Can I Put Radiant Heat Under Hardwood

Radiant heating and solid hardwood floors.

Can i put radiant heat under hardwood. The metal nails may interfere with your heat source. The challenge when installing radiant heat under hardwood floors comes from the fact that wood naturally expands when there is moisture in the air. The radiant heat that emits through the slab can wreak havoc on hardwood flooring pieces that are greater than 2 25 inches wide. Some installers will say it is safe to install widths up to 3 inches but smaller widths will have less overall movement in response to the radiant heating.

6 set the new hardwood flooring down into the mastic then fasten it with an 18 gauge pneumatic nailer filled with 1 inch nails. 5 use a inch notched trowel to spread flooring mastic onto the old hardwood floor. Which is why the most efficent way to use radiant heat under your wood floors is to use a hardwood with a low r value. In fact many people do not know that radiant heat can be installed under wood floors.

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. But that said even a wood floor will warm up and heat you and the room quite well. When you are installing wood floors over top of concrete the double layer two layers of 1 2 ply floating plywood method will be the best method. A good compromise is to install the hydronic system right in a concrete slab and install the wood on the concrete.

Launstein r value testing results. Wood flooring manufactured and expected to perform at mc levels higher than 9 percent or in conditions above 50 percent rh should not be used with radiant heating systems. Most wood flooring can be installed over radiant heat providing all of the necessary conditions are met. Work in small sections to prevent the mastic from drying out.

It is also important to consider the heat transfer qualities of the sub flooring used the sub floor and wood floor should be within 2 3 degrees of each other. Radiant heat is usually not recommended for application with solid woods since being a natural material exposure to high levels of moisture and extensive fluctuations in temperature result in contractions and expansions. Electric radiant underfloor heating systems can be installed under wood floors by working from the basement or from a basement crawlspace. Most people are not aware of how radiant heat works.

Glue is also not a great choice. Imagine walking over heated wood floors on a cold winter night. Under no circumstances do you want to have your hardwood floor nailed down. While the radiant underfloor heat may not harm the wood it may melt the glue holding the floorboards down and make it more difficult to perform repairs in the future.