Posts Tagged ‘Floor’

Floor Plans

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Putting together a great floor plan is essential to using the space of any room to its best use and to make it as user friendly as possible. It’s just like when you are designing a kitchen; you need to keep all of the furniture and appliances within a certain distance and in a certain geometry to make it as efficient as possible.You don’t want to have to walk twenty feet to put something in the oven that you grabbed from the refrigerator and prepared across the room. You also don’t want to have to cross the room to put dishes in the dishwasher after rinsing them off in the sink. Everything needs to move and run smoothly and should be as user friendly as possible. The same principles go when you are designing a bathroom or living room or any other room.A living room should have a flow, a direction that everything is focused on. That way when people are enjoying each other’s company, they will have an idea of which way to face and what to expect. The seating area should be arranged so that people can see each other. So a love seat or sofa should be positioned in a way that they are accessible to each other. They don’t need to face each other necessarily, but should be in a direct eye line.The same would go for any chairs that are in the room. Sometimes, having the chairs in a separate little arrangement can make for a more intimate and allow a conversation to occur more easily. Of course you need to worry about where to position the entertainment. If you are going to have a television in the room, you want to make it viewable from all of the sitting area, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be the focal point. A fireplace or a large picture window work just as well and don’t offer as much of a distraction.Tables should be placed in close proximity to the chairs and sofas. That way lamps and anything else you need access to are within arm’s length. A coffee table is nice, but not always necessary. Many people prefer an open plan, with no table interrupting the space. If you do decide on a table, they offer many extras like storage for ottoman style tables or there are even tables that have ottomans that tuck in underneath and can be pulled out for extra seating.

Is Floor Heating Really Easy to Install?

I’ve blogged about our kitchen remodel a few times recently, so to sum it up quickly, we installed new cabinets, appliances, flooring, and electric radiant heating. Everything has been installed, and the kitchen is finished now. So, the day of reckoning has come. Is radiant heating as awesome as everyone says? Yes, totally!

The best part about it all is how easy it was to install. We used a contractor because I was convinced it was going to be harder than it really was (even though all of our marketing collateral is very clear about how easy it is). But, after watching our contractor do the installation and taking photos of each step, I realized that it was the kind of thing we could have easily done on our own.

Installation of radiant heating rolls is a breeze! Since our kitchen is on a concrete slab, we added insulation between the concrete and the heating rolls. The insulation is designed to prevent heat loss into the concrete slab, and makes the system even more energy efficient. We decided that cork would be the “best fit” for our project (and, by the way, it was really helpful that WarmlyYours sells cork). The contractor rolled out the cork, cut it to fit, removed the cork and then laid down an adhesive. He laid the cork back on top of the adhesive and weighted it down on the ends where it tends to curl up. After that, we just waited for the adhesive to dry, and then it was time to lay the mesh rolls.

A custom installation plan was included with our system and was very easy to follow. It illustrated exactly how to install the floor heating roll. You start by laying the roll down at a specific place that is indicated on the plan. It’s just a matter of unrolling, cutting the mesh, and turning the mat where the plan tells you.

Once the actual installation was completed, it was time for our contractor to lay the tile! He applied a layer of thinset cement over the mesh before he laid the tile. After that, the only thing left to do was to wait for the electrician to hook up the floor heating system to the thermostat.

A few days later, after the system cured, we were able to turn our floor heating system on and enjoy the warmth. Not only does it feel great, but I’m expecting quite a return on our investment when the time comes to sell our house.