How to choose insulation for frame house. Types of insulation, their advantages and disadvantages. Stages of work on insulating the structure.
If wooden house chosen for year-round living, it is necessary to choose the right insulation for a frame house. What properties should the insulation of a frame house have? What are its features in terms of thermal conductivity, water absorption and fire safety? How does insulation shrink and how environmentally friendly is it?
What materials are suitable for insulating frame structures. What are mineral insulation materials, ecowool and basalt wool? Why is wind protection of insulation and vapor barrier so important?
Rules for insulating frame houses. Types of insulation. Features of insulation of frame-panel and metal frames. What are the functions of insulation for a frame building? Is polyurethane beneficial to use? Stages of work when insulating walls, ceilings and roofs.
What properties should insulation for a frame house have?
Everyone who has encountered frame construction at a certain point we are forced to think about which insulation is best for a frame house. To make the right decision, you need to know the properties of the main thermal insulation materials offered modern market. In addition, one should take into account the rules on which their choice is based. After reading this article, you will be able to consciously and competently select the most suitable insulating material for insulating the walls of a frame house.
Insulation materials used to insulate the walls of a frame house must have the following properties:
- low thermal conductivity;
- fire safety;
- low water absorption;
- no shrinkage;
- environmental friendliness.
Thermal conductivity
The ability of a material to transfer heat is reflected by its thermal conductivity coefficient. The lower its value, the less heat passes through the material. At the same time, in winter time the room does not cool down so quickly, and in the summer it heats up more slowly. This allows for savings on cooling and heating. For this reason, when choosing insulation, be sure to take into account the value of the thermal conductivity coefficient of the material when operating under specific conditions.
Water absorption
The next important indicator affecting the ability of insulation to retain heat is its water absorption. It represents the ratio of the amount of water absorbed by the insulation to the mass of the insulation itself. This characteristic demonstrates the ability, in the case of direct contact with water, to absorb and retain moisture in the pores.
Due to wet material conducts heat well, the smaller this value is, the better. This is explained by the fact that when wet, the air pores of the insulation are filled with water, which has greater thermal conductivity than air. In addition, material that is too wet can simply freeze, turning into ice and completely lose its functions.
Fire safety
Fire safety of materials means the ability to withstand exposure to high temperatures without breaking the structure or igniting. This parameter is regulated by GOST 30244, GOST 30402 and SNiP 21-01-97, which divide them into flammability groups from G1 to G4, while completely non-flammable substances are designated NG. For frame residential buildings, insulation materials belonging to the NG group are most preferred.
Insulation shrinkage
When choosing a heat insulator for a frame building, you should definitely take into account such an indicator as shrinkage ability. This value must be minimal, otherwise during operation, material subsidence will appear in the places where the insulation is laid, which will lead to the formation of cold bridges and an increase in heat loss.
Environmental friendliness
The basis of the walls of a frame house is insulation. Since the insulating material will surround you everywhere in a frame house, you need to be sure that it is really high-quality insulation and does not emit harmful substances.
Insulation of a frame house- a responsible process, which then determines how much you will pay for heating and whether there will be ventilation in your house, whether you can calmly walk barefoot even in winter and allow children to play on the floor for hours, or whether you will have to buy warm home clothes, socks and slippers.
I will define important concepts needed to understand the text:
Closing the outline of a house- this is the result of that stage of construction when the house is covered with a roof, doors and windows are installed in it, i.e. We are protected from precipitation from the street.
Insulation “by surprise”- this is insulation in which the pieces of insulation are wider than the cavity into which we insert it, which leads to the fact that the insulation supports itself due to natural expansion (we compress it so that it fits into the desired cavity).
Let's look at insulation various elements frame.
Insulation of the floor in a frame house can be carried out by the most different ways and various insulation materials. If your house is not built using USP, then this point is definitely relevant for you. I drew this diagram to immediately highlight all types of floor insulation in a frame frame:
Risk of insulating the floor of a frame house until the circuit closes is that during construction, moisture will most likely get into the insulation more than once (rains are not uncommon in Russia, but floors made of plywood or OSB still allow moisture to pass through), which means that the insulation may lose all its insulating properties ( unless, of course, it's foam).
Insulation of the floor of a frame house after closing the circuit is devoid of this risk, but it requires additional movements: either removing the floor already under the roof or climbing under the house and insulating it from there, or building walls without a floor at all and installing the walls of the frame house directly on the logs (not recommended, this is quite dangerous).
As you already understood, the floor of a frame house can also be insulated both from above (while on the floor) and from below (from under the house). Let's look at everything possible options and potential problems.
Option 1. Insulation of the floor of a frame house from above until the contour is closed.
The most traditional option. Immediately after securing in place, we can insulate the floor of a frame house before covering it with plywood.
If our insulation glass wool or mineral wool, then we just need to simply insert the insulation rolls spaced between the joists. The width of the insulation should be 1-2 cm larger than the space between the joists (if the insulation is 600 mm wide, then the joist pitch is 630 mm, and the space between them is 580 mm). If the insulation does not match, then we cut the insulation to the required size.
To simplify this process, you can first hem boards or plywood underneath the joists so that the insulation cannot fall into the subfloor over time. To do this, before installation, either cranial blocks are nailed to the joists from below, onto which the slabs under the floor insulation will be attached (picture 1), or they are attached, and under it, an inch with a pitch of 300-400 mm across the joists (picture 2).
Everything is simpler and more difficult at the same time. It’s easier, because it’s not scary for it to get wet, which means it’s not scary to insulate the floor of a frame house with polystyrene foam until the contour is closed. Harder because it's tough and doesn't stand up to surprise so easy, you need to cut it to the exact size of the gap between the joists (or even place it against one joist immediately during installation and press it with the adjacent joist, then there will be no gaps). True, when the boards dry out (unless, of course, the board was already dry), most likely, gaps will appear between the foam plastic and the joists; it is better to foam this space (you can remove it from the underground later). You also need to hem something underneath the foam plastic (boards, plywood or wind protection). 
Option 2. Insulation of the floor of a frame house from below after closing the circuit.
If you have a basement or your house is on, and it is raised from the ground by at least 40 cm, then you can easily insulate the floor from below. To do this, you will need to prepare rolls of insulation, crawl under the house and place the insulation there at random. Then pull it under the insulation in the same way (or slabs supporting the insulation as in option 1). Remember that even if your piles are only 30 cm high above the ground, then adding a grillage to them, you get a distance to the floor joists of 50 cm, and this is already a completely working option for insulation from below.
Option 3. Insulation of the floor in a frame house from above after closing the circuit.
Insulating the floor of a frame house in this way is the most comfortable option, in my opinion. First we put the logs, secure them in their places, put ours on top, securing it TEMPORARILY with 2-4 self-tapping screws to the joists.
Then we put the walls on the plywood (but only load-bearing ones; we don’t put up non-load-bearing partitions at all for now), we put floor joists, rafters, etc. on the walls. until we close the entire circuit walls-roof-doors-windows.
Then we remove the screws from the plywood in the floor and cut out the plywood in the places where the load-bearing walls and insulate everything as in the first option (just don’t forget to add jumpers under the joints of the newly cut places in the plywood).
Order your home
There is another variation. If, before installing the walls, you place under them not solid sheets of plywood, but cut pieces 150 mm wide. In this case, there is no need to make additional jumpers, and there is also no need to cut anything, just unscrew the screws, remove the subfloor and insulate it.
Ecowool and floor insulation in a frame house from above after closing the circuit.
With ecowool everything is the same, only you need to attach a windbreak to the bottom of the joists or sew it up with something, because... ecowool is bulk and it needs a solid base (it also makes sense to use MDVP instead of wind protection in this case). A big plus of ecowool is that with it you won’t need to cut anything in any case, make a step under the subfloor slabs (and of course, under the required load).
At all, ecowool, In my opinion - best insulation for a frame house. If you decide to insulate your house with ecowool, contact me, I work with a real professional in insulating walls with ecowool, who travels to various regions.
Personally, for myself, I chose the option with ecowool.
Insulation of walls in a frame house
Insulation of walls in a frame house proceeds in a similar way. We insert the insulation between the . Remember that the pitch of the racks should also be 20-30 mm greater than the width of the insulation. Typically, the pitch of the racks is 625 mm with a 40 mm board and 635 mm with a 50 mm board. By the way, it seems to me that it is better to trim OSB-3 a couple of times than to constantly trim the insulation.
Video about insulation of walls in a frame house from the Rockwool company (manufacturer of insulation of the same name):
What kind of insulation is there for walls?
Types of insulation for walls: mineral wool with a density of more than 30 kg/m3, ecowool (wet method) and polystyrene foam. These three modern insulation used in 95% of walls frame houses Russia. It is difficult to say for sure that the best thermal insulation for walls is ecowool or mineral wool or polystyrene foam, since each insulation material has its own pros and cons.
Insulation for external walls
Special external insulation for walls it is used if you want to make a plaster facade using insulation. In such cases, you have 2 options: polystyrene foam or high-density mineral wool (about 125 kg/m3).
The cheapest and best insulation for walls
We can say for sure that the cheapest insulation for walls is mineral insulation with a minimum density, but it is not recommended to use it, although some take risks and even use glass wool in the walls of a frame house. Over time, low-density basalt can settle in the walls and cracks will appear.
In my opinion, the best insulation for frame walls is. That’s why we insulate the houses of our clients, and we haven’t had any dissatisfied ones in 7 years of work. Ecowool can even withstand fires.
So contact us, we will insulate your walls with ecowool. But we had to throw mineral wool out of the walls more than once because it had become unusable. Of course, it wasn’t her fault, she just didn’t follow the insulation technology, but ecowool forgives even that.
Cross insulation of the walls of a frame house from the outside
Cross-insulation of the walls of a frame house from the inside
Insulate frame house from the inside invented by the Scandinavians. In fact, it is much more convenient than outside, because... In this option, we are not afraid of precipitation and other weather disasters (in particular, hints from a neighbor). Insulation from the inside It usually also comes in a horizontal lathing 40x50 or 50x50 with a pitch of 400-625 mm, only the lathing goes on top of the plastic film (vapor barrier).
Do not forget that the sheathing breaks at the openings: 
Insulation of the attic floor (ceiling) of a frame house
WITH top floor everything is the same as with the floor of a frame house, only there is no point in insulating from below, we do everything from above. Remember that you can pour or lay not only 150-200 mm of insulation (in the size of the floor joists), but also 300, 400 or even 500 mm of insulation. Walking on it will be problematic, but it will be very warm in winter and cool in summer.
Attic insulation
Video about insulating the attic with Rockwool:
Insulation of the basement of a frame house
It is convenient to insulate the base of a frame house with polystyrene foam or extruded foam plastic, which is attached to special fasteners.
So, in this article we introduced you to the most different options insulation of a frame house. This is a very important stage that can directly affect the health of you and your loved ones, so I urge you to take it responsibly.
And traditionally, I remind you about our services - you can buy a ready-made one from us or order its development according to your needs, and if you are still interested in insulation, we will insulate your house with ecowool or bring it.
An important point in the process of building a house on a frame basis is. High-quality thermal insulation ensures that the room maintains optimal temperature regime. Competent is challenging task. There are many options for protecting your home, and it is possible to insulate the walls both outside and inside.
Which insulation to choose for a frame house?
This actual question, because a frame-based structure has a high loss rate. By using quality material Ultimate heat transfer protection can be achieved.
Foam insulation
Foam plastic is considered one of the most popular insulating materials. The popularity is due to the advantages:
- environmental Safety;
- affordable price;
- a light weight;
- does not require a special moisture-proof coating;
- ease of installation;
- there is no need for additional insulation.
This cheap insulation for a frame house also has its drawbacks. It ignites easily, has low noise insulation and is very brittle.
Tip: To insulate a building with an area of 6 m2 with foam plastic, you need about 3 m2 of material, the thickness of which is 50 mm.
Polystyrene foam and mineral wool
Mineral wool as insulation
High-quality insulator, which is in growing demand, is dense compressed slabs. They have rectangular shape and are easy to cut, which allows you to create a piece of insulation using a saw and knife required size.
Mineral wool is produced by heat treatment and the process of pressing basalt or blast furnace slag. The structure in the form of fibers traps air, so a protective barrier is formed for the penetration of cold air.
Mineral wool is different:
- light weight;
- good sound insulation;
- fire resistance;
- durability;
- tolerate deformation well;
- excellent thermal insulation.
The material contains substances harmful to human health. Small particles are especially dangerous; they can penetrate through the respiratory tract and cause various diseases.
Advice: To prevent the negative influence of cotton wool, the walls of the building must be covered from the inside with special vapor barrier films.
Mineral wool is susceptible negative influence moisture, under the influence of which it loses its excellent thermal insulation properties and succumbs to rot. Therefore, when thermally insulating walls, the openings of the frame block should be protected with outside special waterproofing materials.
Insulation of the facade of a frame house using Rockwool insulation - step by step
Insulating walls with mineral wool is not a difficult task:
- It is necessary to make a vapor barrier, since wood breathes, the insulation must be protected from condensation.
- Mineral wool is placed between the frame posts. It is recommended to mark and cut the slabs of material with a margin.
- Install thermal insulation between the posts as tightly as possible.
- Mineral wool strips of small width should be used to cover the joints between the thermal insulation and the drains of the frame.
The same method can be used to insulate the outer surfaces of a building. Only in this case is it necessary to mineral wool apply a waterproofing film.
When asked which insulation is best for a frame house, reviews confirm this; experts are inclined towards mineral wool, subject to proper installation.
Insulation of a frame house with TechnoNIKOL stone wool
Glass wool for home insulation
Fiber material has been used in construction for a long time. Glass wool is produced by melting waste from glass production, limestone, soda, sand, borax and dolomite. The material is produced in the form of plates and rolls.
When contacting the material, it is necessary to use protective items: gloves, respirators and goggles, since sharp and thin fibers of glass wool pose a danger to humans.
Glass wool has its own advantages:
- excellent heat resistance;
- fire resistance;
- low hygroscopicity;
- resistance to chemical degradation.
Wall insulation for a frame house has excellent thermal insulation properties and does not emit harmful toxic substances in case of fire. The material is inexpensive, so it is popular.
When insulating a room, it is recommended to cover the glass wool with a windproof film. This operation allows heat to remain inside the building for a long period of time.
Video - technology for insulating a frame house (wall thickness, vapor barrier layer) - step-by-step instructions
Ecowool insulation
High-quality environmentally friendly insulation for a frame house is modern material, which is made from cellulose.
It has a number of features:
- To carry out the work, you need a special device, which during the insulation process mixes the insulation with water, and then drives the material into the wall cavity - this method is called wet;
- the dry method involves the process of pouring material into the frame space and then compacting it;
- the insulation is not afraid of high humidity, so there is no need to lay a special film.
This is not the best insulation for a frame house, since ecowool is very expensive and it is recommended to use the services of specialists to work with it.
The thickness of the insulation must be calculated taking into account the requirements for thermal insulation. This affects the amount of material that needs to be purchased. It is recommended to invite a professional who will take the necessary measurements and be able to calculate exact amount mineral wool required for a specific frame house.
Video - insulation of a frame house with ecowool instructions
About Rockwool insulation for the walls of a frame house
Polyurethane foam or penoizol - quality material
Reliable and excellent insulation consists of two components that are mixed together. The resulting mixture is used to fill the cells of the building. frame type. The result is a monolithic surface. Working with the material can be compared to manipulations carried out with polyurethane foam.
PPU or polyurethane foam has excellent thermal insulation properties, but requires certain skills, experience and knowledge. Therefore, professionals work with the material. The cost of polyurethane foam is relatively high, so if the question is which insulation is better to insulate a frame house and at the same time save money, then you should abandon polyurethane foam.
Thermal conductivity of insulation and building materials
Clay - a proven method
To insulate the room, you can use ordinary clay. This is the most environmentally friendly method. To carry out the work, special clay is used, which has a specific fat content coefficient. Low-fat material does not have the necessary adhesion, so plaster made from it will crumble and crack after a certain period of time.
After creating a thick mixture of clay, you can test its suitability by rolling a ball and then pressing it between two boards:
- if the ball is cracked by about 50%, then sand should be added;
- if the cracks are about 30%, then plaster is ideal for further use;
- if the ball crumbles, then the material is not at all suitable for high-quality work.
Clay mortar is the answer to the question of which insulation is best for a frame house; reviews from people who have used this method confirm this if the naturalness of the materials is important to the owner of the house.
Worth knowing: There is no specific method for making clay mortar. The composition of the components: lime, cement, water, sawdust, sand, clay, and their ratio may be different.
The technique for working with the material is similar to manipulating ordinary plaster:
- the wall is covered with a primer;
- beacons are installed;
- a rough layer of plaster is applied, the thickness of which should not exceed five centimeters;
- After the previous layer has dried, a finishing layer is applied and finishing work is carried out.
How to insulate a house with clay? Wall insulated with clay
Fibrolite – quality and reliability
Fiberboards are produced by drying and pressing wood shavings, which are mixed with a binder: magnesium salt or Portland cement. To best preserve the thermal insulation characteristics, it is recommended to use additional waterproofing. The material is used for insulation interior walls and floors.
The popularity of fiberboard is determined by its excellent performance characteristics:
- is fireproof due to the presence of special impregnation with binders;
- has excellent moisture resistance and can withstand constant and regular exposure high humidity;
- the ability to withstand various types of deformation. Pressed wood chips serve as a damper, and cement or other binder provides them with stability;
- is not biologically active, therefore it is not subject to the unwanted process of decay, since the spread of microorganisms and insects does not occur within the material;
- has a high sound insulation rate;
- is environmentally friendly;
- able to withstand severe cold and frost, therefore it is actively used in various climatic zones;
- is durable - service life is at least 50 years.
Sawdust - old method
How to choose insulation for a frame house if there are no specialized materials available and the goal is to save a lot? The answer is quite simple - it's sawdust. Thermal insulation is not produced by sawdust itself, but by a mixture with other building materials: cement, antiseptic or lime.
An approximate technology for preparing insulation is as follows:
When pouring water, it is recommended to use a watering can to evenly moisten the resulting mixture.
In most cases, the space between the beams or beams in the floor is filled with sawdust. Sometimes they are used to insulate walls. In this case, the composition is poured in small layers and compacted thoroughly.
This method of thermal insulation has disadvantages:
- labor intensity during work;
- high degree of fire hazard;
- low efficiency rate;
- settling of material over time inside the walls.
The method may be more effective for a frame house if expanded clay is used.
Exists big choice materials with which you can insulate a frame house. They differ in their scope of application: inside and outside, method of operation, cost, efficiency and environmental friendliness.
What insulation should I use in a frame house?
The decision remains with the owner of the frame housing. The most environmentally friendly and cheapest method is clay plaster. Modern methods work allows us to complete the work with the highest quality and aesthetics.
Video Insulation of a frame house
Is it damn cold in your new house, not only in winter, but even in autumn? Then it will have to be insulated, and as soon as possible. And it is necessary to insulate it from the outside. Firstly, it saves internal space. Secondly, external insulation is much more effective, because it prevents the walls from cooling, rather than simply retaining heat inside.
Since this procedure is within the capabilities of even a novice builder, you can insulate a panel house from the outside with your own hands. And this means savings on the cost of insulation up to 50%! The main thing is to choose the right material.
The choice of materials - how not to damage the structures of the house
Considering that initially a frame house is quite light, it is often built on light foundations - columnar, shallow strip and pile. They are initially calculated for light-weight structures. Therefore, weighting finished house may require strengthening the foundation. Yes, and the additional load on the floors must be taken into account.
Dew point - why doesn’t the insulation “work”?
The main reason for the deterioration of the quality of all hygroscopic insulation is the moisture that accumulates inside. After all, water is an excellent conductor of heat - water-cooling units are much more efficient than air-cooling units. Moisture microparticles in the insulation layer work in the same way - they absorb heat and release it to a colder external environment.
And even ideal vapor and waterproofing will not save you from dampening the insulation if you incorrectly calculate the dew point at which condensation begins to form. So, the image clearly shows what will result from an insufficient layer of external insulation, in this case expanded clay with a density of 200 kg/m3 and a layer thickness of 10 cm.
The black graph illustrates the decrease in cake wall temperature from 20 degrees inside the building to -25 degrees outside. With such strong differences, an insufficient layer of outer insulation will lead to cooling of the inner layer, at the point of contact of which steam will begin to condense.
This option will either completely remove condensation or shift it to the outer layers. Then, if there is a ventilation gap between the insulation and the waterproofing, excess moisture will simply evaporate without affecting the characteristics of the material.
Thermal insulation boards and mats
The simplest and most affordable types of materials for external insulation are mineral wool and glass wool. To reduce heat loss by almost half, ten centimeters of insulation with a density of 25 kg/cubic meter, laid on the outside, is sufficient.
Thanks to this, it is possible to reduce heat loss from 42.09 kW/h to 23.37 kW/h in heating season.
Approximately the same effect can be achieved with 10 cm of polystyrene foam. But the disadvantage of polymer insulation is its almost complete vapor permeability, which significantly worsens the natural microclimate. In other words, in such a house there will always be high humidity, if you do not do forced ventilation. And this is a direct road to the formation of mold and fungi.
But natural insulation, for example, reed slabs, must be laid in a layer of at least 15 cm to ensure a similar level of heat loss. Certainly, environmentally friendly material is always preferable, but it is worth taking into account the financial side of the issue.
Thermal insulation backfills
Although it is quite doable. According to its characteristics, 10 cm of ecowool with a density of 35 kg/cub.m. are in no way inferior to mineral wool. But the density is 60 kg/cub.m. will already lead to an increase in heat loss to 25.43 kW/h.
When insulating walls with expanded clay, you need to be prepared for the fact that you will have to increase the thickness of the walls by 25 cm. It is better to use expanded clay crushed stone with a density of 200 kg/cub.m. Increasing density up to 600 kg/cub.m. will lead to an increase in heat loss with a similar thickness of the insulation layer to 27.22 kW/h. Also, do not forget about the weight of the building - such an amount of expanded clay will significantly make the building heavier.
15 cm of expanded vermiculite as external insulation will reduce heat loss to 25.18 kW/h. This is a good option if there is a vermiculite production facility nearby. Otherwise, the delivery of the material will negate all the cheapness of the insulation itself.
If there is a sawmill nearby that is ready to give away sawdust for free, the walls can be insulated quite in an economical way. In addition, 15 cm of sawdust with a density of 250 kg/cub.m. provide only 24.48 kW/h of ash loss during the heating season. And so that the sawdust does not rot and has sufficient protection from fire, a clay or cement mixture is made.
For example, to make “homemade” wood concrete you will need 100 kg of sawdust, 25 kg of sand, 6 kg of slaked lime and 200 kg of cement. You need to mix everything in one container, adding water in an amount sufficient for normal mixing. The final mixture should not crumble when compacted, but water should not leak out.
The advantage of frame-panel houses is the ability to insulate them without removing the outer cladding.
But if the walls are decorated with siding and are in good condition, it can be dismantled first. This will save you a lot of money on new casing.
The main thing when laying insulation from the outside is not to leave a ventilated gap between it and the wall. This will negate all insulation efforts, since cold air will have unhindered contact with the wall.
General scheme of external insulation
Regardless of the material chosen, the initial pattern is always the same:
All cracks are filled with foam. It is important not to forget to go over the foam sheets with a special grater to improve adhesion. Otherwise, the layer of plaster can easily be removed along with the reinforcing mesh.
How to properly insulate your facade using mineral wool is clearly explained in the video:
Insulating a house with bulk materials
The technology of insulating a house with bulk materials also requires the construction of a frame. After this, the frame is sutured edged board to a height of up to 30 cm. Unedged boards are not used - the insulation will spill out through cracks and irregularities. Let's look at insulation using sawdust as an example.
A layer of sawdust is poured around the entire perimeter of the house and compacted well. Uncompacted sawdust will cake in the future and the resulting voids will no longer insulate anything. This way the sheathing is gradually lifted under the roof.
The last layer under the roof is laid wet - this way there will be no need to compact it, and thanks to natural ventilation The sawdust will dry quickly.
If insulation is planned with sawdust concrete, a special formwork is constructed into which the mixture will be placed. This is a rather lengthy task - each layer must have time to dry before you can proceed to the next one. Thus, only 50 cm of the facade will be insulated per day.
Insulation of the basement and attic floor
Heat loss at home occurs not only through the walls. Precious heat flows through the roof due to convection, and cold air under the floor can also cool the house down thoroughly. Of course, it is best to try to order infrared thermography.
It will reveal all the “bottlenecks” in the structure and will allow you to save on insulation - after all, you won’t have to “wrap” the entire house completely.
Insulating the attic - how to make a panel house “breathe”
Why are frame houses considered unsuitable for permanent residence? All because of the unpleasant microclimate - the air remains damp, and forced ventilation creates additional problems during construction. But if there is a non-residential attic, the house can be made to “breathe” - evaporate excess moisture without creating drafts in the living quarters.
For such environmentally friendly insulation of the attic floor from the outside, you will need ordinary sawdust. Thanks to its properties of absorbing and evaporating moisture, the insulation does not rot for a long time even in the presence of severe leaks in the roof. When laid correctly, sawdust practically does not caking in a horizontal plane, which allows you to forget about the attic floor for many years.
The technology is extremely simple:
- Material that is vapor permeable on both sides is laid on the floor of the attic. This is necessary to prevent small particles of wood from spilling down. In this case, ordinary agrofibre is ideal - it does not retain moisture, allowing air and water to pass through freely. Vapor barrier when insulating with sawdust is contraindicated! Otherwise, all the moist air will remain below, not penetrating into the attic.
- What’s especially nice about insulation with sawdust is that the procedure requires a minimum of effort. The spunbond is laid with an overlap of 10 cm and fixed to the joists with a stapler or nails. There is no need to glue the joints and puncture sites with anything.
- Sawdust is poured between the joists. To make them easier to lay and also give them some fire resistance, sawdust can be sprayed with a fire retardant solution. The main thing is not to over-moisten. Ideally, the sawdust should remain crumbly, but form lumps when strongly compressed.
- The insulation is not compacted and not covered with anything. The subfloor is immediately laid on top of the joists. Can be used unedged board– thanks to unevenness and cracks, excess moisture will evaporate into the attic space.
- It is important that the attic is ventilated! It is best to use a windproof membrane as waterproofing to protect against rain and snow. It does not allow water to pass through from the outside, but is vapor permeable from the inside. Otherwise, condensation will form, waterlogging the insulation and leading to the development of mold and mildew on wooden structures.
Insulation of the basement of a house on a columnar foundation
If there is a basement, ash leaks will be insignificant, because even an unheated basement always maintains a positive temperature. And for owners of houses on a pile or columnar foundation, there is a high risk of becoming victims of strong drafts with insufficient floor insulation. And if you shoot flooring for some reason it doesn’t work out, and there is no access to the floor from the outside, you can simply insulate the base.
The procedure itself, although labor-intensive, is quite simple in technical terms:
- A trench is dug along the perimeter of the house with a bevel outward. The soil is not removed - it will still be useful. A frame is attached to the foundation pillars, on which the insulation will be held.
- Waterproofing is placed at the bottom of the trench, a drainage pipe is placed on it, and everything is covered with a sand cushion, which, as with the construction of a foundation, is spilled and compacted. The pillow should not reach the future insulation.
- Now you can attach the thermal insulation. The ideal material is extruded polystyrene foam. It is much stronger than polystyrene foam, can withstand temperature changes and is completely resistant to moisture and ultraviolet radiation.
- The slabs are sheathed with slate - this is the simplest and most economical option. To make things go faster, it is better to pre-drill holes in the slate and only then screw the sheets with self-tapping screws.
- The removed soil is poured on top of the sand cushion. Vents are made in the base and covered with nets. (26) For access under the house, it is advisable to also provide an insulated door - otherwise, if there are problems with the pipes, it will be quite difficult to quickly get there.
Work on additional insulation of the house will bear fruit in the next heating season. So don't delay this!