I am gutting my kitchen and considering putting pex radiant heat in the new tile. Only problem is is that it the house is an open floor plan and the kitchen floor will be running in to hardwood on two sides. The hardwood is only 3/4 inch high so the new tile floor would certainly be higher and have to have a saddle lip around it.
Is putting up with the saddle worth it versus having a nice, flowing floor? Or should I install less efficient pex on the underside of the subfloor? Should I consider electric radiant or is it too expensive to run? Any thoughts? thx
Replies
Friend,
I encourage you to consider the electrical rather than the pex..... the lip at the transition will be trouble long term and you will obtain great results with an electrical system at a good cost.
I finished up a bathroom with pex in the floor using a variant of Warmboard.
The "warmboard" bascically becomes your underlayment. I did Shluter Ditra over that and then tole.
So your finished tile floor should not be much higher than the thickness of the tile and the Ditra above your oak.
Make or buy a hearth strip of matching hardwood to ease the transition.
I hate elevation changes big time, but sometimes you need to accept the results. If your transitions end at doorways or arches, it will have an interesting effect.
Walk around your home through these doorways and notice that you will almost always lift a foot and step over an imaginary threshold that crosses the doorway. Try it.