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Heated Flooring System Installation: A Comprehensive Guide

As someone who has struggled with cold basement bathrooms, I can attest to the importance of installing a heated flooring system. In this article, I will share my experience with the Warming System, a heated flooring system that I installed in my basement bathroom.

The Warming System is available on Amazon and comes with different models, but I opted for the looser wire system due to my bathroom floor not being level. The kit included the wire, cable guides, thermostat, and a little monitor that attaches to your wire. One of the features I found particularly great was the monitor, which signals if you cut the wire or make any changes to the system.

To begin the installation process, I used a hot glue gun to install the cables with 3-inch spacing, keeping 2 inches away from the wall and staying clear of our toilet. It's essential to isolate everything when working on a curb, so I used thinset to separate the wire from the mud bed. Once all the cables were set, I made sure that none of them were touching each other.

The next step was to floor level the entire system using ARDEX TL 1000, an affordable floor leveller made by ARDEX. It's crucial to prime your surface before installing the flooring, so I used a brush to apply primer after the cables were installed. Four hours later, we were able to start waterproofing over this entire shower system and floor.

As for electrical testing of your system, it's essential to do this as soon as you get the package. Use a simple ohm reader on the label to test the reading range, which should match the rating on the wire. It's recommended to test the system before taking the cable off the roll, after running the wires through the entire system, and again after floor leveling and installing tile.

One thing that gives me peace of mind is knowing that if I have this connected to my wires the whole time and there are no sirens, then I'm pretty much good to go. Heated flooring systems over concrete should have a thermal break, which isolates your concrete. We didn't do that in this video due to budget constraints, but it's something to keep in mind if you want to make your system more efficient.

The uniform heat of the Warming System is impressive, and I only have it set on 60°. It feels tremendous in here. If you're installing a shower, it's recommended by the Warming Systems company to use a separate wire for the shower area, which has its own cable outside and inside the shower.

In conclusion, my experience with the Warming System has been positive, and I hope these tips will help you out as well. Remember to test your system regularly, stay clear of walls and other objects, and consider using a thermal break if possible. Don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or need further guidance.

**Additional Tips and Considerations**

* Make sure to follow all safety precautions when working with electrical systems.

* Use thinset to separate the wire from the mud bed and keep everything isolated when working on a curb.

* Test your system regularly, including before taking the cable off the roll, after running the wires through the entire system, and again after floor leveling and installing tile.

* Consider using a thermal break if possible to make your system more efficient.

* Keep in mind that separate wires for the shower area are recommended by Warming Systems.

**Getting Started with Your Heated Flooring System**

If you're ready to start your heated flooring system installation, here are some steps to follow:

1. Purchase the Warming System or similar product from Amazon or a local retailer.

2. Read and follow all instructions carefully before beginning the installation process.

3. Use a hot glue gun to install the cables with 3-inch spacing, keeping 2 inches away from the wall and staying clear of other objects.

4. Prime your surface before installing the flooring using ARDEX TL 1000 or similar product.

5. Apply waterproofing over the entire shower system and floor after floor leveling is complete.

By following these steps and tips, you can ensure a successful and efficient installation of your heated flooring system. Remember to stay clear of walls, objects, and other hazards, and always follow safety precautions when working with electrical systems.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enSo I’m going to share with you a heatedflooring system I installed in this basementbathroom.Basement bathrooms are always cold.It’s something that I felt was absolutelyneeded if you’re going to use it all thetime, especially in the winter climates wherewe are.I found this system on Amazon called WarmingSystem.By the time you will finish this video, youwill feel comfortable about installing it,and you’ll save yourself hundreds of dollars.You see the system that I found was on Amazon.We’ll put links down below.It’s called Warming System.They have different models of it, but I purchasedthe loos wire system mainly because my bathroomfloor was not level, and I was going to self-levelanyway.So I got the loose wire.It comes with cable guides that route yourcable.One of the features I thought was really greatis they give you this little monitor thatyou attach to your wire.And basically if you were to cut your wireor do something by accident, it signals toyou that something went wrong.So I think this was a great little extra featurethey had in the kit.The kit really came with the wire, the cableguides, the thermostat, and this little monitor.I mean they have an all-inclusive packagefor a couple of hundred bucks.I thought it was fantastic.And not only that, but they have systems thatwould go from 10 sq ft all the way to 100sq ft in 5 sq ft increments.That’s one thing a lot of people do whenthey install heating flooring systems, theyusually end up using too much wire, and you’renot able to cut this wire to make it fit withinyour bathroom.Let’s go through how you need to measureyour bathroom for picking the right system.So as far as measuring, you need to excludesome things within your bathroom.When you’re looking at the design of yourbathroom, make sure you exclude the area ofyour toilet.Typically, a 2’ x 2’ area, exclude thatfrom the actual square footage of your bathroom.You don’t want that wire to be too closeto your toilet flange and obviously heatingup your wax ring and causing problems.You also, if you had a regular vanity thatwent all the way to the ground, you don’twant it to be underneath of that vanity.In this situation, we had a floating vanity,so we have heated floor everywhere.If you had standard vanity, you want to excludethe area that’s underneath of that vanity.You’re basically keeping the wire 2 inchesaway from the wall.That’s not going to be a whole lot of squarefootage there, but you want to account fora square foot or two to keep it away fromthe wall.Now, in this system, which I was excited todo, is that we actually ended up doing theshower floor as well because this is a fairlybig shower.It’s basically 4x4, and I wanted to haveheating in here as well.So I brought the heating up over the curband into the shower.You always want to make sure that you havea little bit of room around your drain.You don’t want to have the wire too closeto your drain, excluding approximately a squarefoot of the center of that would do it.Again, making sure that you exclude the toiletarea, the vanity area, and any plumbing ventor if you had a duct work vent, you wouldwant to leave an area away from there.Subtract that from your area and then, likeI said, you can get these in 5-sq-ft increments,so you should be able to easily find the systemthat would fit your bathroom.The first thing I did to prep for this isto make sure that I had a dedicated circuitfor my heated flooring system.You always want to make sure that you geta dedicated circuit all the way to your electricpanel for a heated flooring system.Anything with a heating source, you don’twant to be attaching to existing wiring inyour bathroom.So I ran a 20A wire to my subpanel, basicallya 12/2 gauge wire.And we did a 120V system on this.I put in a metal box, a larger mud ring box,that allowed me to have more room within thebox for my thermostat wires and all the wiresthat I was going to be housing it.I ran conduit down.Conduit is an easy path to fish your wiresin because you’re going to have your drywallup before you install this system.So prepping the electrical is pretty muchthe number one thing you want to do so thatyou can easily run your heated wiring intothe box.So after our drywall was in and we had ourelectrical prepped, we went ahead and installedthe cable guides.They’re just little, plastic cable guidesto run your wires to space them properly.They would come in 12-inch lengths, and youcan just cut them down to fit the size ofyour room.So we installed with a hot glue gun.So we ran our wires, the spacing about 3 inches,keeping 2 inches away from the wall, stayingaway from our toilet.What we also did was go up over the curb.So you want to make sure when you go up overa curb that you basically isolate everythingwith thinset.When we were doing our mud bed, we installedthe cable within the mud bed all at the sametime.It’s a little bit challenging to get thewire spaced properly within the mud pan.But if you take your time and pack everythingnicely, it works out beautifully.Once all the cables were set, we always wantto make sure that none of them are touchingeach other, that they have the 3-inch spacing.You don’t want to be wrapping the wiresto each other.Everything has to be separated.So using additional hot glue or whatever ittakes to separate them is the way to go.And then we just floor leveled over our entiresystem.The product that I used on this particularone was called ARDEX TL 1000.It was kind of an affordable floor levelermade by ARDEX.You had to make sure that you primed yoursurface before installing it.The primer after the cables were installed,we basically just used a brush to brush inour primer.And then we floor leveled it.Three or four hours later, we were able tostart waterproofing over this entire showersystem and floor.As far as electrical testing of your system…this is very important; you always want todo this.As soon as you get the package, use a simpleohm reader.On the label, it will give you a range ofwhat that reading should be.These don’t cost a whole lot of money.You can get this at your local Home Depotor Lowe’s for like $20.But basically, you’re just switching thisto your ohm reading, you’re touching yourwires to your cables, and you’re just makingsure that the reading shows the rating that’son there.There’s a label on your wire that will giveyou the range of what the ohm reading shouldbe.So you want to: number one, test it when youfirst get it out of the package—before youeven take the cable off the roll, you wantto test it—number two, is after you runyour wires through your entire system, youwant to test it; and then finally after you’redone floor leveling and installing the tile,you want to test it one more time just tomake sure that there’s nothing wrong withyour cables.The real thing that gives you peace of mindis that if you have this connected to yourwires the whole time and you’re not hearingany siren, then you’re pretty much goodto go.Heated flooring systems over concrete shouldhave a thermal break.We did not do that in this video basicallydue to budget and height difference.A thermal break would basically be somethingthat just isolates your concrete.So whether that’s insulation or an insulationmat of some sort, that will prevent the entireconcrete floor from warming.Keep that in mind if you want to make thingsmore efficient to do that.But I have to say I’m really impressed withthe uniform heat of this.We only have this set on 60° and it feelstremendous in here.If you’re doing a shower, it is recommendedby warming systems to have a separate wirethat you fully use in the shower.So you can use a cable outside and a cablein the shower.Main reason for that is if anything were tohappen to the shower cable, you would notbe able to repair that cable in a shower.So having separate wires, if it went bad,then at least you have heating out here.But we just did one continuous cable in here—again,a budget thing.I hope these tips helped you out.Gives us a thumbs up if they have; helps otherpeople find this video.Check out the links below; we have the linksto this system below.We’ll see you in the next video, thanks.\n"