|
You are not authorized to post a reply.
|
 Prev Next
|
| Author |
Messages |
|
Unregistered
Registered Users
Posts:2321
 |
| 06/22/2006 3:08 PM |
|
I'm presently in the middle of remodeling my home, which will add a new dining area as well as some other expansions. I live in Central Oregon which is a high desert environment. Present heating is done via forced air (natural gas heated).
I decided to do the floor finish myself, which will be ceramic tile (although I am not an expert I've done 3 floors prior to this one and they've all turned out good). My wife hates the carpet that we have - lots of staining, etc - so she has convinced me to tile the living room area as well, and maybe the kitchen, too, which is presently hardwood. All told, I could be doing about ~900 sq-ft of tile, roughly broken out as:
dining room - 200 sq-ft
kitchen - 125 sq-ft
entry/hallway - 200 sq-ft
living room - 400 sq-ft
Note that there are two bathrooms and four bedrooms (comprising about 1200 sq-ft) in the rest of the house which will remain carpeted as they are now.
Present sub-floor is 3/4" OSB. In some areas (entry/hallway) there is already 12" tile down over cement backerboard. This existing tile will be torn up since I can't match it, and I would rather lay 16" or 18" tiles instead.
The subfloor is not thick enough to support tile installation so I either need another layer of OSB or plywood, or backerboard, or perhaps a thin slab to set the tile on.
All of these flooring changes have gotten me interested in possibly installing radiant heat in the floor, since this would be a good time to do it. But I have to admit, the variety of options that exist have me confused somewhat. Here are the options as I see them:
1) Electric radiant under the tile. Probably the most straightforward, but I still need to firm up the subfloor with more wood or cement backer, or use something like Schluter DITRA. This is probably easiest from a do-it-yourself perspective. Also easy to zone.
2) PEX tubes on top of the existing subfloor. To do this I would probably run 1" sleepers and pour gypcrete over the whole structure. I'm not sure if I can set tile to this directly, though, which means cement backer or DITRA once again. It would be nice if I could avoid this however. Pouring gypcrete is not exactly a do-it-yourself project, either.
3) PEX tubes on Schluter BEKOTEC or similar product. These are those modular plastic-ish panels or material that the PEX tubes snap into so you can finish with cement or gypcrete over it. I still would need Schluter DITRA on top of it to support tiles. The value of this installation is not clear to me, since I think option #2 above would yield the same results and my guess is that it will be cheaper.
3) Install "Warmboard" or similar product on existing subfloor. Nice option but very pricey at ~$3500 for ~$900sq-ft. And, it is not clear to me that the warmboard would stiffen the floor enough to the point that I could install tile directly to the warmboard, or that one can bond tile via thinset mortar directly to the warmboard (does the aluminum reduce the bonding strength?). But it sounds like the combination of existing OSB plus warmboard would be enough - typical recommendations for tile are to have a subfloor that is at least 1.25" thick.
4) Beneath the joist installation. I'm really not considering this since there would be a lot of work involved here, and it sounds like they are not as "efficient" for lack of a better word.
Anyway, comments, thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated!
Thanks, this is a great forum, glad I found it!
CJ
cjray67@yahoo.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NRT.Rob
Registered Users
Posts:359
|
| 06/28/2006 10:12 PM |
|
Hi CJ,
the extensiveness of your post was a bit daunting at first ;) However I realize that there is a simple answer: what is best for your application depends primarily on a heat load calculation that takes into account the subfloors and finish floors you are working with.
That said, I would personally consider 900 sq ft a bit large for an electric system, that's a significant load you are locking into electricity there and I would personally prefer to see it go hydronic so you have flexibility of heat sources later on.
I am not sure why you would use sleepers in 'crete if you are doing tile over it. An isolation membrane, sure, but sleepers? should be able to install the membrane right on the 'crete with no sleepers. this would usually be a good method to use but you are looking at a 1.5" buildup of 'crete minimum on top of the subfloor, and your josits/subfloor must be able to handle the dead load of the crete.
I am not at all familiar with the BEKOTEC product. There are DIY and prefab panel products you can put on top of a subfloor, a DIY "sandwich" is cheapest but you would probably want 3/4" ply infill for the tubing layer, plus a thin exterior grade plywood on top of the whole assembly, isolation membrane, then tile. Some of the prefabs are tightly engineered enough that an isolation membrane could go on top, but they are definitely not cheap.
If you're going to go prefab, I would strongly consider warmboard.
Extruded plates in the joists might very well be good for you depending on heat loads, and your subfloor/flooring. However it can be a bear in a retrofit depending on the condition of your joist bays and your accessibility in there.
Hope that helps!
-=Northeast Radiant Technology, LLC=-
www.NRTradiant.com |
|
-=Northeast Radiant Technology=-
NRTradiant.com |
|
|
|
| You are not authorized to post a reply. |
|
|
|
ActiveForums 3.6
|
Professionals Serving
Your Location:
GBT Project Albums:
|