Retrofit Underfloor Heating in a Sevenoaks Kitchen

The Brief

A family kitchen in Sevenoaks was being reworked with new units, a tiled floor and a full re-plumb. The existing slab was in good condition but the old radiators were in the way of the new layout and the homeowner wanted the floor finish to be warm underfoot. Door heights were tight, so any system had to stay low-profile. A retrofit overlay with 16mm build-up was the right fit.

What We Did

• Surveyed the existing slab: Checked for level, confirmed it was dry and sound, and mapped the pipe route back to a new manifold location in the utility cupboard.
• Primed and levelled the sub-base: A self-levelling compound took out two small dips so the overlay boards would sit flat across the whole kitchen.
• Laid pre-grooved overlay boards: 16mm pre-grooved boards bedded down and laid out to match the custom pipe route around the island.
• Clipped and routed 16mm PE-RT pipe: A single loop covering the kitchen, tails back to the manifold via the utility, pressure-tested to 6 bar and left under pressure for 24 hours.
• Capped with tile backer: Tile backer board laid over the pipe zone, taped at joints and ready for the tiler to start work the following week.
• Commissioned alongside the rest of the build: Manifold connected, flow balanced across the zone, controls wired to the new thermostat, and the system left running at design flow.

The Result

The kitchen now has even warmth underfoot from wall to wall, with the radiator footprint freed up and the layout unencumbered. The total floor build-up came in under 22mm including the tile, so all the internal doors swung cleanly without trimming. System is pressure-tight, properly commissioned, and covered by a 50-year pipe warranty plus our 12-month workmanship guarantee.

Duration: Three working days from sub-base prep to commissioning.

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