Dispute - underfloor heating doesn't work properly

charli_lennon

thank you the_r_sole! Finally some useful advice. We had a company in who did all the work, the building work, kitchen fit, electrics, plumbing etc. We told them what we wanted I.e a heated floor and a fully working kitchen and they did the rest. They did all the specs, purchasing of materials etc. I finally found a copy of the installation manual on the internet, it has quite detailed guidance on laying on a concrete floor including not just using the primer which they market as being insulating but also having further insulation. I would have expected at the very least for them to have this conversation with me. The house is 15 years old.

Mike_the_Boilerman

I'm inclined to ask, does underfloor heating system actually make the kitchen get warm? After all this is what the specifier of the underfloor heating would have been aiming for, and will be his defence should you end up in court over it. (Unless you can show you specified you wanted a warm floor everywhere as opposed to space heating.)

I know it's a bit late to be saying this but underfloor heating is a bit of a leap of faith. When stuff goes wrong with it, the only access to the components is by taking up your expensive and (usually) permanent floor covering.

Mike

sillygoose

Its a bodge. If the mats are laid onto concrete no matter what its stuck down with all your doing is contributing to global warming in the worse sense - your heating the planet below more than your kitchen!. Its going to cost a fortune to run and never work properly. Needs to come up and be done properly.

Between the concrete floor and the mat and tiles there must be an insulation layer, there are ones made especially for this made of dense foam with a cement layer on both sides to tile on easily. Even 10mm of this stuff would make a vast difference but ideally 20 to 50mm is desirable.

As to who is responsible, well that depends on what was agreed in the contract, its always worth bashing out the detailed specification on things like this before work starts. Also I am sure the instructions for the heating mat will require insulation to be fitted so if its not fitted in accordance with the manufacturers instructions you may have a case.

The power of the mat needed partly depends on the area, 100W/M is OK for bare foot comfort and background heat, 150W/M is sufficient for general heating especially on larger radiant area, well insulated rooms. 200W/M is for colder or less insulated rooms and will heat a decent conservatory in winter.

Ianwzzz

It's your fitters fault. If it needed insulation he should have told you that and given you a price to fit it properly. If you have asked for under floor heating you should expect it to work, that is why you paid someone to install it as you could not do it yourself.