Common Underfloor Heating Installation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

When installing a Snug Underfloor Heating system, accuracy throughout the entire installation process is required. This is to ensure an evenly heated system that is covered by our lifetime pipe guarantee. We have compiled 3 common underfloor heating mistakes and how you can avoid them during your next installation project. This guarantees your customers a long-lasting system that will run smoothly for years to come.

1) Not Putting Down Damp Proof Membrane

One of the biggest mistakes an underfloor heating installer can make is not utilising the damp proof membrane before laying down the screed. If the damp-proof membrane (DPM) is not used during the installation process, the screed will react with the aluminium foil beneath the underfloor system causing it to corrode.

The gas bubbles caused from this reaction will appear as air pockets in the screed layer. This turns screed into an insulator rather than a heat conductor, minimising the effect of the underfloor heating system through the floor as the warmth becomes trapped in the screed. This will massively decrease the systems efficiency. The only exception to this rule is when using the Snug Castellation Mat system as the DPM is built into the mat itself.

2) Not Following the Supplied Drawing Plan

Here at Snug we supply a full pipework drawing plan with all our underfloor heating systems. We also supply a complete board layout for our Snug Low-Profile systems. It is of the utmost importance that these plans are followed exactly. Our Water team calculates the flow rates for the system and the materials required to these precise specifications, to ensure even floor heat and an efficient system.

If the designs are not followed there is a risk of running out of project materials, incurring a further cost in the latter stages of an installation.

3) Not Sending an accurate floor plan/ drawing

We don’t insist on an architectural floor plan when quoting a Snug Underfloor Heating system and are more than happy to accept hand drawn, accurately measured plans. However, it is important when submitting a drawn floor plan that the measurements are correct. This is because our technical team uses these exact numbers to create your system plan. Inaccuracy in these figures can lead to an incorrect number of materials being sent out or compromised drawing plans that leave cold spots.

These will incur changes further down the line when amendments are required, to avoid these it is important to double check all drawings are accurate before submission.

If you have any further questions in regards to system installation, please give our friendly technical team a call on 01772 761 333 or email sales@firsttrace.co.uk.