Any recommendations for electric radiant heat under... laminate?

[Sean Moore]

sheesh.

Anyhoo, have a project where the wife and I are going to seriously downsize. We're moving to an about 400sf cabin apparently. Hey, I can hack it... I could live in a wall tent through the Rockies' winter and be OK as long as I had electricity, internet and a shower. I'm wondering if she's going to want to move out come January though.

So, I have 200 amps of electrical power (!) for this 400sf + 300sf workshop. Electrical heat seems like a no-brainer since I'm a wood burner type myself. I was thinking simple baseboard heaters to keep the place above freezing and for domestic heat when I'm not around to stoke the stove. The mother-in-law wants radiant heat and pointed me to the stuff you can put under tile in a mud bed. Obviously that won't work under laminate. I doubt if the floor of this converted goat barn is adequate for ceramic.

So has anyone done anything like this? Pitfalls? Praise? Product?

Also, related flooring question: I've never glued a click lock type floor, I stopped doing laminate when the installation price fell... right around when the click lock stuff became popular. Is it as simple as I think it is, just get enough glue to need to wipe it up? Any floor in this place is GETTING glued, just for moisture exclusion if nothing else.

[Nick Arrera]

My Brother lives in Parker . I thought you were not allowed to burn in Denver .

[kwfloors]

We put some of that warm floor under laminate in my brothers house. It was to keep the parrot warm and I guess it works good, the parrot is still alive. Just floated over it with mud to bed it and leveled it good enough to float the laminate over.

[Sean Moore]

Nick Arrera said My Brother lives in Parker . I thought you were not allowed to burn in Denver .

There is a color system in the Metro Area. Red means no burning for non-catalyst stoves and all fireplaces. We're going to be right outside that just up Lookout Mountain (how can you tell someone at 7200 ft they can't burn?!). That's a good point though, I should see if I need an EPA approved stove to burn every day. Every tiny stove I know of doesn't have a catalyst.

kwfloors said We put some of that warm floor under laminate in my brothers house. It was to keep the parrot warm and I guess it works good, the parrot is still alive. Just floated over it with mud to bed it and leveled it good enough to float the laminate over.

yeah, SLC isn't approved in the budget and I don't know if I'm willing to put enough mud down when baseboard heaters will accomplish *my* goals. I dunno, I guess I'll see when I go up there tomorrow to measure. Thanks for verifying that a mud base and a alternative (to tile) floor might possibly work on top of it.

[Nick Arrera]

Sean Moore said There is a color system in the Metro Area. Red means no burning for non-catalyst stoves and all fireplaces. We're going to be right outside that just up Lookout Mountain (how can you tell someone at 7200 ft they can't burn?!). That's a good point though, I should see if I need an EPA approved stove to burn every day. Every tiny stove I know of doesn't have a catalyst. yeah, SLC isn't approved in the budget and I don't know if I'm willing to put enough mud down when baseboard heaters will accomplish *my* goals. I dunno, I guess I'll see when I go up there tomorrow to measure. Thanks for verifying that a mud base and a alternative (to tile) floor might possibly work on top of it.

It is all about Denver being in a valley Sean , and the smoke just hangs in the air .

[Sean Moore]

Yeah, the particles just hang around. That's why you have to have the cat on your stove.