Why is this architect saying watch out for engineered wood floors that may not be compatible with underfloor heating?

[Alex Carr]

Hello Comrades - Preamble first: my contractor has fitted the joists (over a layer of DPM in a tanked basement), fitted the 90mm PIR insulation between the joists (the insulation sits on battens fixed to the joists), and laid 18mm flooring chipboard. The ufh wil be installed late February: water carrying pipes held with grip rails and covered over with 8:1 dry biscuit mix (25mm thickness) with 25 x 50 battens (400mm spaces between each batten) running parallel with the ufh pipes to help take some of the pedestrian traffic pressure off the engineered wood flooring. The contractor has been in touch with his architect pal who he helps out here and there and the architect says to him "By the way, be careful: some engineered wood flooring is not compatible with ufh." He didn't contribute anything more than this; the contactor didn't pin him down on what the criteria were for choosing the right engineered wood flooring, so he isn't in the know on this subject either.
I've been trawling the web but can find nothing illuminating on the subject, though that might be due to my poor ability to choose the best search terms. Can anyone offer any enlightening information? Is it the glue that bonds the ply which might respond badly to heat? That's the only thing I can think of that would be the reason for the architect's concern.

 

[Rodders53]

"By the way, be careful: some engineered wood flooring is not compatible with ufh."

Or equally likely "some UFH is not compatible with engineered wood flooring"?

Some reading for you

Underfloor Heating - The Solid Wood Flooring Company

This guides outlines the vital procedures required to fit and acclimatise your wood floor to an under floor heating system.

www.thesolidwoodflooringcompany.com

But yes, check with potential flooring providers that they approve their products with your style of UFH before buying it.

 

[Exedon]

Contact manufacturer of your ufh there technical will be happy to advise.
Most manufacturers offer lengthy warranties you need to get it right.

 

[Alex Carr]

Thank you for the reading reference - quite dense and there's a lot of it but the content looks as if it will address my concerns. Good point about checking with the flooring supplier about compatability of their product with the kind of ufh I will be installing.

 

[Alex Carr]

During my reading of the UFH installation guidelines published by The Solid Wood Flooring Company I came to the section on drying times for screed and was gobsmacked at the recommended waiting time for a screed to dry out - down to a moisture content of less than 1.8%. I haven't decided yet on the optimum thickness of the screed I will lay, but I was thinking it would be 60 - 75mm, but the waiting time for a 75mm screed comes out at 75 days!! The screed is in a basement which will have been tanked throughout by the time the UFH pipework is installed, but I can't see the interior being dry enough to allow this process to unfold in the way that is recommended by, for example, the Screed Scientist website: https://www.screedscientist.com/flo...it-to-assess-the-moisture-content-of-screeds/ This is causing me serious brain fog - is there anyone out there who is able to provide a less onerous take on this process?