How to make a warm floor on the balcony do it yourself

How nice to get out early in the morning on the balcony with a cup of strong coffee and a couple of croissants. Enjoy the fresh air and watch the always rushing townspeople somewhere in a hurry. Unfortunately, many in the winter period have to be content with the usual observation from the window, since it will not work on the balcony for more than a few minutes.

In order not to deny yourself such pleasure in hard frosts, you can warm the balcony. And thus create a warm and cozy little room where you can be alone or spend time with loved ones. The best option for heating will be floor insulation.

Why warm floor

Why install a warm floor if you can attach a regular radiator? The answer, or rather the answers, are fairly simple.First, the balcony already has a small area, and the radiator will take another half a meter-meter. And secondly, no matter how powerful the heater is, it will not be able to warm the air evenly. The fact is that warm air rises. And since it is located above the floor level, the bottom of the room will remain unheated.

Heated floor solves both problems. Under the coating, they will be completely invisible, their presence will be indicated only by a temperature controller attached to the wall, which is no larger than a conventional switch. In addition, the system evenly, from the floor to the ceiling, heats the room and does not overdry the air. Heated floors for the balcony fit three options:

• Infrared floors;
• Special heating mats;
• Cable system

Further, there will definitely be a detailed description of each of them, but first of all it is necessary to prepare the balcony for the floor installation.

Preparatory work

So, whatever the option of warming, the balcony in any case should be prepared for repair. What should you do first? The presence of various cracks in the walls or windows, as well as other openings,through which warm air comes out and, accordingly, comes cold, they reduce the efficiency of even the most modern and perfect heating system to almost zero. Therefore, the first step is to close the walls and windows. If the old wooden frame still stands on the balcony, it is better, if possible, to replace it with high-quality double-glazed windows. Even this procedure will save much more heat. Now you can decide on the choice of the system.

Infrared warm floor

If it were about heating, infrared sheets would occupy the last place in the top, as their heat transfer is much less than other options. However, on the balcony, this option will be at least as good.

First you need to figure out what are these heating elements. This kind of film, which consists of carbon bands, sealed between the layers of polyester. The principle of operation consists in the long-wave radiation of heating elements. Thus, the floor and furniture are first heated, which then give off secondary heat, which allows you to create a comfortable temperature in the room.

Advantages and disadvantages
The advantages of infrared heating elements are:

• Minimum energy costs;
• Operational installation;
• It is allowed to install under any flooring;
• Reliability and safety.

And also the rapid warming of the floors. On full warming up no more than 30 minutes leave. And choosing a quality product brand manufacturer, time can be reduced to 10 minutes.

You can also note that this system practically does not raise the floor. If we talk about the minuses, they are much smaller, and weighty or not, they are already judged in their own way. So, the disadvantages include:

1. A somewhat complicated method of installing a thermostat compared to other options;
2. Also, infrared heated floors will give inconvenience to owners of apartments with aluminum wiring, as it should be replaced with copper.

Installation
If the flaws were not significant, and the infrared floor is the best option for you, you can proceed to their installation. First you need to stock up on the following basic tools:

• The very set of warm floors;
• Thermostat and temperature sensor;
• Polyethylene film;
• Pliers;
• Double sided tape;
• Heat-insulating material (preferably with a foil-coated coating)

After that you can proceed to the installation. To do this, you first need to remove the old screed and level the floor with a concrete solution. After it dries, the main work begins. At first, the heat-insulating layer spreads, and the heating sheets are laid out on top. With each set there is necessarily an installation manual. Therefore, to describe the same thing as there is no sense. Laying the surface of the infrared floor, the top should cover all the dense polyethylene, which, if necessary, retain moisture. The last layer is the installation of the floor covering. It does not require any concrete screed. Simply install laminate, parquet or other similar material.

By the way, so that during work, the infrared sheets do not move from their place, they should be glued with tape. However, this can be done only on the white parts of the coating.

When the floor is covered, contacts are connected to it, which should be insulated with mastic, and after the wires are brought to the thermostat on the wall, to which in turn electricity should be brought from the outlet.

Now you can turn on the system, take off warm slippers and enjoy the pleasant warmth.

Heating mats

What are these mats? In fact, they represent the usual heating cable (which will be discussed a little later), which is attached to a special grid. Its main advantage is ease of installation, since there is no need to perfectly level the floor. However, the disadvantages of the system are much greater.

1. Relatively low level of room heating. However, it is worth noting that they will cope with the balcony;
2. High electromagnetic background. This leads to. That the room can not be a long time;
3. Unreliability If you often turn on and off the warm floors, very soon they can fail.

Installation
Most likely, you are quite a brave person if you are reading this section. However, with proper operation, heating mats can also last for a long time. Therefore it is worth knowing how to install it.

1. The floor is treated with a primer, and a hole is made in the wall to install the sensor. Also with the help of the grinder from the hole to the floor is made a groove for the wires.
2. After that, mats are laid on the floor space. It is important that they have a distance of at least 5 cm between them and about 10 cm from the wall.
3. After that, a cable is connected to the thermostat from the mats, with which the switching on and off will be made.
4. Now it is necessary to check the performance of the system, and if everything is in order, apply the adhesive solution, and install the tile on top.

Everything is ready, but there is still an inspection of the most popular option, so it’s better to finish the article, and not to go to the store for mats or infrared heating film.

Heated floor heating cable

As already mentioned, this method is the most popular. The reasons for this are:

• Durability;
• Reasonable price and permissible energy consumption;
• Good for regulation.

As you can see, the advantages are obvious. Therefore, we will not dwell on them and proceed straight to the installation.

Installation
First of all, a layer of hydro and thermal insulation should be laid on a flat floor, because we want to warm our balcony, and not our neighbors from below. But if you get along so well with them, you can share your warmth, your business.

After that, the cable is laid out. There are several options for its placement, but the most suitable for a balcony is laying in a zigzag form. Unlike the previous options, here before laying laminate or other material, you should fill the cable with a cement screed. Which should be carefully leveled. This is where the minus of this method manifests itself, since it will take about three weeks for the screed to dry. At this time, turn on the warm floor is prohibited. However, over time, you can fully enjoy the warmth and comfort.

The heat-insulated floor for a balcony or a loggia will become fine fine warming. And having done everything right, the system will last for many years. Listening to the advice outlined above, the balcony will become a favorite place for solitude, even in winter (especially if equipped with comfortable furniture).

Video: installation of underfloor heating based on heating cable