Electric heat mats are great products, but be careful where you use them. Don’t void your floating floor warranty and damage your planks. Trust your vinyl plank or laminate manufacturer ONLY—not the electric heat mat company. Crucially, the heat mat company won’t cover you if the floor fails.
This week, we had a client come in who wanted to put a floating floor in the basement over radiant heat. Their radiant heat company (which shall go nameless) said that it was perfectly fine to put a variety of floating floors on top of their product. Here's the problem: If your floor fails, they're not going to be there to help you.
There are two kinds of radiant heat. There's the hydronic system that involves recessed pipes. There's also the electric heat mats—that's the one we're talking about today.
If you're going to go ahead and use a heat mat for radiant heat, as opposed to the recessed tubes of the hydronic system, pay attention to what the product manufacturer is going to warranty. To be clear, I'm not talking about the heat mat company—I mean the floating floor company. If they're not going to stand by their product on top of electric heat mats, you shouldn't put that product on the floor and try to stand on it yourself.
If you have any questions about radiant heat and luxury vinyl floors, give us a call at 401-214-0285 or visit our showroom. We serve customers throughout Rhode Island and southeastern New England, including Newport, Middletown, Jamestown, Portsmouth, Bristol and more.
About Ken: Ken Fain is the co-owner of Island Carpet in Middletown, RI and a floorcovering veteran of more than 40 years. His popular 'Ask Ken' video series answers common flooring questions on a variety of topics. It has reached thousands of viewers on both YouTube and Facebook.
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