SLC and UFH in a new kitchen

[wysinawyg]

Right gents, hoping you all can help. We're having our kitchen re-done and as part of that we're keen to put in some electric UFH. People aren't keen on doing the UFH so it looks like muggins is going to have a go.

So I'll be working with a cleaned off concrete floors which would otherwise be ready to tile onto. A few questions then:

1. intention isn't to tile under units, just under freestanding appliances. Should I be putting insulation boards under the units though or just getting them to crank up the cabinet legs to give more headroom?

2. if I don't put insulation board over the whole thing how do I do SLC over just the relevant bits? I assume the norm would be for the cabs to go in first and then to board and tile up to the legs, but how do I stop the SLC running over the edges? or should it be stiff enough not to?

3. I've got to cover about 25sqm in as short a time as possible, hints and tips?

 

[Dan]

Hi, welcome aboard.

1) If you're tiling under the free-standing things, I'd stick insulation under them (for the sake of not building up with SLC or adhesive which will probably cost more) but NOT put the heating wire under there (no point really). Under the units, I wouldn't put insulation, tile or anything. Just go far enough under so the kickerboards cover the cut tile. You wont need to crank anything up then.

2) You can use off-cut tile or a couple of bricks propping up a bit of wood to stop the SLC falling off the insulation under the units. Though if your heating cable is around 6 inches away from the edge of the insulation, you should find most of the SLC won't go to the edge if you float it out a bit. then you'll just need a little more adhesive under the tiles there. It simply takes a bit of initiative and take time to plan it out before you mix the SLC.

3) Plan well. Make sure the cable or mat is the correct size. Check the cable a lot (continuity wise to make sure it's never damaged - you can get a gizmo that you connect to the wire that lets you know somehow if you snag it, not expensive at all either - see Underfloor Heating | Electric | Floor Insulation | Uheat for more info on that).

On a 25sq meter floor, I'd get the insulation boards, cable, and SLC down on day one, and then tile and grout day 2 and 3. It isn't that big of an area really. Done quite a few conservatories of that size in 2 days, though they are often easier to work with as they're normally pretty square etc.

Before and after pictures win you kudos and brownie points here.