Radiant Heat Floor

[agalkin]

I am going to remodel my kitchen and plan to install electric radiant heat floor under marble tile. I already installed WarmlyYours radiant floor in my basement bathroom. I did some online research for electric radiant heat floors. WarmlyYours appears to be most expensive. 60 sqft heated area + thermostat costs more then $700. WarmTiles from EasyHeat appears to be by far the cheapest. 60 sqft + their programmable thermostat would cost approximately less then $400. Does anyone have experience with WarmTiles? Any other brands to consider? Are there any specific points of installing radiant heat under marble title?

[bbcamp]

I know diddly about radiant heat cables, but I just wanted to raise a concern about using marble in your kitchen. Marble is easily etched by common food products and household cleaners. Polished marble will show the etching more so than honed.

[jas_il]

I used Flextherm for my small DIY bathroom project, and found it to be relatively inexpensive compared to some of the other options. Flextherm is one of the systems in which the heating wire is loose, so you route it yourself. This is criticized for being more labor-intensive, but for our small project, it really was no big deal at all. The programmable thermostat was the exact same one used by some of the other brands, and I am happy with the system overall (I should note that our thermostat did fail shortly after installation and was replaced under warranty). I used the SLC method to cover the wires because we were tiling with mosaics.

Good luck !

[agalkin]

Interesting, I didn't know about them. I actually prefer loose wire instead of mattresses. The warmed area is odd shape so I had to strip wires from mattresses anyway. I visited their web site but couldn’t find info where to buy. Could you tell me where did you buy their product and how much approximately it cost?

[LouS]

I'm remodeling a bathroom, and have purchased the mat system made by Sun Touch (http://www.suntouch.net). It has the lowest EMF rating of all the others, which becomes particularly important as we get more wireless devices in the house (wireless network, wireless phone system, etc); aside from the fact that I don't want to be exposed to more EMF than necessary. The cost was about the same as the other systems. I purchased it from www.heatedbathrooms.com, and paid $286.50 for 25 sqft. plus the thermostat and other "stuff." Their prices were reasonable, and they stocked the size that I needed.

I have to agree about marble in the kitchen. It's a nightmare to maintain, and it is easy to damage the finish. The constant dog traffic doesn't help. Ours will be torn out ......someday. If you do choose to use marble: Wipe up spills IMMEDIATELY, and clean it with stone floor cleaner. No other household products should be used. Also, make sure that it is well sealed. I would suggest re-sealing it at least once per year. And I thought my wife was high maintenance!!!

[jas_il]

Unfortunately, I think that the place I bought from no longer sells on-line (I don't recall the name). Probably the best bet would be to call the Flextherm 800 number and ask for a distributor near you.

A google search turned up spnwonline.com which showed the programmable thermsostat w/ floor sensor selling for $177. I am not sure if they had prices for the heating cable directly on-line, but it did look like you could probably get a quote pretty easily.

I know when I purchased a couple of years ago, it was among the least-costly of the options.

[paule]

I'll second the recommendation for SunTouch (www.suntouch.net) by Watts. I installed this about 3 years ago in my bathroom and plan on installing it soon in my friend's house bathroom remodel. I plan on buying the materials from www.warmyourfloor.com (same place LouS recommended)

I plan on installing 1/4" concrete backerboard over plywood subfloor, then attaching the mat, then embedding the heating mat in a self-leveling compound to make the tiling easier. On my first SunTouch installation I did not use a SLC and it was no fun attempting to trowel thinset and set tiles over an uneven surface of heating cables!!

My only gripe is the price on the digital thermostats are still an outrageous $150 each...

[LouS]

Paul,

I'm glad to hear from someone who uses, and likes, the Sun Touch product. My bathroom floor will be mud (lots of mud). I'll put the heating mat on top of the mud, and then cover it with Ditra before laying the tiles. I'm planning to secure the mat to the mud using a hot glue gun instead of (or in conjunction with) the double faced tape. Wish me luck.

I agree; the thermostat is outrageously expensive. Especially when you consider the cost of a regular programmable thermostat. Too bad you can't use one of those!

Lou

[paule]

Originally Posted by LouS

Paul,

I'm glad to hear from someone who uses, and likes, the Sun Touch product. My bathroom floor will be mud (lots of mud). I'll put the heating mat on top of the mud, and then cover it with Ditra before laying the tiles. I'm planning to secure the mat to the mud using a hot glue gun instead of (or in conjunction with) the double faced tape. Wish me luck.

Lou

You are right on on the glue gun idea - that's what I did the first time around. The double faced tape didn't stick worth a damn to the durock floor. Staples don't staple to well to durock either <g>

After poking around here and reading some posts, I think my floor sandwich is going to be:

1. Plywood
2. 1/4" WonderBoard
3. SunTouch mat
4. Prime with Custom's LevelQuick primer
5. Apply Custom's LevelLite or LevelQuick RS SLC
6. RedGard over the SLC for isolation? (although I don't feel it's absolutely necessary on this tiny little floor, my existing heated bath floor is 3 years crack free without a membrane)
7. One of Custom's polymer modified thinsets (FlexBond or VersaBond)
8. Ceramic tile