Methods and materials by which it is better to insulate the floor on the 1st floor

thermal insulation requirements.

High-quality floor insulation not only reduces the amount of heat loss in winter, it also protects the premises of the house from overheating during the summer temperature peaks. But remember to workhigh-quality and effective thermal insulation can only be in a dry state. Getting even the slightest amount of moisture into the insulation layer can lead to the opposite effect. Therefore, in combination with heaters, a vapor barrier should also be installed, because the air coming from the room contains a considerable amount of water vapor. Vapor barrier affects not only the quality of the insulation layer, it significantly extends the life of all supporting structures of the roof. After all, in the case of its absence, water vapor condenses and flows onto the floor elements, rafters. And the presence of water leads to rotting of wooden elements and corrosion of metal. To reduce humidity in the attic, a reliable ventilation system should function, the necessary intensity of which is provided by special windows and openings, the area of ​​\u200b\u200bwhich should be 0.5% of the floor area.

Materials for insulation of the attic floor

There is a wide range of insulation materials on the market. To determine the choice, it is necessary to take into account the conditions in which the heat-insulating material will be used. :

1. The material must retain its properties at temperatures from -30 to +30 °C. Should not freeze in severe frosts and should not emit harmful substances in hot weather.
2. It is necessary to choose a fire-resistant insulation if there is electrical wiring in the attic.
3. It is better to choose a material that is moisture resistant so that when wet it does not lose its thermal insulation properties.
4. The insulation should not quickly caking in order to fulfill its purpose as long as possible.

Before deciding on the type of material for insulating the floor of a cold attic in a private house, it is necessary to consider what material the ceiling is made of. If the attic floor is made of wooden beams, then slab, roll and bulk insulation can be used. In the case when the attic floor is made of concrete slabs, then they resort to the use of heavy bulk or dense slab heat insulators. Their use makes it possible to make a cement screed on the floor.

Materials produced in the format of plates and mats :

• mineral wool (mineral wool) in mats;
• Styrofoam;
• extruded polystyrene foam;
• seaweed;
• straw.

• mineral wool;
• glass wool;
• stone wool;
• algae ladders;
• linen.

Bulk materials for attic floor insulation :

• expanded clay;
• ecowool;
• reeds;
• sawdust;
• straw;
• slag;
• buckwheat tyrsa;
• foam granules.

cracked structure

Sometimes during construction it is discovered that the floor slab has cracked before it has even been laid. The cause of such a defect is improper storage or transportation. This building material must be stored in a certain way, observing the basic rules.

Structural elements must be stacked without touching the ground. Under the bottom it is necessary to put a non-wetting and non-rotting base, sufficiently high and strong. It is advisable to lay the plates in a horizontal position and install spacers from wooden slats between them. The distance from the rail to the edge of the product should be 20-40 cm.

If all the necessary conditions are met, with a solid base, the stack can have 8-10 rows, but should not have a height of more than 2.5 meters.

Insulation of a beamed attic floor.

Reducing the heat loss of floors is carried out by filling in some types of heat-insulating material, or laying rolled or slab types of insulation between the beams. First, a vapor barrier layer is mounted; when using foil materials, laying is done with the foil down (to the underlying living quarters). If there was already an insulating layer in the attic, then, before installing an additional carpet, the attic must be thoroughly ventilated to remove excess moisture. When insulating the area near the eaves, we lay the material so that ventilation gaps remain. On top of the laid layer of thermal insulation, it is recommended to place wind and waterproofing to prevent precipitation from falling on the material in emergency cases.

Wall insulation options

For example, using a layer of brickwork, you can clad the outside of the wall. This can be done without special skills. For this you will need:

Wall insulation diagram.

• bricks;
• level, tape measure and ordering, if the wall needs to be built high;
• sand-cement mortar in a ratio of 4: 1 or adhesive mortar for masonry;
• drill with mixer;
• trowel and mortar container;
• access to electricity.

You can also insulate the walls with plaster insulation on a reinforcing mesh. To do this, with the help of dowels, the reinforcing mesh is mounted to the wall. The latter does not have to be metal. Plaster is applied between the wall and the mesh and on top. It can be a cement mortar, and a ready-made dry mix for wet rooms. Moisture-resistant solutions are more expensive, but they last much longer than usual ones, because they have special additives in their composition.

Another of the highest quality methods is the installation of vapor barrier material and insulation on the inside of the concrete wall. Installation is carried out by installing a frame lined with tiled insulation. To make such a frame and fill the distance with insulation between the wall and the finishing material, you can use various clamps and hardware. It can be mounting brackets, and plastic dowels, "fungi", and glue, both in finished form and in the form of a dry mixture that requires preparation. After that, it is imperative to make the cladding with plaster or any other finishing material.

Materials for the frame and insulation:

• metal profiles or wooden slats;
• self-tapping screws for metal or wood;
• sealant and polyurethane foam;
• vapor barrier membrane or aluminum foil on isoplen;
• sheet insulation, mineral or fiberglass wool;
• dry mix for plaster.

Tools for mounting the frame and insulation:

• grinder with circles for cutting metal or special scissors;
• drill with mixer nozzle;
• screwdriver or screwdriver;
• tape measure, level and pencil;
• spatulas and graters for grinding;
• solution container.

Scheme of wall insulation of a frame house.

Between the frame and the wall, you need to leave a place of about 50 mm and fill it with expanded clay. This material will perfectly absorb the remaining moisture from the wall and stop the appearance of mold. Thus, the wall thickness is increased by 150 mm. There are 80 mm foam blocks that successfully replace such frame structures. Installation is carried out on a conventional cement-sand mortar (1: 4).

On especially cold and damp walls, you can install a system called “warm floor”, or run a warm baseboard around the perimeter. This solution is best suited for corner rooms. When choosing a method for heating walls, the most suitable option is an electric film version, or an infrared floor. It should not be installed by yourself. To heat the seam under the baseboard, you can use a warm floor, where a cable is used as a heating element.

Installation of a stationary wall-mounted electric heater will not completely solve the problem of poor-quality insulation between the plates, but you can install it yourself.

For this you will need:

• drill or perforator;
• anchors or dowels;
• hammer;
• power socket.

Whatever the reason for the freezing of hollow core slabs, it is necessary to significantly reduce the humidity in the premises, it is imperative to check the efficiency of the ventilation and control the quality of the heating system. All work to repair the building and eliminate the causes of freezing should be carried out carefully and accurately. Forgetting about some detail, you run the risk of facing this problem again, and very soon.

The process of slab insulation

When working with floors that are above the basement, you should start from the floor. First, a cement screed is laid on top of reinforced concrete slabs - it is used as a base. In some cases, they do without it, simply sealing the seams between the plates.

An important element is wooden logs, which are mounted on thin spacers made of chipboard or fiberboard. The thickness of the gaskets is usually about 25 mm.

Logs are also used for insulation - a material is laid in the space between them that prevents the penetration of cold and heat loss. Most often, mineral wool, products of the Izol series, various dry fillings and soft basalt slabs are used for this. The next layer is used to prevent steam penetration. It can be a rolled material of a certain type - from glassine to ordinary roofing material.

Insulation is required not only for horizontal surfaces, but also for vertical parts of the plates - for example, their ends. It is these elements that are most exposed to frost in the cold season.

To prevent a negative effect, construction waste is used (you can fill the brick fragments remaining after construction into the holes in the ends). The holes are then filled with solvent. The space between the end and the masonry is also filled with insulating material, the role of which can be played by mineral wool, basalt insulation and polystyrene.

Thermal insulation of cold attic floors materials and methods

To understand why it is necessary to insulate the ceiling of a cold attic, let's clarify a little why an attic is needed in a private house and what its purpose is. Our ancestors built houses that could stand for more than 100 years, while it was warm inside, and the wooden structure of the roof always remained dry.

Previously, they mainly built gable roofs with a slight slope of the slopes. This was done so that in winter the snow could remain on the roof. Thus, snow was used as a natural insulator. One or two windows were made in the attic and kept closed in winter so that the compressed air acted as a heat insulator. In the summer, however, the situation was somewhat different. Attic windows were opened at night so that the air cooled down, and during the day, in hot weather, they were closed so that the air would not get too hot, thus regulating its temperature.

When snow fell in winter, it lay down as a continuous cover on the roof, becoming at the same time a natural insulation. Even in severe frosts, the temperature in the attic did not fall below zero. Thus, the air in the attic and the insulation of the ceiling made it possible to maintain the temperature in the house at the level of +20-25 °C. The roof slopes were not insulated so that the snow lying on the roof would not melt. The truss system remained open, making it possible to inspect and repair it if necessary. Therefore, in a cold attic, only the ceiling is insulated.

If the roof slopes are insulated, then the attic becomes a heated room, i.e. attic, which has a completely different functional purpose.

Now it remains to figure out how to insulate the attic floor in a private house, and what materials are used for thermal insulation.

Sealing joints

A joint or rust is the junction of the long sides. To get a strong and solid overlap, all rusts must be filled with a solution.
Round-hollow flooring materials have locks on the sides, which look like round recesses. In the process of pouring the rusts, the recesses are filled with concrete and the slabs are securely connected to each other.

Sometimes defective products come across, in which the sides with locks are incorrectly made. When they are connected, the notch is at the bottom, and at the top they fit tightly. As a result, it seems that it will be difficult to fill such a rust with concrete. In fact, the scheme of work is quite simple. To close up defective rust, it is necessary to connect the floor elements not end-to-end, but leave a small gap - 2-3 cm. It should be located in the upper part. At the bottom, along the length of the rust, you need to tie up a wooden board, which will serve as a formwork for pouring concrete. The solution, not thick in consistency, is poured into the rust through the upper gap. After the solution hardens, the work can be considered completed.

Laying with insufficient width

Scheme of installation of the floor slab.

In the process of laying the plates, it may turn out that the dimensions of the room do not correspond to their dimensions. As a result, there are gaps between the floor elements or between them and the wall. There is a simple way to fix this problem.

The gap must be divided into two equal parts. In this case, the first plate is laid at a certain distance from the wall, which is equal to the width of one of the received parts. All other structures are mounted back to back. As a result, a gap is formed between the slab and the last wall, where it is necessary to poke the cinder block. It is securely fixed, as it rests with a poke on the plate. It is necessary to lay the cinder block so that its holes are directed to the sides, and not up or down. The outer wall of the building will secure it additionally. Such a design may seem unreliable at first glance, but in reality it is quite durable.

There is another technology for closing the gap, when its value is distributed between the plates. Then, a board is tied under each gap, which acts as a formwork, into which reinforcement is laid and concrete is poured.

Ways to fix

Of course, it is always better to prevent a problem than to fix its consequences. But if the measures were not taken on time and freezing nevertheless began, you need to take up the correction of errors as soon as possible. There are a number of different methods for fixing wall freezing problems.

Depending on causes and locations

Scheme of laying the floor slab.

The appearance of dampness and black spots in the area of ​​​​the last floors, as a rule, occurs if the installation of the insulation of the attic floor is insufficiently or poorly performed. First of all, defects in the joints between the plates are eliminated, which reduces the appearance of moisture on the internal walls. Typically, expanded clay is used as insulation on attic floors. According to the norms, for its productive action, it must be at least 30 cm.

Be sure to check if there are any problems with the ventilation of the attic space. The lack of high-quality air exchange leads to the appearance of condensate and hypothermia of the floor slabs. Check for leaks in the roof.
Problems can also arise from poor-quality sealing of joints in walls and balcony slabs. Moisture can penetrate into the seams between the wall and the slabs, which contributes to damp spots. Dry the walls as soon as possible and close up any moisture ingress.

If the gap is not more than 8 cm, then you can use mounting foam. To use it, you must first clean the edges of the gap from concrete crumbs.Polyethylene and silicone surfaces require additional treatment with acetone. The hardening of the foam occurs during the day. Then the excess foam must be cut off, you can use a clerical knife, and the surface should be plastered, thereby closing the bridge of cold. If the gap at the junction is more than 8 cm, then you will have to use a thick cement mortar.

Check the effectiveness of balcony drains. If the sealing of the joints of the seams is broken, it is best to carry it out again, using newer and better materials. The strength of the building structure largely depends on the quality of the filling of the seams. Proper sealing should be carried out only after careful preparation of the surface:

• repair the outer surfaces of the wall panels;
• dry all wet and damp areas;
• remove any damaged sealant before applying a new coat.

In no case should mastic be allowed to be applied to wet and untreated areas. It is best to repair joints in positive and dry weather.
If an imbalance in the thermal protection of the walls is detected, insulation should be taken up due to their expansion.

Wall freezing factors

Scheme of installation of a reinforced concrete floor slab.

1. Incorrect filling of joints between plates. Poorly filled joints lead to a violation of the heat-shielding properties of the floors. Increases the chance of cracking. Through them, the plate gains moisture.
2. Poor quality solution in the production of products. The choice of cheap or dilute solutions results in frequent moisture penetration. Usually they have a very loose structure and do not withstand pressure.
3. Errors in the design of the heating system. Poorly heated rooms are much more prone to frostbite on the walls. After the accumulation of moisture, they begin to freeze both from the outside and from the inside.
4. Subcooling of metal reinforcing elements and anchors. When various cracks appear, moisture begins to get into the metal components of hollow-core slabs. As a result, corrosion may occur. The structure of such plates softens and is more prone to decay from low temperatures.
5. Exhaust pipes collect condensate. If the draft is weak, moisture accumulates inside the chimneys, which causes them to freeze and reduce efficiency. At the same time, poor air circulation contributes to the accumulation of unnecessary moisture.
6. Small wall thickness. The thickness of the walls for their use in the climatic conditions of the region is not taken into account.
7. Low thermal properties of the materials used. When choosing materials, the balance is generally outweighed in the direction of strength, while often, when installing insulation, the low level of thermal insulation is simply not taken into account.
8. Insufficient through ventilation. In poorly ventilated rooms, the outer walls freeze through much more, losing their heat-shielding properties. Poor internal waterproofing between the wall and the insulation leads to freezing of the outer surface, and then to the destruction of the masonry.
9. Foundation with poor waterproofing, especially in houses without basements.
10. Violation of the vapor barrier structure in attic floors. Poorly executed thermal insulation of the ceiling transfers the performance of its functions to a cement screed. The concrete surface collects moisture, accumulating condensate, and moistens the insulation. The heat-shielding material begins to lose its original properties, which are significantly reduced, as a result of which the floor slabs begin to freeze through. The insulation also increases its weight due to the accumulated fluid.
11. Frequently flooded basements.
12. The blind areas are incorrect or missing.
13. The vertical waterproofing of the basement walls is not done correctly. Low air circulation leads to mold and condensation.
14. Poor compaction of concrete during production.The quality of concrete compaction determines the frost resistance and water tightness of the structure of manufactured hollow core slabs. A poorly compacted compound becomes too porous and the protection of the substrate is greatly reduced.
15. Installation of insufficient thickness of the finishing layer.

Saving on the finishing layer, as a result, you can get global destruction.
When the air temperature fluctuates, the lining gradually crumbles, reducing the protection of the wall from getting wet and frost. And as a result, the fortress of the entire building is broken, increasing the chances of emergency situations.

Instructions for warming wooden interfloor ceilings

1 step

Preparation of the base for laying PIR-plates. As a base for the slabs, a sparse boardwalk made of edged boards is arranged. Boards can be laid in increments equal to the width of the board.

2 step

Laying PIR boards. PIR-boards are laid on top of the deck in the transverse direction with an offset in adjacent rows. The recommended offset is at least 20 cm. It is recommended to fix the laid slabs. To do this, they are fastened with 2-3 self-tapping screws (nails) to the boardwalk, while the fastener head should be recessed into the slab by 1-2 cm. Sealing the joints. Along the perimeter at the junction with the walls, the gaps between the PIR-plates and the walls should be filled with mounting foam.

3 step

4 step

Floor device. First, elements of the crate (usually a cut board) are laid on the insulation in increments, which are fastened with screws to a sparse boardwalk through the laid layer of insulation. On the crate, a finishing floorboard is laid or a continuous flooring is made of boards, OSB boards or other rigid sheet materials for the subsequent installation of finishing floors in accordance with your project.

The base for laying PIR boards must be level and clean. If necessary, a leveling screed is performed.
For better sound insulation of interfloor concrete floors, it is recommended to install "floating" floors. In floating floors, the base for the finishing floor - the screed - should not be connected in any way with the walls and the concrete floor. In this case, the effect of "sound bridges" will be excluded.
Skirting boards in "floating" floors should only be attached to the floor or only to the wall.
When using grades of PIR boards with foil facings, a separating layer of polyethylene film with a thickness of 100 microns should be laid between the PIR board and the cement-containing layer.

For floor insulation, the thickness of PIR-plates is determined by thermal engineering calculation. For floating floors, it is enough to use 30 mm thick plates.

Floor device. On top of the PIR-plate, a crate is laid in increments - a board or bar, which is fastened with screws to the beams through the laid layer of insulation. On the crate, a continuous flooring is laid from boards or the above-mentioned slab materials for the subsequent installation of finishing floors.

The ends of wooden beams must be treated with an antiseptic. To protect against capillary moisture in the wall, the beam should be supported on the wall through a waterproofing material.
The end of the beam cannot be closed. Between the street wall and the end of the beam, a gap of 10-20 mm should be left for the release of water vapor from the wood.
The cross section of wooden beams should be selected based on the overlapped span between the walls, the step of the beams and the floor structure. The most common is the section of beams 200x150 mm and 200x200 mm.
Do not forget that the ceilings protruding cantilevered onto the street become part of the thermal circuit of the house, and therefore a layer of vapor barrier must be introduced into their composition.
To speed up the work, you can stack several PIR-plates in an even stack and cut them at the same time. This is due to the ease of processing plates.

17.08.2016

Regardless of the purpose of the building, the most important point in the construction is the creation of comfortable conditions. It depends, first of all, on indicators of humidity and temperature conditions.It is possible to achieve the optimal level for both with the help of properly mounted and insulated floor slabs.

How to insulate and what is the basis for the choice of insulation

To insulate reinforced concrete floors, you can use wooden flooring on beam logs with optimal cross-sectional parameters of 50 × 50 or 120 × 120 mm. To raise the level of sound insulation, the logs are additionally attached to small rubber pads fixed on a reinforced concrete base. A layer of insulator for insulation is laid between the lags, and a wooden floor is mounted on top.

Materials for thermal insulation of reinforced concrete floors are selected with high resistance to mechanical stress. These should be durable, reliable, not subject to deformation during temperature changes, insulation. Mineral wool-based materials are better suited for these purposes than others. They are practical, resistant to all sorts of tests, durable.

Mineral wool heaters are produced, additionally using the following materials:

• limestone;
• basalt;
• diabase;
• clay;
• dolomite, etc.

Also, manufacturers of budget options for heaters allow the addition of sedimentary rocks and industrial waste to the general composition.

Several options for mineral wool boards are available on the market. It can be soft, hard, as well as plates with increased rigidity. The main advantages of the material include:

• low level of thermal conductivity (plates have a special fibrous structure with an air gap that prevents heat loss);
• excellent indicator of sound insulation;
• resistance to moisture;
• vapor permeability;
• resistance to fire, chemicals and mechanical damage;
• durability;
• safety.

For insulation of floors, you can use heaters of several types. It can be glass wool, basalt wool and slag wool.

The disadvantage of insulating reinforced concrete floors with glass wool is the low technical characteristics of the material compared to more modern counterparts, difficult installation due to the risk of some of the fibers getting on the mucous membranes and skin.

To obtain slag wool, blast-furnace slag is used. Insulation fibers have a thickness of 4 to 12 microns, the length is 16 mm. The insulation is hygroscopic, but not too resistant to moisture, it poses a health hazard if the installation and operation rules are not followed.

The best option for warming reinforced concrete floors is basalt wool. The material is practical, safe, durable. Compared to the other two types, it is more expensive, but the cost is fully justified.

For additional protection of the insulation fibers from moisture, plates laminated with fiberglass or film are used. To increase the level of thermal insulation and reduce heat loss - foil mats. It is allowed to use boards with a binding bituminous layer.

In addition to materials based on mineral wool, extruded polystyrene foam is used to insulate reinforced concrete floors, which allows you to keep warm and most convenient to use, polyurethane foam that penetrates into small cracks.

Laying a broken slab

If the slab is still cracked, can it be used as a floor? Builders quite often use floor materials with similar defects during construction, they are laid provided that the cracks are not too large

At the same time, it is important not to load them too much and additionally fix them.

There are several options for where it is better to install cracked slabs.

Lay on the outer or load-bearing wall by 0.1-0.15 m. Such a laying scheme assumes that the slab will rest simultaneously on three walls not only with short edges, but also with a long side. It is securely pressed by the higher walls, thereby providing additional fastening.
You can lay the slab where a brick partition is installed, which will support it.
There is another laying scheme when the bursting material is mounted between two intact ones. During installation, rusts form between the structures, which must be carefully sealed with mortar in order to create an almost monolithic overlap.
The deformed slab can be laid in a place where there is a minimum load

For example, for an attic floor, but it is important that the structural elements of the roof do not rest on it.
If the cracks are quite large, about 4-10 mm or there are a lot of them, it is necessary to cut off the damaged part and use only the whole one.

Prevention measures

To protect floor slabs from freezing, you need to take the following measures:

Scheme of a floor slab with waterproofing.

1. Carefully and tightly fill the gap between the plates.
2. High-quality installation of sealing joints must be waterproof (due to sealing mastics) and heat-shielding (using insulation packages). With air protection, the distance between the plates is filled with sealing gaskets. Compression of the material of such gaskets should be at least 30-50%.
3. Monitor and check the ventilation of the building as often as possible.
4. Poor air circulation in the premises contributes to the long drying of the heat-insulating layers, the accumulation of excess moisture and the appearance of mold. Heaving soil under the base of the foundation and the walls of the basement floor should not be allowed to freeze, and the air temperature on the basement floor should not be allowed to fall below zero.
5. If the building does not have a basement, then it is necessary to install horizontal waterproofing between the ground and the basement surface.
6. Increase the layer of thermal insulation on attic floors.
7. Maintain vents and drains in good condition. The decrease in the probability of freezing of hollow core slabs depends on the efficiency of their work.
8. During the first 3 years of operation of the building, it is necessary to clean the distance of the drainage systems at least twice a year, in the future - once every three years.
9. On damp sections of the walls, carry out drying without starting their condition.
10. Try to reduce humidity in rooms with poor ventilation. In any room, the humidity of the air should not exceed 60%.