Tile Talk! Heated Floors!

Tile floors are super durable, hygienic, and beautiful. Also COLD! So what can we do about it? Heat them!! Nothing is more luxurious than a heated tile under your feet.

Early methods of installing either electric heat cables or hot water lines under the floor were time-consuming and also raised the subfloor to 1 1/2 inches in some cases! A mix of sand and Portland cement were used to create what is called deck mud. The deck mud would be mixed to a dry consistency then spread and screeded across the entire floor encapsulating the heating source. While this method works great it is time-consuming and backbreaking at times.

With new and better products it is now more viable to achieve the luxury of heated floors! Now we have heat mats! Some of the popular brands are Ditra heat by Schluter and Strata heat by Laticrete. Heat mats are very efficient and great to work with. The mats get thinsetted down to either wood or concrete subfloor, then the electric heat cable snaps right into place with the pucks on the mat! Tile directly over the mat and BOOM!! heated floors! You can even take it a step above and heat the floor in your shower. I know you have hot water pouring on the shower floor why heat it then? Well, what about after you are done showering? The shower stays wet long after you are done and that’s when shower grim builds up. When you have the heat under your shower floor it dries the water faster and creates less maintenance for cleaning!

So if your thinking about tile floors also consider heating them. With all the new products and installation methods, there’s never been a better time than now!