Stupid question of the day: linoleum tiles over concrete

[rsatterley]

Hello all,

I live in a maisonette built in 1965. It is part of an estate. I will be installing floating laminate flooring in our lounge and hallway. To prepare I have pulled up the existing carpet and linoleum tiles that were in the hallway. I'm about to tackle the lounge.

I want to install underfloor heating before having the new flooring installed to replace our current night storage heating system. Should I pull up all of the lino tiles in the lounge as well? Or should I install the underfloor heating system on top of the lino tiles? I would of course be putting down 6mm (or 10mm?) insulation boards down first. So: concrete - lino tiles - insulation board - heating system - laminate.

I have verified that the laminate is suitable for underfloor heating. The heating system I am considering does not require a moisture barrier.

Many thanks!

 

[crazydaze]

The bitumen has a habit of drying out and the tiles coming loose in general use, so I think I would consider uplifting all the tiles, priming, screeding and then laying the underfloor heating just to makes sure that everything is as good as it can be.

It would be worth taking moisture readings of the floor when the tiles come up, as if you have residual moisture in the subfloor, after screeding, now would be the perfect time to liquid dpm and resolve that issue with the minimum of hassle.

I'm sure there are others on here that have more experience of this issue than I have come accross.

As for the laminate being suitable for underfloor heating, it would be worth checking the spec of the underfloor heating system itself, and it;s important that the combined laminate AND underlay that you use does not exceed the specs of the underfloor heating system.

Just because the laminate is suitable, does'nt mean that the underfloor heating may, at best, struggle to put enough heat up through the floor, or at worst, damage itself where it is unable to sufficiently heat the room, thus overstressing and breaking. It's common for people to forget to match the flooring that is being fitted to the output specs of the UFH.

 

[rsatterley]

Thank you for that detailed response. I have checked that the underfloor heating system is suitable for laminate, so that's one less thing to worry about.

The reason I am thinking about leaving the lino tiles intact is also because I don't know if the mastic used has asbestos in it. I read that sometimes the black mastic used to adhere lino tiles contains asbestos.

 

[crazydaze]

What is the tog rating for the laminate and underlay?

What is the tog rating of the UFH?

 

[tarkett85]

there is a 90% chance of asbestos in a property of that age also I would guess the bitumen was your dpm, there's a good chance if that's failed you will need to dig up your concrete and redo it with a working dpm