Radiant floors

How heat gets into a floor

Four ways to lay tubing. Which one suits you depends on what is above, what is below and how much height the floor can give.

In the slab
Tubing tied to the reinforcing before the concrete is poured.
- Best for new slabs and basements
- Warms slowly and holds heat
- Pressure stays on through the pour
Under the subfloor
Tubing and aluminum heat plates stapled up between joists, from the basement or crawl space.
- Leaves the floor above untouched
- Works in many older houses
- Needs access and some insulation below
Thin pour over a subfloor
A lightweight pour over the tubing, then tile or wood on top.
- For renovations with no access below
- Adds about three-quarters of an inch to an inch and a half
- Door and stair heights need checking
Panels over a subfloor
Grooved panels hold the tubing, with the finish floor laid over them.
- A dry install, no pour
- Good for small rooms and bathrooms
- Adds less height than a pour

Radiators

Not every room wants a warm floor

Bathrooms with a lot of glass, rooms under big windows and some old farmhouse rooms lose more heat than a floor can give back.

In those rooms we add a panel radiator, a baseboard run or a towel warmer on the same boiler, on its own thermostat. If you own cast-iron radiators, we reconnect and balance them, and we tell you if one should be replaced instead of repaired.

Panel radiators and baseboard
Towel warmers
Old cast iron reconnected and bled

An old cast-iron radiator in a dim tiled room

Floors we heat

The finished floor is the last thing to go down

Tile, stone and wood all sit over loops. These are sample photos of finished rooms.

A bathroom with wood-look tile, mosaic bands and a large framed mirror — Wood-look tile with mosaic bands

A bathroom with a freestanding tub under a window on stone-effect tile — Stone-effect tile around a freestanding tub

A grey-tiled bathroom with a walk-in glass shower and a wooden vanity — Large-format tile in a walk-in shower room

A finished kitchen with wood cabinets, a quartz island and a sage green wall — A finished kitchen over a heated subfloor

A white kitchen with a farmhouse sink under a window and light wood floors — Light wood floors in a farmhouse kitchen

A kitchen with oak cabinets, stainless appliances and a red-painted floor — A painted floor over a heated subfloor

Sample photos.

Heat sources and controls

What the loops are connected to

Condensing boilers
Floor loops run at low water temperatures, which is where a condensing boiler is most efficient. We pipe it for oil, propane or electric, with the fuel line left to your supplier or a licensed gas fitter.
Air-to-water heat pumps
For well-insulated houses where the loops can run cool. We tell you plainly if a heat pump needs a back-up on the coldest days.
Mixing and reset
A mixing valve and an outdoor sensor keep floor water cooler than radiator water, and cooler still when the day is mild.

Have a floor plan?

Send it with the flooring you picked. We send back a loop layout and the questions we still have.

Send your plans Call (802) 555-0101

In the slab

Under the subfloor

Thin pour over a subfloor

Panels over a subfloor

Condensing boilers

Air-to-water heat pumps

Mixing and reset