More and more often, people are resorting to installing efficient “warm floor” systems, which are installed directly under the floor covering, rather than using traditional radiator heating. But it happens that such heating systems fail, and the underfloor heating needs to be repaired.
Warm water floor Repair of a heated floor is rarely required. With proper installation, the service life is more than 50 years. However, there are circumstances when during construction work the water heated floor pipeline is damaged. What to do if the warm water floor does not heat? The most important thing is to follow the instructions below and not panic.
Repair of heated floors if a leak occurs
Damage to a metal-plastic pipe for a heated floor by a hammer drill or grinder is the most common problem, first of all, it involves maintaining calm. If a heated floor leak occurs, it is necessary to turn off the water without removing the tool that damaged the pipe. Then you need to clear access to the damaged area and remove the damaged section of the pipe, cutting it off on both sides. If you do not have the required length of identical pipe and fittings on hand, you need to put plastic bags on the free ends to prevent dirt from getting into the system.
Crimp wrench and fittings for underfloor heating repair
After you have purchased the necessary spare parts, the only possible option for repairing the heated floor is pressure testing. To do this, you will need a press, which you can rent. It is worth remembering that it is highly undesirable to use threaded fittings, since sooner or later they will still leak. If your heated floors are leaking, don’t panic, because this is not the most difficult problem that can happen with water heated floors. Let's look at some more problems that can occur during the operation of warm water floors.
Heated floor repair in Moscow
We can say that a water floor does not often have to be repaired.
This happens more in emergency situations. But if, nevertheless, the need for repairs arises, you must contact specialists without hesitation. An unsuccessful attempt to fix an accident yourself can end up costing you much more. Failure can occur in two areas:
- in the heating zone;
- in the distribution manifold area.
If the water floor was installed correctly and all installation rules were followed, its service life will be more than fifty years. But there are also troubles when the water pipe is damaged during the installation process. In this situation, the main thing is not to start panicking. Professional repair of heated floors is a matter that requires a serious approach. Therefore, only clear and coordinated actions of repairmen will help find a way out of this situation. GCUiER in Moscow will provide the services of specialists for repairing heated floors .
Taking professional help is the best solution for troubleshooting!
The heating circuit does not work
So, if your underfloor heating circuit is not working, you need to look in the distribution panel at all the ball valves for each circuit that should be open, i.e. located along pipelines.
Laying a warm water floor
It is also possible that the circulation pump has failed. Most often it is located in the distribution panel near the boiler.
Listen and if you hear a slight noise or feel a slight vibration, then everything is fine with the circulation pump, if not, then it will need to be replaced. But, before replacing this part, check whether voltage is supplied to it.
Warm water floor manifold cabinet with pump
It is possible that warm water floors do not heat due to burnt-out electrical wiring, so it is worth checking it first. The third reason for the lack of functioning of the circuit may be the presence of air in the system. In this case, you need the help of specialists who can perform pressure testing of the system using special equipment. By the way, you can do the crimping yourself if you have this special equipment at hand. You can usually rent one from any store that sells heated water floors.
Repair of water heated floors will also be required if they have a low temperature, which is not enough to heat the space of the room. There could be several reasons for this. The first of which is the lack of the required boiler power. Here, as an option, you can try lowering the temperature in other rooms - where you are a little less often. Perhaps it's time to clean the boiler, inspect the temperature sensors, or carry out preventative repairs.
The second reason may be the furniture in the room. Carpet, sofas and closets can significantly affect the temperature of the room.
Insulation for warm water floors
Heated floors require open floors, and the more there are, the better.
Or it may be necessary to repair the thermostat of the heated floor; often it is the thermostat that causes the low temperature in the rooms.
Thermostat for warm water floor
It is possible that problems with heated floors arose due to the fact that they saved on insulation. In this case, you warm either your neighbors or the soil. Here you need to decide whether to use additional sources of heating the room, or completely redo the heating system. That is why, before installing a heated floor system, you need to carefully think through the project and carry out the installation either yourself, but as seriously as possible, or entrust this important task to professionals who will install the heated water floor in the shortest possible time.
Breakdown of water heated floor. How to repair?
Recently, warm floors have become widespread. And there are many reasons for this. Water heated floor systems have undeniable advantages over other types of heating. This self-regulating built-in heating system will provide increased comfort and convenience, hygiene (due to the absence of dust circulation) and a long service life when installed correctly. But imagine such an unpleasant situation that sooner or later you may encounter during repairs: a pipe for a water-heated floor has been broken. Simply put, you have a breakdown in your water heated floor pipe. This can happen both in your own home and on site. Most often this happens due to inconsistency during work or carelessness of the owners of heated floors themselves. In such situations, it is necessary to urgently begin repairing the system to avoid unnecessary financial costs.
How to repair damage?
- First, completely shut off the water supply to the water heated floor system.
- Then you should carefully remove the damaged tile (or other covering). But before that, we free it from the grout in the seams, otherwise the adjacent slabs may burst, since they fit tightly to each other. This can be done using a scraper or a simple knife. If the mosaic is also damaged, then its individual broken chips can be easily replaced with new ones.
- After preparation (removing the mosaic and removing the seams), when the free space becomes enough to insert a chisel, we work with the tool. We try to carefully pry off the damaged tile.
- We clear the area around the pipe, freeing access to the damaged area. To prevent dirt from getting into the pipeline, wrap the ends of the pipes with insulation.
- Next, we cut the pipe with an emery cloth, or you can also use special metal scissors or a knife.
- We thoroughly rinse the pipes from the inside so that no dirt gets in.
- We unfold the ends of the pipe using a special reamer. This must be done, otherwise the clutch will stick. The reamer helps to align the hole we are working with.
- Now we put the press coupling on the pipe (the pipe must be clean).
- We take hand press pliers for pipes and clamp the coupling. We hold the stainless steel in this position for several minutes, since it is a very elastic metal that needs time to maintain its shape.
- In order to check for leaks, each pipe with a coupling screwed onto it is subjected to an internal hydraulic pressure test.
- Now you should wrap the coupling with polyethylene so that the metal does not come into contact with the acidic environment of the solution, otherwise it will simply corrode over time. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent the accumulation of static electricity and corrosion and reduce the corrosiveness of water. We wrap the pipe two or three times.
After finishing the work, you need to substitute a ruler and measure the distance from the walls to the coupling, so that later you will know exactly where it is. After all, it may happen that water will ooze out of the coupling, and you will have to open this part of the pipe again for work.
You can also cut out the damaged section of the pipe, leaving large free ends, on which we put on rubber gloves (dirt should not get inside the pipeline). We put press couplings on the ends and connect them to a new piece of pipe, which is placed in place of the old damaged section. We insert the end of the prepared piece of pipe and press it in (if necessary, cut off the excess from the other end and do the same as with the first end). We check the system under cold water pressure, tightness and especially the fittings. If there is a leak, then tighten the collet connection.
To avoid such an unpleasant situation, agree with the companies on the location of passages and door partitions, take more photographs and provide correct measurements so that workers do not accidentally break through the pipes of a warm water floor. This way, the team will understand how and what they will have to work with.
Uneven heating
This problem is the most unpleasant of all existing ones. If the repair of a water heated floor was unsuccessful, all efforts to free the system from air were unsuccessful, then, most likely, your vapor barrier was installed incorrectly, or it is missing altogether. In such cases, you need to make sure. Place a little plastic film on the working heating, a piece of one meter by meter will be enough and stick it with tape. If the next day condensation appears on the film, or the joints of the tiles darken from moisture, it means that the floor must be completely redone, and redone in accordance with technology. In such cases, it is not recommended to install additional heating sources; firstly, it does not make any sense, and secondly, it will lead to the formation of mold and mildew, characterized by unpleasant odors.
Of course, you can repair the heated floor yourself, but do you know where exactly the leak occurred, or maybe it’s not a leak, but a simple breakdown of the thermostat? In any case, it would be more advisable if you seek help from highly qualified specialists who will easily detect a breakdown and fix it as soon as possible, of course, if the repair does not require a complete replacement of the entire heating system. Also, all the answers to the question “how to repair a heated floor” can be found in the instructions for underfloor heating systems. Typically, these instructions clearly state what to do in the event of certain breakdowns.
Why doesn't underfloor heating work?
This article deals only with electric heated floors, which are based on a single- or two-core shielded cable. This can be a heating cable, which is mounted on a mounting tape, or a heating mat. The manufacturer's company does not matter. Any cable heated floor can be repaired.
There may be 3 reasons why the heated floor does not work:
- The heated floor sensor has failed;
- The thermostat has failed;
- There was a break in the heating cable (under the tile).
You can identify the cause of the heated floor malfunction and, if necessary, replace the thermostat and heated floor sensor either yourself by watching the following video, or call an experienced electrician.
However, if it turns out that the heated floor does not heat due to a break in the heating cable, then even an experienced electrician will not help you. This requires experience and special equipment!
After we have diagnosed the heated floor and found out that our heating cable is broken, we move on to repairing it.
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How to repair a water floor
If metal pipes were used for the circuit, then the solution to the problem of penetration is to eliminate the leak without installing an additional section. The leak is repaired by welding or soldering.
How to protect a water floor from leaking
First of all, protection against leaks is care during finishing work on laying the floor covering. It would be a good idea to mark the pipe locations on the diagram and then carefully follow the diagram. Another way to avoid depressurization is to follow operating rules and use a high-quality pipeline.
Although it seems that you will have to pay a lot more for good plastic pipes, the cost of eliminating water heating leaks under the floor, taking into account damaged relations with neighbors, nerves and partial replacement of the floor covering, will exceed any costs. Pipes that are poured into the floor must be continuous; joints are not allowed.
All these measures will reduce the likelihood of leaks and the need to repair warm water floors on your own or with the help of external specialists.
