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Underfloor heating screed cracking.....


David Mclean

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Hello 

 

I have had underfloor heating put into a house, anhydrite screed was used.

 

Screed sat for about 5 months before system was commissioned, was warmed progressively over a number of weeks and by the book.

 

We now have three cracks in the hallway were we want to tile.

 

The company that installed it say its not a problem just glue it..... and tile over it not a problem.

 

Can anyone offer some advice on this? can I tile over these cracks? can I glue it?   

 

 

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I think its pretty normal to get a few cracks. We have the same type of floor and we have 2 or 3 of these. You need to make sure you use a separation membrane between floor and tiles. We used DITRA mating. My house just got flooded 2 days before we where meant to move in :( . We've had the UFH on max 24/7 trying to dry the floors out where we did not have tiles and the floor has got pretty hot - so far - touch wood - we've not had any cracks in the tiles, so the matting it working thus far.

 

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Same happened to me. I've posted about it a few times on this forum. Again in the past week or so.

 

What happens is two areas of screed (one in each room) meet at the doorway. They dry and shrink ever so slightly towards their own centres forming a crack. Ours happened after laying the stone floor and cracked the stone. The only way to prevent a problem is to form a deliberate crack (aka expansion gap) at the doorway to ensure its straight. Too late for that now.

 

If you want to tile over it I would recommend using some form of decoupling mat between the screed and tile. 

 

With anhydrite screed you also have to be careful about laitance...

 

https://www.bal-adhesives.com/tiling-onto-calcium-sulfate-anhydrite-screeds/

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  • 1 year later...

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