ᐅ Underfloor Heating – Which Option Is Best for Your Project?

Good evening everyone,

We are in the initial planning stages of our home renovation and would like to install underfloor heating.

We have researched various topics, watched YouTube videos, and compared different manufacturers as thoroughly as possible.

Currently, there is a designer floor installed on the ground floor (no basement). This will be removed since some walls still need to be built. The energy consultant has already visited and, due to the building having no basement, recommended insulating the floor slab to reduce heat loss. We will, of course, follow this advice.

Now we face the decision whether to use a dry screed system, which we could partially install ourselves, or a liquid screed system, which would need to be installed by a professional company.

The ceiling height of 3 meters (10 ft) is sufficient, even with a conventional underfloor heating system that requires about 9 cm (3.5 inches) of buildup.

We currently prefer a dry screed system because it would save us significant costs.

Has anyone had experience with such a system and could share some brief feedback?

We would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you in advance.

Hello, I don’t really believe in such a big cost saving. Screed isn’t that expensive. Dry screed requires a suitable subfloor. For example, we used dry screed in the attic due to the low build-up height, but there is no heating installed there at all. Our floor is solid wood, which is very flat and well suited for dry screed.

If I were in your position (since you seem to have enough build-up height), I would install plenty of insulation including a fixing foil by yourself. You can also lay the underfloor heating pipes yourself on top of that. Beforehand, have the heating load calculated room by room and installation plans prepared by an energy advisor, plumber, or engineering office. Then start according to the plan and possibly get professional support or inspections in the beginning.

By the way, “normal” cement screed is far from liquid, it’s actually quite dry. At least I was surprised because I didn’t know that before.

A note here again:
Installing underfloor heating yourself and stapling it effectively releases the screed installer and plumber from any warranty.
Any damage will be blamed on you, because as a non-professional, you didn’t staple the pipes correctly or stepped on them in a way that naturally caused fine cracks.

Logically, no warranty can be provided for work that was not done by the professional.

The savings, however, are minimal. A professional can install underfloor heating for 150m² (1,615 sq ft), including insulation, in 1.5 days, and will obtain the materials at a significantly better price than you... Nonsense.

xMisterDx schrieb:

Installing underfloor heating yourself using staples effectively releases the screed installer and plumber from any warranty obligation.

We’ve already discussed this topic and your incorrect statements in another thread. The installation is usually done with the heating specialist, who normally also provides the warranty. This is standard practice.
If you do it entirely on your own, of course, it becomes your responsibility – although with the continuous installation method, the risk is quite low. Have you ever watched a screed installer at work? Given how much and how intensively they walk over the pipes all day, you simply can’t cause damage during the installation time.

And the screed installer is not responsible for this at all. They take care of their own trade, not the heating specialist’s.

xMisterDx schrieb:

The savings are minimal. A professional installs underfloor heating for 150m² (1,615 sq ft) including insulation in 1.5 days, and they get the materials much cheaper than you... Nonsense.

How much exactly are the savings? How much cheaper does he get the materials (and why)? Please provide figures so the original poster can assess.

Now, let’s get to the OP’s questions.

chri_ban schrieb:

We currently prefer a dry screed system because we can save a lot of costs here.

What cost calculations have you done that led you to expect such significant savings? How would the floor be rebuilt in each case, and what costs have you estimated for both options? Are you removing the old screed or simply laying over it with the dry screed method?

A note on the price: If you remove the old screed in both versions, the wet system is probably about half the cost, roughly speaking. You can check online store prices to get an idea. For a 150m² (1,615 sq ft) stapling system (insulated tack panels, pipes, staples, edge insulation strips), you’re looking at around 2,000 euros. Then the screed itself costs about 3,000 euros. The same in a dry system is approximately 9,000 euros. Then you add the screed boards. So let’s say 5,000 euros versus 10,000 euros, very rough without including the manifold, fittings, or labor (except screed installer labor).

chri_ban schrieb:

Has anyone here had experience with such a system and can provide brief feedback?

No experience with this personally. So far, I have only used the classic method in new builds and renovations – both through tradespeople and fully DIY (except for the screed, which the screed installers simply do better and faster at this price point).

SaniererNRW123 schrieb:

...
If you do it entirely on your own, that’s obviously your responsibility – although with continuous laying the risk is very low. Have you ever watched screed installers at work? Considering how much time and intensity they spend walking over the pipes all day long, you just can’t match that during the installation period.
...

These are important and good questions from @SaniererNRW123
Please try to answer them as completely as possible 😉

And it really is like that, it almost seems like not a single brick will remain in place given how much they walk around.
I seriously had to hold myself back from making comments to them.

It doesn’t matter what the screed installers do. If you installed the pipes yourself, you are responsible for proving that nothing went wrong.

The plumber will also just say, "During the pressure test, everything looked fine, but that doesn’t mean much. Hairline cracks or poor fastening can still cause damage later."

Or maybe you accidentally bent a pipe too tightly 😉

There are countless excuses why the person doing the work themselves is solely to blame.

It’s like changing your own oil. If you do it yourself, no manufacturer on this planet will give you a warranty or goodwill repair on an engine failure, because it’s generally assumed that as an amateur, you made a mistake somewhere—using the wrong oil, overfilling, or something else. Nobody gives anything away for free, especially not in construction 😉

Besides, it won’t even save you a grand, because you pay more for materials and take longer to do it. Just figuring out as a layperson how to plan the rooms so everything fits in the end is a challenge.

Good luck.