Underfloor heating in older property

SturtM

Hi,

We are currently purchasing a 1917 detached house. The existing floors are concrete and we want to install a wet system due to the long term costs of dry.

My builder has suggested that 75mm is needed to fit it and the existing floor will probably have to be dug up and replaced, with the new concrete floor incorparting the pipes.

Alternatively, we could put it on the existing floor but will lose 75-100mm of height in the room and the associated problems with existing doors etc that we want to avoid.

The floor space is about 72m2.

Can anyone give an indication of:
Cost of digging up floor (is this something I can realistically do myself with Kango hire?)
Laying of new floor
Installation of wet UFH

Any help or guidance here will be gratefully received!

Thanks!

Chippy_Minton_2

SturtM wrote: »

Can anyone give an indication of:
Cost of digging up floor (is this something I can realistically do myself with Kango hire?)

Cost, did you ask your builder that?
You could do it yourself, couldn't you?
How deep is you dpm?
Can you be sure you will not penetrate it?

SturtM

The builder didn't go into detail, it was more a case of him giving us an extension quote before us going to sealed bids on the property.

Not sure how deep the dpm is, have very little knowledge about this area and was hoping for any advice going.

Thanks!

SturtM

With all the work that may need doing, would it be better to go with dry UFH?

Is it a big/costlyjob to dig up existing concrete and re lay?

bambibashercol

Running dry ufh would leave you with a massive heating bill. They are expensive to run

gmgmgm

Dry UFH will cost more than wet in the long-term, but this up-front cost could easily outweigh those running costs in the next 10 years. Perhaps do dry UFH with some radiators in sensible places.
Digging up a concrete floor is a real mess and you can find all sorts of problems (e.g. pipes) once you start.

Architectural_Ant

Its extreemly unlikely that there will be a DPM in a house built in 1917 if the floor is original, however, if you don't know how deep the foundations are, when you start to dig out (probably 350mm or more) for suitable sub-base and insulation with the screed over, you may well undermine the foundations depending on their depth, this is a very dodgy position to be in and could well result in underpinning etc.. This is a worst case scenario, but is it really worth it for under floor heating. Also if you dig the floor up, you will require Building Regulations approval for the new floor that you put back.

If you put it over the top of your existing floor, around half of the heat will be wasted because it will go straight into the ground as you have no floor insulation. Do you have much experiance with underfloor heating? The systems take a long time to heat up and cool down as they have to heat up the whole concrete screed rather than a radiator which just heats up the adjacent air.

They are good but be prepared to have the heating on constantly through winter and not just when your cold.

PM me if you want any further advice.