Just when you thought hardwood floors couldn’t get any hotter, let’s talk about radiant heating. The Colorado weather can change drastically from day to day and season to season. For Coloradans, this just means that the weather is always keeping it interesting. However, your hardwood floors don’t like inconsistency in weather, they like to live in a nice even climate. Radiant heating can help you maintain a consistent indoor climate to protect your floors and keep your feet nice and cozy.
Engineered hardwood flooring is best for radiant heating.
Hardwood floors and radiant heating
Because wood will react to the heat and the cold, contracting and expanding with changing moisture levels and temperatures, you can install radiant heating under wood floors. You just need to talk to an expert about the best type of wood to use with radiant flooring. Since radiant flooring is becoming increasingly popular, this is clearly not just a fad, more and more people are asking about hardwood floors and radiant heating.
Stable hardwood flooring
When considering hardwood floors and radiant heating, the type of wood that you use is important. Talk to an expert about wood species that react less to heat, and are better suited to be installed over radiant heating. Find wood that is stable, and doesn’t have a lot of shrinkages. The acclimation process is super important, allowing your wood to acclimate to your home will make for a more stable and beautiful installation. It will also prevent your floors from shrinking after they have been installed.
Engineered flooring
The way that engineered wood floors are created make for a much more stable piece of wood. For hardwood floors over radiant heat, engineered wood floors are a great choice. Also, engineered flooring will have a more steady temperament when it comes to heat.
Tongue and groove flooring
When it comes to installation, floating tongue and groove flooring are ideal for radiant heating. Should you need to make repairs in the future, this installation method will make it much easier.
Before you choose wood for hardwood floors, talk to a flooring expert from one of the largest hardwood flooring retailers in the front range. Check out all of your wood flooring options at our Denver and Evergreen showrooms.