The Process

Complete Installations

Standard installation of a Thermotech under floor heating system starts with the laying of customer supplied or contractor supplied floor grade insulation and edge insulation. Why is the cost of this insulation not included in our quote?
Whether you have underfloor heating, radiator or skirting radiators the floor is required to be insulated for Building Regulation compliance.
For more about insulation click on Insulation

We will lay the supplied VCL (vapour control layer) including bonding agents and tape.
Alternatively, there is the facility for an allowance if the client chooses to undertake the self- preparation prior to us undertaking the underfloor heating installation.

The underfloor heating loops are installed and secured. Each heating loop is returned to an accessible manifold with no intervening joints and each underfloor heating zone is connected to actuator heads for thermostatic control via programmable room stat. In addition we install the blending valve, circulating pump and associated pipework. Take a look at what we do prior to attendance at your property.

Finally a high-pressure test is carried out on the underfloor heating loops and a certificate is issued which the Thermotech engineer and the client’s on-site representative sign.

The floor screed should be laid over the underfloor heating loops as soon as possible to prevent damage to the heating loops.
If you have opted for Thermotech flowing floor screed then this will be included in the installation plan.

By using Thermotech’s range of specialist liquid screeds for underfloor heating, the underfloor heating may be used after the first seven days to assist in the drying of the screed, providing the guidelines are followed. Thermotech will issue these guidelines on request after the underfloor heating screed has been laid, as again they are subject to the material used and cannot be given as general advice. If a liquid screed for the underfloor heating is supplied by someone other than Thermotech then the supplier’s advice must be sought for the specific product used.

Thermotech’s range of specialist liquid screeds for underfloor heating is ideal for underfloor heating systems and will enhance the response time of any underfloor heating system. The liquid screed is pumped over the underfloor heating pipework and as such completely encapsulates the underfloor heating loops. Conventional screed is a semi-dry mix and tends to leave air pockets around the underfloor heating pipes thus reducing the surface contact between the screed and the heating pipes. As trapped air makes a good insulator this is the last thing you want around the heating loops.
Also because liquid pumped screed has virtually no air in the mix it can be laid at a reduced depth, for an underfloor heating system the recommended screed depth would be 50mm, yet retain the same strength as a conventional screed. This reduced depth means less screed between the underfloor heating loops and your feet. The combination of these factors makes for a quicker response and better temperature control.

A word of warning when using traditional semi dry sand cement screeds with underfloor heating there is a high risk of shrinkage, curling and cupping, during the expansion and contraction movement as the underfloor heating pipes warm up and cool down. By using our pumped liquid screed for your underfloor heating, this problem is minimised. Thermotech flowing floor screeds for underfloor heating are available to customers that have purchased other underfloor heating systems but want to make use of the improved technology in pumped liquid underfloor heating screed.

All that remains is for your electrician to install and connect the supplied thermostatic digital room programmers to the underfloor heating control centre, and your plumber to connect the underfloor heating manifolds to your heat generator in accordance with the simple instructions that will be provided. This process we have made simplistic for your plumber to connect the flow to the red valve and return to the blue valve.

Using the same provider for your underfloor heating and screed not only overcomes the planning and co-ordination issues that can arise between different companies, but it can also eliminate other difficulties and disputes.

Co-Construct, in a publication entitled “Screeds with Underfloor Heating – Guidance for a defect-free interface” state the following:

“Underfloor heating is an established technology. However, while the design and operating principles are well known to building services engineers, the finer points of design and installation may not be known by other specialists such as structural engineers, concrete contractors, installers and facilities managers.
Disputes commonly occur on-site where particular items of work were assumed to have been carried out by another party, and as a consequence the work was not completed. With water-based underfloor heating, a common interface problem is between the heating element installation and the screed. If these interface problems are not understood, failures in system performance and/or failure of the screed may occur.”

This publication, the first in a series of similar guidance notes called Interface Engineering Publications, has been compiled by BSRIA and the Concrete Society. The objective of this publication is to provide building services engineers and screed specialists with consistent, interlocking advice on how water-based underfloor heating systems and screeds fit together technically, and in relation to the work programme.
By using Thermotech for the underfloor heating and the screed for underfloor heating these problems will be eliminated.
Thermotech take great pride to offer the complete installation. Within the construction industry we have seen many an issue arise due to lack of communication, clarity and understanding between the relevant trades required to bring together a top quality heating installation.