Warm Your Floating Floor

What is a ‘Floating’ Floor?

Sometimes referred to as a “click-together floor,” a floating floor is installed by linking (or clicking) individual planks, boards, or even tiles together like a puzzle that “floats” atop the subfloor, without the need for nails, mortar, or glue. The term “floating floor” refers to the installation method, but it’s often synonymous with the flooring types that can be installed with the floating method, such as laminate, floating tile, and vinyl.

Here are some examples of Floating Floors:

  • Laminate—While laminate can be glued down to the substrate, most of the time it is installed as a floating floor.
  • Luxury Vinyl Flooring (LVG) —Snaps together piece by piece and can also be glued to the subfloor.
  • Solid or Engineered Wood—Traditionally, engineering wood flooring installations involved nailing or stapling the planks to a plywood substrate. Today, there are now many brands with lock and fold technology that can be installed as floating floors.
  • Ceramic Floating Tile—Tiles are attached to each other by their interlocking plastic teeth, rather than mortared to the subfloor. Notable brands are Snapstone®, Avaire®, and Eclipse® tile.

 

What is the best radiant heating solution for my floating floor?

Ultra-efficient QuietWarmth radiant floor heating film for click-together floors is ideal for adding safe, low-cost warmth to floating floors. Using conductive ink technology, these radiant heating film mats, at a thickness smaller than a credit card, disperse fast, even heat without raising the height of your floor.
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  • QuietWarmth Heating Film has one of the easiest install procedures in the industry. Simply unroll the mats, run the wires, and lay your floor!
  • Cut-to-length feature (along the clear and dashed line portions of the mat) allows for great install flexibility
  • Spot heat: Place the mats only where you want the heat
  • No self-leveler required!
  • No mortar, No glue, No mess

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As always, we encourage you to check your floor covering manufacturer’s specifications for compatibility with radiant heating products before installation.

Acceptable floating floor materials for QuietWarmth radiant floor heating film for click-together floors include laminate, solid and engineered wood, LVF, cork and bamboo, and ceramic floating tile.

QuietWarmth heating film is available in 120V and 240V configurations, each in two lengths (5′ and 10′) and two widths (1.5′ and 3′).

 

 

20 thoughts on “Warm Your Floating Floor”

  • I have an existing system, and not I am sure of what type of matting was used, but it is a 120v electric Suntouch thermostat. It is covered with tile now, but can I place a floating laminate floor over the tile and will it heat the laminate flooring?

    • Hi Ray – Yes, it will. I’d put a few pieces of Laminate on top and see for yourself before installing the floor, to ensure you are satisfied. Keep the floor temperature at 82 F or less.

  • Penny Weigel says:

    Hi, I finally found a wide plank laminate I like but it does not have an attached underlayment – will it work over your carbon film mats? Or do I need another layer of underlayment – one over and under the film?

    • matthew@warmyourfloor.com says:

      Hi Penny,

      You actually do not want an underlament on the planks because that will trap the heat coming from below.

      So the planks you’ve chosen should work well with the QuietWarmth films.

      Thank you, Penny.

    • Can you expand on this? The LVP I’ve chosen has a cork underlayment attached (haven’t installed it yet). Is the underlayment just no ideal or will it significantly inhibit heat coming through?

    • matthew@warmyourfloor.com says:

      Hi Harrison,

      The underlayment may prevent some heat coming from below.

      QuietWarmth states you can use LVP as long as it is a minimum 5mm or thicker.

      We also recommend making sure the LVP manufacturer does not have any restrictions on the floor heat as well.

    • matthew@warmyourfloor.com says:

      Hi Jake,

      Yes, the cables are coated with a polyeurethene jacket that is very durable.

      Walking on the product is not a problem, just make sure nothing heavy or sharp is dropped on the heating cables.

  • We are looking to install a heating mat over a concrete slab and then do a floating floor over the mat. Is there a need for an insulation barrier between the concrete and the mat to improve efficiency?

  • Charles VanderHart says:

    We want to put radiant heat under a composite floating floor in our basement. We had a faulty sump pump recently and had to pump out 4 inches of water from the basement. Would a similar incident ruin radiant heaters under the flooring?

    • Hi Charles,

      Due to that being standing water, we would not recommend any floor heating system in that location. That much of standing water will most likely damage the system. Feel free to give us a call to go over this a little more though! We can see if we can come up with a solution for you. You can reach us at 866-558-3369. Thanks, Charles!

      Warm Regards,
      Warm Your Floor Team

  • Do you have any experience in these mats for use in semi trailer floors, or mobile Homes.
    How about use in garage floors or concrete walks under an epoxy topcost or thin high quality cement leveling topping.
    And finally, how about a direct hookup to electrical solar panels and/ or 12 volt
    Power sources in a.c. and dc???

    • Jacquelyn Sutterman says:

      Hi Richard, thanks so much for your all your questions!

      Semi-Trailer / Mobile / Motor Home Floors
      The installation of any of our radiant floor heating systems, simply requires a suitable subfloor that is flat, clean, & ready to accept flooring. QuietWarmth is ideal in this installation environment because laminate is very popular in such homes.

      We always advise consulting your floor covering manufacturer’s instructions relating to installation over a radiant floor heating product.

      Garage Floors with an Epoxy / Cement Topping
      You can use QuietWarmth in a garage floor application, however you might experience too much heat loss. As you may know, garages are not typically as well insulated as a house. They are more difficult to heat and keep warm. We would recommend going with a radiant floor heating solution that generates more watts per square foot.

      The installer must determine, via a heat loss calculation, if the output of QuietWarmth is enough heat to match the heat loss of the structure; making sure to consider all sources (transmission, infiltration, and radiant).

      The QuietWarmth Film for Floating Floors, depicted in this article, are to be covered by floating floor materials only.

      We recommend QuietWarmth Peel & Stick mats (or any of our other tile-compatible floor heating systems) to be installed under a mortar/cement base on which you may of course coat with epoxy.
      Your cementitious base should be at least a ¼” thick to adequately cover the floor heating system and enable proper floor covering installation.

      Concrete Walks
      QuietWarmth products should only be installed indoors, as they are not rated for outdoor use.
      For any outdoor applications we recommend checking out our selection of ProMelt heating cable mats that work great outdoors in cement walk, snow melting, and patio applications.––

      Powering Your Mats
      All of our systems are designed for line voltage (120 – 240VAC), so a typical solar installation would require an inverter.

      If you have any more questions at all, don’t hesitate to contact us at customercare@warmyourfloor.com or give us a call at (866) 558-3369.

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