The Heat is On!
Underfloor Heating or Under Tile Heating as it is also known, has become more popular and trendy in recent years through the two commonly used floor heating systems in the UK, ‘Water’ (pipe fed) and ‘Electric’ wire. This is down to the fact that not only is it a lot more affordable, it is also very easy to install.
There is nothing better on those cold early mornings than being able to walk into your bathroom (or any other room of the house) after getting out of that cozy bed and the tiles under foot being nice and warm rather than your feet feeling like you are trying to cross the North Pole!
Palace Chemicals stock a wide range of products that are ideal for the installation of either of the two Under Floor Heating systems under tiled floors.
One of the most common questions – ‘Is this product (Floor Leveller or Tile Adhesive) suitable for Under Floor Heating’? The answer is generally a resounding yes, or if not, we certainly will have a product that is suitable for the use with Under Floor Heating and the substrate to be tiled.
Another question – ‘How do I know which product is best for me’? The Adhesive needs to be flexible – For example Palace Multi-Flex Tile Adhesive can cope with the movement in the subfloor that the heating and cooling of the Under Floor Heating creates.
In the adhesive industry, there are Standard classifications that all manufacturers have to display on their packaging that show that the adhesives meet the requirements suited for that application.
The classifications you need to look for is either S1 or S2 depending on the subfloor where the tiles are being fitted.
S1 = a Deformable adhesive with a transverse deformation >2.5mm – <5mm
S2 = a Highly Deformable Tile Adhesive with a transverse deformation >5mm
It is the same with Floor Levelling compounds. They have to be flexible enough to accommodate the heat and substrate alike such as Palace Chemicals Fast-Flex for electric wire; This product can be laid from 2mm – 30mm and is perfect for underfloor heating. Whereas a fibre reinforced screed is a good option for water fed pipes. Palace Thick-Bed levelling compound is ideal for this as it is fibre reinforced, polymer enhanced and can be laid up 80mm in one application.