Problems with Under Floor Heating (UFH) advise

STaN

I'm having a bit of a problem with my underfloor heating in my apartment. I had a flooring company out to look at my wooden floors (had distorted), They lifted some boards and found the following:



The defusers are dipping 5-6cm below the wooden floor. So I'm looking for someone to come out and look at the system and give their professional opinion?

Shouldn't they be right up against the floor not just heating the air underneath?

Does anyone know an installer or building surveyor who is familiar with underfloor heating? Thanks in advance

JamesM

STaN wrote:

I'm having a bit of a problem with my underfloor heating in my apartment. I had a flooring company out to look at my wooden floors (had distorted), They lifted some boards and found the following:



The defusers are dipping 5-6cm below the wooden floor. So I'm looking for someone to come out and look at the system and give their professional opinion?

Shouldn't they be right up against the floor not just heating the air underneath?

Can't help, but I would have thought that the closer the heat source to the wooden floor, the more chance of distortion.

Normally the difuser plates are laid on insulation, over the screed and the pipes should be right up against the floorboards.

In this type of system the insulation does two jobs, it stops heat going down into the screed & it supports the plates.

It looks like the installers omitted the (polystyrene) insulation and just laid the difusers directly on the joists, you will need to lift the pipes & difusers and reinstall with a layer of rigid insulation between the joists.

As above but here is an example

ardara1

Is it a ground floor apartment? If so you would have needed about 75mm of Polyiso/Kingspan insulation under the system - If there's an apartment below you, it would be reasonable to assume that the temp difference is minimal - but you would still not want to heat your neighbours property FOC - so there should be something there (Although the builder was under no obligation in the B Regs to do so.

The factors above have NOTHING to do with the ditortion of the boards - I see the positioning of the pipes as a minor point as you're actually heating the cavity - then the timber (If you were heating the timber directly there could be greater 'shock' should the temperatures fluctuate trather than be constant)

The timber was not seasoned to the conditions in the apartment before it was lead. Timber will adjust to temperature and moisture content and will move more than you'd imagine. - Even when dried to the existant conditions in the apartment - fluctuations will still cause problems.