OT: Heating Mat under Tile

Has anyone had experience with installing a heating mat under tile? My ques tion is how to deal with the difference between sections of the floor with the heat mat, and sections that don't have the heat mat. What is the approp riate way to install with the 1/8 height difference?

Thanks.

Reply to
Michael
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What I did (and my son in law recently did the same) was lay down the heating grid on the subfloor where I wanted it in the bathroom and then

- as directed in the installation instructions mixed up and poured sufficient self-leveling "concrete" to cover it evenly.

You remove the toilet, etc. and mask or dam around the drain as well as along the tub (assuming standard vs. claw foot or something special) and use a bit of lath trimmed to fit on the door threshold(s).

Mix and pour the concrete quickly and stand back. It sets up very quickly and provides you with a nice solid, level base for the thin set and tile. Your bathroom floor will be all one level when you're done.

I wound up with a differential of maybe 3/8" between the tile floor of the bathroom and the wood floor of the adjoining hallway. This was solved by my "machining" a 1 piece solid oak threshold and staining it to match the floor.

My heated floor has been in place for ~ 8 years now and it looks as good as it did the day I finished it.

Reply to
Unquestionably Confused

question is how to deal with the difference between sections of the floor w ith the heat mat, and sections that don't have the heat mat. What is the ap propriate way to install with the 1/8 height difference?

Thanks! That sounds like the best solution, although one of the floors we w ill tile will be the entire living room and we won't be heating it all, jus t the places where we walk. That's a lot of concrete to do the entire floor . But it may have to be that way.

Reply to
Michael

Hmmm. Not sure that I would use heating mat/grid normally designed for a bath area in a living room, but whatever.

How about figuring out a good way to bond /8" or 1/4" plywood to the subfloor with your "heated walking path" left "as is." Use the self leveling compound as previously described and just a hair shallower maybe than the other area. Any slight difference in the heated area can be made up with a touch more thin set mortar.

Reply to
Unquestionably Confused

You don't want to have to do that...are the two areas adjacent with what is going to be a continuous tile for both areas? If not, as UC says, just make a transition between the two at the doorway.

If it is and the present subfloors are consistent, the alternative to raising both is to remove the needed amount to set the heating grid flush. If sizable mat, just cut out the area and reset it with needed thickness material, for smaller areas can just remove material.

Reply to
dpb

Your suggestion MIGHT work, depending upon the type of heating mesh installed. Most that I have seen (and certainly what I and my son-in-law installed) required the coating of self-leveling goop (technical term ;) ) for the installation.

Reply to
Unquestionably Confused

...

It _DOES_ work; "flush" in this context is the finished installation per manufacturer's spec...

I've done same twice't...worked just "spiffy keen!" and kept from redoing any other existing flooring when retrofitting.

Reply to
dpb

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