ᐅ Which Flooring Is Suitable for Underfloor Heating?

Hello everyone, we plan to install tiles and hardwood flooring in our future house, either by ourselves or by professionals. Tiles will be laid throughout the entire ground floor, except for the study room, and upstairs in the bathroom and hallway. The other rooms will have wood floors, which I intend to install myself. We were considering engineered hardwood flooring and initially thought it had to be fully glued down. However, a tennis friend recently told me that this is no longer necessarily required. He knows quite a bit about construction. Floating installation is also possible if the appropriate impact sound insulation is used. His daughter’s floor was installed this way, and it did not affect the performance of the underfloor heating. Several flooring dealers have confirmed this to me as well. The only downside is that transition strips need to be used. Some argue that the flooring must be glued down. Impact noise insulation is a minor concern for us. No one wears outdoor shoes indoors, at least not in the bedrooms and guest rooms. Also, the possibility of sanding the floor later is not an issue. I’ve also read about someone using 15mm (0.6 inches) thick solid wood floorboards, which were of course glued down. Does anyone have experience with this?

Hello,

Engineered hardwood flooring (a 3-layer construction: wear layer / core layer / backing layer) can be installed as a floating floor, similar to laminate. In most cases, engineered hardwood also features a "click" locking system comparable to laminate, making it easy for DIYers to install.

A suitable impact sound insulation should be used with underfloor heating. In addition to footfall and impact sound reduction, pay attention to the thermal transfer values to ensure efficient heat conduction.

Alternatively, engineered hardwood can be fully glued down. This method usually requires professional installation due to the higher labor effort involved.

Solid wood planks (made from a single piece of wood) tend to expand and contract significantly. Therefore, full-surface gluing is definitely recommended.

Note: Electric underfloor heating systems are not approved by some hardwood flooring suppliers. If you have one, please double-check approval with the supplier.

Feel free to ask if you have any further questions.

Thank you very much. This aligns with what I have heard from others as well. Since I have already installed both floating hardwood flooring and tiles, I would definitely feel confident about gluing it down. However, I find floating installation more comfortable. I might not do that in the living room, but in the other rooms, there isn’t as much foot traffic. We are two people, and when the children visit, I don’t mind if it is a bit noisier.

We installed both glued-down and floating hardwood flooring ourselves. The glued-down hardwood feels much more premium; it can’t be compared to the floating type. In my opinion, floating hardwood isn’t much better than laminate flooring. With the right information, you can definitely install glued-down hardwood yourself.

Best regards,
Sabine

Does anyone know if there is a general guideline for how long you need to wait until the screed is dry enough to be covered with parquet flooring? I am aware that this depends on several factors and that the residual moisture should be measured before installing the flooring.

A reference value is difficult to determine, as it depends on many factors, including the screed and heating system.
It is very important to keep a detailed log.