Underfloor Heating Coventry

The installation of electric underfloor heating is generally easier than water and as a result makes it cheaper to install it. In terms or time and hassle - if you are planning to change your floor, either changing floor tiles, laminate or even vinyl in just one room combining that change with the install of underfloor heating means that it just adds a little more to what you had been planning to spend.

Since the heating from an electric system works by the heating up of a think cable which is run around the floor it is fitted within the screeding which may well be planned to level your floor to make it ready for tiling, laminates or luxury vinyl tiles (LVT). Most electric underfloor heating systems are only a few mm thick even if they are preset in electric mats. This means that the net result is a minimal, of not negligible, difference in floor height if you are going from one room which has traditional heating to the one where you are having underfloor heating installed. It's not great to be tripped up, especially in bare feet if there is a small lip to step over to get into your underfloor heated room.

When laying electric underfloor heating, if you have a uniform rectangular shaped room we can use electric underfloor heating mat. The electric heating cable is pre-installed into a mesh mat which can be rolled out. Several of these can be used and connected together which makes for a fairly speedy fit for this part of the installation process.

When you have a more irregular floor space or you have some permanently fixed items in the room then utilising a loose cable will be the best option, especially as this can be laid around those awkward fixtures. As both mat and loose electric underfloor heating come in different power options we will be able to advise on which power option will be most suitable and cost effective for your particular room. We will ensure that the space between cables and the power of the cables will provide the right amount of heat taking into account the floor substrate and final floor covering.

Installing underfloor heating will often involve several layers of different materials being stalled to provide the perfect finish and minimise any heat loss away from the surface of your floor. The use of adhesives, then an insulation board followed by the heat mat or loose cabling, followed by levelling compound, if required, then adhesive before the tiles are added on top. Whilst this outlines a scenario for tiles some aspects will be the same, or changed slightly based on the existing sub floor base and what your final floor surface will be.

Whilst there are some differing opinions on the comparative ongoing running costs of an electric underfloor heating systems like most power consuming devices as well as the actual efficiency of a device, user behaviour also plays a big part in the total amount of energy, which an appliance or system will use.

Whilst underfloor heating will take longer to heat up a room than central heating due to the lower operating temperatures this can simply be overcome but setting your heating timers appropriately.

As certain floor surfaces such as tiles and polished concrete retain heat very efficiently once they are heated they require less ongoing heat to maintain a steady temperature output. Since electric heating is often retrofitted into a room rather than a whole house the proper use of the thermostat and timer should enable you to enjoy the benefits of underfloor heating with minimal effort. So in addition to kitchens and bathrooms living rooms and hallways are also popular choices for underfloor heating as this allows full use of the floor and wall space available.

If your house is already fitted with renewable energy generation such as solar panels then installing electric underfloor heating over a much wider area will be a very cost effective feasible option.

The vast majority of wet underfloor heating systems will be connected to a boiler effectively acting as a radiator. However, with many self or custom build houses this type of underfloor heating can work via a solar water-heating, ground or air-source heat pump system.
The pipe network system will be connected to your heating system through a manifold, which can also incorporate a number of thermostats to allow you to control the temperatures in different rooms or zones within your house.

The laying out of piping is much more extensive and labour intensive compared with electric underfloor heating, so the initial install cost is significantly higher which is why this is more commonly 'absorbed' as part of the total build cost in a new self build rather than as a retrofit option in just one room - although newer systems are being brought out which reduce the potential height adjustment of the floor level.

If you are in a position to go for a large install of underfloor heating then one of the main reason this system is chosen is that compared to a radiator the actual temperature that the water needs to be to effect the room temperature in the same way as a radiator is much less. This is largely due to the fact that the wet underfloor heating will cover a much larger surface area than that of a radiator or two. Your boiler will therefore not need to work as hard to raise the water temperature to such high levels. The net result is that you will have a much more evenly heated room, which will be cheaper to run than radiators. The total cost will obviously depend on your gas supplier or the other system you may be using to power your boiler.

A 'proper' wet room will have a completely open shower with no tray or screen although for a small room a screen will be advisable to stop water from getting everywhere so you're not having to wipe down every surface in the room once you've finished your shower.

Yor Zest Underfloor heating teams are fully versed to install a watertight wet room but importantly can offer sound advise on the suitability of a wet room in your house.

Historically wet rooms were associated with wheelchair bound individuals or people who may struggle to step into a bath or into a small shower cubical and as a result most were fitted on ground floors. Ground floors provide a strong stable base as the floor will typically be concrete or screed and when laying tiles there will be no movement when weight is applied to the floor. Ensuring your floor does not move is a critical aspect of ensuring that movement doesn't lead to cracks, in either tiles or grout, which in turn doesn't lead to water ingress. Water damage can be very harmful to a property and can also be hard to rectify - especially if water damage has occurred unnoticed for a number of years slowly seeping into the fabric of the building.

However, as most family bathrooms are located on the first floor or a house the desire to have wet rooms on these floors has also increased. Wet rooms can be installed upstairs and even in loft conversions but the key to having a water tight wet room is ensuring your have a solid floor on which to lay your wet room flooring, which is most cases is tiles.

Out team will check for the amount of floor deflection and depending on this they will determine the best course of action for your installation. On occasion where cheaper joists have been used in a property we may recommend the use of a low level shower tray, as even with retrospective supports added, there may still be a risk of movement. Modern low level shower trays have come along way in recent years and can become a bit of a feature themselves, depending on the design scheme of the wet room.

The Zest Underfloor Heating teams will always ensure your wet room is properly tanked with a waterproof membrane to provide a watertight wet room which will be a delight to use for many, many years.

There are quite a number of material and product choices to make when planning your wet room. From floors to walls to the shower itself, let alone the sink, toilets and any storage

One of the main considerations of a wet room will be the choice of wall materials. Tiles have traditionally and still are the most common wall choice but with many people citing low maintenance as a key factor in deciding what materials to use, shower boards are growing in popularity. Shower boards do themselves come in a variety of styles and materials but the bulk of the material will be a type of plastic. The main appeal of shower boards is the lack of grout. Most boards will butt up against each other with an almost invisible connecting line, with minimal sealant visible at corner joints. The end result is shower walls, which have no grout which can collect hard water and eventually mould. This does not mean that shower boards to not need any cleaning, they will still benefit from a regular wipe down to remove any build up of various shower, cleaning and skin treatment products, which will find themselves splashed onto the boards. However, this will be a more occasional clean and fairly easy to do. You can use shower boards across the whole of the bathroom or around the shower area. You can then tile or half tile the rest of the bathroom.

If selecting tiling for both walls and floor as well as the obvious cosmetic choices these is no reason why you can vary your tiles in a similar fashion to shower boards. You can use different tile or select different feature tiles or layout of tiles around the shower compared to the rest of the room in much the same way as your will find feature walls in living rooms. And don't forget - grout doesn't only come in white. different shade can closely match your tiles or you can choose a grout colour to contrast your tiles.

When choosing your shower think about where you may want your shower rose to sit, how big you may want this to be and whether or not you'd also want an additional hand held shower head.

We'd outlined that you will have a number of decisions to make concerning what materials you may want to use in your wetroom, however this may also be influenced to a large degree on your design - more specifically how you plan to lay out different bathroom fixtures as this will also affect where we run the underfloor heating too.

For smaller wet rooms the position of your sink, toilet and bath, if space allows, relative to your shower may well effect how easy or frustrating your will find your new room. If you need to include a shower screen, which most people do, then it needs to be effective in preventing water from getting everywhere but also easy to get past to get into the shower itself. Fortunately, if you've opted for underfloor heating - worrying about where to put the radiators is one less thing to think about.

If the opportunity allows positioning out where you plan to put things to scale with masking tape on the floor is a very good way to get a feel of your proposed wet room lay out. Walk around the imaginary sink toilet, shower screen to see if it all flows. This exercise may only be possible once we have remove your old fitting. Please let the tam know if you'd want to do this it clearly better for all concerned to make final changes on paper than trying to move things around when they've already be partially installed. Reworking takes time and costs and depending on how far an installation has gone some replacement parts may need re-ordering, which could delay things further. We're happy to work with you to ensure your get the wet room you've been dreaming of.

When installing a wet room as mentioned having a level floor is important for the bathroom. The only are which is an exception to this rule is under the shower itself. The floor needs to be set to have a deliberate slope so that water from the shower flows towards the drainage hole. When installing a traditional wet room the floor under the shower will be a seamless continuation of the floor tiles used in the rest of the room.  To achieve the slope to the waste pipe a wet room tray is used to create a designed slop toward to the waste hole.

Wet room trays themselves are also provide an additional protective water layer. THese trays come in various sizes and designs wi the design focussed on the position and size of the drainage hole and the form of the tray will naturally slope to wherever the drainage hole is positioned. Typically the drainage will be shaped as either a square grate which will be positioned underneath near to where you are most likely to stand under the shower head or it will be set so that when the tray if fitted it will form a longer narrower water run away which will be nearer to the wall where the shower itself is. The latter is becoming more popular as this minimises standing on the waste grid itself.

The wet room shower tray provide the angles for the tiles to follow and therefor cuts are made to floor tiles to allow them to follow the shape and slope of the wet room tray. These will be subtle yet ensure that all the water from the shower flows away towards the waste water pipe.

There are a few options we have when floor levelling however, in the vast majority of cases the actually levelling aspect will be achieve used a certain type of screed. If there is deflection in your floor we will strengthen it with additional support and ply boards. Waterproof membranes and insulation board then provide a base on which to lay screed which is primarily a mixture of sand and cement but different screed contain additional bonding agents and other substances which will favour one type of screed over another depending on the existing floor status and what will be fitted on top. Our team will asses the situation and decide on the most suitable screen as part of our total install service.

Screeding is a great way of levelling and works extremely well with when laying underfloor heating providing an excellent base on which to then lay tiles. A nice flat surface means tiles can be laid perfectly level and you will have a professional floor tile finish. In fact it provides a great foundation for Luxury vinyl tiles and laminates too.

Since our teams are expert floor tilers for wet rooms on top of underfloor heating, they are very well placed to install floor tiles in any room or section of your property. Regardless of whether or not you have fitted underfloor heating our teams can install floor tile in kitchens, hallways and porches - so regardless of the size of the room we can sort all of your tiling requirement.

Tile are increasingly popular due to their hard wearing attributes in hallways and porches which is where we are also seeing an increase in underfloor heating. Often hallways will be quite narrow and a radiator will be an obstruction or there will be no radiator creating a cold spot within the house. As a result whenever a door is opening in another room a convection current is created by the different air temperatures which will cause the cool air to rush into the warm room. By installing underfloor heating in a hallway will heard wearing floor tiles you will eliminate these problems and future proof your home.

Floor tiles, whether stone or ceramic, are designed to withstand higher impacts so in high traffic areas such as hallways they provide an excellent way of providing a quick and easy floor type to clean without you ever needing to call in a professional carpet cleaner to deal with a dirty trampled down carpet which will be the first thing you see as you step into your property. If you are considering increasing the areas of floor tiling in your home please get in touch to discuss options with our team of experts.

The other factor which we touched upon regarding floor tiling is the hygiene factor. Especially following the Covid outbreak, tiled floors can be cleaned quickly and easily. For dog owners in particular floor tiling provides a great way to clean up dog hairs and quickly mop up and paw prints. We are seeing an increasing number of home replacing their carpets with floor tiles across the whole ground floor - often when undertaking a kitchen refurbishment. Running the same floor tile across the whole floor creates a more spacious feel but can be personalised room by room with wall and floor accessories such as rugs, which also help to dampen sound and still allows rooms such as living rooms to have a cosy feel to them - especially with underfloor heating coming up through the floor tiles.

If you are having a kitchen refit it is likely you will be having some wall tiling as well as floor tiling. Tiles are commonly found along the walls between kitchen work surfaces and cupboards as they provide a durable wipeable surface which is prone to various food and drink splashes. Often tiles will be fitted on the wall behind cookers for the very reason that hot grease splatters will not damage tiles and a simply wipe with a cloth or sponge will easily remove visible traces of the cooks endeavours. As tile surfaces are smooth and hard their surface means that as well as wiping away visible food traces odours and grease marks will not be left either.

The backsplash areas of kitchens can will often use slightly smaller tiles to create a pattern or checkerboard style layout sometimes with several different coloured tiles. Alternatively selecting one colour with occasional feature tiles dotted in or tile edges will create a little more interest and depth to your walls.

As kitchens are such a key room in property evaluations and often the heart of the home you should put your trust in the hands of professional tilers to ensure this room has a real wow factors whenever you step into it.

A tiled feature wall is becoming popular in living rooms - especially in older properties which have a protruding section of wall which accommodated the chimney section and fireplace. Either the chimney breast section of the wall to either side make an ideal location for a feature wall.

Our team enjoy transforming rooms and typically the tile selected will add depth and texture to a wall. Popular wall tiles will create a brick or natural stone effect and be rough to the touch. They bring great character to a room and break up a uniformed square feel.

Whilst mosaic tiling is associated with bathroom selecting more natural browns or greys shades can work will in hallway, porch and living room sections too. If you're not sure which way to go get in touch to have an informal discussion so we can help you discuss design option to achieve the look you want using a selection of wall tile sizes, colours and textures along with appropriately coloured grout.