My bathroom is freezing

8 years ago

We're redoing our modest MB (everything but the tub and maybe light fixture). Replacing 12" ceramic floor tiles that are constantly freezing cold. This bath has 2 exterior stone walls (drywall inside, not exposed) and shares a wall with our bedroom (our bedroom also has 2 exterior stone walls and is very temperate). We have one HVAC vent on the bathroom exterior wall, underneath a window that is a replacement but perhaps not a great one, not as good as the windows we put in (we kept this bath window as it was the only 'new' one at the time).

As we redo our bathroom, we would like to remedy so that it is temperate. Thank you for any ideas! We plan to do tumbled marble 2" floor tiles. Should I expect this to feel any warmer than shiny ceramic? I'd like to avoid covering our beautiful new floor with floor mats all the time, which is necessary now, in addition to a tiny ceramic heater for all shower time. We considered radiant floor but at $1k or so, it doesn't seem like the juice is worth the squeeze, and it will still be cold for the quick bathroom breaks. If the contractors go down to studs, I could have them put batts in the walls. DH says R-value of blown-in is far superior. Is there another idea I'm missing?

Featured Answer

PRO

Joseph Corlett, LLC

8 years ago

Spend the money for the in-floor heating. You will not regret it. Nothing's better than a warm floor on a naked foot, especially in the morning.

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Comments (15)

monicakm_gw
8 years ago
The way I understand it people leave the radiant floor heat on and the temperature is controled with a thermostat. I don't think it's turned on and off like a light switch. Go for the in floor heating, I bet you'll be super glad you did!
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Hi everybody! I have been waiting all summer for it to cool off. It seems that the heat makes my dizziness and nausea worse. I have lost about 15 lbs with being too sick to eat throughout the summer. I just this week got my helper here to help me clean the garage and then I moved the vanity out there and sanded it a bit in the easy places, and got it up on a table. I got the brass floor protectors pried off the bottom of the legs and was pleased to find no holes have been drilled in them. That means that I can drill holes for the feet I bought. I have adjustable feet that will give the vanity an extra 1/2" of height, and that can be screwed up to give another 1/2" if we want. That would make the legs appear to float way too high in the air, so I don't think it will work. the extra 1/2" will have to suffice, with the ability to make the vanity level so that the sink will drain properly. I have also decided that the bail-type handles that came with it are not going to work for us. I can't see us fumbling around trying to grab the bail that has recessed back into the grooves of the handle around it, standing there with water or soap in our eyes. A knob is much easier to use. I had Hubby try using the bail and he vetoed it on the first try and said, "replace 'em!" I am using these on doors of a set of shallow cupboards that will be recessed into the closet of the the neighboring bedroom. I figured they were a sure bet for the six drawers, too. I am not going to use the center drawer anymore, what with all the plumbing going on above it, so I will just fill in those holes. I need to cut away the bottom of the drawer space, then move the drawer support piece to the left or right. It is at dead center right now, and the sink's drain will need to go there. I just have to sand down the fluted areas of the vanity table, then it will be ready to be primed and painted. I am still leaning toward painting it the violet Peace and Happiness. I have purchased more components for the plumbing. I have all of the shower controls and the rain shower head and regular shower head. Still need to get the hand-held and some safety hand-hold bars for the shower area. I still have not finalized a wall tile (looking at fake Cararra tile for the room's walls) or floor tile or the surface for the top of the vanity. We HAVE concluded, though, that we cannot get this job done until Toby, our ever-more-confused beagle/golden retriever mix, dies. He will be 16 at the end of this month. He has spinal arthritis and began vomiting every time he was given his Tramadol or his glucosamine/chondroitin pills, then quit taking them. He had to go on prednisone to control the pain. He is peeing a lot in the house, always on a rug or quilted mattress pad put down for him. The bathroom is his main place to pee. I will not have my new floor grout saturated with dog pee. I don't think the poor guy would cope well with the construction, either. He is now blind in one eye and somewhat deaf. It would be too confusing for him to do all that construction. So even though I can't get Jim over here to do the work, if I could, I would not be able to do it until Toby passes on. So, instead, we are getting new gutters and trim, and getting our four remaining windows replaced. We did the other three windows when we remodeled the kitchen and made the living room into the library/music room. I am in the process of cleaning and decluttering so the window guys can get in to measure!
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PRO
Linda
8 years ago
Ceramic, marble, granite, porcelain, concrete...A cold floor is a cold floor.

I would rather skimp on the light fixtures and faucets than the permanent mechanicals like heating and ventilation. You can always upgrade the light fixtures later but once that floor or wall tile is installed, you will be living with that decision for many years to come.
cat_mom
8 years ago
Floor heat, absolutely! Our MB has one outside wall, but the bigger issue is the fact that the room is over our (unheated) garage. The floor was always icy cold in the winter (did not love stepping onto the floor on those middle of the night trips to the bathroom during the colder months....!). I highly recommend putting in a heat mat or wires under your new tile, whatever tile you choose to use. Our timer/thermostat is set so it "reads" the floor temperature, but we have the option to set it to read the ambient (room) temp if desired.
kudzu9
8 years ago
What's missing from your description is the composition of your subfloor and more specifics about where it is located. Is it concrete slab on grade? Is it wood over a crawl space or basement? Is it on the first or second floor? Is the floor insulated in any way?

These are critical questions that need to be answered if you want the best and most cost effective solution.
mark_rachel
8 years ago
If you don't want to do the heated floor, I would look into vinyl tiles. We had them in our old house that was on a slab. The floor was always cold. We upgraded the half bath downstairs an installed DuraStone vinyl tiles. They definitely helped with the coldness!!
tackykat
8 years ago
we love our radiant heat. Monicakm is correct about the auto-thermostat. Ours is NuHeat.
kathielo
8 years ago
We are in the final stages of a master bath remodel. We put in radiant floor heat controlled by a thermostat. Best decision made. I agree with the other posters, put in the floor heat, you can always go with less expensive accessories.
monicakm_gw
8 years ago
I wanted under floor heating so bad when we did our master bath remodel 8 years ago. It would have been a DIY job for hubby and the material cost was not expensive. He thought I was nuts as I've been the hottest natured person he's ever known. And true, I am (or was). Now I'm 56 and altho I'm still a drippy mess in the Texas heat, I'm FREEZE Dec-March and would LOVE heated floors! But a pair of house shoes or thick socks works just fine :) A Tapmaster, Washlet and air jetted tub are my luxury items :)
Tmnca
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
How do you use in floor heating without raising the level of the bathroom floor significantly compared to adjoining rooms? Does it add much height? We are tiling our bathroom floor and I've always wanted heated floors.
kudzu9
8 years ago
tmnca-

The mats are fairly thin, and are embedded within the mortar bed, which may typically be a bit thicker than what would be necessary to just lay the tile. Usually the floor height issue is dealt with by a transition strip at the threshold. Of course, the thinner the tile, the less the finished floor height. Here is one info sheet for a particular brand of heating mat, which suggests that the typical amount the floor is raised is 1/8"-3/8":

Heating mat installation
Tmnca
8 years ago
Thank you - I am looking at this TEC brand at Lowes, it says it is extremely thin:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_643505-70680-3708018111_1z0yxosZ1z11oi7__?productId=50339572&pl=1

My concern is that I don't want to have a trip hazard at the entry door and I also want to run the heated mat down the "aisle" of our bathroom - no need to heat under the vanity or around the sides and back of the toilet. So in our case the 40" x 9' matt would fit perfectly... but I wanted to make sure the tile in the non-heated areas would not be lower or uneven with the heated area.

A contractor is installing the tile, I send him an email asking if we can add in floor heating.
kudzu9
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
1. The tile guy will just make the mortar bed the same height everywhere. Not having the mat in all areas of the floor is a non-issue regarding finished height.

2. You shouldn't have a trip hazard if you install a piece of transition molding. These work by making a smooth transition between two adjacent floor heights:

Transition molding varieties
LE
8 years ago
Ours is on a timer so it is warm just in the morning and evening when we are home, but we do let it cool off during the day and in the middle of the night.
User
8 years ago
We also have Nuheat and LOVE IT. Cables, not mats; the cables hook into side strips. Our tile person used self-leveling thinset over the cables before putting the porcelain tiles down, floor height shouldn't be an issue. Nuheat has a programmable thermostat so you can set different temps for 4 different times of the day; it never goes "off" until you turn it off for the summer. And for Pete's sake.....stay away from Lowe's or Home Depot. Get thee to a tile store!!!!!

My bathroom is freezing

Joseph Corlett, LLC

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