Best floor type for the discerning selfbuilder. Go. :)

[puntloos]

I know, one of those topics, and surprisingly I couldn't find any obvious previous topics, so here goes. 

 

Of course there's always tradeoffs, but surely there's a few ones that stand out? Let me discuss a few options, of course keeping in mind you don't have to do the same type throughout - maybe kitchens/bathrooms are exceptions?

 

UFH-compatible floor

• This already rules out standard wood, both due to heat change limitations 
• Engineered wood is strange. It seems to be "okay" but I'm not quite sure what constitutes okay. Why is it even a problem if a floor doesn't conduct heat too well? I know it sounds obvious but heat inserted into an area will have to go *somewhere*. Assuming you insulate well below the UFH pipes, the heat can only go up into the house, no? What type of loss am I missing? Or is it just somewhat slower to transfer the heat upwards? 
• Carpet, even low-tog not ideal? Or should I consider carpet-on-tile?

 

Slipping

• This rules out non-textured tiles, but there's plenty of other very flat materials too. Is vinyl safe enough? Or is slipping not really an issue as much as I make it out to be (or limited to kitchens?)

 

Damage/Replacement

• Either hard to damage/scratch, or not noticeable that it's scratched (but I certainly imagine high-trafficed spots will wear?
• Easy to replace physically?
• but if you do replace, suddenly you can see that one tile that's 4 years newer.. color
• Which is the most durable type? Or should I not try to avoid any damage, not worth the extra?

 

Foot Feel

• Already discussed here:
• In short, wear socks? But are there non "heat/cold" aspects?

 

Sound

• Tiles cause more echo, I guess due to super-rigid structure. Carpet seems optimal, with low-tog being better but not great for UFH 
• Wood has a tendency to creak (after a while).

 

Color

• Personally I prefer the warm oak style just examining things in a store, but I don't quite know if I should do that throughout the house, (regardless of material, oak-style porcelain is fine too)
• Should I do different colors on south facing rooms than on north facing ones?

 

Price

• All floors seem to somewhat fall in the same price range, only wood is a lot more spendy. Are there hidden costs?

 

Thoughts? What did you pick and why?

[IanR]

Best floor ever...

 

 

...for living spaces.

 

Carpet and low-tog underlay works for me in bedroom spaces, with UFH.

Edited March 26, 2022 by IanR

[ProDave]

All to much of a personal choice, there is no right or wrong.

 

In the previous house we had Maple flooring, that was only rated for UFH in narrow 70mm planks, but it worked well.  This house we have engineered Oak in 180mm wide planks and it works well with UFH.  Other parts of the house have slate tiles and those work well and are pretty much indestructible, unscratchable  and perfect for the entrance areas.

 

We have carpets on the stairs and in the bedrooms, no heating needed there so tog rating irrelevant.

 

Don't assume all flat tiles are slippery when wet, and don't assume all textured tiles are not slippery when wet.

[ragg987]

We used engineered oak pretty much everywhere. Glued to substrate, so never creaks plus works better with ufh than a floating floor. A bit of wear and tear adds to the aesthetic. I suspect it will not need changing any time soon.

 

For bathrooms, toilet, Utility used amtico, again glued down. Nice and warm underfoot unlike tile or stone. Plus not as hard.

 

The only change I would make is to avoid oak in the kitchen as we not so good at mopping up spills immediately. Next time amtico.

Edited March 26, 2022 by ragg987

[Radian]

There's something you didn't mention and it was a major factor in why we chose a low tog carpet for our garden room with UFH:

 

 

With the bare screed floor the sound in the room was awful. I found it difficult to hold a conversation because of the reverberation from all the hard surfaces. We were planning to use tiles but ditched that idea in the light of this experience. It was a fairly cheap synthetic carpet but they're very easy to maintain. One thing that was a little experimental is that we didn't use an underlay. It was simply stuck down. Despite what the carpet fitters were saying I'm glad we did. There's more than enough 'give' underfoot and for a room located between tiled kitchen and patio it didn't seem right to have a really spongy floor. Low tog underlays do exist and if this was a lounge it would be a different matter.

[Mr Punter]

Stuck down LVT is very hard-wearing and the finishes and patterns can look excellent.  A rug or two can break it up and add some softness.

[ProDave]

14 minutes ago, Radian said:

There's something you didn't mention and it was a major factor in why we chose a low tog carpet for our garden room with UFH:

 

 

 

With the bare screed floor the sound in the room was awful. I found it difficult to hold a conversation because of the reverberation from all the hard surfaces. We were planning to use tiles but ditched that idea in the light of this experience. It was a fairly cheap synthetic carpet but they're very easy to maintain. One thing that was a little experimental is that we didn't use an underlay. It was simply stuck down. Despite what the carpet fitters were saying I'm glad we did. There's more than enough 'give' underfoot and for a room located between tiled kitchen and patio it didn't seem right to have a really spongy floor. Low tog underlays do exist and if this was a lounge it would be a different matter.

We have yet to floor our sun room, but carpet is not on the list because it is an "entrance room" and someone some time will come in with outside shoes on and so this room needs an indestructible floor just like the hall, so will probably be some form of tiles.

[JohnMo]

As Dave say it's pretty much down to personal choice.  Almost any floor type will work with UFH.

 

We have ceramic tile in kitchen diner, because they suit the room.  Most of the rest of the living space is grey oiled oak, all wet rooms are ceramic tiles all bedrooms are carpet.

 

All our floors came in the same approx price bracket per M2.

[crispy_wafer]

1 hour ago, IanR said:

Best floor ever...

 

 

...for living spaces.

 

Carpet and low-tog underlay works for me in bedroom spaces, with UFH.

 

I love this, quite unique too, something I really want to investigate when the time comes.

[Radian]

2 hours ago, ProDave said:

We have yet to floor our sun room, but carpet is not on the list because it is an "entrance room" and someone some time will come in with outside shoes on and so this room needs an indestructible floor just like the hall, so will probably be some form of tiles.

 

Same issue we have but the carpet we chose can virtually be hosed down if necessary. With bleach even according to the sales blurb. But actually we got some large mats made from 'whipped around' offcuts and these save the rest of the carpet by giving a place to remove outdoor shoes.

 

[Happy Valley]

We have just been going through the same quandary. UFH heating throughout. Initially we wanted engineered wood floors as we have solid wood maple and oak in our current house.

 

However we have come to the decision to go with LVT throughout. Oak effect wood and granite effect in the wet rooms. One reason was that we had heard that engineered wood is a no no in a kitchen due to staining and problems with them lifting if get damp. As we wanted a continuous floor between rooms LVT became our favoured option. We have found one with a built in underlay for £22.50 ex VAT per metre (was £25 before negotiated discount) which is a lot cheaper than the engineered wood but looks just as good. 

 

No doubt their will be rugs added to bedrooms and the snug!!

[ProDave]

13 minutes ago, Happy Valley said:

One reason was that we had heard that engineered wood is a no no in a kitchen due to staining and problems with them lifting if get damp. As we wanted a continuous floor between rooms LVT became our favoured option

Our kitchen / diner, part of the hall and the living room are all engineered Oak as one continuous run.

 

In the kitchen, we have a washable mat in front of the cooking area. and we learn to be careful, and the oak floor is showing no signs of distress.

 

 

[puntloos]

Our builder brought up that Amtico requires a latex, or plyboord subfloor

- Plyboard sounds again somewhat water-sensitive

- Latex sounds hard to remove, should we ever want to go to another floor type.

 

Has anyone tried to remove such latex stuff? Is it as hard as they say?

 

 

[crooksey]

Latex is just a 2-3mm skim coat on the floor to make it ready to accept LVT, you usually never remove it, if you had new LVT again in 10 years, they would re-skim with another 2-3mm of latex. You can remove it, but its like tile adhesive, sticks like **** (when applied properly).

[puntloos]

3 hours ago, crooksey said:

Latex is just a 2-3mm skim coat on the floor to make it ready to accept LVT, you usually never remove it, if you had new LVT again in 10 years, they would re-skim with another 2-3mm of latex. You can remove it, but its like tile adhesive, sticks like **** (when applied properly).

 

What would happen if we wanted to go porcelain after LVT? Would one put a thin layer of screed on the latex somehow?

[bassanclan]

Engineered oak parquet herringbone

[puntloos]

42 minutes ago, bassanclan said:

Engineered oak parquet herringbone

Philosophical silicone absinth thatched

 

Or is this not the 'random terms in a row' game?

[SuperJohnG]

On the 27th of March, we are getting 130sqm of Amtico,  blackened spa wood, laid. 

 

As above 2-3mm latex screed, then its stick down. It feels nice on the feet and is essentially very hard wearing. 

 

I stick down 2sqm in my porch ( thread on here) a few years back. Great stuff and will last 20-30 years. 

[puntloos]

One of my smaller challenges is that I live in a pretty snobby neighbourhood. If someone can detect "cheapness" (perceived or real) they might scoff. But I do think that amtico tends to look absolutely fine so I'm not sure if I should care or not....

[joth]

6 hours ago, puntloos said:

One of my smaller challenges is that I live in a pretty snobby neighbourhood. If someone can detect "cheapness" (perceived or real) they might scoff. But I do think that amtico tends to look absolutely fine so I'm not sure if I should care or not....

Just tell them the L in LVT is for luxury. Can't argue with that.

 

We got argued off LVT because our architect has a fear of VOC gassing, but I honestly think from a practical point of view I'd have liked it more than porcelain and bamboo mix we have. (The bamboo is gorgeous though, just wasn't practical to extend it through the open plan kitchen).

 

My least favourite is the engineered ash upstairs but that's just because it was installed "floating" which means it shifts under foot and squeaks like hell, amtico would have felt much less "cheap" on balance.

 

One other consideration is if you have any thresholds from amtico to carpet (bedroom?) you'll need to think about relative floor heights. Ply under the LVT maybe necessary to avoid a step.

[Gow]

On 03/03/2023 at 00:53, puntloos said:

One of my smaller challenges is that I live in a pretty snobby neighbourhood. If someone can detect "cheapness" (perceived or real) they might scoff. But I do think that amtico tends to look absolutely fine so I'm not sure if I should care or not....

Let them scoff and don't give a hoot. I am having amtico flooring installed soon. The builder wants to screed the floor before the amtico tiles are installed. Is this the correct treatment for the old wooden floating floor on to which the amtico tiles will be laid?

[puntloos]

15 minutes ago, Gow said:

Let them scoff and don't give a hoot. I am having amtico flooring installed soon. The builder wants to screed the floor before the amtico tiles are installed. Is this the correct treatment for the old wooden floating floor on to which the amtico tiles will be laid?

No clue but sounds surprising they won't pull out the old floor first? Bottom line, amtico only works if the floor is sooperdooper flat

[Gow]

On 04/03/2023 at 23:15, puntloos said:

No clue but sounds surprising they won't pull out the old floor first? Bottom line, amtico only works if the floor is sooperdooper flat

Plan B to add ply layer over old floor. So much going on here that I might have heard screed in my dreams currently aka nightmares...

[crooksey]

On 02/03/2023 at 16:39, puntloos said:

 

What would happen if we wanted to go porcelain after LVT? Would one put a thin layer of screed on the latex somehow?

 

Remove LVT and glue, latex screed again (2-3mm) then tile.

 

Amtico or LVT is by no means a cheaper option, I have seen and installed LVT into kitchens £100k + kitchens.

[JohnMo]

I built, wife did interior design, she did the choosing, I paid for or did the fitting.

 

Is the thick wool bedroom carpet compatible with UFH, no, but.. it's a good job we like cool bedrooms.