Underfloor Heating Quote

What's in an underfloor heating quote, in plain English

• Insulation board: goes under the pipes so the heat comes up, not down. Cheap, and the first thing a cheap quote drops.
• Pipework: priced by the metre. Closer spacing for cold rooms and bathrooms means more pipe.
• Manifold: one per system, with a port for each loop. More zones, bigger manifold.
• Mixing valve and pump: on the manifold, they set the floor temperature and move the water. One set per system.
• Actuators and thermostats: one of each per zone. A single room has one; a whole ground floor might have five or six.
• Wiring centre: connects the thermostats, actuators and boiler. One per system.
• Labour: laying pipe is a day or two; the manifold, wiring and commissioning is another.
• Overlay boards: only on an existing floor. They replace the screed and add cost per square metre.
• Commissioning: filling, balancing and bringing the floor up to temperature in stages. Often skipped by cheap installers, always in ours.

What moves the price

• Floor area: the biggest factor. Pipe, insulation and boards are all per square metre.
• Floor type: pipes in a new screed is cheapest per metre. Overlay costs more in materials. Joisted floors cost more in labour.
• Number of zones: each room you want controlled separately adds a thermostat, an actuator and a manifold port.
• Distance to the boiler: the manifold has to be fed from the boiler. A long run adds pipework.
• Boiler condition: if the survey shows the boiler can't run the floor, that's a separate conversation, not a hidden extra.
• Access and timing: fitting around a builder's programme is normal and free; being called back three times because the screed wasn't ready isn't.

Honest advice: what to watch for in a cheap quote

• No insulation board: the most common way to get a quote down. The system works, but half the heat goes into the ground for the next thirty years.
• A per square metre price with no survey: nobody can price a floor they haven't seen. A rate quoted over the phone becomes a different number on the invoice.
• “Package” pricing: a fixed package for a fixed area sounds simple, but your room is not that area, and the extras appear later.
• No commissioning: a system that's filled and switched on but never balanced has hot rooms and cold rooms. Balancing takes an hour and is the difference.
• Worth paying for: a survey. Ours is free, takes under an hour, and the price it produces is the price you pay.

When to ask for a quote

Before the floor goes down, or as soon as you know which rooms. Message us the room, a rough size and a photo, and we'll book the free survey. Book a free survey