Warm water floors on wooden floors. How to make a water heated floor in a wooden house Laying water heated floors on wooden beams

Water heated floors can be laid on wooden floor in several ways. Wooden floors themselves are popular because of their environmental friendliness and practicality, which makes wood one of the best building materials.

The water heated floor system is in great demand. Installing such a system is an excellent solution in various rooms for its uniform heating, the advantage is the absence of batteries and the ability to move on the floor in any weather barefoot. In addition, heated floors are convenient for people who have small children who constantly run and crawl on the floor.

The principle of the "warm floor" system

Thanks to the warm floor covering, a comfortable temperature is created in the room. All this is supported constant temperature coolant created by the heating boiler. A modern heating boiler has built-in water supply modes that heat up to 50 degrees; this type of floor heating is the most economical option.

A heated floor in which water is the heat carrier is called a water heated floor. The principle of operation is that the water passing through the pipes that are laid under the floor heats up and thereby makes it warm. Theoretically, pipes should only be laid on a flat surface. Before this, they need to be laid with a heat reflector so that the heat subsequently goes up. A water-based wooden heated floor is a well-combined system that allows you to heat a room quickly and economically.

Water heated floor design

Water-based floors are laid using a screed or by laying. The flooring option is characterized by two installation methods, which differ from each other depending on the material used:

  1. Polystyrene system;
  2. Wooden system.

Under concrete method This means a concrete screed covering the structure of a water-heated floor. The use of the laying method ensures dry work, thanks to which the efficiency and speed of installation become much faster.


Floor-mounted option for installing heated floors.

If you are planning to install wooden and warm water floors, then there is only one way out - to use the flooring method.

Using water system By heating your floors, you will get many benefits:

  • Heat is distributed evenly over the entire surface of the floor;
  • The humidity in the room is normalized;
  • From an economic point of view, such a system is good decision to minimize electricity costs;
  • There is also a unique opportunity to use this system in summer, to cool the room;
  • No noise or vibration.

However, there are some disadvantages:

  • There is a possibility of leakage;
  • Difficulties arise during installation.

The flooring system provides several options for laying a wooden water floor. For example, a modular scheme involves installing pipes into previously prepared modules. In the middle of these sections there is a groove into which the water floor tubes are placed. This installation method is quite fast, because there are no installation elements where it is necessary to install rails and other components.

By slatted installation of a wooden water-heated floor system we mean a more serious and difficult process. But fulfill this work Almost anyone can. Installation of a water floor in this situation is carried out between slats made of chipboard or OSB. The width of these grooves should be less than 20 millimeters.

Complete preparation of the wooden base

First you need to make sure that the wooden base is suitable for installing heated floors. To do this, you need to carefully examine it. Provided that the boards are all intact, there are no rotten areas and the boards do not wobble underfoot, you can begin to carry out preparatory work. But suddenly, if there is a draft under the floor, the logs are spaced more than 60 centimeters apart from each other (when installing a heated floor, the maximum distance between adjacent logs should be no more than 60 centimeters), and the boards are not level, the base needs to be changed or dismantled.

General procedure for carrying out work

As mentioned earlier, the distance between the logs should not exceed 60 centimeters. If this requirement complied with, you can safely begin to construct the inner part of the floor, which will support the weight of the entire structure. After this, you need to nail plywood to the joists on top, OSB sheets or boards.

Thermal insulation

It is necessary to lay a vapor barrier on top of the log, choosing a special film for this. No need to buy plastic film, since it can form condensation when the temperature changes. Next, either mineral wool, expanded polystyrene or other thermal insulation material is laid.

Don't forget about the damper tape, which needs to be glued around the entire perimeter of the room. Main function The purpose of this tape is to protect the floor from seasonal expansion.


Insulation between joists.

Board laying technology

Next, the process begins with the installation of rough boards, on which wooden structures, including warm water floors, are subsequently installed. Until this moment, it is necessary to correctly align the grooves between the boards, because in the future heated floor tubes will be laid in them. The grooves should be 20x20 mm in width and height. One of the most important points when installing a water floor is the installation wooden slats. The ends of the boards must be smoothly rounded, since the tubes will be laid there and rotated 180 degrees.

Installation of heated floors

It is necessary to lay metal heat-reflecting plates in the grooves; you can also use regular foil. Heated floor tubes with a diameter of 16 millimeters are laid on top of the foil; for greater efficiency, each tube can be screwed into foil. To prevent the tubes from jumping out of the grooves, it is necessary to secure small metal plates in some places.

Connection to the heating system

The next stage, after which wooden systems and the water heated floor will be completed, the pipes will be connected to heating system. To do this you can choose various methods eg manual control. The connection can be made using mixing units or collector systems. The choice of options depends on the specific project. Do not forget that connecting a wooden floor system to a central heating system can only be done if everything is in place Required documents, which confirm the approval of your work in all authorities

Crimping

At the end of the entire installation process, you need to perform a pressure test of the system to detect any damage or leaks. This stage should not be skipped and proceed to the final finishing, since many problems may arise later, for example, the coating may swell and become wet, or even peel off completely.

Choosing a floor covering

Not all floor coverings can be used on top of a water floor system. When choosing, you need to take into account that the heat transfer resistance coefficient of the floor covering should be up to 0.15 m2 K/W and no more. Therefore, you should not choose a material made from cork; it is best to use ceramic tiles, porcelain stoneware or laminate. You can also lay parquet, but installation may be difficult.

It is also worth considering that not many carpets are suitable for water-heated floors; when choosing, you need to pay attention to the special markings on the packaging.

You can install a warm water floor on a prepared wooden floor in just 3-4 days. Most of time is needed for laying the boards, since it is necessary to carefully measure the width of the grooves, which takes quite a lot of time. As for installation, the process is very easy and quick.

The method of heating bathhouses by circulating heated water “underfoot” was used in ancient times by the Turks and Romans. The “underground” method was not new, but it was not sufficiently studied and developed. For a long time They believed that it was pointless to install a heated floor system on a wooden floor due to the specific properties of natural building materials. The main advantages of wood - excellent insulating qualities and lightness - were recognized as a hindrance. The difficulty was caused by characteristic movements of organic matter caused by fluctuations in temperature background and changes in moisture levels. The intractability of combining water-heated floors with a wooden base forced us to find a technological “way out” that would ensure their working union.

Video about underfloor heating system

What will you have to face during the work?

The principle of operation of the “warm floor” design family is based on the transfer of coolant energy through the surrounding material to the floor covering. The heated floor then transfers heat into the room. A traditional concrete screed surrounding pipes with water or ethylene glycol solution moving through them copes well with this function. The same cannot be said about wood, which prevents the spread of thermal energy. It, of course, does not allow the energy generated during heating to pass into the underground, but it is not in a hurry to give it to users either.

Question: why not simply fill in the concrete screed wood flooring? Answer: then per 1m² wooden floor the pressure will be about 300 kg of concrete layer. There is no doubt that wood cannot withstand such a heavy load, even if the beam structure were extremely reliable, such as for a Russian bathhouse or log house it is unwise to do.

Another snag is the underlay, without which you can lay flooring not accepted on wooden floors. Most materials used as a substrate also belong to the category of insulation, creating a barrier to the passage of heat.

The entire range of problems and obstacles will be eliminated by the improved technology according to which water-heated wooden floors are now being built. Thanks to the features of its device:

  • the weight of the heating “underground” structure has been reduced by an order of magnitude;
  • the heat received from the heating pipes is completely transferred to the floor covering and indirectly to users;
  • the underlay is laid only under carpet, linoleum or floor tiles;
  • the period of arrangement has been extremely shortened;
  • The 28-day waiting period required for the screed to fully harden is excluded.

After laying the finishing coating over a water-heated floor constructed using a wooden system, you can begin using it immediately. An important advantage is the ability to repair and replace damaged areas without significant problems, which is completely unrealistic with a cement screed.

Design features of a wooden water system

Designed specifically for suburban buildings with beam floors Wooden water heated floor systems are laid in a unique laying method:

  • the pipeline with the circulating coolant is not located in cement screed, and is mounted on top of joists or sub-plank floors in specially formed channels;
  • for heat accumulation and transfer, the channels are equipped with heat distribution plates with a longitudinal recess for laying heating circuit pipes;
  • metal plates, along with the duties of distributing heat, serve as elements that increase the rigidity of the structure, thereby eliminating the need to use a substrate.

Note. In budget homemade options Instead of expensive plates, foil with a thickness of 200 microns is used.

If the underlay is still needed, for example, for finishing the floor ceramic tiles or linoleum, gypsum fiber boards (GVL, GVLV) or cement-bonded particle boards (CSP) with minimal insulation properties are used.

Two technologically different options to choose from

All the differences lie in the method of forming channels for the location of the pipeline, hence the division into two methods:

  • For laying heated floors wooden joists You can now purchase special chipboard modules with “grooves” pre-milled at the factory, the spacing between which is determined by the planned heat transfer of the system. The factory set comes in fully equipped with all components: modules with existing channels, metal heat-distributing plates, fasteners and pipes. They just need to be put together in accordance with the attached project instructions. Significant disadvantage modular flooring made of chipboard - the cost is sometimes equivalent to the price of a log house. Therefore, cunning folk craftsmen, relying on factory developments, came up with a cheap rack-and-pinion alternative.
  • The slatted version predetermines the formation of channels not by milling in a chipboard, but by stuffing slats. To make slats, use edged planed boards, moisture-resistant plywood or the above-mentioned boards with a thickness of at least 21 mm, maximum 28 mm. The distance between the slats is usually equal to the thickness of the slats, since in the grooves created by stuffing, pipes with an outer diameter of 17 mm should not only lie freely, but also not be deformed by the movements of the wood. The width of the guide rails is determined by the distance between the pipes of the circuit being constructed. For example, when laying a pipeline in a snake with a pitch of 300 mm, the width of a 22 mm board should be 278 mm.

There is another ingenious folk technology - a kind of hybrid of the rack and pinion and modular principles. According to it, laying heated floors on wooden beams is done quite quickly and very economically.

To do this in edged board on one side, a quarter with the dimensions of the channel is selected. At a distance of at least 7 cm from the wall, a continuous strip is milled to an equal depth so that the pipe can be brought to the next row. The thickness of the board, naturally, should be larger size samples, but the width of the board in this case is equal to the laying step. Boards with channels are attached with self-tapping screws directly to beams or joists, because there is no need to construct a subfloor.

Installation of the system on a light slatted floor

Before constructing a heated floor under a used wooden floor, it is necessary to carefully check the condition of all elements. It is advisable to disassemble the floorboards and inspect the joists, and if necessary, replace components that are in doubt. If the structure was not insulated enough to the beams or to the joists at the level of the bottom line, you need to nail the bars and lay slab insulation on them. Then you need to lay insulating roll material with an overlap (preferably polyethylene 200 microns) and attach a 5 cm wide damper tape to the wall along the perimeter of the floor.

Those who wanted to know how to make a wooden floor warm by installing a water circuit probably realized that the simplest option for laying the pipeline would be a snake. On a plan made according to the dimensions of the room, we will mark the place for connecting pipes and installing control equipment, and draw the location of the guides with the required step. For our latitudes, the pitch between pipes varies from 150 mm to 300 mm. It is recommended to take corrugated pipes with a diameter of 16 or 17 mm. Based on the data obtained, we calculate the dimensions of the slats and make them.

The base has been prepared, the slats have been prepared - you can begin installation:

  • in accordance with the personal project, we lay the prepared guides, between which we leave a groove-channel for the pipes;
  • we fasten the guides with self-tapping screws to the rough base;
  • We round the corners of the slats in the pipeline turning zone;
  • We place foil with a thickness of at least 50 microns into the channels created by this method, press it, carefully bending around the recess, and fix it in places to the slats with a stapler;

Advice. To increase heat transfer, craftsmen recommend additionally wrapping the pipes themselves with foil.

  • We lay a pipeline along the formed grooves, periodically fasten it with metal plates to subfloor or to the slats;
  • connect to heating circuit and carry out pressure testing of the heating system;
  • Having made sure that it works, we either immediately lay the floor covering, or a substrate under the tiles or linoleum, which is strongly recommended CBPB slabs, do not contain formaldehyde.

This is how you can build water heated floors yourself without extra costs and unnecessary fanaticism. The principles introduced by Western engineers can be practically used, leaving the money in your own wallet. What is preferable: a very expensive factory “designer” or an affordable homemade product?

From the author: Hello, dear readers. I don’t know about you, but I’m a rare colder (even in the summer I sleep under a duvet). That is why for me the issue of indoor air temperature comes first. The solution came naturally when my friend boasted that he had installed heated floors. You can’t even imagine how excited I was about making the same ones for myself. However, at my friend's apartment concrete base with which to install the system warm covering It wasn’t difficult, but mine was made of wood. So I started to figure out how to install a warm water floor on a wooden floor, I did everything myself and the result has pleased me for several years now.

Yes, I can say that I went through a lot of information and most of it turned out to be nonsense. Therefore, in order to avoid unskilled installation, I strongly recommend reading this article to the end and learning all the nuances of installing heating coatings with your own hands.

Features of water heated floors on a wooden base

The whole “beauty” is that we are dealing with wood. The thermal conductivity coefficient of this material is extremely low. Wood, in fact, is insulation, and the property of any insulation is to be a thermal barrier. It’s not for nothing that there are such types of insulation as sawdust, wood fibers impregnated with cement, etc.

So we get a stumbling block, a tree - a heat insulator that we must turn into a transmitter. Everything becomes even more complicated when we talk specifically about a water-heated coating over a wooden floor. The catch is that the pipe is a narrowly concentrated source of heat. For example, the infrared plates of an electric floor distribute their energy over the entire surface area, and the pipe, with a diameter of half an inch, must distribute the heat over a radius of at least 15 cm.

Source: http://vodotopim.ru

In order to overcome all these obstacles and install a wooden base, experts have come up with various methods and tricks, which we will now study.

Types of installation

In order to clearly understand what is being done, you need to remember the following points. Heating can be convective, radiant or combined. With the convective heating method, we are dealing with the so-called thermal convection, when cold air heats up and rushes upward. This is how radiators and batteries work. The air around the radiator constantly circulates, heated air rushes upward, and new cold air is drawn in from below again. Hot air rises, cools along the way and falls down again.

Radial, on the contrary, does not heat the air, but works on the principle infrared radiation. Radiation does not heat the air! It only heats the surface nearby. And the air in this case is a heat insulator! When installing on wooden joists, we are dealing only with infrared radiation; nothing connects us with thermal convection! Therefore, we should reduce the volume of air around the pipe as much as possible.

Now, let's look at the types of installation of floors on wooden floors.

Source: http://harthaus.ru

  • factory panels- are thick sheets of chipboard or other similar material, with sawn grooves for laying pipes. They come complete with aluminum panels that fit into the grooves of the chipboard after its installation. Next, pipes are laid in these aluminum gutters and everything is covered with plywood, on which the finishing coating will be laid. Installation of factory panels is also carried out on laid plywood.

Installation order:

  1. Lay down a layer of waterproofing.
  2. We make a layer of insulation.
  3. We install a vapor barrier.
  4. We lay the second layer of subfloor (plywood, chipboard, OSB) so that no more than two corners meet at one point and screw it to the joists.
  5. Lay out a layer of waterproofing.
  6. We lay the factory panels in the required order and screw them to the plywood.
  7. We lay sheets of aluminum on the panels.
  8. Lay out the pipes along necessary technology: spiral, snake, various systems forward and return feeds.
  9. Laying it down last layer rough coating. (plywood, OSB).
  10. We cover everything with a fine coating;

  • self-sawing assumes the presence of a mobile phone jointer, although they occur in nature, they are extremely rare. Installation is carried out according to the method described below:
  1. We cut out grooves on the laid floor and line everything with foil. You should only use construction foil and under no circumstances try to replace it with food grade foil. The food thickness is only 50 microns, while the construction thickness is about 200.
  2. Again, we lay the pipes in the grooves and sew them with a rough covering.
  3. We lay the bars. Gutters for placing pipes in them can also be made using ordinary bars, which are laid in the form of a labyrinth.
  4. We line this structure with foil. And remember, bend the grooves in the foil only where the pipe will be, and not everywhere where possible;

  • raised floor- this method is as follows: a subfloor made of plywood or chipboard is laid on top of the joists. The bars and waterproofing are laid on it at a distance of 25-30 cm from each other. Insulation, for example, extruded polystyrene, is placed between the bars in one layer. The bars and thermal insulation must be of the same thickness. It should be calculated so that the block and insulation are 1-2 mm above the pipe. That is, the diameter of the pipe must be less than the thickness of the bar and insulation, and they must be the same. After everything has been laid, we mark the places where the pipe will be laid and cut channels in the insulation and bars for its installation. This is done very simply, ordinary construction knife. After making the channels, we cover everything with construction foil and “press it in.” If the foil is torn in some places, do not simply lay a whole sheet over the tear; lay a small piece, with a 20 cm overlap on both edges. Otherwise, everything is done by analogy with laying factory panels;
  • laying on insulation. All sites shout with one voice that this method is the worst and ineffective. According to them, with such a design efficiency is greatly lost. Of course, in some ways I agree with them, if we do it using the technology that is described on all resources, then we will significantly reduce the efficiency. And they offer the following: on the mats mineral wool lay out foil, place two pipes between the logs (which is about 60 cm by standards) and sew everything up with plywood. Of course, with such a system it is easier to warm yourself from the fire. But I recommend that you do all the work according to the diagram below or according to the video instructions:

  1. On installed logs we attach the cranial bars.
  2. We lay out the first rough covering - sheets of plywood, chipboard, boards. We do not attach it to the cranial bars.
  3. Lay down a layer of waterproofing.
  4. We lay a layer of insulation. Now remember: if you use the 20th pipe, lay mineral or basalt wool so that exactly 20 mm remains to the top points of the joist.
  5. We do not install vapor barrier here. If the distance between our logs is 60 cm, then we cut out 3 strips of exactly 130 mm each from extruded polystyrene, and lay them so that there is 40 mm between them and the logs, and 60 mm between the central and outer ones.
  6. Now very important point- roll out the sheet of foil so that it extends onto the outer joists, or rather protrudes beyond the joists by 10 cm. We do not press the foil anywhere, into any grooves or crevices.
  7. We lay the pipes very carefully; they themselves should press in the foil enough to touch the mineral wool. The foil between the lags and the first strip should remain taut, and its tension is compensated by exactly the 10 cm that we allowed.
  8. Carefully lay the rough layer of plywood.

If you do everything carefully and slowly, you can save not only a lot building material, but also time! As a result, you will get an excellent warm floor that is not inferior to other coatings by a joule. And expanded 20 and 40 mm channels will ensure the air circulation that mineral wool needs.

Thermal tricks and installation subtleties

I repeat once again, when laying on a wooden floor, only infrared radiation is important to us! And now I want to give a few useful tips that will help make your home much more comfortable and warmer:

  • the purpose of the foil is to become a screen of infrared radiation, and it is used only to dissipate the heat that comes from the pipe;
  • “Woe”, experts on all sites advise wrapping the pipe in foil, do not do this under any circumstances! Thus, you shield the pipe, and it will begin to give out more less heat. When writing this article, a whole controversy arose between various specialists. Some insisted that the foil would help “take away” the heat, others said that on the contrary, it would block it. Everything came down to an experiment with a calibrated laser thermometer, not to be confused with a pyrometer. So, the method without foil won;
  • There is also another trick that you won't hear anywhere else. It will help add a few percent to efficiency and increase heat transfer. Since infrared color operates strictly in the red range at a wavelength of 710-730 nanometers, any object that is trying to emit such a spectrum will benefit from being painted red. As soon as you paint the pipes with heat-resistant red paint, their heat transfer will increase by 3-4 o C! But here it is worth considering whether they will be beneficial to you. Moreover, most of the pipes intended specifically for heated floors are already red;
  • when installing a water floor on wooden beams, try to maintain a pipe laying pitch of no more than 25 cm. If the design does not allow it, a pitch of 30 cm will do, but in this case do not use the 16th pipe, only the 20th.

That's all, dear readers, that can be said on this topic. I would like to give some parting advice: never trust unqualified specialists or self-taught people who bought necessary tool and they think they know how to work. Order services only from professionals working in a company or under a patent, and best of all, study the topic yourself and do everything yourself!

Do you want to create an atmosphere of warmth and comfort in your home without using? Then heated floors will definitely suit you. Unlike standard radiator batteries, heated floors have many useful advantages.

It warms up the room better, walking around it is very comfortable and easy. And after work the room looks like warm floors much more modern.

However, if you are planning to install such heating systems in combination with wooden floors, then you may have some difficulties, since using standard technology will no longer work here.

1 Nuances when working with wooden floors

A standard heated floor is a system of heating circuits that are laid under the screed. The contour can be water pipes, electrical cables or a special film called infrared flooring. In any case, the operating principle is almost the same.

The floor is heated by the action of a circuit that generates heat. The contour is laid with a snake or spiral. The principle of installation is to cover every square decimeter of the floor so that there are no cold spots left.

Water and electric floors are laid under a screed even if they are used. The screed is made from lightweight materials with excellent thermal conductivity. That is, the screed takes on the entire temperature of the floor and fully releases its coverage. And it, accordingly, already heats the room itself.

With film floors things are different. For the most part, they are too weak to directly heat the screed. This is more of an additional heating source, although quite powerful. They are placed immediately under the floor covering, covered only with a backing.

1.1 Features of the tree

The complexity of the situation into which a wooden floor drives us is its poor thermal conductivity. If the screed absorbs heat well and retains it, gradually releasing it to the coating.

It is more difficult to warm up a regular board, and it gives off heat very reluctantly. That is, the influence of the system underfloor heating limited due to poor thermal conductivity of the material.

The next obstacle is the substrate under the coating and the coating itself. Wooden floors are rarely made from regular boards. Most often, the boards are a rough covering, on top of which a face covering is laid.

As you yourself understand, the same parquet or laminate cannot be installed without a backing at all. But in most cases the substrate has the properties of a heat insulator, although not a very reliable one.

That is, the weak heat transfer from the boards will also be extinguished by the substrate. As a result, you will get a barely warm floor, even if it is working at full capacity.

Let's not forget the fact that a water or electric heating system, just like a film one, needs efficient heat transfer.

That is, the pipes must be in direct contact with the elements that are heated. Or it is very close to them. With wooden floors in their standard application, difficulties also arise with similar nuances.

1.2 Selection of floor system

Let's deal with one thing right away important nuance. Not all heating systems of this type are beneficial when working with wooden bases. Professional builders use only heated floors:

  • Water;
  • Electric.

Moreover, samples with high power are used, since the thermal conductivity of wood still leaves much to be desired.

For the same reason, film floors are practically not used. They are too weak and are not able to effectively transfer heat in such large quantities. And those models that can, consume too much energy. It becomes simply unprofitable to use them.

Water and electric samples are a different matter. Water floors are quite powerful and, very importantly, stable. With proper wiring of the heating unit and installation three way valves the costs of maintaining their normal temperature can be significantly reduced.

At the same time, you should not be afraid that the floors will break through and ruin the wood. As a rule, when working with them, in any case, only moisture-resistant samples are used.

Electric models when finishing a wooden floor are also good. Their Maximum temperature heating is even higher than in the previous version, but the problem here lies elsewhere.

In the event of a short circuit, there is a small probability of the coating catching fire or being seriously damaged, which, of course, is completely unacceptable.

2 Installation technology

There are several technologies that have proven themselves quite successfully in working with wood. Here they are:

  • Installation on logs;
  • Installation on plywood;
  • Installation on boards (on).

Each option has its own advantages and disadvantages, and different complexity. Technologies are placed in ascending order. That is, it is easiest to install a heated floor using joists. But you will have to tinker with the boards.

Another solution is to purchase specially prepared wooden planks. They are very easy to work with. All the structures have already been assembled; you just need to put them on the logs and lay the pipes.

But the cost of such a solution is unlikely to please you. Wooden structures, and even processed at the factory in a figured form - their price can be equal to the price quality tiles or even exceed it.

2.1 Installation by logs

This is, frankly speaking, simplest option. The simplest in terms of execution, not labor intensity.

To work, you will need to purchase wide logs and lay them along the floor. Laying is carried out using standard technology. It is advisable to make the step small; the opening between the logs should not be wider than 30 cm so that the pipes are laid correctly and heat each section evenly.

Channels for pipes are cut in the joists. You can use milling. There are already prepared solutions on the market, with cut channels. Then the logs just need to be secured.

Insulation is placed between the frame elements. This mandatory process, and mandatory for all three technologies. The insulation will cut off thermal energy, and direct it exclusively upward.

Agree, you are unlikely to be interested in heating the lower ceiling. After all, this is an unprofitable use of resources.

A foil film can be laid over the insulation. It will reflect the heat waves that come from the contour of the floor. Laying foil is a sign of good construction practice. Of course, you will have to spend a little money, but the result will definitely please you.

The foil is fixed using a stapler. It is advisable to seal all joints with special aluminum or foil tape so that there are no gaps in the reflective material.

Actually, the process of installing the circuit itself comes down to laying pipes in grooves on the joists, and then installing plywood on top of them.

The plywood chosen is light, moisture-resistant, with maximum thermal conductivity. The plywood will serve as the base for the facing floor. The backing and face covering are placed on top of it.

The inconvenience of this solution is that there is quite a lot of space in the grooves; you are unlikely to be able to lay out the contours perfectly. Plus a plywood subfloor, which should be quite thick. This moment also reduces the efficiency of warming up.

2.2 Installation on plywood

This is a more labor-intensive option using , but its payoff is more significant. The initial processes are completely the same as in the previous version. But the lags should already be the most ordinary ones; no extraordinary actions are taken with them.

A base made of fiberboard, chipboard or any other wood is mounted on top of the logs. It is preferable to use plywood, as it is cheaper and easier to process.

On the base, mark the path of movement of the contour, then from fiberboard slabs(they are the softest) cut out plates that will form the base for the front covering, but between them there will still be space for pipes. The plates are laid with a row spacing of 2-3 cm. This is where the heating circuit will be installed.

The peculiarity of this technology is that only laminate can be laid on top of it, since the floor will be more likely to be floating, while parquet requires monolithic solutions.

Another important point is that the grooves between the plywood are pre-treated with foil. In this case, you can discard the insulation foil or replace it with a cheaper reflective material. As a last resort, a simple membrane will do.

2.3 Laying on boards

Warm wooden floors using planks are probably the most difficult to install. Here you cannot do without special tools.

The fact is that the grooves for the contour will have to be drilled in the boards. And durable, high-quality boards. And milling reliable solid wood is not so easy.

One or two grooves are made in the board for pipes. Then the foil is placed in the groove, and the outline is attached on top of it. Each board is fixed on logs, and fixed so as to create a complete wood covering. The result is a very reliable floor, but it is also quite expensive.

The beauty of using boards is their strength, the ability to cut as many channels as necessary. On such a base you can already lay any covering, including parquet.

The heat transfer will also be higher. This is explained by the fact that the boards, and even those treated with foil, will poorly perceive heat, and it will be almost completely transferred to the front floor.

Another interesting point is that you can even lay tiles on the boards. Only before starting work will it be necessary to consider the waterproofing system of the circuit.

2.4 Example of installing a warm wooden floor made of plywood (video)