Plan your heating before you finish your compound apartment

Why before finishing

In a unit handed over core-and-shell or semi-finished, the floors, plaster and ceilings are still to come. That is the moment to lay underfloor heating with its insulation, run radiator pipes inside walls, plan the boiler’s flue, and leave space for a hot water cylinder.

After finishing, the same work means cutting into new plaster, lifting new tiles or settling for exposed pipes.

What to decide early

Underfloor, radiators or both, room by room. The floor finish in each room, because it changes the underfloor design. Where the boiler or heat pump goes, and where its flue or outdoor unit can be. Whether the hot water will be central. How many zones and where the thermostats sit, so the electrician can run cables.

Check your compound’s rules on outdoor units and façade openings before you choose a heat source.

Coordinating with the finishing contractor

Heating has to fit into the finishing sequence: pipes and insulation before the screed, pressure test before the screed is poured, radiator connections before plastering, controls cabling before the electrician closes up. A heating plan drawn with the finishing plan avoids clashes with plumbing, electrics and ceilings.

Agree the floor levels early: underfloor heating adds height, which affects door thresholds and the step into bathrooms and balconies.

If you are not ready to install everything

You can lay the pipework and underfloor circuits now, pressure-test them, and add the boiler or heat pump later. The hidden part, which is the hard part to add afterwards, is done.