Heated Floors under tiles anyone?- cross posted in kitchen forum

susanlynn2012

11 years ago

Heated Floors under tiles anyone?- cross posted in kitchen
Anyone install heated floors under their tiles? I had water damage in my home that ruined my Brazilian Cherry Engineered Wood floors that were cold to my feet despite the Floor Muffler underneath on top of the cold concrete floor. I can't have rugs since my little 3.8 lb spayed female dog marks any rug! She also marks on my wood floor but it never smelled and never turned colors from the pee (I had tested it and is one of reasons I went with this wood species but also would have considered other woods except for red oak that turned black from pee.. her pee is a tiny squirt.. she is on medicine for her heart problem that I think is enhancing her marking) I am trying to decide if I should do an engineered wood floor again or install tile that looks like wood since my tile floors in my two foyer area show no sign of damage.

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Comments (14)

EG3d
11 years ago
As a designer I have called for heat under a tile floor. It's a great feature. Get professionals to install it.
Vertise
11 years ago
Warm floors? Do it! If there's chance of recurring water damage, yes, I would switch to tile if you can. Just be very, very careful who you hire for the job!

If you go with epoxy grout, make sure they are experienced with it. Whichever type you choose, make sure it's a very good one. And get a porcelain tile that chips the same color.

This post was edited by snookums2 on Sat, Apr 27, 13 at 14:00
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Annie Deighnaugh
11 years ago
We have electric radiant heat under our bath tile and it is wonderful! Just make sure they install 2 connections to the controller under the tile in case one goes bad so they don't have to rip up the flooring to repair....
susanlynn2012
Original Author
11 years ago
Thank you everyone for posting and the suggestions! It sounds like anyone who has installed heat under tile floors has been happy. I will look into this! Thank you Annie for the suggestion of 2 connections. Snookums2, I learned my lesson about how installers do not all know much about Epoxy grout when I did my two foyer areas so thank you so much for the reminder. Eg3d, thank you for knowing that you get this request a lot for heated floors.
dedtired
11 years ago
Yes, I have it in my bathroom and it is heavenly. I turn it on in the fall and leave it on until late spring. It does not provide enough heat to heat the room alone, but it sure is cozy. I bet your dog would love taking naps on it. I leave my slippers in there and they are all warm and toasty in the morning. Go for it!
beekeeperswife
11 years ago
my response didn't post. But we have it in our bathroom. It is heavenly. Our ding dong tile installer thought my idea to install a 2nd lead to the thermostat was stupid (because he had no idea how to do it). I just let it go by that point because I really wanted him to leave my house as quickly as possible.

But, that was one of the biggest suggestions. Because if anything fails, it is the sensor for the thermostat. And tearing it all up isn't worth it when (if) it fails.
carriem25
11 years ago
We have radiant heat throughout our entire home, both on the main floor and in the basement. About 25% of the floors are tile. I love it :) We live in a winter climate and it is definitely once of the best choices that we made when we built our house.

Carrie
dedtired
11 years ago
Darn, I wish I had had a second lead installed. I will be crying buckets if and when the thermostat goes. Although, I don't like my floor tile, so it would be a great excuse to replace it some day.
susanlynn2012
Original Author
11 years ago
Everyone, thank you again for reminding me to do two connections for the radiant heat and how wonderful it will be on my cold feet as I have a home office and throughout the cold NJ Winters, I am sitting at my desk with my feet getting cold. I also feel the cold coming up through the wood with the rooms not as warm as when I have those beige wall to wall carpets that were always dirty that I steamed cleaned twice a month. Thank you Carriem25 for letting me know that you have radiant heat throughout your home and feel it was one of your best choices that you made when you built your home.
linda1949
11 years ago
Having heated floors is the best part of our new bathroom! Just make sure you (or the installer) gets the elements up close to the cupboards and closets if there are any. You don't want cold toes while brushing your teeth.
cat_mom
11 years ago
We LOVE the heated floors in our two upstairs bathrooms, love, love, love them! We used Nu-Heat floors at the recommendation of our tile guy as well as DH's conversations with their tech support.

Biggest regrets? Not even considering adding back-up leads/thermostats (read about someone doing that here on GW, after our bathrooms were completed--aarrrgh!), and not having the $$$ to install it under the tile we put in throughout our ground floor (on a slab). That would have been heavenly!
susanlynn2012
Original Author
11 years ago
cat_mom, thank you for letting me know that you LOVE your heated floors and wish you added back-up leads/thermostats and wish you could have installed the Nu-Heat Floors under all your floors in your home and not just your two upstairs bathrooms.

Thank you Linda for letting me know what I should make sure it done if I get heated floors. My floors are so cold right now with my damaged wood from the flood since the cold concrete seems to come right through the wood.
jab65
11 years ago
Our entire downstairs has radiant heat, and we love it. It is toastier on the tile than the engineered wood, but fine under both.
susanlynn2012
Original Author
11 years ago
Thank you jab65 for letting me know that you installed radiant heat on your entire downstairs floors. Which engineered wood did you choose that allowed the radiant heat and how was it installed? Which radiant heat system did you use since it seems there are several types. My feet get so cold and when I had carpets, I was fine but the carpets bothered my allergies and my little dog would mark on them so I had to clean them very often. Hence, on more carpets for me but flooring over concrete is so cold.

Heated Floors under tiles anyone?- cross posted in kitchen forum

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