Old house refurbishment - London

Underfloor heating case study

Products: TileFix®-25, and SUPERflex™-16

We were contacted by an installer who hadn’t worked with Continal before, but who came to us after he had been unable to contact his usual supplier because of the Coronavirus outbreak.

He needed to find an underfloor heating system quickly for a large, old house he was refurbishing in London. As he was already on site, time was of the essence and he needed to have the system designed and supplied as quickly as possible to minimise further disruption for the homeowner.

He only needed to install underfloor heating on the ground floor, to cover the property’s kitchen, lounge, dining room, hallway and downstairs WC – a total heated area of 63m2. The installer didn’t want to re-screed the property, so he needed to find an overfloor system that could be fitted over the existing, levelled concrete slab.

The installer was also concerned that the typical 200mm pipe centres used in boiler-run underfloor heating systems would not be enough to provide adequate heat across the property, because its high ceilings and lack of wall insulation cause significant heat losses from the property. All but one of the walls surrounding the underfloor heating system are external, resulting in potentially higher heat losses through the uninsulated walls.

Because of this, the Technical Sales Adviser offered him a TileFix®-25 system with a closer 150mm spacing to create a higher heat output that would adequately combat the older building’s heat losses.

The solution

The TileFix®-25 system was perfect for the property because the installer wanted to fit 10.5mm thick porcelain tiles all across the floor, and TileFix® is a low-profile, fast response system designed to accept ceramic, porcelain, marble and stone tiles using a normal tile adhesive.

It also solved another problem for the installer, who was only able to build up the floor by a maximum of 25mm. TileFix® is available in 18mm and 25mm variants, so could be fitted easily within the parameters that the installer was working with.

The installer was pleased with the system that the Continal team suggested, and with how quickly the system could be designed and turned around. After he placed the order, the CAD design was approved within two days, and the system dispatched less than two days after that.

"A truly great product, very competitive prices, and the Technical Sales Adviser was very helpful in quoting and advising me with the system I used. Highly recommended."

The result

Once the product arrived on site, the installer was able to fit it quickly and easily. The seven-zone Continal® manifold was positioned in the kitchen, on the external wall adjacent to the boiler. The system was completed with a set of Quantum digital thermostats, so that the homeowner could control the entire system remotely using a smartphone app, bringing energy efficient modern technology to a beautiful Period-styled home.

UK's widest range of UFH systems

Designed to suit any type of heat source and enable UFH to be quickly and easily installed on any floor, with any type of floor covering. Our underfloor heating systems come with everything you need, delivered direct to site.