BEKOTEC-THERM underfloor heating system reduces tiles cracking, buckling and debonding problems

(25/06/2007)

Many tilers have become wary of fixing over conventional heated screeds because of problems they’ve experienced in the past with tiles cracking, buckling and debonding, caused by the screed and ceramics expanding and contracting at different rates, due to their different heat expansion coefficients during temperature changes.

The Schlüter®-BEKOTEC-THERM underfloor heating system has been named The Tile Association’s Best New Innovation at the industry’s annual awards ceremony. TTA’s Best New Innovation category is one of the industry’s leading “Oscars,” and is awarded for innovation in solving a tiling problem. The Tile Association said the judges in this category were looking for something “really new” that “solved a current problem.”

The TTA-Award-winning Schlüter®-BEKOTEC-THERM is an energy-efficient and quick-reacting modular assembly system, which overcomes this long-standing problem with the formation of micro-fine cracks that eliminate stress build-up due to shrinkage during the curing of the screed.

As soon as the screed can be walked on, the Schlüter®-DITRA uncoupling membrane is bonded to it, and the ceramic tile or stone covering is then installed onto the membrane, incorporating surface movement joints in line with industry recommendations.

And because the whole assembly has a low construction height, the screed mass to be heated is comparatively small, meaning the radiant heated floor is easily regulated and can be operated with especially low supply temperatures, giving reduced fuel costs. With some ceramic installations, the minimum screed depth above the heating pipes is only 8 mm, so just 5 degrees is lost between the pipe and the surface.

The studded panels are easily cut to size, and interlock into each other on top of a load-bearing substrate or any insulation layer that may be required. The studs form a grid pattern, and the heating pipes simply clamp between the studs. The manifold control systems can be connected by any professional plumber, and the colour-coded electrical items also interlock into each other, making the entire installation process very quick and easy.

A thin layer of conventional screed mortar covers the studs and pipes by a minimum of 8 mm and maximum of 25 mm, depending on the type of installation.

While the complete system’s ability to absorb stresses does away with the need for movement joints or reinforcement inserts in the substrate, surface movement joints should be installed within the tiles, in line with industry recommendations.

Schlüter Managing Director Elaine Stokes said: “While more and more tilers are discovering that Schlüter®-BEKOTEC-THERM is a truly innovative underfloor heating system unequalled by anything else on the market, it’s also very pleasing to receive national recognition in this way from our industry.”

Related categories:  Energy Conservation   Installation   Underfloor heating: wet and dry systems 

Print version | Email to a friend | View other articles