How to make a warm floor in the bathroom: do-it-yourself device instructions

Heated floors are still considered a rarity in bathrooms, but they are no longer surprising. They give comfort and convenience. Every year the number of people wishing to install such a heating system is growing. Everyone knows how unpleasant it is to stand barefoot on an ice plate, and the floor next to the bath or shower is also constantly wet.

We will talk about how best to make a warm floor in the bathroom, indicate and warn you what you want to pay close attention. In our proposed article, the ways of constructing all acceptable electrical and water types are discussed. Independent masters here will find detailed manuals on the device and connection systems.

Types of warm floors + their features

What to prefer - heating systems water or electric? It makes no sense to burn kilowatts of electricity to heat the floor in a house with a powerful heating boiler. It would be more rational to make some changes to the existing heating system in order to direct the hot coolant to the pipes located in the floor.

Of course, it is best to think about connecting a heated floor at the design stage of heating. But even in the working system, it is easy to find a point at which it will be possible to break the pipeline to insert an additional distribution comb.

It distributes coolant flows and is called a collector among engineers. Each flow is directed to a separate heating circuit, the floor is heated by several such circuits. All of them are connected to the collector, the coolant in the collector is supplied using a special circular pump.

If the floor area in the bathroom is small (up to 5 square meters. meters), then the distribution comb and the pump can be abandoned and the use of shut-off valves and a thermostat. In large rooms, this equipment is indispensable: the boiler will consume too much energy and the floor heating will have to be considered inefficient.

Arguments for choosing the most suitable warm floor tilewhich is most often used in the arrangement of hygienic premises, are given in the article recommended by us.

In electric floors, the heating “core” are:

• heating cables, mats;
• infrared carbon emitters.

Heating cable or mat? The principal difference is seen in the complexity of installation and the height to which the floor rises.

For a heating mat, a layer of thin tile glue above 3-4 mm is sufficient, thanks to which the tile on the floor instantly gets warm. The cable in the mat is fixed on a nylon mesh with a given step.

If a cable is used instead of mats, then it has to be laid on the floor manually, the laying step is set arbitrarily. On top of the cable is poured a layer of DSP thickness of 30-50 mm. The smaller the pitch, the colder the room can be heated.

The cable heats the floor longer, but such heating can be used not only as additional, but also as basic. Mats do not cope with this task. In addition, they have a higher price.

However, the industry also produces a thin heating cable, which does not need to be covered with a solution of up to 30-50 mm. On such a cable, like on mats, you can immediately apply tile adhesive, but it is possible to adjust the laying step. As a result, the benefits of both cable and heating mats are put together.

Now about infrared heat... If we all had an idea about electrical cables before, then infrared heat is new. In this case, we are talking about a two-layer thin film, inside of which an even thinner crystal lattice of carbon radiating in the infrared range is laid.

Underfloor heating floors are no better and no worse than electrocable. They have their own scope. Infrared film better suited for dry installation under the floorboard, laminate without the use of mortar and glue, which do not adhere to its smooth surface.

therefore laying under the tile infrared floor in the bathroom - a very dubious decision, despite the fact that manufacturers are allowed to use it in wet areas (bathrooms, showers).

There are other arguments not in favor of the film. The width of the area on which it is placed should be a multiple of the width of the film itself. Otherwise, either the entire area will not warm up, or you will have to lay the film in pieces, apply voltage to each piece separately, connect a lot of contacts manually. All this reduces the reliability of the design.

The heating mats are also standard width, but they are much easier to cover an area of ​​any size and shape, cutting the grid to which the cable is attached, but without damaging it. In terms of electrical safety, cable heating floors also benefit, because they have a ground loop, and heating films do not.

So, if you do electric floor heating in the bathroom, then on the basis of cable or mats. It is easy to assemble such a heating system; it is enough to know the basics of electrical engineering knowledge. Installing a water floor is much more difficult.

And what else gives us comparison of electric and water floor? A heating system with circulating water embedded in a screed is prohibited for use in apartment buildings due to its heavy weight and the risk of accidents. Perhaps the device only in the first floor, and then after receiving a pile of permits.

Connecting to the central heating system is also not an option even for apartments on the first floor. Where can I get coolant in this case? From the heating tower.

But after completing an additional route through the bathroom, the water will return to the same cooled tower. Apartments located on the floors below, will not receive their heat, their owners will fairly begin to express discontent. And in the summer the floors will not heat.

By electric heating circuits there are no such prohibitions. If there is no water in the system, then flooding is excluded - incidents that bring a lot of trouble to both the perpetrators and the injured. When the device is not used as powerful and heavy screed, which is required for water varieties.

And back to the need to raise the height of the floor. In the version with electric floor, its level, as mentioned above, rises by 30-50 mm. And with water - 80-100 mm. You don't want to build a too high podium, but a water-heated floor is more economical during operation than an alternative electrical option.

Electrical floor construction steps

Before buying a heating cable or mat, we focus on the free area of ​​the bathroom. We do not take into account the area under the bowl with a screen, a shower stall, sanitary furniture, a washing machine, a washbasin and a toilet. There is no point in bringing heating elements under these items. Moreover, the cable will overheat in such places and fail.

Electric flooring in the bathroom

Standard power floor for bathrooms - 170-180 W / sq. meter. This standard is multiplied by the laying area. For example, the total area of ​​the bathroom is 5.5 square meters. meters For minus the area occupied by various objects, we get, say, free 3 square meters. meter

Multiply the average standard value of 175 by 3, to the result we add a reserve of up to 10% and we get 525-575 W / sq. meter. This is the required power of the floor heating elements.

Installation instructions for cables and mats

Preliminary calculations provide an opportunity to buy components and consumables in the required volume, after which you can safely proceed to the system design.

Step 1. We clean the base of debris, remove dust with a vacuum cleaner, smooth out irregularities (1-2 leveling liquid layers are sufficient).

Step 2. We lay insulation. Insulating sheets need to put on the floor with a reflective surface up and glue the joints between them with mounting tape (tape).

Step 3. Waterproofing. Roll out the film or roll waterproofing membrane, carefully level it and press it to the base, raise the edges to the walls (20 cm). If you have to use several panels, then put them with an overlap of 10 cm, fasten the joints with adhesive tape.

It is allowed to use both coating and cast waterproofing in several layers. Each previous layer should be thoroughly dried before applying the next.

Step 4. Edge processing. Along the perimeter we attach a damping (edgeband) tape along the walls. It is needed to create a “floating” screed to avoid cracks on it, swelling. The tape should be taken up to 20 cm wide, so that it is enough for the height of the floor, including tiled flooring.

Step 5. Laying cable (or mats). Check the working condition of the cables and begin laying. The heating cable is placed on a substrate to which it can be attached.

In this capacity, suitable metal mesh. In addition to fixing, it will not allow the cable to plunge into the tie and will provide strength. We observe that the cable does not intersect. Handle it carefully to avoid even the smallest damage.

The end of the heating cable is connected to the electrical coupling. It should be drowned in the screed, while placing as close as possible to the thermostat (thermostat), but maintaining a distance of at least 20 cm between the wall and the joint.

It is much easier to spread an electric mat on the floor. The process is somewhat similar to cutting fabric.

Step 6. Install thermostat with a sensor. In the right place on the wall a meter above the floor we drill a hole, guided by the dimensions of the thermostat.

From it vertically down we drill a longitudinal strobe and continue it along the floor towards the location of the sensor. It is desirable to place the sensor between the cables, rather than close to one of them, so that it shows the temperature reliably. The distance from the wall is half a meter.

The sensor with the wire is placed in a corrugated pipe. Corrugation will protect equipment. In the same corrugated tube we start the wire from the heating mats and direct both wires to the thermostat.

To do this, we stretch the corrugated pipe across the floor, bring it to the wall on the wall, try not to bend it strongly at the junction of the floor and the wall so as not to damage the wires. When the coupler is filled, the corrugated tube with the sensor should protrude slightly from it.

Step 7. Screed. The installation moves to completion, so once again we inspect all elements of the cable floor, make sure that there are no defects and proceed to the pouring. We prepare cement mortar and distribute it over the surface thoroughly and with a minimum thickness of 3 cm. There should be no voids in the screed. If mats were laid, skip this step.

Step 8. It remains the final touch - to glue the tiles on the screed or directly on the mats with tile glue.

This is followed by a long drying period. The electric floor can be switched on no earlier than 28-30 days after completion of the work. It is necessary to wait until complete drying of the mortar and glue so that the screed does not crack.

Infrared film installation tips

Preparatory work - as in the previous version. The infrared film is laid parallel sheets on the insulating material. Laying overlapped sheets is strictly prohibited. Next, you should install a thermostat with a sensor and make sure that the system is working.

The assembled structure is covered with polyethylene and reinforcing mesh. Fix the mounting grid with self-tapping screws, but be careful not to touch the contacts. The net from above needs to be poured with a cement-sand screed and to test the system again. After the screed dries, it is laid tile on the glue.

Infrared floor can be tested no earlier than 28 days, when it is guaranteed to dry.

The construction of the water system

Do it yourself warm water floor in the bathroom - the task is more complicated, but why not try to cope with it... We have to assemble the construction of pipes and connect them with a source of hot water.

Metalplastic and polyethylene pipes are suitable for the pipeline. Both materials have flexibility and low hydraulic resistance.

Solid theoretical training

One heating circuit can cover up to 20 square meters. meters, which is enough for a bathroom, but if the floor is planned to be divided into autonomous zones, then water should be supplied to them through distribution manifold.

The collector should be with flow regulators. With the same water supply in different contours along the length, they will heat unevenly. A longer circuit will get worse. Moreover, the flow of water in it may even stop due to strong resistance. To eliminate these troubles, flow regulators in the collector are used.

A number of strict conditions in order to proceed with the installation:

1. The presence of a closed-type heating system using a circulating pump.
2. The double-circuit boiler must have a power reserve.
3.  All work is performed with a completely disabled heating system.

Pipes need to be freed from the coolant.

In the thickness of the warm floor, you can select the required functional layers:

• base;
• hydro and thermal insulation;
• pipeline from strong pipes;
• concrete screed or gypsum fiber;
• decorative flooring.

In wooden houses too do water floor, but you should worry about reliable waterproofing. It needs to be made in several layers, just so the wooden base of the floor will last for many years without repair.

Phased installation guide for a water floor

The construction of a water system is a cycle that includes standard types of work.

Stage 1. We clean the floor, if necessary, dismantle the old coating.

Stage 2. Floor waterproofing. We lay waterproofing film on the floor. It is desirable in one piece, but if there are several strips, they should be overlapped and joined with a blowtorch. Waterproofing material should capture and the surface of the walls (up to 10 cm up).

Stage 3. Fill the roughing screed with a mixture of expanded clay and cement (3-5 cm thick). Dry thoroughly (up to a week), sprinkling water on the surface in the first days to prevent cracks.

Stage4. We warm the surface with foam, polystyrene or other similar material. Over lay polyurethane with foil reflective coating. Joints sizing tape. Now the heat from the pipes will be directed only towards the premises.

Stage 5. We lay pipes. We bend them according to the developed scheme, we withstand 15-20 cm between the pipes. The resulting curved design fasten. Connect the water supply pipe to the distribution manifold.

Stage 6. We turn on the flow of coolant and check whether there is water leakage in the system.

Stage 7. Make the second tie with the same solution as the rough. If irregularities up to 5 mm were allowed in the roughing coupler, now we pre-install reiki beacons to perfectly level the surface.

The finishing layer of the screed dries 5-7 days - the same as the rough one. After complete drying, you can proceed to the floor and lay floor tiles.

Conclusions and useful video on the topic

Video # 1. Visual demonstration of the installation steps of the electric mat:

Video # 2. The process of device and connection of electric cable floor:

Video # 2. Rules and stages of installation of pipes for a water heated floor:

Every family today has warm floors available, the bathroom with such floors will be transformed and become more comfortable. The heating system in the floor will last for a long time, if timely perform technical inspection and prevention.

And what is the heating floor in your bathroom? Tell us how you chose the best option for you, how you laid and connected the system. Please write comments in the block below, post a photo and ask questions about the topic of the article.