Stones Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 Just getting tiling prices back just now. We are planning low temperature UFH. One of the tilers has advised against the use of ceramic tiles with UFH. I'm awaiting his response as to why. Other than the issue of not being through coloured so chips / damage would be clearly visible as compared to porcelain, is there any technical reason why ceramic is problematic with UFH? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 It probably depends on how hot your UFH is going to run at. Ours never goes above 23 deg C, and that's a lot cooler than a tiled surface would be with the sun shining on it. I think a lot of tile manufacturers and supplies assume that UFH is going to run at 30 deg C plus, which isn't likely to be the case with a well-insulated and reasonably airtight house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 We have ceramic tiles on our kitchen floor with UFH. Been there 12 years now with no problem. And slate tiles in the hallway again with no problem. The UFH is under a suspended timber floor using 18mm chipbooard on 400mm joist spacing and the tiles fixed directly to the chipboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickfromwales Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 Ceramic is quite hardy as a material, but I'd never advise ceramic on the floor unless it's a "I've got to have that tile" moment. Porcelain is just so much harder and better wearing than ceramic IMO, plus the through colour issue is far, far reduced. I'd definitely say go for porcelain wher ever possible, and I fit a LOT of tiles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stones Posted May 23, 2016 Author Share Posted May 23, 2016 We are planning low temp UFH so I'm not anticipating huge issues in that regard. We had ceramic tiles on our bathroom and utility floors in the last house without issue (albeit no UFH). I suspect in the end, the issue is moot as tiles will be chosen according to what we my good lady likes the look of... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redoctober Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Have you considered limestone tiles - how do they compare with the likes of ceramic / porcelain when it comes to UFH? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stones Posted May 24, 2016 Author Share Posted May 24, 2016 We had considered Travertine but decided in the end we didn't want the ongoing maintenance, and think the same would apply to Limestone. The tiler we had spoken to advised he would only fit travertine / limestone with the addition of a decoupling membrane (although I don't think that would actually be required with ultra low temp UFH) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 We have travertine with no membrane, just bonded to the UFH heated slab with "flexible" adhesive. No problems with it, and no maintenance really. We sealed it when it was laid, but since then I;ve been working on the house, tramping mud in, generally making a mess, spilling tea etc and it doesn't seem to cause any damage. I sweep the worst of the mess off, give it a wipe with a damp cloth and it comes back looking as it did when laid. The only think to watch is that it can get scratched. The tiny every day scratches don't show at all, but I think you could cause a bad scratch it you dragged something over it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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