Radiant Heat For Wood Flooring

Quartersawn wood flooring is always more stable under conditions of extreme moisture or heat and is always a good choice over radiant heat especially when going with flooring wider than 4 inches.

Radiant heat for wood flooring. Any wood flooring that can be used over radiant heat systems must be brought into the area in which it will be installed and allowed to acclimate for at least two weeks prior to the flooring being installed. With radiant heat systems it s not just the responsibility of the hardwood floor professional to be on top of their game. Radiant heat is a system using electric coils or tubes of hot water underneath the flooring. The challenge when installing radiant heat under hardwood floors comes from the fact that wood naturally expands when there is moisture in the air.

Understanding how radiant heating works the impact of heat on wood flooring precautions that must be taken and. Radiant heating installed below wood flooring is becoming increasingly popular. Engineered wood flooring works better for radiant heating than under solid hardwood. The heating element should be embedded within a sleeper system subfloor under a traditional subfloor or embedded within concrete.

What types of floors can be applied over radiant heat. Lumber liquidators recommends floating floors flooring not attached to the subfloor for radiant heat applications to ensure performance the consumer should be aware of risks associated with nailing or gluing solid wood over radiant heat and ensure product selection and installation practices are appropriate for the application. By installing the radiant heat tubing within the concrete slab during the pouring of the concrete. What is radiant heat.

But if you do wish to put radiant heating under solid hardwood use quarter sawn wood flooring instead of plain sawn wood flooring. Traditionally it has been used for tile floors but now it is also used with wood flooring. It is also the responsibility of the general contractor plumber and hvac systems professional to put care into the installation of a radiant heat system so that all flooring substrates perform well and look great for years. Most wood flooring can be installed over radiant heat providing all of the necessary conditions are met.

Since humidity affects wood so much and the heating in your home affects humidity you ll have to take care not to install your radiant heating system during a particularly humid time of year. Radiant heating systems warm rooms from the floor upwards resulting in the capability and comfort of setting home thermostats to lower temperatures which effectively reduces energy consumption and saves money even more so for hardwood flooring since it retains heat for longer periods compared to other flooring materials.