Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Don’t you think that might have been pertinent information in your initial post???
And why is it when someone asks for “any suggestions” they go into a diatribe??? You asked the question-
Any “material” you add to the floor that would have any kind of significant insulating value would raise the floor level to a point of becoming a trip hazard (to say nothing about the toe kick at a vanity, re-doing the plumbing for the toilet, etc.). Does the bathroom/house have HVAC? Then the heater that is there is your answer. You say it works- what’s the problem??? If you want to change the flooring, and you’re quite sure that the current is sheet flooring, you can put sheet flooring over existing- can’t get any cheaper than that!
There’s at least a 1/4 inch height difference between the hardwood floor and the vinyl floor. The hardwood is higher than the vinyl.
No electrical outlet in bathroom. There is a heater in the ceiling. It’s old but still works. Blows down right where we get out the shower. They have new versions but the reviews show hit and miss reliability. Photo below is our actual bathroom heater.
If you have an older heater in the ceiling - you could consider replacing it with the infrared.
They work great - instantaneous heat - even if the temperature in the room is still low - because they heat a person or anything in the line of direction of the heater.
They glow red at you - really warming you up.
Surprised how expensive they become. Maybe you could find a better deal.
The catch could be - some use incandescent bulbs - not sure how easy to find the replacement.
Another suggestion - it isn’t difficult to add an outlet to your bathroom - it could be one in the room on the wall shared with the bathroom -very easy to add another one into the bathroom from there.
Or you could even “borrow” from your ceiling circuitry and bring it to the wall.
Electrician will do it and determine what is safer.
When buying anything electric for your bathroom - make sure it is “wet room” rated.
Turn them on half hour before taking shower - direct them on vanity or other objects in the room:the more objects they direct their heat on- the better, as then those objects re-radiate the heat everywhere. The room temperature may or may not rise - but you feel warmer.
It is the same type of heat - as when the sun shines at you on a cold day - warming you up directly
Most of home is hardwood floors. Bathroom, kitchen, and laundry room (connected to kitchen) looks like it’s vinyl. Don’t think there’s an underlay under the vinyl. Bathroom floor (next to exterior wall) is cold in winter and very warm in summer. Considering replacing flooring (don’t care for design) for something with a good insulating underlay. Has to be durable for water. Any suggestions? Any ballpark figure for what we can expect for purchase and installation?
20 years ago I had a friend in WV that lived in a slab on grade home with similar issues. He ripped up the floor, cleaned the slab, then installed firing strips and between them added rigid foam insulation. I think then it was a 1/4 or 1/2" sheet, then whatever he needed to attach the flooring to. Can't remember if he added luan on top or not.
It did alleviate the cold floor- but it 'bounced' a little. You could tell. Maybe he should've gone 3/4" sheets- I dunno.
I don't think there is anything that is waterproof that is going to not be cold. You don't have enough space to put in heated floors, unless you want to jack hammer out a lot of your existing concrete
The easiest solution is just to install a vinyl that you like and add some little bathroom bath mats to stand on. Get the smaller ones that go through the washing machine easily.
20 years ago I had a friend in WV that lived in a slab on grade home with similar issues. He ripped up the floor, cleaned the slab, then installed firing strips and between them added rigid foam insulation. I think then it was a 1/4 or 1/2" sheet, then whatever he needed to attach the flooring to. Can't remember if he added luan on top or not.
It did alleviate the cold floor- but it 'bounced' a little. You could tell. Maybe he should've gone 3/4" sheets- I dunno.
Another way - is underground perimeter insulation - insulate the perimeter of the slab -the outside patio could make it impossible though.
One digs 2 feet down - 2 feet wide and install the insulation. Then covers with the soil.
They do it in some Nordic countries.
It could be impractical in a termite country unless termite screen is installed coming up the walls - and expensive, time consuming if diy.
Like I pointed out - people unlikely to use the bathroom for more than an hour a day usually.
Just providing an auxiliary heat for a short period of time before showers - though not perfect solution - is an economical and simple solution.
An inexpensive hardwired wall heater on a timer installed by electrician - is the most convenient and least expensive solution
Look at Stiebel Eltron wall heaters - not radiant though.
The heater is only needed in cold season.
It would help dry out the bathroom after the showers too as a side benefit
There’s at least a 1/4 inch height difference between the hardwood floor and the vinyl floor. The hardwood is higher than the vinyl.
Yeah. And your point being...?
I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but...I sincerely hope you can see what I see from this side-
Over the years you have asked a lot of questions about this house (I'm assuming) you inherited(?) if I remember correctly. And they all seem to lead to the same conclusions-
It was poorly built/maintained home, and your current financial situation (it would seem) is not conducive to the amount of required maintenance/repair. Perhaps a smaller, newer, more maintenance-free, dwelling would be a better answer. Then again, I maybe off my rocker and you're 2X4 anal snappin', penny pinching millionaire!
There comes a time when the expenditure(s) far out-weighs the ROI.
There’s at least a 1/4 inch height difference between the hardwood floor and the vinyl floor. The hardwood is higher than the vinyl.
The thinnest hardwood flooring is 3/8" thick. Sheet vinyl flooring is 1/8" thick. 3/8-1/8=1/4, there's your height difference. I would guess that if you stripped out both the wood and the vinyl you would find the same thing underneath, but whether that would be lauan or concrete is anybody's guess.
When you say "underlayment" I assume you're talking about pad. If you were to install laminate flooring the pad would probably provide some thermal break, but I don't know if it would be enough to make a difference. And laminate flooring in a bathroom is generally a bad idea. Carpet would probably be a better option.
Personally I'd install in-floor radiant hear with ceramic tile. It won't help in the summer, but would be much better than your ceiling heater in the winter.
Seems to me installing an appropriate wall plug in that bathroom and using a space heater would solve the cold problem pretty simply. Plus, the outlet will come in handy for other things. OP just how much more money/time are you willing to sink into this house?
Seems to me installing an appropriate wall plug in that bathroom and using a space heater would solve the cold problem pretty simply. Plus, the outlet will come in handy for other things. OP just how much more money/time are you willing to sink into this house?
Maybe a few thousand every other year. We already spent over $12,000 on adding insulation to attic, replacing entire HVAC system including air ducts, landscaping (removing small trees and adding soil to yard to fill in holes from previous plant removals from before we moved in), and installing storm windows over existing single pane windows. What we can afford depends on our health issues. I have a steady income.
So vinyl over a concrete slab in the bathroom. Personally, I’d just put an electric mat on the floor with a timer and tile over that. In my zip code, slabs are unusual and code for the last few decades has been insulated slabs. With the OP’s budget, you’re not going to jackhammer up the slab in the bathroom, insulate, and pour another slab.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
