Is it possible to make a system of underfloor heating under a laminate on a wooden base
I want to make myself a warm floor in a 3.5 by 5 m room on the ground floor (unfurnished). Area 11 sq. M. m., wooden floor. I bought a laminate flooring made of coniferous wood (STEIKO undefloor 5.5 mm). Suitable for underfloor heating systems, smooths the surface of 1.3-3 mm, single-core carbon wire 160, Ф = 3mm, 33 Ohm * m pog. What else is needed and how to do it?
Vladimir
Expert Answer
Good afternoon, Vladimir.
I don’t want to upset you, but using a heating cable to arrange a warm floor under a laminate on a wooden base is not the best idea. The fact is that such heating systems should be installed in the screed - this is the only way to achieve uniform heating and ensure fire and electrical safety of the structure. In addition, the alignment of the cement-sand mixture will create an even base for laying the laminate.
Perhaps you planned to lay a substrate on top of the cable, hoping that it can smooth out the very 3 mm of its thickness? Alas, in this case, the laminate boards will not be able to lie on the base with the entire plane, so during operation the floor will “play”. As a result, the locks of individual panels will begin to collapse and cracks will appear - the coating will quickly become worthless.
On the other hand, planning to use a wooden base as a subfloor, you miss the opportunity to equip the screed. Of course, it would be possible, at your own peril and risk, to lay a high-quality waterproofing and put a thin layer of cement-sand mortar on top of the cable loop, but experts do not recommend this. Firstly, in this case the wood will not be ventilated, and secondly, the service life of the subfloor will be reduced due to the large temperature difference on both sides of the boardwalk.
In your case, there are several ways to solve the problem. If you still plan to use a cable heater, you can:
- take a chance and lay the cable in a thin layer of concrete on top of the boards (of course, providing high-quality waterproofing);
- dismantle the wooden base and build a warm floor "from scratch". For this, a waterproofing layer and a heater from polystyrene foam slabs are laid on a concrete or soil base. Heaters can be attached to a construction grid previously laid on thermal insulation - among other things, it will also serve to reinforce the structure. All that remains is to make a screed and you can proceed with the installation of the laminate.
As you can see, both of these methods are quite laborious and not without drawbacks. For this reason, we recommend that you refuse to use a heating cable in favor of an infrared film heater. In this case, the problems will disappear on their own. All you have to do is mount the IR film on top of the substrate. After that, it will be possible to lay the laminate directly on the heaters.
As with the cable heating system, in addition to IR film, you will need waterproofing, a thermostat, a temperature sensor and connecting wires. You can find detailed information on installing an infrared warm floor system in the appropriate section of our website.
