Retrofit Underfloor Heating - Access

Chickereeeee

I am (still) considering retrofit UFH for my 1920s house with (mostly) suspended wooden floors to the ground floor..

One of the things which worries me is that complete UFH in a room seems to effectively seal off the underfloor from any future access, at least without a LOT of work. Electrical wiring is under there, but although obviously it is not somewhere I would often need to go, sealing off access concerns me.

Is it a silly worry? Do people leave access points without UFH piping 'just in case'?

Doozergirl

I hope your house is as insulated as it can possibly be! 

Brave move otherwise.  🥶 

diystarter7

Yep, worried me o much that I did not have it fitted.
We are all different.

Are you considering water or eletrical type? One of the family built a mansion and they have a separate room for the connectors like a mini boilet house - they've had it for about 10 years and when we were there a few months ago they had a leak near the boiler connection. Water-based.

They are supposed by really but can get cold areas like rads a builder told me. (I'm pretty sure they have contrete floors or play used as floorbards as tiles on top in every room on the ground floor

Like I said I worried to much and did not go for it. However, if I had a massive house like the above, then it is easier to heat.the house/mini mansion

grumbler

Chickereeeee said:

I am (still) considering retrofit UFH for my 1920s house with (mostly) suspended wooden floors to the ground floor..

One of the things which worries me is that complete UFH in a room seems to effectively seal off the underfloor from any future access, at least without a LOT of work. Electrical wiring is under there, but although obviously it is not somewhere I would often need to go, sealing off access concerns me.

Is it a silly worry? Do people leave access points without UFH piping 'just in case'?

What's the problem with leaving a small hatch somewhere? In my friend's house it's in the under-stairs cupboard and all underfloor areas are accessible from this point.

Chickereeeee

It would be wet UFH.

My thought was to keep both the existing radiators and UFH. That way, I could use 'low-grade' heat (I.e. warm water from a possible air-sources heat pump) rather that having to have massive replacement radiators. House is draught-free, double glazed, well insulated loft. Under floor will be insulated before UFH installed. Probable extension will mean a quarter of the house will be built to modern insulation standards, and COULD have UFH built in, if it made sense.

Chickereeeee

grumbler said:

Chickereeeee said:

I am (still) considering retrofit UFH for my 1920s house with (mostly) suspended wooden floors to the ground floor..

One of the things which worries me is that complete UFH in a room seems to effectively seal off the underfloor from any future access, at least without a LOT of work. Electrical wiring is under there, but although obviously it is not somewhere I would often need to go, sealing off access concerns me.

Is it a silly worry? Do people leave access points without UFH piping 'just in case'?

What's the problem with leaving a small hatch somewhere? In my friend's house it's in the under-stairs cupboard and all underfloor areas are accessible from this point.

Due to sleeper walls, and the house construction, it would have to be per-room access.

grumbler

Chickereeeee said:

grumbler said:

Chickereeeee said:

I am (still) considering retrofit UFH for my 1920s house with (mostly) suspended wooden floors to the ground floor..

One of the things which worries me is that complete UFH in a room seems to effectively seal off the underfloor from any future access, at least without a LOT of work. Electrical wiring is under there, but although obviously it is not somewhere I would often need to go, sealing off access concerns me.

Is it a silly worry? Do people leave access points without UFH piping 'just in case'?

What's the problem with leaving a small hatch somewhere? In my friend's house it's in the under-stairs cupboard and all underfloor areas are accessible from this point.

Due to sleeper walls, and the house construction, it would have to be per-room access.

He has some walls too - don't know how they are called - grill-like for ventilation. All have some passages made by tradespeople - electricians and plumbers. They simply removed some bricks, but doing this properly by adding lintels is not a hard job.

IMHO, if a hose has a crawling space under the floor it must  be accessible. Sealing it and losing access is unacceptable.

Chickereeeee

grumbler said:

Chickereeeee said:

grumbler said:

Chickereeeee said:

I am (still) considering retrofit UFH for my 1920s house with (mostly) suspended wooden floors to the ground floor..

One of the things which worries me is that complete UFH in a room seems to effectively seal off the underfloor from any future access, at least without a LOT of work. Electrical wiring is under there, but although obviously it is not somewhere I would often need to go, sealing off access concerns me.

Is it a silly worry? Do people leave access points without UFH piping 'just in case'?

What's the problem with leaving a small hatch somewhere? In my friend's house it's in the under-stairs cupboard and all underfloor areas are accessible from this point.

Due to sleeper walls, and the house construction, it would have to be per-room access.

He has some walls too - don't know how they are called - grill-like for ventilation. All have some passages made by tradespeople - electricians and plumbers. They simply removed some bricks, but doing this properly by adding lintels is not a hard job.

IMHO, if a hose has a crawling space under the floor it must  be accessible. Sealing it and losing access is unacceptable.

Hmm, interesting. We may have different definitions of a 'hard job' particularly if you are trying to do it without taking the floor up. A couple of the internal walls are double brick too.

Anyhow, worth thinking about. I have read a lot about retrofitting UFH, and this aspect is never mentioned.

TELLIT01

grumbler said:

IMHO, if a hose has a crawling space under the floor it must  be accessible. Sealing it and losing access is unacceptable.

In effect you are saying that any property with timber floors on sleeper walls should have access to the underfloor space.  I don't know of anybody who has access under their floors. 

grumbler

TELLIT01 said:

grumbler said:

IMHO, if a hose has a crawling space under the floor it must  be accessible. Sealing it and losing access is unacceptable.

I don't know of anybody who has access under their floors. 

Old houses with no wires and no CH pipes under the floor?

People do many stupid things to save money.

Having a crawling space under floor is a huge advantage for wiring and plumbing. It's a pity  that all modern houses are built by developers on the cheap without it.

Like I said - it's My Humble Opinion.

Mistral001

The lighting wires usually come down from the first floor, so rewiring the ground floor so that there is access to them might not be the big job you might think it would be.  Zones around the perimeter of each room could be left free of UFH pipes for the re-positioned cables.