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In-floor heating installation in Kitchener-Waterloo

Hydronic in-floor heating for homes, garages and commercial floors: PEX tubing laid in zones and connected to a boiler or water heater.

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In-floor heating across Kitchener-Waterloo

Hydronic in-floor heating warms a room from the floor up. Warm water circulates through PEX tubing, a flexible plastic pipe, laid in loops under the floor. The floor takes on the heat and gives it off evenly across the room, with no vents or baseboard heaters on the walls.

The water is heated by a boiler or a water heater suited to the job, and a pump moves it through the tubing. A manifold, a set of valves and fittings usually mounted in a wall cabinet or a mechanical room, splits the flow into separate loops, so different rooms or areas can run as their own zones on their own thermostats.

At home, in-floor heating goes into basements, bathrooms, kitchens and garages, and in some houses it heats the whole home. For businesses, it suits shops, commercial garages and other buildings with concrete slab floors, where the slab holds the heat and keeps the working floor warm.

It is easiest to install during new construction, when the tubing can be laid before the slab is poured or before the subfloor is finished. Adding it to an existing building is possible in some cases, such as under a new floor during a renovation, and depends on how the floor is built and how much height the room can give up.

Signs you need in-floor heating

  • You are building a new home or garage and want heat in the slab before it is poured
  • Your basement floor stays cold even when the rest of the house is comfortable
  • You are renovating a bathroom or kitchen and the floor is coming up anyway
  • You want to heat a garage or workshop without a unit heater hanging from the ceiling
  • You are a builder or general contractor with a slab floor that calls for radiant heat
  • The drawings for your project show in-floor heating and you need a plumbing trade to install it

How the job works

  1. Plan the layout and zones

    We work out which areas get heat, how they divide into zones and how closely the tubing is spaced, then mark where each loop runs and where the manifold sits.

  2. Lay the tubing

    Before the concrete is poured or the subfloor goes down, we fasten the PEX tubing in place, each loop one continuous length that starts and ends at the manifold.

  3. Pressure test

    Every loop is filled and held under pressure before the floor is covered, so any damage shows on the gauge while the tubing can still be reached.

  4. Connect the manifold and heat source

    We connect each loop to the manifold, and the manifold to the boiler or water heater, with the pump, valves and controls the system needs.

  5. Fill, purge and balance

    We fill the system, purge the air from each loop so water moves freely, and set the flow to each zone so every area heats evenly on its own thermostat.

Common questions

Can in-floor heating be the only heat in a house?

It can, in a home designed for it, with the tubing layout and the heat source sized for how much heat the house loses. Many homes use it in some areas only, such as the basement or the bathrooms, alongside another heating system.

Can in-floor heating be added to an existing home?

Sometimes. Tubing can go into a thin layer over the existing floor during a renovation, or under the subfloor from below where the joists can be reached. Each option raises the floor or needs access, which is why new construction is the easiest time.

What flooring works over in-floor heating?

Tile and stone pass heat through best, which is one reason in-floor heating is common in bathrooms and basements. Many engineered wood, vinyl and laminate floors work too, when their maker rates them for radiant heat. Thick carpet and underlay slow the heat down.

Why is in-floor heating split into zones?

Each zone has its own thermostat, so a basement, a bathroom and a garage can each be kept at the temperature it needs. The manifold sets the zones by sending water through separate loops sized for the area each one heats.

How quickly does a heated floor warm up?

A concrete slab heats slowly and holds its heat for a long time, so slab systems usually run at a steady temperature rather than being turned up and down through the day. Floors with the tubing under a thinner layer respond faster.

Related services

For businesses and builders:Commercial in-floor heating

Where we do in-floor heating

Based in Kitchener, working across Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph and Stratford.