Many residents of apartment buildings expand the useful area of \u200b\u200btheir apartment at the expense of a balcony or loggia. But any balcony decoration will bring little benefit if you do not take care of its thermal insulation. Only then will the loggia become a full-fledged living space that can be used at any time of the year. Thermal insulation should be carried out comprehensively and start from the floor. How to insulate the floor on the balcony with your own hands? What modern materials and how is it recommended to use?
We take into account the features of the balcony
How to insulate a balcony from the inside? The market offers many different thermal insulation materials, each of which has its own advantages and disadvantages. When choosing the material with which it is supposed to insulate the floors on the balcony, do not forget about the features of this room:
- The balcony is a portable structure. Its complex finishing, installation of double-glazed windows and laying of thermal insulation significantly increase the weight of the structure. In order not to risk collapse, it is necessary not only to first assess the condition of the base of the balcony, but also to choose the lightest materials possible.
- Any insulating material in one way or another will increase the level of the floor on the balcony. This is usually not a problem since the balcony slab is usually located below the floor level in the room. Ideally, after laying the thermal insulation, you should get a single horizon of floors throughout the apartment.
Choosing a heater
How to insulate the floor on the balcony? For these purposes, you can use one of the following materials.
- Styrofoam. This material has gained popularity due to its availability and low cost. Its disadvantages are also well known: it is quite brittle, which causes a lot of small crumbs to form during operation, and also releases toxic substances during combustion.
- Penoplex. More rigid and durable compared to foam, so the floor logs can be laid directly on the plates of this insulation. It has excellent thermal insulation characteristics, is resistant to moisture and microorganisms, does not burn.
Even a novice builder can make thermal insulation on the balcony with foam plastic.
- Penofol. Is issued in rolls. This polyethylene foam is usually coated with aluminum foil on one side. There are varieties with double-sided coating. It is convenient in work, does not pass water, possesses good sound insulation.
Note! The small thickness of penofol reduces the thermal insulation properties, so it is used in combination with other materials.
- Mineral wool. Easy to install and process, has excellent thermal insulation characteristics. Disadvantages: in case of moisture or severe deformation, it partially loses its properties. For safety reasons, it is recommended to use basalt-based mineral wool in residential premises.
Preparatory work
In the question, how to properly insulate the floor on the balcony, do not ignore the preliminary preparation. The quality and service life of the entire thermal insulation of the balcony will depend on the thoroughness of these works.
- The old floor covering is dismantled up to the concrete slab of the balcony base.
If the tile is laid on the balcony with high quality, you can not remove it and lay the insulation on top.
- A thorough inspection of the base on the balcony is being carried out. It is possible that there are cracks or protrusions on the surface that will need to be eliminated. The protrusions are chipped off to the general level of the floor. Cracks must be widened with a chisel and hammer. Carefully remove all dust from them with a brush and a vacuum cleaner, and then seal them with cement mortar, having previously primed them.
- At this stage, you should also carefully examine the entire structure of the balcony, eliminate all the flaws found, and also repair the cracks between the balcony and the wall. You can use mounting foam or sealants.
- Waterproofing work is underway. Their importance increases if the balcony below is open to moisture penetration. This happens if the apartment is located on the lower floor or the neighbors below did not consider it necessary to ennoble their balcony.
Bitumen-based coating waterproofing or roll material can be used. Penetrating waterproofing solutions, such as Hydrotex, are popular with builders. It is difficult to say which method is the best, but the general rules are the same: the waterproofing must form a single layer and go onto the walls to a height of at least 10 cm.
After completing the preparatory work, you can choose how to insulate the floor on the balcony. The most popular insulation is foam and mineral wool. Laying insulation on the balcony under the tiles is rarely used, as this significantly increases the weight of the structure. You can make a warm floor on the balcony using infrared heating elements, but such work will require specific skills. Therefore, consider the most common options.
Log system device
Whatever option we come to, when deciding what is the best way to insulate the floors on a balcony or loggia, we will have to build a structure from a log. Penoplex properties allow how to lay lags directly on the heat-insulating material, and insert the latter into the cells of the lag structure. The second option is preferable, as it allows you to minimize the load on the insulation.
If penofol is used as the first layer of insulation, then it is spread with the foil side up, and the logs are attached on top of it. Penofol in this case will also play the role of a waterproofing membrane. The joints between the foam strips are glued with aluminum tape.
If the logs are installed directly on the penoplex, then it is better to attach it to the base using mounting glue. It is undesirable to use fungi: when drilling holes for them, it is easy to overdo it and ruin the ceiling decoration of the neighbors.
The log system is assembled from a bar with a cross section of not less than 40 × 40 mm. As a rule, three longitudinal beams are required for a balcony: two close to the walls and one in the middle. Cross bars are made of the same material. It is advisable to correlate the size of the cells with the dimensions of the insulation in order to avoid unnecessary work on cutting it, as well as unnecessary waste. All bars are pre-treated with an antiseptic.
In order to compensate for possible changes in the geometry of the log under the influence of temperature and moisture, it is necessary to leave a gap between the bars and the wall of at least 5 cm. Otherwise, there is a risk that the floors on the balcony will “swell”.
The entire log system should be located in the same plane. Control is done with a level. You can level by placing slats and wedges under the bars, but it is better to use U-shaped brackets. With their help, aligning the lags will not be difficult.
If mineral wool is used as a heater, then the formation of cold bridges under the logs can be prevented. To do this, strips with holes for brackets are cut from the insulation. These strips are laid before the lag is fixed in the brackets with self-tapping screws.
Insulation laying
Insulation is placed in the formed honeycomb between the lags in one or two layers. In doing so, keep in mind the following points:
- Between the insulation and the floor surface, a layer of air is required.
- Severe deformation of the insulating material is unacceptable.
- Hygroscopic material, such as mineral wool, must be covered with a waterproofing membrane on top.
- After laying the insulation, all cracks and joints should be filled with mounting foam.
The whole process of laying thermal insulation on the balcony is shown in more detail in the video.
At the final stage, plywood, which plays the role of a subfloor, is laid on the logs, and a finishing coating is spread. A balcony insulated in this way can be used throughout the year.
