We are installing a radiant floor heating system in our 100 yr. old house and would like to use a surface material on top other than carpet. What flooring systems work and don’t work?
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
Listeners write in about HVAC company consolidation and stains from supply lines and ask questions about Larsen trusses and insulating stucco houses.
Featured Video
Highlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
Ceramic or stone work great if your floor framing supports it. You going under subfloor?
A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
What do you currently have on top of the floor joists? And to what can you strip the floor down?
Material, thickness, etc.
Stone, tile, engineered wood, some solid woods, veneer cork, laminated flooring, linoleum, vinyl, even carpet. They can all work.
Pretty much anything can be used, but some types of flooring perform better than others.
From the simplest aspect, think R-value per material. Tile conducts heat well, thick carpet with a heavy carpet pad does not.
Within a family, not everything will work. Some cork tiles are better than others, for example. Thickness, etc, etc.
While a certain material may be ideal, your particular floor structure may require too much prep work to make that flooring choice practical.
A lot of variables in RFH. Both in how the RFH is installed, how the systems are set up, and what goes on top. Depends on the thermal envelope of your house and heat load calcs as well.
But dang, I wouldn't heat my house any other way.
Mongo