Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 Jul 07, 2009 11:25 am Hi, We are building a new home and have laid hydronic(Hot water coils) in slab heating.We are now being told by our builder that they will not guarantee timber floors laid over the slab and hydronic heating. Can someone please give advice on this topic. I have my heart set on timber floors Re: Hydronic Heating and solid timber floors 2Jul 11, 2009 3:25 pm I wouldn't. We looked at hydronic heating and were strongly advised against timber floors. Part of the reason for H/H is the eco friendly aspect - tiles or cement are much better options for passive heating. I have heard of floors cracking with hydronic heating - personal experience from the guy who specialised in grinding/polishing cement floors. I'd go tiles myself but its up to you. Re: Hydronic Heating and solid timber floors 3Jul 11, 2009 5:59 pm Me neither. We are renovating and are laying a new solid timber floor over underfloor heating in the slab - but we are disabling the underfloor heating for this very reason, and using a Daikin heat pump instead and a wood heater. Our floor layer told us he laid a beautiful timber floor for his auntie over underfloor heating. Apparently he didn't want to, but she begged and begged and promised she would never turn the underfloor heating on - so he gave in. First winter came along (this is in Tassie, very cold) and she puts on the underfloor heating and the whole floor warped horribly, wasting all his good work - he was NOT happy. We've done quite a bit of research into this as well and we will never ever turn on our underfloor heating - it just costs too much to replace solid timber flooring !!! Best wishes, MagicJ MagicJ I finally have my own reno thread: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=28335 The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue! Re: Hydronic Heating and solid timber floors 4Jul 11, 2009 6:38 pm I'm using hydronic underfloor heating with timber floors. I'm not envisaging any problems. I'm going to limit the slab temperature to 30 Celsius so it doesn't get too hot. This would mean that the room may only be 20 Celsius, but this is enough since I'm not after the toasty warm feeling but rather just take the edge of cold winter days and nights. My flooring will be 12 mm ply plus 13 mm Slimwood, with insulation beneath the suspended concrete slab. This combination means more heat goes up through the floor than wasted downwards. The timber people don't like the idea, but I'm indemnifying them of any problems that are confined to the hydronically heated areas (not all parts of the timber flooring are heated). Until a few years ago, Boral allowed Slimwood on hydronic heated floors and had an installation guide (which some nice person from Homeone faxed to me, but I can no longer find ) Once Slikwood came out, Boral changed their recommendedation to Silkwood. So, at the very least, you could use Silkwood and get a guarantee. I think the key is not to allow the slab temperature to get too high. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Hydronic Heating and solid timber floors 5Jul 11, 2009 7:31 pm Thanks everyone. We have found a company in Melbourne that will do the timber floors and guarantee them.They are engineered boards. The company if anyone is intrested is Mafi. We are waiting on coating which i imagine will be high! So we might settle for timber in some areas and tiles in others. Re: Hydronic Heating and solid timber floors 6Jul 11, 2009 8:07 pm TinaS Thanks everyone. We have found a company in Melbourne that will do the timber floors and guarantee them.They are engineered boards. The company if anyone is intrested is Mafi. We are waiting on coating which i imagine will be high! So we might settle for timber in some areas and tiles in others. If they come in high, look at Boral Silkwood. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Hydronic Heating and solid timber floors 7Jul 11, 2009 9:09 pm Casa2 Until a few years ago, Boral allowed Slimwood on hydronic heated floors and had an installation guide (which some nice person from Homeone faxed to me, but I can no longer find ) Once Slikwood came out, Boral changed their recommendedation to Silkwood. So, at the very least, you could use Silkwood and get a guarantee. Perhaps you should send a PM with your fax details to the nice person & they could resend Engineering timber is certainly a less fuss option, times cheaper to supply and install and better withstands humidity. 1 15919 Does anyone have a suggestion for a good hydronic in slab heating speacialist who may be able to help me with an existing system and wether or not it may need a seperator… 0 4887 Currently renovating, and our main lounge is 5m x 10m, with a cathedral roof peaking at 6.5m high. Currently have tiles on concrete slab. Room is very hard to heat. I am… 0 4821 |