UFH and level access wet room

[RosieAndJim]

Hi there,

We were hoping to DIY retrofit wet UFH in our home and trying to work out how to phase the project in with changing our ensuite to a level access wet room.  Have now been told that fitting UFH with level shower is likely to be an issue but surely this is possible?  Does anyone have any experience / suggestions please?

Many thanks.

[PeterW]

No issue at all. Ideally you may want to use electric UFH mats as they can be used year round and have lower build up but not difficult if planned well. 

[Temp]

Welcome to the forum. I love UFH but hate wetrooms (wet socks.. shudder).

 

Tiles need a solid base so most people have to reinforce/stiffen their existing floor with a layer of plywood or similar. Is a gross simplification but normally wet UFH would go under the plywood and electric UFH would go above the plywood. There are advantages and disadvantages to both types.

 

Most people don't fit UFH under the actual shower tray area (the tiles warm up quickly when you run the shower anyway). You can do it but its probably easier if you just put UFH under the rest of the room. If you do this then there is no problem with a level access shower.

 

How big is the bathroom? If there is very little free floor area (because the rest is hidden under bath, shower, WC, cabinets etc) then you might not get enough heat out of the floor to heat the room. Depends how well insulated the house is.

 

 

 

 

[markc]

Electric under tile mats for the bathroom means toastie warm tiles when the main heating isnt on.

[RosieAndJim]

Thank you for your responses.

 

The en-suite is approx 2m square.  Our longer-term plan was to put wet UFH in throughout our bungalow before replacing the carpet that we inherited throughout (including in en-suite and bathroom). Recommendation for en-suite flooring by OT is 20mm Altro Aquarius.  We now need to work out how to ensure that the floor surface will be level throughout.  Unfortunately tiles are not an option (not fall friendly).  At present the most practical affordable option is looking like LVT for most of the bungalow and 20mm Altro Aquarius in the en-suite.  The LVT that we like the look of is 4mm thick (decent wear layer as we have pets).  Has anyone got any advice on how we sort out the different profiles of the shower deck (22mm), Altro flooring (2mm), UFH boards (20mm) and LVT (4mm plus underlay if required) to create a level floor throughout - or is this not possible?  Do we need to find flooring the same thickness as the Altro throughout - and then what would happen about the 2mm difference between the shower deck and UFH boards?

Or is this impossible to sort?