Warm floors & Warmer Flooring

One of the great things about being home is that you can kick off your shoes and relax. To keep from getting cold feet when you venture out onto your floors, there are a few things you can do to achieve warmer flooring.

Warmer Flooring is Easy!

There are many ways to create warm floors including radiant flooring, basement ceiling insulation, and good old fashioned area rugs. Each of these options varies in cost and efficiency. Whatever you choose, keep in mind that warm floors are about more than just warming your feet; warm feet means the room air temperature doesn’t need to be nearly as high, helping to prevent stuffiness in your rooms and higher energy costs.

Warmer Radiant Flooring

Radiant flooring can actually heat your whole house. By installing a heating system under your floor, it will not only create warm floors, but heat will also radiate to the walls and air above the floor. Stone tile flooring is the surface most homeowners feel has the greatest need for a subsurface heating system, but radiant flooring can work under most any floor from bamboo flooring to laminate.

Installing a system for warm flooring probably isn’t as expensive as you think. Under the right conditions, it may cost you no more than a couple hundred dollars. The cost will be less if the installation of radiant flooring is done at the time of new construction or remodeling. When working with an existing floor, you may be able to avoid floor removal if there is adequate crawlspace beneath the floor, helping to keep the cost of installation at bay.

Types of Warmer Radiant Flooring:

• Electric radiant heat is installed in a series of heating strips laid across the floor in a pattern. They are excellent for use in small areas or for remodels.
• Hydronic radiant heat is similar to electric, but is generally installed in concrete slabs in new home construction. These systems are best if you want radiant heat under hardwood flooring.
• Each type of radiant heat system has its benefits and disadvantages. Consulting a flooring installation professional can give you a better idea of which is right for your floors.

Warmer Flooring with Basement Ceiling Insulation

It is not uncommon for basements to chill the floors above them. Maybe your cold floors are best dealt with, not by heating them, but by preventing heat loss. In many situations, ceiling insulation can be a less expensive alternative to an entire heating system. This solution is best only for homeowners who don’t spend a lot of time in their drafty basements as preventing heat loss from your floor is probably going to make your basement even colder.

If you do spend a lot of time in your basement and think a cold basement may be the source of your cold flooring upstairs, consider insulating your basement walls instead. This will keep your basement warmer and should, in turn, create warmer floors upstairs.

Rugs for Warmer Flooring

If neither radiant flooring nor basement insulation is a viable option for you, rugs may be your best choice. Rugs work well for smaller floors. Bathroom flooring is usually ceramic tile and is often the coldest floor in the house. Remember the smaller the floor the cheaper an installation such as radiant flooring will be, but throwing down some natural fiber rugs or plush mats may be sufficient until a more permanent solution is achievable. Just be sure to air out your rugs regularly, especially in moisture rich environment such as bathrooms, to prevent the growth of mold and mildew.

Visit our Los Angeles Flooring showrooms for more information about Flooring.