P
PeterB
Dear Experts!
Here's a homeowner looking for advice about a home renovation project. It's a mid-terrace property built in the 70's, located in southeast London.
I'm planning to retrofit wet UFH to the whole ground floor and laying procelain / ceramic tiles on top. There are two rooms to be upgraded, a kitchen-diner, about 16 sqm and an adjoining living room, 20 sqm.
I'm planning to have a Nu-heat low pro max system fitted, not sure if that's relevant.
The subfloor is concrete under the whole ground floor. In the living room, on the top of that we have an old parquet floor, covered by carpet (laid by the previous owners).
In the kitchen-diner we have a mix of laminate and ceramic tiles on the top of the concrete substrate.
Obviously all covering will go but not sure if I need to remove the parquet layer in the living room. Could that act as a (mediocre) insulation layer under the UFH?
Or should I rather have that removed and add insulation instead (e.g. high compression boards). I would also want to minimise the build-up.
And then another complication: the parquet floor seems to be fixed to the concrete with a black, sticky substance (bitumen perhaps?). Does that need removing? Or can the Low Pro panels be fixed on top of that?
Does this community agree that uncoupling membrane is an absolute must have in this situation? (One of the tilers said he's not usually using it).
Regarding the tiling. I'd like to have wood-effect tiles with long and narrow tiles, e.g. 15x90 cm. Would it be possible to use a very thin grout with rectified porcelain tiles? I'm thinking 1/16, 1/8 tops.
Would there be enough grout material to accomodate expansion and contraction? (Sorry for the silly questions!)
One of the tilers told me he would like to have the UFH working on low temperatures while laying the tiles. Is that a sound idea?
Do you have recommendation for any materials, tile suppliers, etc. Any other pitfalls I should avoid?
Thanks very much guys,
Peter
Here's a homeowner looking for advice about a home renovation project. It's a mid-terrace property built in the 70's, located in southeast London.
I'm planning to retrofit wet UFH to the whole ground floor and laying procelain / ceramic tiles on top. There are two rooms to be upgraded, a kitchen-diner, about 16 sqm and an adjoining living room, 20 sqm.
I'm planning to have a Nu-heat low pro max system fitted, not sure if that's relevant.
The subfloor is concrete under the whole ground floor. In the living room, on the top of that we have an old parquet floor, covered by carpet (laid by the previous owners).
In the kitchen-diner we have a mix of laminate and ceramic tiles on the top of the concrete substrate.
Obviously all covering will go but not sure if I need to remove the parquet layer in the living room. Could that act as a (mediocre) insulation layer under the UFH?
Or should I rather have that removed and add insulation instead (e.g. high compression boards). I would also want to minimise the build-up.
And then another complication: the parquet floor seems to be fixed to the concrete with a black, sticky substance (bitumen perhaps?). Does that need removing? Or can the Low Pro panels be fixed on top of that?
Does this community agree that uncoupling membrane is an absolute must have in this situation? (One of the tilers said he's not usually using it).
Regarding the tiling. I'd like to have wood-effect tiles with long and narrow tiles, e.g. 15x90 cm. Would it be possible to use a very thin grout with rectified porcelain tiles? I'm thinking 1/16, 1/8 tops.
Would there be enough grout material to accomodate expansion and contraction? (Sorry for the silly questions!)
One of the tilers told me he would like to have the UFH working on low temperatures while laying the tiles. Is that a sound idea?
Do you have recommendation for any materials, tile suppliers, etc. Any other pitfalls I should avoid?
Thanks very much guys,
Peter
