How to Install Heated Ceramic Tile

One disadvantage of using ceramic tile as a floor material is that it conducts heat very well. This can be a real problem in cold climates, because the tile will often feel very cold in the morning under bare feet. Fortunately, this same ability to conduct heat allows ceramic tiles to be heated, as long as you have installed a heating mat underneath them, which can then be turned on and off using a small thermostat.

Things You'll Need

• Tile heating pad with external thermostat
• Thin-set concrete
• Trowel
• Wet saw or tile cutter
• Grout
• Tile spacers (optional)

Instructions

1. Measure the area where you plan to install the heated tiles. You will need the dimensions both to figure out how much tile you need but also to determine how large of a heating pad you will be using. Heating pads generally come in rectangular shapes and can't be cut, so it's better to get a slightly smaller pad that will heat the majority of a room rather than trying to make do with one that is too large. Heating pads for ceramic tile can be found in the tile section of Home Depot or other home improvement stores. When purchasing tile, purchase 10 to 15 percent more than you would normally need, to compensate for broken tiles and those that need to be cut.

2. Lay the heating mat flat on the floor. Using a trowel, cover it in a layer of thin-set cement (about 1/2 inch or 1 cm thick). Do not to damage the wires that connect the mat to the thermostat. It is best to position the mat so that the wires that run out of it can come out near a wall outlet. This minimizes the amount of wire that is running around the room, where it can be dislodged.

3. Lay the tile as you normally would. Start laying the tile out in sections, using the edges of spare tiles as spacers. Alternately, you can use any other thin object to space your tiles. Press down firmly on the tiles to fix them in place, and work from one end to the other. For partial tiles, either use a wet saw or a tile cutter to make your cuts accurately.

4. Wipe any excess thin-set off the tiles, then apply grout using a trowel. Make sure that there is no cement sticking out from below the tiles as you grout them.

5. Connect the heating mat to the thermostat that comes with it. The heating mat should have wires that come out from one edge that connect firmly to the thermostat. The thermostat will then connect to a wall outlet.

6. Test the tile heating system by turning it on for a few minutes to make sure that both the thermostat and the mat work before you let the the grout and cement cure. After that, don't turn on the system for at least two weeks (and preferably four) to make sure that all of your grout and cement has fully hardened and cured.