12 years ago

We are working on floor plans for our retirement home. I really want radiant heated floors (water heated) and I really want solid, not engineered wood floors. I found a teak flooring that I really like. Has anyone found a way to make radiant heated floors work with solid wood floors? All ideas are appreciated.

Featured Answer

Kivi

11 years ago

In our previous house we had radiant (water tubing in concrete) heating and I did love the quality of the heated floors. We had a few different surfaces for floors throughout the house.
Engineered wood floor- the one we had was not a very thick one and was installed as a floating floor. There was no issue with heat transfer, but I hated how it felt (hollow feeling) as a floating floor. Maybe a thicker material that is glued down ( non floating) would be nicer.
Tiled areas - entrance areas and baths - no complaints- a great surface
In one part of our home ( a living area and kitchen area) we had cork flooring. At first I was sceptical about the cork floor but it turned out to be a very comfortable and easy to maintain floor. I would definitely use cork again as a floor. I really liked it.

If you are using radiant water on the main floor, I am not sure that switching to an electric system upstairs makes much sense to me. Our system had quite a few different zones of tubing which came in handy for fine tuning the way the heated water was delivered to the various rooms in the house.

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Comments (13)

PRO
Warmup Canada - Floor Heating Systems
11 years ago
Hello! Your should really consider electric floor heating then if you want to go with solid wood floors. Is this project still ongoing?
PRO
p s proefrock architecture
11 years ago
Staple-up radiant tubing can be easily installed under wood flooring. I have done this in my house a few years back, and am generally pleased with it overall. I have written about it here, if you want some further information:

https://psproefrock.wordpress.com/2010/01/20/retrofit-radiant-heating/
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feeny
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
We put in electric radiant heat beneath quarter sawn white oak floors in an addition we built (matching the white oak through the rest of the house). This particular hardwood is very durable and the quarter sawn boards apparently do not have as much tendency to warp. It's been almost seven years and we've had no trouble with the radiant heat system, warping, etc. But we undertook the job knowing that tile floors would have conducted the heat better than wood.
Doris Hastings
Original Author
11 years ago
Thank you for all the replies! We are still in "plan" phase so I still have ability to do any kind of radiant heat that I want. Since this is a new build, I saw some information on putting in the tubing before the slab is poured as an option. Then we would use the staple up method for the 2nd floor. We are building in Texas so most homes are on slabs, since basements are not done very much here. I am also considering geothermal as the heat source before the tax credits expire!

I would be curious to hear more from feeny since this installation had hardwoods and references the fact that the wood conducts less heat than tile. That is one of my concerns. I have talked to an architect in Montana however that only uses radiant heat in their homes and it gets much colder in Montana than it does in Texas, so that made me feel better.

Warmup Inc, I hadn't really considered electric floor heating since it seemed like that would cost alot to heat with electricity. However, am open to hear more about it.

ps- I read your articles. Sounds like you are enjoying your new comfortable radiant heating.
feeny
11 years ago
Hi dorhas,
We live in Ohio, so the tile vs wood heat conduction issue was important for our winters. But not, finally, important enough to trump the superior aesthetics of the hardwood. Our installation involved electric wires (or whatever they are) that were laid out and concrete poured over them, then the white oak floor laid over the concrete. I think that the water heated floors may be more efficient than the electric ones we have, but this is what worked best for our particular application. And in our case it is just one room in a 1920's house that is otherwise steam heated with radiators, so efficiency was slightly less of an issue than had we been using this as the heating system for the whole house.

BTW: Our dogs think we heated the floors just for their personal comfort. In winter they spend all their time in the addition, gazing out the tall windows at the backyard snow while lounging about in toasty radiant luxury.
benjijk
11 years ago
You might consider tile for the reason you mentioned in terms of efficiency and long term maintenance.
http://tiledaily.com/category/porcelain/wood-porcelain/
They conduct heat better, and looks come quite close to wood. Just a thought in case you're still deciding.
PRO
Cancork Floor Inc.
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
Just a reminder: heat conduction = heat loss. Heat loss = inefficient thermal control. Tiles are easily heated and easily cooled. Wood is a semi-conductor which is much better at insulating than it is at conducting. If you are open to looking at a hardwood mimic, cork beveled edge floating flooring planks can give the look of hard wood with the insulating property of cork. Have a look at our planks. You just never know.
https://corkfloorsales.com/oscommerce2/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=73
Doris Hastings
Original Author
11 years ago
Kaveac, thanks for comments. I was especially interested to hear that you had cork floors with inslab radiant heating. I was steered away from cork as I was told it wouldn't conduct the heat. Did you notice a difference in the heat transfer in the cork areas?
PRO
p s proefrock architecture
11 years ago
I've used cork in conjunction with concrete slab radiant heat for commercial projects. It is less conductive than bare concrete, but not enough that it seriously degrades the heating.
Kivi
11 years ago
We did not have any issue with it. The rooms with the cork were as comfortable as any other room, as far as the heating was concerned. Underfoot, the cork was more comfortable than any of the other surfaces. I do like wood, and I like ceramics and stone.... the cork is a softer surface. We had it for about 4 1/2 years, and the cork showed no visible wear and tear,... except where some heavier furniture sat. The feet of the furniture created dents in the floor. I do not know if those would spring back over time or not,.. if furniture was relocated from those spots.
PRO
Cancork Floor Inc.
11 years ago
Hi Dorhas 1. Cork is a natural insulating feature which means your radiant heat will take a little longer to warm the floor/get it to temperature but once there, the heat/cool cycles will get elongate. You will need fewer cycles/day to keep the cork at temperature. Technically it will take a little longer for the floor to heat up in the mornings/first time in the day but the cork will then hold the heat for as much as 3-4 times longer than a tiled floor. A cork floating floor or a glue down tile (providing the adhesive is designed for radiant heat) is well suited for this type of install. I have roughly 30% of my clients use in-floor heating with their cork (Canadians LOVE EXTRA WARM FLOORS) and they are delighted! I've even had a few clients WISH they had skipped the infloor heat because the cork did the job the heating system was supposed to do - warm their toes. If your only source of heat is the floor, then this is not an option. If your floors are being heated ONLY to prevent the floors from getting cold, then a cork floor has the ability to do this - all by itself! Drop by our website:
www.icorkfloor.com to see our wares/prices. I think you will be happy to see what we have to offer.

As for "dents" with heavy furniture = furniture coasters...just like you would with a high end hardwood.
Doris Hastings
Original Author
11 years ago
Cancork, I will check out your website, thanks for the information!

Kivi

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