Heated floor installation
Renovating a bathroom and want warm tile underfoot? The Wire Guys wires heated floors across British Columbia, from your panel to the thermostat on the wall, and pulls the permit when one is needed. Call us before the tile goes down, because that is when the wiring has to go in.
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Licensed Electrical Contractor
Licensed and insured in British Columbia.
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Active and in good standing, with continuous coverage since 30 September 2019.
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Accredited since 2023.
Canadian family owned, working across British Columbia since 2019.
Get a quoteWhat goes into heated floor installation, and which part is the electrician's job?
Heated floor installation means laying an electric heating mat, cable or membrane under the tile, and an electrician wiring it to a thermostat that reads the temperature of the floor. We install electric floor heating for homeowners across British Columbia, mostly as part of a bathroom or other room renovation.
- Your estimate is free, and when the job goes ahead it is $135 an hour for a Red Seal electrician plus a helper.
- We handle the permit when the job needs one, and we meet the inspector when the work is checked.
Who installs a heated floor kit: the electrician or the tile setter?
An electric heated floor is shared work between whoever lays the floor and a floor heating electrician, who handles everything wired back to your panel. WarmlyYours' installation manual splits the job the same way: a tile setter or the homeowner can lay the mat, and a qualified electrician completes the electrical connections.
Who does each part:
- Whoever lays the floor, whether that is your tile setter, your renovator or our crew, puts down the mat, cable or membrane with its floor sensor and sets it in thinset, the mortar the tile sits in.
- We run a circuit from your panel to the thermostat box on the wall, then connect the floor sensor and the heating's power wire, called the cold lead, to the thermostat.
- If you already bought a kit, its manual lists the voltage and the thermostat it needs, so tell us the brand and the size of the heated area when you call.
Bathrooms, kitchens and basements: where a heated floor fits
Heat goes under the open floor you walk on, never under built-in cabinets, a vanity base or furniture that sits flat on the floor.
Jasjot Kohli, our owner, says floor heating is something people like to add when they renovate a washroom. The heating sits under the tile, so it has to be planned while the floor is open, as part of the electrical work for a bathroom renovation.
A heated kitchen floor works the same way, with the heat kept to the open floor in front of the cabinets.
Basement floor heating
Heated floors can go over a concrete slab, but the slab soaks up heat that would otherwise warm the floor. The manufacturers advise a layer of insulation or a thermal-break underlay under the heating, so the floor warms faster.
What goes under the tile
Mats, cable or a membrane: which system goes under your floor
We install WarmlyYours and Schluter DITRA-HEAT systems. The shape of the room and the floor going down decide which of the three suits your job.
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Floor heating mats
A floor heating mat is heating cable fixed to a mesh roll at even spacing, ordered to the size of the area you want warm. Mats suit open, regular floors, such as the clear space between a bathroom vanity and the tub.
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Floor heating cable, laid loose
Loose cable comes on a spool and is fixed to the floor in rows by hand instead of arriving on a mesh. That lets it follow an awkward room and bend around a toilet flange or a tight corner.
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Schluter DITRA-HEAT membrane
With Schluter DITRA-HEAT, a studded uncoupling membrane goes down on the subfloor first. That plastic layer stops small movements in the subfloor from cracking the tile, and the heating cable is pressed between its studs only where heat is wanted.
- From the bottom up: the subfloor, then the heating with the floor sensor set between two runs of cable, then thinset, then the tile.
The cold lead carries power from the heating to the thermostat on the wall, and the thermostat is wired back to its circuit at the panel.
The four questions
Does a heated floor need a dedicated circuit and its own breaker?
Normally, yes: an electric heated floor gets its own circuit and breaker. WarmlyYours' manual requires one for its system, Schluter recommends one for each floor, and the Canadian Electrical Code as adopted in BC says the maker's installation instructions must be followed. The circuit is sized to the floor, so a small bathroom and a large open room do not need the same one, and its voltage, 120 or 240 volts, matches the mat or cable ordered.
The heating cable also needs ground-fault protection, from a safety device that cuts the power the moment electricity leaks out of its path. It is the same GFCI protection that GFCI outlets and breakers give the outlets beside a kitchen or bathroom sink.
When we add a heated floor, we first check that your panel can carry the extra power. If your panel has no space, we explain what it would take, such as an electrical panel upgrade, before we start.
The floor heating thermostat and floor sensor
A wall thermostat reads the air in the room. This one reads the floor itself through a sensor set into it, so the tile warms up without overheating.
The sensor sits in the floor between two runs of heating cable and has to go in while the floor is open, because once the tile is set it cannot be reached.
A programmable floor heating thermostat warms the floor on a schedule you set, so the tile is warm when you get up and off while nobody is home.
If your floor already has heat, in-floor heating thermostat replacement is done at the wall: we take the old thermostat off and connect a programmable one in its place. Where Technical Safety BC issues the permit, swapping an existing thermostat needs no permit when a licensed contractor does it.
Heated floor cost: how we price the job
We price the electrical work for a heated floor at $135 an hour for a Red Seal electrician plus a helper, with flat rates on many jobs. The estimate is free, and you get the quote in writing before any work starts. A quote is priced on what we can see, so if the scope changes we tell you before we do it, not after.
What changes the total on a heated floor:
- The size of the heated area matters, because a large floor can need a second circuit or an extra control box, called a power module, to carry the load.
- The distance from your panel to the thermostat box counts, and so do any finished walls the new wire has to pass through.
Tracing a fault in a heated floor that has stopped warming is separate from the free estimate: it is a $165, 45-minute diagnostic that tells you what is wrong and how we will fix it.
To get your quote started, call 778-708-0451 with the room, roughly how big it is, the flooring going down and the date the tile is booked.
Permits and inspections for a heated floor
If an inspection does not pass on our work, we put it right, call the inspector back, and we cover the cost.
Unlike a thermostat swap, a new heated floor adds a circuit and equipment wired in for good, so it normally needs an electrical permit, and the finished work is inspected. We pull the permit whenever the work needs one, so you do no paperwork, and we are there when the inspector comes.
Technical Safety BC issues the permit for homes in Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Mission and Langley. Inside Vancouver and Victoria city limits, each city issues its own.
Our in-floor heating installation process
We explain the plan, then wire the job in two visits around the tile. If anything unexpected turns up, we get your approval before any extra work begins.
- 01
We look at the room, your panel and the wall where the thermostat will go, then walk you through the plan.
- 02
Before work starts, we file the permit when the job needs one, then run the new circuit to the thermostat box before the floor goes down.
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The mat, cable or membrane goes down on the subfloor with the floor sensor. The manufacturers' instructions call for the cable to be tested with a meter before it goes down, after it is laid, and after the tile is set, so damage is caught while it is still cheap to fix.
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On the second visit, once the tile is set, we connect the thermostat, the floor sensor and the heating's power wire, and the work is ready for the inspection.
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We test it and show you it works before we leave.
What happens if something is not right after we leave?
If something we installed is not right, we come back to fix it. Phone 778-708-0451. Our guarantee runs one year on new construction and six months on renovations.
If something we installed is not right, we come back.
// Our work
A heated floor we installed in Maple Ridge
Every photo here comes from one of our own jobs, sent in by our crew.
What our customers say
WorkSafeBC has covered us continuously since 30 September 2019. Across 137 Google reviews, customers rate us 4.7 stars. Two of them describe breaker and circuit work in their homes, in their own words:
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Replaced breakers and separated the microwave on a separate plug. This avoided the overload in Deming of light that we were experiencing.
Great work.
Jas and team will ensure renovations are properly wired!
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Jas and His Team did an amazing job in My new to Me Home of installation of 220v power and exhaust to accommodate a dryer and solved some other electrical issues. So grateful for Their work and professionalism.
Frequently asked questions
Any questions? Call 778-708-0451The Wire Guys Electrical Ltd. is a licensed electrical contractor serving Abbotsford, Vancouver, Victoria and communities across the Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley and Greater Victoria, handling residential and commercial electrical work for homeowners, landlords and business owners in British Columbia.
Is a heated bathroom floor worth it?
A heated bathroom floor pays off most when it goes in during a renovation, while the old floor is already up and the new tile has not been laid. With a programmable thermostat, the heat can come on before you wake, so the tile is already warm when you get up.
What are the downsides of electric underfloor heating?
Electric underfloor heating has three downsides. Once the tile is set, the cable is out of reach, so a damaged run can mean lifting part of the floor. Thick rugs and furniture with a solid base sit over the heat and block it. It also normally needs its own circuit, and a full panel may not have room for one.
Do heated floors use a lot of electricity?
How much electricity a heated floor uses depends on four things: how large the heated area is, how many hours a day you run it, whether the floor underneath is insulated, and your BC Hydro rate. A programmable thermostat that warms the floor only when you need it keeps those hours down.
Electric vs hydronic floor heating: which one do you install?
We install electric heated floors. Hydronic floor heating runs hot water from a boiler or water heater through tubing in the floor, and plumbing and heating contractors install those systems. If you would rather have heat from a wall, we also handle electric baseboard heater installation.
Heated floor not working? What to check before you call
Start at the thermostat: check that the screen is on, that its schedule is not keeping the floor off, and whether its built-in ground-fault protection has tripped. Then check the breaker in your panel. If the floor is still cold, book our electrical troubleshooting and repair service: $165 for a 45-minute diagnostic that finds the fault and explains how we will fix it. The free estimate covers new work, not tracing a fault.
Which floors work over electric floor heating?
Tile and stone are the usual match for a heated floor. Vinyl and laminate can work too, but each product has its own temperature limit, so check with the flooring maker and the heater maker before you buy. A heated floor under hardwood needs a special build that the manufacturers set out in their instructions, so plan it with your flooring installer before the floor goes down.
Can heat go into a floor that is already finished?
Not usually. The heating mat or cable sits under the floor covering, so an existing floor normally has to come up before heat can go in. The best time to add a heated floor is the next time that room is renovated, when the old floor is coming up anyway and the new circuit can be planned with the rest of the work.
Other electrical services we offer
Same licence on every one of them, with the permit and inspection wherever one applies.
Add a heated floor to your renovation.
Book the wiring before the tile goes down: phone 778-708-0451 or ask for a callback.