Heated Floors
Heated Floors Under Tile
In Port Alberni.
Electric floor warming installed under tile by David Bennett, laid out to suit the room and protected right through to the finished floor. Based in Port Alberni and working across Vancouver Island.
Electric Floor Warming
A Warm Floor Underfoot, Every Morning.
Electric floor warming is one of the few upgrades homeowners notice every single morning. It is installed under the tile, so it is worth deciding on before a bathroom is rebuilt rather than after. The floors in these photographs are Schluter DITRA-HEAT: an uncoupling membrane with the heating cable pressed into it, tiled over directly.
- Cable and membrane systems installed under tile
- Laid out to suit the room and the fixtures
- Protected during installation and embedded in the setting bed
- Best planned at the start of a bathroom project
What Is Under The Tile
Where The Heat Actually Is.
The heating cable sits just under the tile, held at an even depth in its membrane, so the warmth reaches the surface you stand on.
- 1Tile and groutSet directly over the membrane, with the cable beneath it.
- 2Thin-set mortarFills the membrane around the cable and bonds the tile.
- 3Heating cable in DITRA-HEATPressed between the membrane’s studs in the planned pattern, and checked before tile.
- 4Thin-set mortarBonds the membrane to the floor below.
- 5SubfloorFlat, solid and prepared before any of it goes down.
How A Heated Floor Goes In
Planned Early, Buried For Good.
- 01
Plan it early
The heating changes the build-up of the floor, so it is decided before the bathroom is rebuilt.
- 02
Lay out the run
The cable is planned around the room, covering the floor you stand on and keeping clear of where the vanity, toilet or tub will sit.
- 03
Membrane and cable
The membrane goes down over the prepared floor, then the cable is pressed into it in the planned pattern.
- 04
Test before tile
The cable is checked before tile goes over it, so any damage is found while it can still be reached.
- 05
Tile
The tile is set over the membrane. Connecting the thermostat to power is electrical work, which Bennett & Sons does not perform.
Under The Tile
What A Heated Floor Looks Like Before It Disappears.
Heated floor
Heated floors
Common Questions
Heated Floors Questions
Can I add a heated floor to an existing bathroom?
Only by taking up the existing floor. The heating goes under the tile, so it is planned and installed as part of a new tile floor rather than added afterwards.
What is DITRA-HEAT?
Schluter’s floor-warming system: an orange uncoupling membrane with studs that hold the heating cable in place, so the cable sits at an even depth directly under the tile. The membrane also helps protect the tile from cracking as the floor beneath it moves.
Does the heating go under the whole floor?
Usually it covers the areas you walk and stand on, not the floor under a vanity, toilet or tub. The layout is planned for each room.
Does a heated floor need an electrician?
Yes. The membrane and cable go in with the tile, but connecting the thermostat to power is electrical work, and Bennett & Sons does not perform electrical work.
Related Work
More From Bennett & Sons.
Tile & Bathrooms
All of David’s tile and bathroom work, on one page.
Learn moreBathroom Renovations
The tile side of a bathroom: showers, waterproofing, tiled floors and heated floors.
Learn moreCustom Tile Showers
Tiled showers built from the substrate up, with Schluter waterproofing behind every wall and floor.
Learn moreFloor Levelling & Prep
Self-levelling, patching and subfloor correction, so the finished floor sits flat and lasts.
Learn more
Also in:NanaimoDuncanSaanich Peninsula
Want A Warm Bathroom Floor?
Send the size of the room and what is happening to it, and David will follow up about adding heat under the tile.