Insulating under tiles? Needed or not?

kinobestew123 · 21 Sep 2017 at 18:31

In our hall, the subfloor is asphalt/bitumen which was poured on a sand base with no insulation underneath.

We are about to have a new front door installed and the hall tiled at the same time. The person fitting the front door suggested that we should put down insulation boards before tiling. This sounds sensible however my issue is that this would raise the tiles considerably above the living room carpet meaning that we have a step.

The tiles are 12mm thick and I imagine adhesive is maybe 5mm thick? This 17mm is about right for the carpet but an additional 10mm of insulation board + a few mm of adhesive to stick them down would be too much I think.

Without insulation, will the hall tiles feel too cold/unbearable?

Just to add: We tiled the kitchen floor too but put down insulation boards + electric underfloor heating + a poured screed + the adhesive + 12mm tiles. This has left a noticeable step into the kitchen. We're trying to avoid the same for the hall to living room transition.

SPG · 21 Sep 2017 at 19:29

Yes, put down some insulation board. It will make a massive difference but your tiles will still be cold underfoot, just not as cold

Solus · 22 Sep 2017 at 08:29

As a person living in a house with no insulation in the floor, if you are going to end up with a step that you feel would be noticeable each time you make the transition - I wouldn't bother. Tiles are cold, end of. 10mm insulation won't suddenly make them warm.

Simon · 22 Sep 2017 at 16:25

You need underfloor heating to make them feel warmer.

BennyC · 23 Sep 2017 at 19:50

Have tiles on top of concrete/screed here. Same sentiment as above, cold is cold. Throw some rugs/runners down on high foot traffic areas if it bothers you

kinobestew123 · 25 Sep 2017 at 16:43

The hall is only very small, like 1m wide x 2m long. It is only used to go front door to living room or upstairs. There are no other doors off it.

I'm not really bothered about under floor heating as we have it in the bathroom and kitchen, both of which are bigger rooms.

I think I'm just going to go with it and see if it's too cold. If it is then I'll just put a rug that fills most of the floor.

Simon · 25 Sep 2017 at 16:53

It will be cold, its a tile. Not sure how UFH being in other rooms helps the hall feel warmer

Wood floor would feel warmer

kinobestew123 · 26 Sep 2017 at 10:48

Simon said:
It will be cold, its a tile. Not sure how UFH being in other rooms helps the hall feel warmer

Wood floor would feel warmer

Haha, I meant that because we have it in other rooms, running costs would start to get a bit high if having it in the hall also. Leaving it on permanently seems a bit of a waste for a room that we only take maybe 3-4 steps in. It's not like the kitchen or bathroom where we stand for a while.

The hall is at the complete opposite side of the house to the consumer unit. We had the whole house rewired to include specific circuits for the UFH in bathroom and kitchen, but not the hall. Things would probably get quite messy to try and add it now.

Wood floor is definitely an option. The only reason I'm leaning towards tiles at the moment is that I have a load left over from the kitchen. I'd only need to buy an additional pack or two and I'd have enough to do it.

Simon · 26 Sep 2017 at 15:16

I have tiles on my kitchen floor set on 30mm of Marmox insulation and they feel freezing without the UFH on.