must be laid on top. Thus, it will be possible to fix a new, still raw, layer of screed covering the entire pipe system.

In addition, it is convenient to attach the hydraulic floor pipe to the grid using plastic ties. This method is more convenient than the design of many mounting strips, clips.

Collector - its selection and installation

Before proceeding with laying, it is necessary to install a collector. It is set after contour calculations.

The selection of a collector (or several collectors) is made after the calculation of the number of circuits. When choosing a collector, you need to decide in advance how many leads you need to connect circuits to it. In addition, the apparatus must have a drain for draining waste water and an air vent valve.

The purpose of the collector is to distribute hot water flows, as well as adjust, turn on and off the heating hydraulic system.

Choosing a collector, you should not save. The simplest, cheapest, collector has only shut-off valves, and this makes the operation of underfloor heating not convenient. Manifolds with built-in control valves, of course, are an order of magnitude more expensive. But by regulating the flow of water in the premises, in each hydraulic loop, as well as the temperature of a particular room, you can save much more.

If it's about industrial building, a large office, or a similar type of space, the ideal option would be a manifold with pre-mixers, as well as with special servo drives. What are mixers for? They will allow you to regulate the temperature of the water supplied to the pipes, while mixing hot water with the already cooled.

Of course, collectors of this technical level will “eat up” the bulk of the funds that will have to be spent on installing a water floor. Of course, in ordinary apartment or a private house, where the loads are constant and one operating mode of the system is enough, you can get by with simple-type collectors.

The collector is placed in a special box, it is mounted on the wall. Under the box should be empty, here it will be necessary to bring the pipes of the circuits from all rooms. The cabinet, for interior aesthetic reasons, can be painlessly “drowned” in a wall or in a niche, its width is 12 cm.

An important rule: the pipes must be below the collector box. This is done for free air venting.

When assembling the entire system together, it is important to follow the instructions that accompany the collector. And only after the box with the collector is installed, you can start laying pipes.

How to correctly calculate and distribute water floor pipes?

The first step is to calculate the exact route for laying pipes. It is best to order an estimate for laying a water floor to a specialist estimator or do it using specialized computer calculation programs. It is difficult to calculate manually, and an error in the calculations will be expensive and will cost a pretty penny when reworked.

The consequences of incorrect calculations, for example, may be undesirable effects: insufficiently active circulation of water inside the pipes, heat leakage to separate sections floor, uneven heating of the room, alternation of cold and hot areas of the floor (the so-called "thermal zebra").

Most important rule when calculating: if a warm floor is laid in several rooms, then the calculation of the total length of the pipe is made separately for each.

What parameters must be taken into account in the calculations?

Room area.
The material of which walls and ceilings are composed.
The presence of thermal insulation, its quality.
Heating boiler power.
The diameter of the pipes and the material from which they are made.

Based on these parameters, the length of the pipe and the distance between its segments during laying (“pitch”) can be calculated so that the heat transfer is optimal. The step is usually 10-30 cm. The higher the heat loss in the room, the narrower the step should be (10-15 cm). If the room does not lose heat, there are no cold walls, huge windows, balconies, then the step, respectively, can be made wider - 30 cm.

Pipe distribution

When distributing pipes, it is necessary to lay a route for laying. Passing through the pipes, the water heated in the boiler cools down, and this circumstance should be taken into account when determining the route for laying the pipe contours. You should remember a few rules, the violation of which can later affect the quality of heating and the inconvenience of operating the entire heating system. What are these rules?

Heating boiler and pump

The main thing to consider when choosing a water-heating boiler for a warm hydrofloor is power. It must correspond to the sum of the capacities of all sectors of the floor, plus - there must also be a power reserve of 20% (at least 15%, but not less).

To circulate water, you need a pump. Modern boilers are designed so that the pump is included with the boiler, built into the boiler. One pump is enough for 100-120 sq. m. If the area is larger, you will need an additional one (one or more). Additional pumps require separate manifold cabinets.

The boiler has an inlet/outlet for water. Shut-off valves are installed at the inlet/outlet. They are necessary to turn off the boiler in case of minor breakdowns or stop the boiler for preventive purposes, so as not to completely drain the water from the entire system.

If several collector cabinets are provided, you will need a splitter for the central supply so that the water is distributed evenly through the hydraulic system, and narrowing adapters.

Pipe installation and screed

For laying a water floor, you will need fixing profiles with nests that are convenient for keeping a step, which will allow you to fix and fix the pipes. The fastening profiles are screwed to the subfloor using dowels and corresponding screws.

The pipes must then be pressed against the reinforcing mesh and secured with a plastic tie. Do not tightly tighten and pinch the soft pipe, the loop should be more or less free. Pipes to be laid must be bent in the necessary places carefully, carefully, but must not be pinched. This is especially true for polyethylene pipes that are vulnerable to deformation processes.

If a white spot or a stripe appears during pinching, the material cannot be used, it is deformed, during operation a crease or stretching may form. A damaged pipe goes into marriage, it cannot be laid in a water heating system in order to avoid a breakthrough and leakage.

After the floors are laid, the ends of the pipes are brought to the collector. If necessary, pipes are laid through walls (only non-bearing ones). Then a heat-insulating layer (polyethylene foam) is wound around the pipe. Convenient for connecting pipes is the so-called eurocone system, and also, as an option, a compression fitting.

So, after installing the system, it is necessary to check its operation under high pressure. The test takes place when water is supplied (pressure 6 bar), the test period is 24 hours. System testing happens ideally cold water and warmed up. Both during cold and hot pressure testing, care must be taken to ensure that all elements of the system are in working order, function properly, and that the pressure does not drop by more than 1.5 barv.

After making sure that there are no failures, leaks, pipe expansions in the system, you can complete the process of laying a water-heated floor by pouring a screed over the pipes.

It should be noted that with a screed designed for tiles over a warm floor, the thickness of the fill should be in the range of 3 - 5 cm. Under a laminate or similar coating, the screed is made thinner.

Filling should be done with the water heating system running, at pressure. Finally, after pouring the screed, you need to be patient and wait at least 28-30 days. And only after the expiration of this period, you can continue the repair - do the flooring.

Various tips on how to properly arrange underfloor heating give quite a lot. useful information, however, it will not work with their help to carry out your own calculations in a single example. Therefore, the effectiveness of the functioning of the structure will depend on the hands of the master.

To get started on installing underfloor heating, you will need:

soft pencil;
measuring tape;
calculator;
ruler;
graph paper.

Draw a plan of the room on graph paper, taking a scale of 1 cm = 0.5 m. It is also important here to indicate the locations of doors and windows as accurately as possible. Apply a project for the placement of pipes through which hot water, clearly plan the location of the contour. It is important to take into account certain points.

According to technical standards, the gap between the pipes placed at the edges and the wall should be 20-25 cm.
Depending on the diameter of the hose, the distance between the "spirals" or "snakes" should be 35-50 cm.
The pipe departing from the riser should be installed near the place where the cold comes into the house - doors or windows;
The outer walls should have the maximum density of the hose, in the central part of the room it can be laid less often. The most optimal installation scheme looks like this: next to the windows, the entrance door and external walls, the laying step is 15 cm, and on another area - 30 cm.
In order to balance the incoming fluid flow and the return flow, fastening should be carried out in increments of 10 cm.
Loops carrying heat should not exceed 100 m in length, as there may be significant hydraulic losses in the system.
The extreme contour should be placed at a distance of no more than 15 cm from the wall.

The designed drawing will serve as a basis for selecting the required number of pipes and their length. On graph paper, you need to select the length of the contour and, according to the scale, translate the values into the real size. It will take another 2 m to bring the system to the riser. They should also be taken into account. Thus, you will have the required number to install them in a warm water floor system.

For water "carpets" you need a quality hose

Determine the correct hose diameter. Usually it ranges from 16 to 20 mm. Sometimes 25 mm pipes are used. The permissible bending angle and the thickness of the future floor depend on the diameter of the pipe.

Required materials for the device

Based on the indicator of the thickness of the screed, performed after laying the heating system, you will need a specific volume of mortar, which also needs to be calculated. The volume of water is determined by the method of samples. It is important to get a non-spreadable mixture. However, the solution should not be very thick, as this may affect the difficulty of finishing and polishing the surface. Sand and cement are taken in a ratio of 3/1. H You don’t always need to make the composition of the screed yourself - you can buy a special dry mix for the self-leveling floor.

For the purpose of thermal insulation, they take the material (aluminum foil) in the amount that is needed for a specific area of \u200b\u200bthe room. To do this, you need to multiply the width of the room by its length - the value comes out in square meters. Then you should take into account the commodity formation of the material and carry out the subsequent calculation. Laminated canvases are considered optimal here. Aluminum-based foil makes it possible to distribute heat evenly and prevent its loss. The foil is a substrate for the main insulation.

All elements for the implementation of the heating system should be taken with a margin. You will need:

self-tapping screws,
dowels,
hose fittings,
lighthouses.

How does an underfloor heating system work?

According to the diagram, a hose is placed under the flooring in the room. Hot water or another liquid flows through the system, which transfers heat to the surface being used. Ethylene glycol or antifreeze is also used as a heating component. Until the moment when the floor heats up, the carrier of thermal energy distributes and gives off thermal energy to the adjacent material and elements.

Now it is possible to perform three types of flooring: based on wooden canvases, from a concrete composition and polystyrene.

In most cases, concrete coatings are used in the construction of a house, less often - wooden blocks including heating circuit. Consider a concrete self-leveling floor.

Concrete floor device with heating function

Such a system is installed on reinforced concrete capital floors with the future creation of a cement-sand screed. Among the masters, this option is called "jellied" or "wet". The reliability and efficiency of the method in practice is manifested in a high heat input and excellent strength characteristics.

The traditional warm water floor combines the following components:

pipes;
waterproofing;
overlap;
reinforced screed;
heat-insulating material;
finish coating.

In its total thickness, this device is from 7 to 15 cm. Experts recommend laying a damper tape around the entire perimeter of the room, which will prevent heat loss and strengthen the screed at the junction with the walls. On floors with uneven surfaces or in rooms that have an oblong shape, it makes sense to make an expansion joint that compensates for the expansion of the screed with increasing and decreasing temperatures. For private houses, it is usually performed along the line of the doorway, right under the threshold.

Heat insulating materials

For the device of thermal insulation, you can take the following materials:

polypropylene;
cork backing;
expanded polystyrene;
profiled polystyrene.

In most cases, profile material is now used with vapor barrier film, which includes special "bosses" made to secure pipes 18, 17 and 16 mm. The plates include side locks that make it easier to connect the panels. The material itself is expensive, but at the same time it is very convenient to work with.

Pipe selection

Pipes are the main component of the entire heating system. The duration of service and the quality of functioning of the whole water structure depend on them.

Laying the heat transfer pipe is carried out in two ways: serpentine or spiral. According to the installation technology, the second method is simpler and requires less pump work. In houses where there is a linear slope, it is better to use the first option, since this will make it easier to remove air from the hose.

Screed material

During the preparation of a mixture based on cement and sand for a screed device, it is recommended to use plasticizing agents. If they are not used, then it will be necessary to lay a layer of at least 5 cm in thickness, and if used, then this value can be reduced to 3 cm. In order for the structure to serve for a long time and reliably, you need to use a reinforcing mesh. In the case when the area of \u200b\u200bthe room is more than 40 sq.m, it is advised to take polypropylene fiber as a reinforcing layer.

Upper layer

If we talk about decorative flooring, then the most efficient return of thermal energy is provided by ceramics and stone. The top element of the entire “pie” can be polymer and textile materials, the thickness of which does not exceed 10 mm. The use of parquet is also allowed, however, here it is worth taking into account the humidity standards, since you may encounter swelling and drying out of the tree.

In all options, it is important to consider the coverage value - it should not be higher than 0.15 m²K / W.

Before performing work, you need to know that the device of such a system will take a space of about 8 cm from the floor from the room. The phased arrangement of a warm floor consists of the following points:

Working with the base

Initially, all dirt, debris, grease and oil stains are removed from the surface of the subfloor, and then they begin to arrange the first layer. As a rule, a screed based on a mixture of sand and cement is used in the house. It is laid in strict accordance with horizontality - along the lighthouses. It is allowed to install self-leveling floors using modern self-leveling mixtures. In order for the heat to be distributed evenly, you need to make the surface perfectly flat.

Scheme-example of connecting a water-heated floor

The allocated space for the docking components that connect the heating pipes and the house's heat supply system should be hidden in a special cabinet. It is best to make a niche in order to save space. Approximate cabinet dimensions: 600x400x120 mm. These are standard commercially available manifold cabinets. Both joints and certain regulatory systems can be placed in them.

Cabinet connection

Make access to the return hose and the boiler feed pipe in the cabinet. Attach shut-off valves to them. Connect the manifold and put a plug on its end. A great option would be to install a splitter.

An air vent should be screwed in at one end, and a drain cock at the other. Thus, you will be able to turn off the heated system in one or another room if necessary to carry out emergency repairs.

Laying a layer of thermal insulation and waterproofing

It is necessary to lay sheets of aluminum foil or polyethylene on a concrete base:
Fasten the damper tape along the perimeter 2 cm above the level of the screed.
As thermal insulation material take the plates from mineral wool, foam plastic, expanded polystyrene, cork, foam concrete, foam plastic. At your request, the selected component should be characterized by a sufficient value of temperature resistance, which will generally exceed all indicators of the heating layers.
Additional waterproofing is not required if you took polystyrene with foil as a heat-insulating material.
The thickness of the layer is taken depending on the power of the autonomous heating system, the presence or absence of a heated room on the floor below, and the thermal resistance of the floor.
It makes sense to purchase a heat insulator for warm water floors, since it has protrusions for pipes on one side.

Checking the work and making concrete screed

It is important to check the functionality of the system before performing the screed. Only after verification correct operation the entire system can be laid with a self-leveling floor or cement mortar, making the surface perfectly flat along the installed beacons. After the mixture has hardened, one more check of the operation of the system must be done and only then take up the flooring device.

Underfloor heating is a heating system that uses hot water as a heat source for a room. The principle of operation of such a heating system is quite simple: special flexible pipes, through which the hot coolant is distributed.

The source of heat for such a heating system is a central heating system or a gas boiler. You can do the installation of a water-heated floor with your own hands, but before that you will need to draw up a project correctly and decide on the connection method.

The water floor heating system installed in the apartment consists of:

Water heating boiler;
circulation pump;
Ball valves installed at the inlet to the boiler;
Pipes for distributing and laying the heating main;
Collector;
Control and adjustment systems;
Fittings connecting the manifold to the pipeline.

The boiler, which you yourself need to connect to the plumbing heating system, can be:

Electric;
gas;
solid fuel;
On liquid fuel.

The circulation pump is included with most boiler models, but before installing it, you should make a calculation and find out if it has enough power for the underfloor heating system. The power of the heating circuit, (kW) and the temperature of the coolant are taken into account.

The collector distributes hot water along the heating circuit - with its help, the underfloor heating in the apartment is adjusted and adjusted. Make and connect a collector using metal-plastic pipes you can do it yourself - this will save money on installing the system.

The cake of a water-heated floor laid in a screed is divided into three layers - these are:

Shielding substrate;
Heating circuit;
Finishing flooring.

A foil-coated film is used as a shielding substrate. The film protects the heating circuit from possible heat losses.

A pie of a water-heated floor without a screed consists of:

primary sex;
Thermal insulation layer, best of all - a special polystyrene plate;
Aluminum plates for pipe laying;
heating pipes;
Substrates;
Finishing coverage.

Comparing water and electric underfloor heating, it should be noted that:

It is more difficult and expensive to design and install a water floor than an electric one, but its operation is much cheaper. Heating 10 sq. m., the water floor consumes only 1.5 kW of electricity per hour.
The water floor heating system is characterized by the complexity of adjusting the temperature in the apartment. Adjusting the heating of electric floors is quite simple.
Starting floor heating with a water system takes much less time than with an electric one.
With a large area of \u200b\u200bthe room, it is possible to make a water floor the main source of heating; with a small area of \u200b\u200bthe room, it is recommended to use electric floor heating.

Underfloor heating project

H2_2

Optimum floor heating temperature.

The project drawing up instruction requires the availability of initial data, which includes the level of heat loss of the entire building and each room separately. In addition, it is necessary to calculate in advance the temperature value that should be in each room.

The technology is focused on averaged data, so the water floor generates an average of 100 W / m2 of energy, which is equal to the average heat loss of an “average building”. When drawing up a project, it must be taken into account that a warm water floor in each room will cover various heat losses. So, for example, in the bedroom they are 50 W / m2, in the hall 100 W / m2, in the bathroom 75 W / m2.

Pipe laying scheme

Pipes for the heat transfer system are made of cross-linked polyethylene, polypropylene, copper, metal-plastic or stainless steel. Advantage polypropylene pipes lies in their low cost. Metal-plastic products retain shape stability and do not deform. Copper pipes have a long service life and a high degree of thermal conductivity. Pipes made of cross-linked polyethylene are characterized by high thermal stability and strength.

Before you start laying the floor water heating system with your own hands, you must select the pipeline pitch. Here, the step is the distance between the laid pipes that perform floor heating. The pipe laying step affects how evenly the temperature will be distributed over the floor surface.

The laying instruction allows you to use a step from 5 to 60 cm, but most often the pipes are laid in increments of 15-30 cm. The choice of this parameter must be made depending on the type and characteristics of the room, as well as indicators of its calculated heat load. For example, it is recommended to install a pipe system with a laying step of 15 cm in bathrooms and all those rooms where it is important to evenly distribute heat over the floor surface at a heating load level of more than 85 W / m2. You can lay the pipes yourself with an orientation to the following schemes:

When implementing the “snail” laying scheme, the pipeline must be laid in a spiral, which unwinds from the center of the room to the walls. "Snail" is the most popular and common method of laying pipes with your own hands. The design of such a scheme makes it possible for the supply and return to be located nearby, which helps to equalize the average floor temperature, in which cold zones will not occur.

Such a scheme allows heating to be carried out in the coldest areas located along the outer walls. Reverse loop instructions allow mounting closer to the center of the room. It is possible to do laying with a snake in rooms with a floor slope - it is important to correctly lay the heating circuit in the highest part of the room. This will contribute to the independent exit of air from the pipeline to the collector.

The layout of pipes with a double snake allows you to smooth out uneven floor heating. To perform this installation, you need to make double loops of the supply and return circuits. The laying technology allows the combination of “snail” and “snake” schemes - snake pipes are laid along the perimeter of the walls, and in the middle of the room they are laid in a spiral.

All presented methods directly depend on the characteristics of the room and the angle of the floor.

Advice! In the coldest areas, it is necessary to increase the density of the serpentine laying step to 10 cm, especially for areas near external walls.

Ways to connect the underfloor heating system

Do-it-yourself connection of the water floor follows the “pipe-collector-boiler” connection chain. The most common options are:

Collector systems.
Connection using three-way mixers;
Connection with a circulation pump.

When connected using a collector, the system is mounted in such a way that return and supply pipes are freely connected to the collector cabinet. Further, tank collector outlets are connected to the pipes, providing the supply and return flow of the coolant. The design is equipped with shut-off valves, with thermometers installed in them to monitor the temperature regime.

Fixing pipes, valves and other elements is carried out using compressor fittings. In addition, the collectors can be fastened to the water floor contour using special connections - a brass nut, a clamping ring or a support sleeve. At the last stage, the collector is connected to the heat transfer pipes.

If you install and connect a system with a three-way mixer, then it should be installed at the outlet of the return circuit. You can mount such a system with your own hands by directly connecting a three-way mixer using pipes to the boiler.

The collector must be supplemented with a splitter, on the upper side of which an air vent is installed. This element will ensure the removal of air bubbles from a closed system. Fastening of all chain components can be done with fittings or clamping rings.

If the system is characterized by low water pressure, and the mixer is not needed, then you can install circulation pump equipped with a thermostat. The pump can be connected to the central heating system, but this must be done after agreement with the permitting authorities of the Housing Office. It is advisable to install the pump on the return circuit of the system, since when installed on the supply circuit, it will take excess water, which can harm the central heating system.

How to install a warm water floor with a screed

The underfloor heating system is installed in the following order:

The foundation is being prepared - the main requirement for subfloor it is a flat surface and dry.
A waterproofing layer is being laid. As a waterproofing, ordinary polyethylene film can be used. The film is spread over the entire surface and glued with adhesive tape at the joints.
The damper tape is laid. You need to do this around the entire perimeter of the room.
The thermal insulation layer is installed. Expanded polystyrene foam can be used, on top of which a foil-coated film is laid.
In accordance with the markup, pipes are laid.

After the hydraulic tests are carried out, the turn comes concrete pouring. In order to make reinforcement, a metal mesh with a wire cross section of 5 mm, with a mesh size of 10x10 or 15x15 cm, should be used. The finishing screed can be poured from mixtures for self-leveling floors, special building mixtures or mortar with the addition of a plasticizer. The thickness of the concrete layer in this case should not be more than 30-35 mm.

Advice! An aluminum bar with a length of up to 2 m is best suited for leveling an uncured screed. The bar will help you quickly and efficiently complete the initial leveling.

After completion of the work, you need to wait for the complete solidification of the fill, and then lay the decorative coating.

How to install without a screed

Underfloor heating water type can be installed without the use of concrete screed- under a polystyrene base or wooden flooring.

Laying under a polystyrene base is carried out in the following order:

In accordance with the preliminary marking, the polystyrene foam base is laid in the form of plates. They are fastened to each other with special snap locks.
Aluminum plates are placed in the grooves, on top of which pipes are laid with an orientation to the laying plan of the heating circuit.
A waterproofing layer can be laid on top of the plates - an ordinary plastic film will do.
The top coat is laid on top of the plates.

When using wooden modules, the following actions are performed:

The modules are placed on the logs, while maintaining a step of 600 mm.
A waterproofing and insulating layer is laid between the lags.
The modules are interlocked with each other with special locks.
Metal plates are placed on top of the layer of prepared modules.
On top of the metal plates, pipes are laid according to the selected scheme.
If tiles or linoleum will be laid under a warm wooden floor, you will need to prepare a flat surface - put on top of the metal plates drywall sheets or chipboard, fix them and seal all joints and cracks with putty.

Do-it-yourself guys can take on a warm water floor with their own hands, who see the difference between a fitting and a coupling. Jokes aside, this method of heating has a lot of advantages. Its installation allows you to save space and resources, create a favorable microclimate and eliminate the formation of drafts.

The technology is good in that it is possible to install it in heating systems that provide alternative sources energy: solar collectors, batteries, heat pumps, condensing boilers. Only advantages can be extracted from water heating - it is comfortable and convenient.

Do-it-yourself warm water floor: where and how?

IMPORTANT! Before installing underfloor heating, it is imperative to coordinate the issue with the housing and communal services. Special permits are required, sometimes installation is not possible due to technical reasons, so please clarify the situation.

Water heated floors are durable heating systems, but they are not so easy to install. The only way to reduce the cost of installing such a heating system is to install it yourself. To do this, you must follow the generally accepted rules and acquire necessary materials and tools.

Where can you install?

in the bath;
in an apartment / house;
in the bathroom;
in the garage;
on the loggia;
in the country;
in a greenhouse.

Mounting methods:

under the tile;
under the laminate;
on the ground;
in the shtrabe;
from the towel warmer.

Tools for competent installation

For installation you will need:

water heating electric boiler;
ball valves;
fitting;
collector equipped with the function of setting, regulation and control;
pipes;
pressure pump (sometimes it is part of the boiler, without a pump anywhere);
mixer;
heat exchanger;
floor heating automation.

Pipes

IMPORTANT! It is better to choose pipes made on the basis of synthetic materials. This is due to ease of installation, wear resistance and resistance to corrosion. Rarely used stainless steel.

Pipes suitable for installation can be made of polypropylene or cross-linked polyethylene. If the choice fell on the first option, it is better to buy a pipe with fiberglass reinforcement: propylene itself expands very much as the temperature rises. Polyethylene pipes are not so expandable.

The diameter of the product should be 16-20 mm - so the pipe is able to withstand a temperature of 95 degrees, as well as a pressure of 10 bar.

If you want to save money, then it is not at all necessary to overpay for products with oxygen protection equipped with additional layers. This will not affect the quality of the system.

collectors

Another key component is collectors. Its necessity is not exaggerated: it allows you to connect several underfloor heating circuits to the main supply line for warm water, as well as the intake of chilled water. To install a warm water floor, you will need 2 splitters. They are installed in a special manifold cabinet.

Why do you need exactly 2 pieces? The task of one is to distribute hot water, the second is to return the cooled liquid back.

The main tasks of the collector are setting up and adjusting underfloor heating. They make operation as comfortable as possible.

There are many manufacturers offering ready-to-use collectors along with wall cabinets. It is especially important if the electric water-heated floor is mounted independently.

IMPORTANT! To purchase a suitable model, it is enough to know the number of pipe inlets and outlets.
The new models of collectors have a thermostat, pumps and pressure stabilizers with the ability to connect several heating devices that require different coolant temperatures.

Thermal insulation for underfloor heating

The warm floor assumes obligatory thermal insulation. As a heat-insulating material, you can use compacted foam with a minimum thickness of 5 cm, heat-insulating film, mineral wool, as well as heat-insulating boards of various configurations, equipped with a waterproofing coating. In the case of foam insulation, it should be covered with plastic wrap.

With the help of thermal insulation, heat losses that can go to the floor can be avoided. The amount of material is determined by the area of \u200b\u200bthe room in which the underfloor heating is installed. The area of the material is equal to the area of the room.

IMPORTANT! Do not forget about fittings, reinforcing metal mesh for pouring the screed (3-5 cm cells are enough), pipe fasteners, keys and damper tape. A fitting is a device for connecting pipes to manifolds, if anything.

Installation options for underfloor heating

There are several options for laying pipes. Laying layout is determined at the design stage of the heating system.

How to set up the system and install?

An obligatory requirement for the installation of the pipeline is a flat floor. There should be no slopes and holes. The easiest way to level the surface is to use self-leveling compounds with which the filling is carried out.

Install the collector on the wall. Install on a vertical surface. The distributor must be placed and aligned horizontally. You can check the correctness using a water or laser level.
Incorrect mounting and misalignment of axes can cause unstable operation of the heating system.
Stick damper tape around the perimeter of the room at floor level.
Install thermal insulation.
If the thermal insulation does not involve fastenings, it is necessary to mount strips with pipe locks. This must be done every 50 cm.
Adhering to the project scheme, place the pipes in place without bending them.
Connect the pipes to the manifold using fittings.
Connect the collector to the heating system, turn it on and test it. After starting, gradually increase the temperature and pressure over a period of 4 hours. Check the system for leaks: if there are none, you can test it at the highest allowable pressure.

IMPORTANT! It is better for beginners not to mess with connecting collectors.

The next step is filling. Before pouring the floor, you need to be 100% sure that everything is in order.
If the testing showed excellent results and no problems were found, the pipes are laid with a reinforcing mesh and the system is poured with a screed. The more powerful the system, the higher the screed layer. What is better to make a screed?
You can prepare the mixture yourself, but we advise you not to bother and buy it ready-made in a building hypermarket. But remember, without a screed in any way.
Pour the mixture so that it goes from the very edges to the center.
Once the screed is completely dry, turn on the minimum floor temperature for a few hours. Complete drying takes at least 3 weeks.
Determine the humidity factor, then install the flooring. Permissible rate — 2-4%.

Ready mixes

Model	Description
	Consumption: 20 kg/sq.m at a layer thickness of 10 mm.
Polimin LC-2	Consumption: 1.9 kg/sq.m per 1 mm layer.
	Consumption: 1.8 kg/sq.m per 1 mm layer.
	Consumption: 19.3 kg/sq.m per 1 cm layer.
Ceresit CN 83	Consumption: 2kg/sq.m 1mm layer.

IMPORTANT! Do not make a dense layer of material for laying tiles: this will negatively affect the rate of floor heating in the future.

Step 1 - We take penofol, a mesh for fixing pipes and a pipe through which hot water will flow Step 3 - We lay insulation Step 4 - On top of Step 6 - We connect the circuit to the comb where hot water will be supplied, and check the performance of the floor The quality of the installation determines the efficiency and performance of the entire heating system. For full confidence in the correct functioning, we recommend that you contact a specialist for help to connect the collectors. This is a key point that greatly affects the health of the system. And you can safely take the rest of the installation steps into your own hands.

Underfloor heating system - perfect option for a private house (alas, it is forbidden to use it in apartments due to possible consequences as a result of damage to pipes and flooding of neighbors). Today we will consider what this system is, arrangement schemes and how to carry out installation work with our own hands.

The water floor heating system is a heated coolant passing through pipes that are installed in the floor. Before you decide to install the system, you need to consider all its advantages and disadvantages. Perhaps, after weighing all the pros and cons, you will understand that the result is not worth your work, or, on the contrary, you will be even more confident that the installation of this system is perfect solution in your house. Advantages:

Profitability. The arrangement of a water floor in a private house will lead to a reduction in electricity consumption by about 20% due to the low temperature of the coolant (from +30 °C to +50 °C).
Comfort. Uniform heating of the house over the entire area will create an optimal temperature for a person (about +22 ° C at the level of the legs and about +18 ° C at the head level). It will be comfortable to walk barefoot on the floor.
Operational safety. The heating system is hidden, which makes it absolutely safe - there are no risks of burns and injuries when in contact with the coolant.
Long operation. With proper installation, the life of the system will be about 40 years.

Underfloor heating system

But nothing is perfect. Do-it-yourself installation is a rather laborious and complex process, since the design of the system is a “sandwich” of several layers with different content. Leakage is possible if installed incorrectly. In this case, you will have to remove the floor covering, remove the screed and carry out repairs. Also, the water floor heating system, unfortunately, cannot be used as the only source of heat in a private house. It is best to supplement the heating system with radiators or other heating devices.

The warm water floor system is presented in the form of pipes made of a certain material and laid according to the scheme along which the coolant moves. You can make it possible to adjust the temperature by installing a thermostat. The heating system consists of the following elements:

adjusting fittings;
pipe contours;
collector;
separating manifold cabinet;
air release valve.

Water floor thermostat

The separating manifold cabinet must be installed in the room to be heated. Pipelines are brought into the device, which also need to be connected to the manifold.

Before starting work, you need to select the installation option for the system. There are three ways: concrete, polystyrene and wood systems. Let's study their schemes more closely in order to choose the option that suits you the most in all respects.

Concrete version of the installation of the water system

The concrete option for the manufacture of a water floor is considered the most common. The base is a cement-sand screed. A waterproofing layer must be laid on a leveled concrete surface, a layer of heat-insulating material goes on top. Heating pipes are attached from above. If the installation work is carried out in a large room, then it is additionally worth using a reinforcing mesh to fix the pipes, in a small room you can use plastic brackets or fastening strips. The next step is to fill the carrier layer in the form of a sand-cement mixture using plasticizers. The final step is laying the flooring.

The second option is to make a polystyrene system. This design is lighter than concrete, it is based on the use of special heat-insulating polystyrene boards. The shape of this material is suitable for simple pipe installation. On the edges of the plate are equipped with special locks for strong adhesion, which allows you to create a monolithic "shield" over the entire surface of the floor. Laying pipes on such a "pillow" of polystyrene plates does not require the use of additional fasteners. Do-it-yourself installation of equipment is carried out by simply pressing and installing pipe sections in the grooves of the plates. The next layer is metal plates, after which you can lay the flooring.

As a basis for wooden system serve edged boards, plywood, MDF boards. Wooden plates are “dissolved” into strips 13–18 cm wide and laid with a small gap on a wooden floor under pipes. From above, you need to install thermal distribution plates with grooves for heating pipes using screws. The grooves of the plates are placed in the recesses between the wooden plates. The system is fixed without the use of fasteners. From above, the surface of the system is covered with plastic wrap, and then plasterboard sheets are fixed on top, which will become the main one for laying the finished floor.

In order for the installation of the system in a private house to be as successful as possible, carefully study our instructions. Installation work consist of several stages and it is very important to follow all the recommendations of experts so that you do not have to start all over again.

Water floor installation

How to make a do-it-yourself installation of a warm floor system - a step-by-step diagram

Step 1: Substrate Preparation and Thermal Insulation

Regardless of which system installation scheme suits you best, it is necessary to properly level the base and lay a layer of thermal insulation.

This will reduce the risk of emergencies in the system. Remove the old coating and, if necessary, make. Be sure to check the result of the work done with the building level. Old private houses are usually famous for "walking" ceilings. In this case, you can not do without the use of a reinforcing mesh to strengthen the base. Thanks to this, you will avoid various troubles, for example, the formation of cracks.

After that, divide the room into sectors - each of them will have a separate circuit. Now let's move on to insulation. There are many suitable materials, but enough practical option- the use of expanded polystyrene sheets. And to exclude further deformation or expansion during temperature changes, use a damper tape (welted). It is laid at the junction of the floor and walls, as well as at the junctions between sectors around the entire perimeter of the room. Next you need to do the following:

We lay and form a layer of thermal insulation;
We put a layer of waterproofing;
We fix the reinforcing mesh;
Installing pipes.

Expanded polystyrene plates are adjusted to each other as close as possible. We put waterproofing on top, which can be a dense plastic film. We close the joints between the film with tape. The reinforcing mesh also needs to be fixed in order to eliminate the risk of its shift.

Step 2: We carry out the installation of pipes

Next, you need to fix the pipes on the reinforcing mesh. To do this, you can use special clamps or flexible wire. During the fastening process, try not to tighten the clamps on the pipes too much - during the movement of the coolant, the pipe may move slightly, and tightened clamps will leave marks. You need to start laying from the point ("comb") that connects the water supply system and the circuit. We fix the extreme end of the pipe on the supply manifold and begin to gradually mount the pipe on the frame, setting the desired radius using a special spring, putting it on the pipe. Thanks to this, you can avoid strong bending of products and their deformation.

We connect the end and the beginning of the contour on the comb, and then draw the next one from the same point. Continue to work until the entire surface is filled. last part connect the pipes to the return manifold. In this case, the number of circuits must exactly match the number of outlets at the collector, so think over the number of circuits in advance. After connecting the heating circuits on the comb, the equipment should be "embedded" into the water supply system.

Step 3: We start the system and fill the screed with our own hands

We have installed the system. However, before pouring the finish coat and starting the heating, carry out preliminary hydraulic tests. You can do this with your own hands, without involving specialists: pour water into the pipes under pressure of 0.7 MPa. It is also necessary to inspect the pipes for damage, deformed sections and troubleshoot before pouring the screed and installing the floor covering.

If the testing of the system was successful and you did not notice any failures or any damage, you can start pouring the screed. To do this, set the water pressure to about 3 bar and ensure that the room has a constant room temperature.. By pouring the screed, we provide another heat-distributing layer. Having prepared a solution of cement and sand grade M-300 and pour the solution.

Step 4: Finishing the water floor

The last step is laying the finish coat. This is done only after the concrete screed has completely hardened. You also need to remember that not all types of coverage are suitable for a warm water floor. It is best, of course, to put ceramic tiles. But if you want to put parquet or other flooring, check that the packaging is marked "for underfloor heating".