# Pro's and cons of underfloor heating



## samanthajane (8 Mar 2009)

The house i have was built in about 5 mins and not very well, there's alot that needs to be done. It's bloody freezing we can have the heating on and it makes no difference, we recently changed over from a gas fire to an open fire and that helps in the front room.

Was thinking of this underfloor heating but was told it can only be done down stairs...is this true. 

I want to do the bathrooms up stairs and the kitchen downstairs. The en-suite bathroom doesn't even have a radiator in it. All the rooms are tiled at the moment ( very badly, the ex and his brother did it with no idea what they were doing so you can imagine the result ) They just put the tiles down on the bare floor which i'm sure your not meant to do but anyway. 

How does the underfloor heating work, is it electric or what? Would it cost alot to run and also to have done in the first place. 

Im no good at knowing what size things are, both bathrooms are small we used about 25 tiles in each and the kitchen is 3.25m x 6m approx but i suppose would be a bit less cause of the counters and stuff.


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## infocwf (8 Mar 2009)

hi samanthajane, get sombody in to check your insulation. onlinetradesmen is a good site to get someone who is qualified . also there is a lot involved in putting underfloor heating in. the pipes crisscross under the concrete. there is a electric mat for underfloor heating but i think its expensive to run. also you probably would need to lift those tiles and get a professional to lay them. there are too many jack of all trades going around latly to and friends of friends who seem to know more than the tradesmen themselves. in other words, get some expert advise in as hear-say might cost you a lot more in the end


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## samanthajane (8 Mar 2009)

I'm not dealing with it had enough of the builders but the ex has spoke to the council and other people no idea who about the insulation. There are others in the same estate as us who are also having problems. There's meant to be some insulation behind the walls or something, only cause the door handle smashed through the walls did we realise there's nothing there apart from a god awful breeze. 

Dont even talk to me about the tiles, thats my ex for you....... anything you want done either him or his brothers are experts in it! In my opinion i'm surprised they can tie their shoe laces without help. But he insisted they could do it. It would be great entertainment if i had recorded them doing it and what the final result was. 

So it looks like underfloor heating wouldn't be great if it's electric run ( i was hoping it would run on freezing cold air lol i have enough of it in my house) Can you insulate floors. Even with socks on the kitchen floor is so cold i'm surprised i haven't lost a few toes from frostbite!!!!


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## DavyJones (8 Mar 2009)

UFH is really only suitable if you were to build another house. A major job to do if floors already exisit. If your home was built proir to 2006 you will be eligible for the upcoming grants. you can apply through www.sei.ie . You will be assured professionl advice and work as all approved contractors are vetted I.E correct insurance, qualifications etc.


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## samanthajane (8 Mar 2009)

when you say built do you mean finished? cause it started to get built Sept 2005 but wasn't ready to snag and available to move into until december 2006.


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## DavyJones (8 Mar 2009)

I may actually be incorrect. Their website states the following: 

*I obtained planning permission for my house prior to July 1st 2008 deadline – Can I apply for a grant under Phase III of the Scheme?*

No. SEI advocates that homeowners would build their home to the highest energy performance level possible and the revised Building Regulations 2008 would be the current minimum recommended level and as such new build homes cannot be supported under the scheme where there are governed by regulation.


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## samanthajane (8 Mar 2009)

so does that mean i can get it or not. Sorry to be a bit of a duh! but what you last posted might as well be in chinese for all the sense it made to me, and i didn't get much further on the website either. 

And to be even more of a duh this grant is for what exacetly?? I cant see it being for the underfloor heating (carbon footprint and all that) so i'm assuming your talking about the insulation. I think depending on the out come of the meeting with the builders that they are going to do it cause it should of been done properly in th first place, although not loving the thought of letting them anywhere near my house again.


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## DavyJones (8 Mar 2009)

samanthajane said:


> And to be even more of a duh this grant is for what exacetly?? I cant see it being for the underfloor heating (carbon footprint and all that) so i'm assuming your talking about the insulation. I think depending on the out come of the meeting with the builders that they are going to do it cause it should of been done properly in th first place, although not loving the thought of letting them anywhere near my house again.




Have you currently got UFH?
If not, you cannot get it now unless you want to tear you house apart.

The grant covers:

Insulation, attic, interior walls, exterior walls, and cavity pumping.

It also covers, High efficiency boilers both gas/oil.
and 
thermostats that control heating zones and domestic hot water.


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## samanthajane (8 Mar 2009)

ok got you now. Thanks i'll look into that if things dont get sorted out with the builders.


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## skingtile (8 Mar 2009)

you should really have a BER assessment done, will cost you from 140-200 and he will advise as your house does not seem to be to a standard that the builder would be obligated to, list of BER assessors on sei site


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## samanthajane (8 Mar 2009)

i dont think i need one done lol i know it's not done properly there's no way it can be i've seen a few posts about people wanting tiles and worried about them being cold and everyone says it's not true, it has to be the house. But if the builders get funny i'll look into getting one done to prove it wasn't done properly in the first place.

Do you know if you can insulate floors as well as the walls, or after we get the walls done will that be enough?


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## DavyJones (8 Mar 2009)

BER assessment also covered partly by grant.


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## samanthajane (8 Mar 2009)

thats even better news davyjones, arn't you a great source for all grant things. 

Dont suppose there's a grant to knock the whole house down and start again?

i'm only messing lol .......I'm dumb but not that dumb.


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## DavyJones (8 Mar 2009)

samanthajane said:


> thats even better news davyjones, arn't you a great source for all grant things.
> 
> Dont suppose there's a grant to knock the whole house down and start again?
> 
> i'm only messing lol .......I'm dumb but not that dumb.




Give it a few years and I wouldn't be surprised


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## samanthajane (8 Mar 2009)

ha ha i dont think i could wait a few years.

Also 1 more question and i'll leave you alone...... can you insulate floors? like you do walls.


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## skingtile (8 Mar 2009)

you need a report to show to builder and to make sure that that the situation is remedied correctly. they who shout loudest get heard, get copy of report  made prior to mortgage payout. tiles are no colder than laminate flooring, a little colder than semi or solid wood,undertile heating mats are brill, abit dear initially on a large scale but if watched not bad to run


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## DavyJones (8 Mar 2009)

samanthajane said:


> ha ha i dont think i could wait a few years.
> 
> Also 1 more question and i'll leave you alone...... can you insulate floors? like you do walls.




Not that I know off. 

Tile floors will always be much colder than carpets/wodden floor etc. There should however be a radiator in the bathroom without doubt.

Maybe putting down mats would be an idea.


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## samanthajane (8 Mar 2009)

we dont have a radiator in the bathroom. I was told from the builders that if a bathroom was under a certain size then you didn't have to put one in and guess what.........yep you've got it our bathroom were built just under that size.

What about an emersion? ( ok i lied about just one more question ) Are they compulsary. We never got one of those either, and the only way for us to get hot water is to turn the heating on!


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## DavyJones (8 Mar 2009)

samanthajane said:


> we dont have a radiator in the bathroom. I was told from the builders that if a bathroom was under a certain size then you didn't have to put one in and guess what.........yep you've got it our bathroom were built just under that size.
> 
> What about an emersion? ( ok i lied about just one more question ) Are they compulsary. We never got one of those either, and the only way for us to get hot water is to turn the heating on!



I design and install heating systems as part of my job. I have never heard about minimum size of spaces in regard to heating. I would be interested to read that information.

The immerson not be included is a cost saving exercise by the builder/developer it is a  common enough practice. I belive every house should have one as standard and if I were to buy a new home I would insist one was fitted.


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## samanthajane (8 Mar 2009)

those damm builders!!! i'm gonna find out how true that is about the space thing.

As for the immerson ( haha stole your spelling ) there were so many things wrong with the house we didn't actually notice until we had got the house. For 1 example i was more concerned with having a front door that fit. Didnt need to have glass in the door the gap between the door and the frame was enough to see out of. Imagine having 100 of those things. I swear to god we had over 100 things on the snag list and they wern't silly things....have to tell you one more, i think the one that annoyed me the most:-
walked up to the foreman of the bulding site

ME: what the hell happened to the drive way?

FOREMAN: eh what ya mean

ME: there's bleeding footprints all over the damm thing

FOREMAN: no there's not

ME: come and look then, you cant miss them

FOREMAN: oh yeah i remember now, what do you me to do about it

ME: are you kidding me........fix it

FORMAN: no i cant do that

ME: dont wind me up i'm p****d of enough woth you lot as it is, why cant you fix it?

FOREMAN: well i cant control if cats walk over the drive way when it's wet

ME: I'm gonna lose the plot with you in a min......are you talking the p**s out of me? CATS!!!!! CATS!!!!! there bloody size 12 human bootprints!!!! How many cats do you know that wears bloody boots.

FOREMAN: Errrrrrrrrrr Errrrrrrrrrr Are you sure?

ME: Yes i flipping sure.....are you sure you've taken your medication this morning? . I know the bleeding difference between cats and human footprints, Ah here i'm off before i smack you one..... just get it fixed.


And then i walk off back down the road ranting and raving.


That is what i had to put up with. I could write a book 10 times over with everything that went on buying that house. It was a total nightmare.

oh yeah just to add i never did get the driveway fixed, i still have footprints all over it.


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## Alias (9 Mar 2009)

Are your floors concrete underneath, or suspended wood?  We have wood downstairs, and when we tiled the kitchen we put 200mm of of insulation underneath.  Had to take up the whole floor to do it, mind you!


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## samanthajane (9 Mar 2009)

no there's not wood, we have concrete. i'm actually thinking the best thing to do is to get rid of the tiles and put down a wooden floor.


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## BarneyMc (10 Mar 2009)

Seems like it's a solicitor you need Samantha!


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## samanthajane (10 Mar 2009)

Been there and done that barneymc!!!

Took us a year of going to court to get the house in the first place builders tried to re-sell the house because we refused to sign off on the snag list, and then tried to add 100k onto the price.  Looking back we should of just let the house go, but we were young and not as wise as we are now, and we just wanted our house that we had worked and saved for. The only reason the builder are even talking to us about the insulation is because we are not the only ones having this problem. If it was just us they would of just laughed in our face and done nothing about it. I'll be godsmacked if they ever do get it fixed, the whole estate set up a commitee against the builders because so many people had major problems with their houses. That i know of no one has had anything fixed, they've just paid to get it fixed themselves. Apart from a friend of mine that cant fix her problem cause the road is in the way. She can drive her car into the driveway no problem........it's geting out of the car she cant do. In order for her to use her drive way she would have to climb in and out of the car via the boot or the sunroof!!!! It sounds unbelievable i know but all 100% true!!!


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## skingtile (10 Mar 2009)

you really need to form an action committee


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## samanthajane (13 Mar 2009)

Whats an action committee? 

The estate already set up a committee against the builders, they all met in a pub in the town. We didn't actually find out untill after this had happened because leaflets were put in everyone's doors in the estate and at the time we were still fighting in court to even get the house so we had no access to this leaflet.

The builders certainly weren't going to offer us this information, they had questions asked by others about "the only house in the estate not being lived in" and people had heard through the grape vine what was happening to us, but the builder refused to comment on it. 

I dont blame them for not wanting me there, actually a good thing i wasn't could of ended up in a cell for the night!!!!!


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