Matting Heater Flooring
To ensure the Warmup® Underfloor Heating Mat is suitable for your floor please read the following section.
FLOOR FINISHES:
Warmup® Underfloor Heating Mat is suitable for use under any ceramic or natural stone floor tiles including:
- Slate
- Marble
- Porcelain
- Terracotta
- Limestone
The underfloor heater will also work under thicker floor finishes such as flagstones, however this type of flooring will take longer to heat up.
Warmup® Underfloor Heating Mat MUST NOT be fitted under:
- Vinyl
- Wood (incl. Laminate)
- Cork
- Carpet
In addition to regular floor finishes, a cement-based smoothing underlayment can be used to cover or protect the heater as part of pre-tiling work (e.g. when laying flagstones). The floor must be tiled using a cement based tile adhesive and grout containing their matching flexible additive, strictly in accordance with their manufacturers’ instructions.
SUBFLOOR PREPARATION:
The underfloor heater may be fitted on either a suspended (timber) or a solid (concrete) subfloor. The subfloor must be smooth, clean and free from old adhesive residues or bitumen.
If damp-proofing or tanking systems are being used, it is advisable to contact the manufacturer of the system for advice. Normally, it will be necessary to apply at least 5mm of smoothing underlayment on top of the finished tanking.
Suspended Floors – Timber
When fitting the underfloor heater onto a timber subfloor, the floorboards or chipboard must be over-boarded with a suitable Warmup® Insulation Board or 18 mm WBP plywood. Existing floorboards must be fixed securely and, if necessary, pre-levelled with a latex/cement smoothing underlayment to give a flush fit for the WBP plywood or the Warmup® Insulation Board. Ply must be screwed at 200mm centres and installed as per BS 5385: Part 3 Clause 14.4.
Warmup® Insulation Board must be fixed with flexible tile adhesive. For best performance the board should also be secured with five screws and penny washers per board.
Warning: Fixing ply directly to the joists may not provide a sufficiently stable floor finish to accept tiles; fitting tongue and groove flooring and then over-boarding with ply or Warmup® Insulation Board is recommended.
Chipboard, MDF and OSB boards are not appropriate bases for tiling.
Solid Floors - Concrete
If tiling on a concrete floor, Warmup recommends the use of Warmup® Insulation Board to improve the performance and efficiency of the underfloor heating system. Warmup® Insulation Board is fixed directly to the subfloor with tile adhesive. The heater is then fitted directly on top of the board before being tiled over.
Un-insulated concrete or screed subfloors may also be fitted with the Warmup® Underfloor Heating System, however they will be less responsive and take significantly longer to heat up (sometimes in excess of 8 hours).
Extended heat up times will lead to higher running costs.
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