Replies

1. 
   gdcarpenter | May 22, 2005 08:10am | #1

   Have done several heated floors, including our own at home. I've always used 'Warm Tiles'.  They make it in matts or wire, I've used the wire since the rooms were never simple rectangles.  Works fine, just plan on the install elevating the finished floor height about 1/4"-3/8" unless you recess the cable into the cementious backer board underlayment.

   Let's not confuse the issue with facts!

2. 
   G80104 | May 22, 2005 04:38pm | #2

    Did the SunTouch floor warming mat a few months back. http://www.suntouchsupport.com

   Installed the 30" x 6' mat, on a cement floor with 13"x13" tile on top. The Mat was $180 & we also bought their delux SunTouch Digital programmable floor-stat $150. The stat is nice but I think a little over priced.

      System works real nice, very EZ to install. Make sure you skim a thick coat of thin-set over the mat ( 1 of the wires is about 3/8" thick).

    I bought the product @ the local Home Depot, it was a special order, so it took about a week to get it.

     Will see if I can find some photos of the install.

3. 
   WayneL5 | May 22, 2005 10:38pm | #3

   These materials that embed in thinset will make the floor comfortably warm, but don't have enough heat output to heat a room.  So if the whole room is cold, you'll need to add regular heat, too.

4. 
   Taylor | May 23, 2005 04:28am | #4

   tile-experts.com recommends NuHeat. I think it has a lower profile than some of the other systems so you can get by with skimcoating thinset over it. It's actually panels rather than a mesh. 3/8" wire really needs SLC or a mud bed, thinset isn't supposed to be more than 3/32"-1/8".

   I'm getting strange vibes about heat mats under tiles. Custom no longer warranties their SLC over heat mat. Mapei recommends modified thinset for its greater elasticity over heat mat. By and large, there is an eerie silence from the pros at the John Bridge site about this....

5. 
   davidmeiland | May 23, 2005 04:34am | #5

   There was a JLC article by Michael Byrne about 4 issues ago where he shower his technique for tiling over heating mats. If I were doing it I would probably do exactly what he does, including using the same brand of mat.

   On a job I worked recently there were several tile floor areas with heating mats. The tilesetter installed hardibacker on the subfloor, the electrician tacked the mat to that with hot glue, and then the tilesetter poured self-leveling compound over that as his setting bed. It seemed to work fine and might be a good technique. In one area the wires got damaged somehow--no one copped to it--and the whole SLC layer had to be scraped off and a new mat installed.

6. 
   G80104 | May 23, 2005 06:17am | #6

   Here is a shot of the High $$ T-stat....

1. 
   G80104 | May 23, 2005 06:22am | #7

   One of the mat going down...