How to choose a laminate for a water-heated floor? Expert Reviews

Warm floors can serve their owners long and reliably if they are properly assembled and a suitable covering is selected. The floor can be made of any materials: concrete, wood, linoleum and so on. One of the optimal materials is a laminate for a water-heated floor, which has certain parameters and properties.

Laminate has long been popular with the installation of flooring. It is convenient to operate, it has a stylish appearance and a wide variety of colors and textures.

Laminate for a warm water floor: advantages and properties

Among the advantages of such a floor covering for a warm floor is the following points:

• The heat conductivity of the laminate is low, it allows to provide heat transfer at the level of 40-50 degrees;
• Laminated flooring allows you to reduce the consumption of thermal energy by 40 percent, when compared with other home heating systems;
• When using this type of heating of the laminate floor, there is no magnetic field that negatively affects human health;
• Laminate for a warm water floor ( user reviews emphasize this) keeps the heating surface dry, which protects the floor from fungus, mold and damp in the room;
• Tandem laminate and underfloor heating is a clean and ecological solution in the home heating system.

In addition to the above advantages, such a floor in the room heats up almost instantaneously and evenly. The thermal system under the laminate increases the life of the coating several times.

The existing shortcomings of the described tandem consist in improper application of the installation technique, both the heating system itself and the laminate.

Feature of a warm floor

Most experts do not recommend installing a laminate for the water-heated floor and the heating system in the apartment buildings, as it requires special pumps and capacity for pumping system fluid that occupies a considerable space. Also, in case of a pipe break in the floor, the water will spoil not only the laminate itself, but also the relations with the neighbors from below. Therefore, such a tandem, profitable in any conditions, is installed in private houses, cottages and cottages.

Laminate for a warm water floor: which one to choose?

Not every kind of laminate is suitable for use with a warm floor. Traditional laminate coating, which can be found in every construction shop, can not be used for underfloor heating, as it has very low thermal conductivity. A material is needed that is both dense and thin at the same time, capable of passing the heat coming from below and being resistant to external pressure.

Which laminate for a warm water floor should be chosen in the construction market or in the store? Specialists advise you to take a floor covering with a special marking in the form of a special pictogram on the product package or in the accompanying documents, indicating the suitability of the material for use in conjunction with the warm floor. In this case, the laminate, which goes to the warm floor, is not designed for electric floor heating and vice versa.

In order for customers to distinguish the required laminate, the package shows a symbol of water, they write the formula H ₂ O or put the inscription "water". If there is no specialized marking, then such a floor covering is considered an ordinary standard, designed for floor installation without additional heating systems.

Laminate without marking

Which laminate is suitable for a warm water floor, if it does not have a special designation? Many manufacturers of high-quality and inexpensive floor coverings (both domestic and foreign) do not put special marks on the fact for which moments the material is intended. Therefore, according to the building standards, for a warm floor, the laminate, which has a thermal resistance of not more than 150 W, is excellent. The substrate must be made of a synthetic porous material that minimizes the heat wave.

Many users who have installed a laminate floor for their own water-heated floor, are advised to pay attention to the board thickness from 8 to 10 mm when selecting a coating. Such material will be durable and reliable, and it will also be good to pass the heated air.

In addition, the acquired flooring material should be characterized by high water resistance and a maximum load of 500 kg / m2. With the right selection of material, the service life will be at least 50 years.

Tips for choosing a laminate

In addition to the above recommendations, the laminate should be selected more durable and resistant to erasure. Mount on the warm floor is better floor covering class of at least 32. On such material there are no traces of furniture, it lasts longer serves its owners and does not lose thermal conductivity.

How this system works

Pipes for the warm floor are laid in a cement screed, ensuring their great safety. Under the pipes lay a special insulation material, which protects the loss of heat through the ground or reinforced concrete floor. The heating system is covered from above with a synthetic substrate that protects the coating material and mounts the laminate itself for the warm water floor.

When the heating system operates, the laminate heats up to 50 degrees, the heat from the floor rises to the top and thereby heats the entire room. The heat transfer of such a tandem is very high. Even after switching off the heat supply to the system, the pipes and the laminate itself retain the temperature for a sufficiently long period.

Conclusion

The system "warm floor" in itself is very popular due to its economy and efficiency. In the house where it is installed, it is always cozy and warm, there are no panels and batteries on the walls, all the rooms are evenly warmed up, everywhere dry and comfortable. However, not every floor covering can provide the necessary effect. If the floor is assembled from an unsuitable material for this system, either it will not be able to pass enough heat into the room, or it will get very hot, which will bring some discomfort to those living in the house.

Therefore, the warm floor can work as efficiently as possible only in conjunction with a special coating, and the laminate here takes first place. But such material should be designed for work in tandem with a warm floor according to the parameters described above.

Therefore, when choosing a laminate for a warm floor, attention should be paid to its marking and technical characteristics. Then the money invested in the installation of the heating system and the floor will bring beauty, warmth, comfort and comfort to all members of the family.