Replace bathroom rad with water underfloor heating - help please

[fdwhite]

I'm planning to revamp our bathroom as my better half would like a "hotel" style bathroom with tiled floor & walls, heated mirror & underfloor heating
Its the underfloor heating that I need some help & advice on as I would like to replace the present radiator with water UFH that will run off of the combi boiler & be a direct replacement for the rad. Is this possible?
The present bathroom rad doesn't have a thermostatic valve as its the boiler heatsink, so the UFH would have to be the same.
I'm thinking of replacing the floorboards with a sheet material (chipboard, MDF or similar) thats going to be thinner than the boards in order to create as small a step as possible when entering the bathroom.
Any thoughts on clipping the UFH pipes to the joists instead of running on top? Again to keep the overall thickness to a minimum.
Any help gratefully received.

 

[dontknowitall]

I've put underfloor heating in our bathroom (and a customer's bathroom too).

Didn't bother with pipes and things - electric is much quicker and easier (and doesn't cost a bomb to use either!)

If you have space I'd encourage installation of a heated towel rail though (as well as the ufh)!

 

[sdsparks]

I would agree, electric is the way with a water pipped towel rail for wet towels.

Its possible to run the piping in the space between the joists and notch out in order to get to the next space. This means your floor will only raise by 12mm, this being the WBP ply wood you would need on top of your floorboards to strengthen the floor so the grout doesn't crack.

The most complicated part is that you need to run the UFH as a separate heating circuit. The reason being UFH relies on a lower continual heat, if on the same circuit as the other rads in your house, the bathroom will always lag behind the other rads quiet severely. This means you need valves to control the circuits etc which take up space.

Out of interest how big is the space?

 

[fdwhite]

Ok thanks guys, I hadn't thought about the lag
I'll see if the wife wants to go down the electric route or just have the water heated towel rail as the bathroom isn't that big.
Btw what does wbp stand for in the ply wood?

 

[sdsparks]

Weather and Boil Proof you can also use Marine Ply but its more expensive.

Its possible to get away with a thinner depth, all depends on how much movement there is in your floor.

Also you need to screw the board to the floorboards a fair bit to make it stronger, I recently did a job and screwed every 100mm both ways, use a chalk line and watch you dont screw into the pipes below!

Lastly remember it wont come up again, I would advise having any pipe work live for a few days before fixing the board to the floor in case of leaks and noise.

All the best

Sam @ Clear Plumbing, 07940 590 535

 

[fdwhite]

Weather and Boil Proof you can also use Marine Ply but its more expensive.

Its possible to get away with a thinner depth, all depends on how much movement there is in your floor.

Also you need to screw the board to the floorboards a fair bit to make it stronger, I recently did a job and screwed every 100mm both ways, use a chalk line and watch you dont screw into the pipes below!

Lastly remember it wont come up again, I would advise having any pipe work live for a few days before fixing the board to the floor in case of leaks and noise.

All the best

Sam @ Clear Plumbing, 07940 590 535

Ok, right.
Thanks very much for the help & advice, much appreciated