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 last for more than 100 years, while it was warm inside, and wooden structure the roof always remained dry.
Previously, they mainly built gable roofs with a slight slope of the slopes. This was done so that snow could remain on the roof in winter. Thus, snow was used as a natural insulation. One or two windows were made in the attic and kept closed in winter so that the trapped air acted as a heat insulator. In the summer, a slightly different situation occurred. The attic windows were opened at night to allow the air to cool, and during the day, hot weather they were closed so that the air did not heat up too much, thus regulating its temperature.
When snow fell in winter, it fell as a continuous cover on the roof, simultaneously becoming a natural insulation. Even in severe frosts, the temperature in the attic did not drop 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 +20-25 °C. The roof slopes were not insulated to prevent the snow lying on the roof from melting. The rafter system remained open, allowing it to be inspected and repaired 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. an attic, which has a completely different functional purpose.
Now it remains to find out how to insulate the attic floor in a private house, and what materials are used for thermal insulation.
There is a wide range of insulation materials on the market. To make a choice, it is necessary to take into account the conditions in which it will be used. thermal insulation material :
Before deciding on the type of material for insulating the floor of a cold attic in a private house, you need to consider what material the ceiling is made of. If the attic floor is made of wooden beams, then you can use slab, roll and bulk insulation. In the case where the attic floor is made of concrete slabs, 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 slab and mat formats:
Roll insulation:
Bulk materials for attic floor insulation:
Insulation of attic floors wooden house must be made with environmentally friendly, natural and breathable material.
Mineral wool is a common and modern heat insulator. Available in rolls or slabs (mats). It does not rot or burn; rodents and various kinds of microorganisms are also not afraid of it.
Insulating the ceiling of a cold attic with mineral wool begins with laying lining material on the floor. For a budget option, glassine is laid on the floor, but a more expensive and high-quality option is flooring made from vapor barrier film. The film is laid with an overlap, and the joints are taped or secured with wooden slats, which are fixed with a construction stapler.
The width of the insulation is selected based on the requirements of thermal engineering standards for each region. Mineral wool is placed between the joists tightly and without gaps. The joints are taped with tape. After the insulation is laid, level boards are simply laid on the joists, thus forming the floor in the attic. This simple solution for creating a floor allows the mineral wool to “breathe” and ventilate normally if it gets wet. To prevent moisture from entering the mineral wool, waterproofing material is laid under the roof.
Styling mineral wool produced in personal protective equipment: thick clothing, goggles, gloves, respirator.
Expanded polystyrene or polystyrene foam are not very dense materials, so they are used when the attic floor is a structure made of joists and beams. If thermal insulation of the slabs is necessary, insulation of the cold attic floor with extruded polystyrene foam is used. This material is stronger and therefore denser than regular foam. Before laying it, the surface of the slabs should be leveled. There is no need for vapor barrier on the warm side of the floor, since concrete slabs have almost no vapor permeability.
To aligned concrete plates lay a vapor barrier film. Next, the slabs are laid extruded polystyrene foam in a checkerboard pattern. The joints are blown out polyurethane foam. After the foam has dried and hardened, the insulating boards are poured concrete mortar 4-6 cm thick. When the screed is dry, it is already suitable for use as a floor. Although you can go further and put any floor covering on the screed.
Ecowool is a cellulose, lightweight and loose insulation material, consisting mainly of waste paper and newspapers. Other ingredients are borax and boric acid are used as flame retardants.
Before insulation, it is necessary to place a film on the floor. The procedure for laying ecowool occurs using a special blowing installation. The insulation layer is applied as a continuous cover, without creating cracks. Since ecowool contains a large number of air, then a layer of 250-300 mm is usually enough.
Do not forget that over time, the material will shrink. Therefore, apply a layer of ecowool 40-50 mm more.
After the insulation of the cold attic floor with ecowool is completed, it must be moistened. You can do this with plain water or prepare a solution of 200 grams. PVA glue on a bucket of water. Soak a regular broom in this solution and moisten the cotton well. After drying, a crust forms on the surface of the cotton wool - lingin, which will not allow the cotton wool to move.
As you can see, there are plenty of ways to insulate the floor in the attic. Which one to use depends on each specific situation. The main thing is to comply the right technology laying thermal insulation! Then your home will always be warm, and the materials used will last for many years.
An equipped attic in the house increases the living space and rationalizes it. Having completed the insulation and finishing attic space, it is used as a full-fledged living room. Special attention When building an attic, it is worth paying attention to the arrangement of the floor, since during the construction process the fundamental elements are laid and the reliability and strength of the floor depends on their quality.
Attic floor
The process of arranging the attic floor has some features:
House with a residential attic Any construction process consists of several stages and flooring is no exception. For getting quality basis it is necessary to think through the process in advance and draw up a project containing a drawing and calculations for the purchase of building materials.
In most cases, beams are laid in specially prepared wall grooves. This option is used at the stage of building a house. In this case, installation in this order:
Important! The logs are inserted into the grooves on average 10 cm, leaving a gap of no more than 3 cm.
Crossbar laying technology If the house is already ready, the floor beams can be secured in another way.
Important! The disadvantage of cranial bars is that they eat up part of the useful space between the crossbars, which could be used for laying insulation.
Installation of reel boards Having made the subfloor, you can move on to insulation.
The main feature of insulating materials is their tight laying in relation to the beams. To insulate the attic floor in a private house, the following materials are used with your own hands:
In most cases, thermal insulation is carried out with mineral wool, as it has high thermal protection and moisture resistance. In addition, the material is environmentally friendly and does not affect human health. The only drawback is that when using it, it is necessary to insulate it, since the fibers easily penetrate into all sorts of crevices, causing discomfort for humans.
Floor installation stages Laying plywood or chipboard sheets can be done in two ways:
Having found the highest point, leveling actions are performed by placing wedges under them.
The lags are fastened using self-tapping screws, driving them at an angle of 45 degrees.
Having received a ready-made, even frame, you can proceed to laying plywood or chipboard sheets.
Scheme of attic floor on joists Finishing is the covering of the surface flooring materials, such as laminate, linoleum or other coverings, the choice of which depends on the purpose of using the room, whether it will be heated and on the design of the room.
If the attic in a wooden house will not be used as a living room, the subfloor can be left without finishing. But it is still recommended to paint or at least prime the base to prevent destruction from exposure to unfavorable climatic conditions.
Video on how to make a floor in the attic:
If upon purchase finished house and the desire to make a living room in the attic, the problem of a weak ceiling arises; experts recommend strengthening it. The following methods are used for this:
To summarize, we can say that it is convenient to use the attic as a living space; the main thing is to equip the attic surfaces and perform high-quality insulation. The floor in the attic can be made directly on the floor beams; the main condition for obtaining a reliable foundation is to comply with the requirements of the installation technology.
The presence of an attic in the house opens up new opportunities for the owners. Firstly, it helps to give a stylish appearance the structure as a whole, and secondly, it rationalizes and increases living space. Provided all rules are followed, the attic can be used as a full-fledged residential floor. When constructing an attic, special attention should be paid to the arrangement of the floor. In order for the floor of the second floor to meet state standards, to be durable and reliable, it is necessary to follow the established rules during construction activities.
Before you begin work on creating a high-quality and warm floor in the superstructure, you should know about the main features of such a room:
Advice! To install the floor, ceiling and walls on the attic floor, experts recommend choosing relatively light building materials so as not to burden the structure of the entire house.
The attic can have any configuration, which opens up new opportunities for interesting design projects. In addition to the aspect of rationalization and increasing full-fledged living space, the attic floor is economical. Practice shows that the construction of an attic is cheaper than the construction of a full floor of the same area. In addition to functional advantages, one cannot fail to mention aesthetics. Attics give the entire building a more expressive and unusual look. Understanding the features of constructing an attic floor in a private house, you can take into account everything during planning important points when arranging the floor in order to avoid mistakes and discomfort in the future. Particular attention should be paid to floor insulation.
Due to the design features of the attic, when arranging the floor, you need to remember that in order to climb to the second floor you will need to equip a hatch, which will subsequently connect to the stairs. To do this, you need to choose its location and leave enough space for its device. The algorithm for arranging the lower plane of the attic floor is as follows:
It must be remembered that the floor in the attic is the ceiling for the lower floor in the house. Therefore, the reliability of floors and high-quality arrangement will become a guarantee of comfort and safety for all household members. At this stage, the preparatory work for arranging the floor has been completed. You can move on to an equally important part of the work - insulation.
When choosing a gasket for the floor on the attic floor, you need to avoid making the structure heavier. There are many materials for insulating buildings on the market. Which one is optimal for insulating the attic floor should be examined in detail. We remember that the ceiling of the lower floor is also the basis for the attic. Therefore, heavy insulation materials should be avoided, as they place excessive stress on ceiling beams and floors. Experts recommend the following insulation materials:
In addition to the advantages of using polystyrene foam as insulation for floors in attics, there are also disadvantages. The material has low vapor permeability, little strength, and is also a fertile environment for rodents.
The disadvantages include high cost material and low vapor permeability.
The disadvantages include the high cost and the presence of joints during installation. The cracks and joints that may result from installation must be sealed with special mastics.
Important! When choosing expanded clay for floor insulation in an apartment or semi-attic, you need to take into account its shrinkage, the coefficient is 1.15.
Glass wool is considered a classic insulation material. But, along with safer and more modern thermal insulation materials, its characteristics are not ideal. When choosing floor insulation, you need to proceed not only from financial capabilities, but also from the aspect of durability. As they say, the miser pays twice! Therefore, savings in measures to insulate the attic floor are not appropriate.
Arrangement of the floor in the superstructure - important stage. During the process, it is necessary to eliminate any errors that could lead to negative consequences. As a result of improper installation, the ceiling of the lower floor of the house may be damaged. The algorithm for floor insulation includes several stages:
When using wood in work, attention should be paid to antiseptic and fire protection treatment. This will help prevent rotting as a result of moisture and will increase the level of fire safety in the room.
Important! Between the layers of hydro- and vapor barrier it is necessary to create air gap 50 millimeters. This will help increase the service life of the attic floor!
When choosing materials for flooring, preference should be given to lightweight, energy-saving, vapor-proof and sound-proofing materials.
Installation of floors on the second floor.
There are several basic rules for creating a high-quality, durable and reliable floor on the attic floor:
The arrangement of the floor depends on what material the floors in the house are made of. It can be wooden beams or reinforced concrete floor. When installing a floor, you should pay attention not only to the choice of quality materials, but also to safety precautions. Having learned all the details and the step-by-step algorithm of actions, you can do all the work with your own hands no less efficiently than experienced professionals.
Proper insulation attic and attic ceiling.
Attic is a living space located under the roof of a house. To put it simply, this is a residential attic.
The experience of arranging housing under the roof of a building came to us from France. At one time, residents of Paris began to develop attics, seeing the benefits of obtaining additional living space.
In modern individual construction owners of housing construction willingly equip attics under the roof of their homes. The floor in the attic is part of the floor structure. How to make an attic floor so that it meets modern requirements? We will talk about this in this article.
The floor area depends on the shape of the roof The area of the attic space largely depends on the shape of the roof of the house. As a rule, the angle of the roof slope in each building is different. If the roof is gable, the attic has two vertical end walls.
The presence of windows in these walls is very important. Four pitched roof or a roof of a more complex configuration will require a tie-in window openings into the roof of the house.
All these factors significantly influence the size of the attic, including the size of its area. Also, the size of the floor surface is related to the design of the passage into the room from the first floor.
Often, home building owners are limited to a small hatch in the attic floor.
A small hatch allows only a person to pass through or deliver small-sized cargo to the attic.
In the case of a reinforced concrete floor, the hatch is made no larger than 700x700 mm.
When installing a hatch in a finished reinforced concrete floor you will be faced with complex and time-consuming work of cutting out the opening and strengthening it.
The more space allocated for the stairs, the more convenient the climb will be To get into the attic, a person will need to climb an uncomfortable, almost vertical ladder. What about children and elderly people? When young owners set up their home, they often don’t think about it.
There is only one way out of this situation - the construction of an external staircase. Of course, this will involve additional costs. But there is one significant advantage, it is that you will save the attic area, unlimited by the passage.
In private houses, two types of floors are mainly used:
The ceiling consists of wooden beams. For a span of 6 to 12 m in length, beams made of pine beams with a section of 200 x 200 mm are laid. A flooring made of boards 40-50 mm thick is laid on wooden beams.
On wood flooring lay logs from timber in increments of 400 - 500 mm. The ceiling is insulated.
First of all, the floor space is covered with a layer of vapor barrier made of thick polyethylene film. Insulation is laid between the joists. These can be mineral wool mats, polyurethane slabs or other similar material. 
Mineral wool is very often used as floor insulation due to its low cost. However, you should know that at the slightest penetration of moisture into the underground, the cotton wool will turn into useless dust.
If there is heating in the house and the structure is used in winter time There is no need for additional thermal insulation of the attic floor. Great importance purchases a soundproofing device for the floor.
Some experts advise covering the vapor barrier with a small layer of sand, explaining this by the silent effect of hitting a bag of sand.
The sand layer is made with a reliable bearing capacity of the base of the floor.
You can use any material to cover the floor; in particular, wooden floors look good in a wooden house It is best to lay 20 mm thick plank flooring on the joists. locking connections"tenon and groove". The rough flooring is attached to the joists with nails or screws.
The mounting sockets must be recessed into the wood. Flooring made from chipboard sheets will not require additional leveling of the surface.
The flooring is sanded by hand using sandpaper or grinder. Then be sure to soak it in antiseptic or drying oil. The floor is painted or varnished.
Plywood - a cheap and practical covering The treated floor in the attic is also used as a subfloor for the finishing coating.
What kind of flooring will it be? attic room, depends on the taste and financial capabilities of the owners of the house.
You can lay laminate parquet, lay linoleum, carpet. Vinyl flooring is also perfectly acceptable.
Floor in the attic concrete base no different from the usual coating on interfloor ceilings from reinforced concrete slabs. Floor installation consists of several stages:
The device is relevant today warm floors in the attic. Of course, there is no talk of installing a water heating system.
This is expensive and not practical.
However, options such as cable electric heating on a dry backfill floor or infrared heating are quite possible. For more information on how to make floors on the second floor, watch this video:
The least labor costs occur during installation infrared heating. IR elements are placed directly under the laminate flooring substrate.
All the pros and cons of installing a particular type of underfloor heating depend on the totality of financial capabilities, technical accessibility and other circumstances.
Insulation of the attic floor concerns to a greater extent cold rooms that are not used as residential ones, that is, with uninsulated roofing system And natural ventilation. In such cases attic floor becomes a kind of boundary between heat and cold, where the probability of condensation moisture formation is especially high. It’s interesting that you can easily handle such a responsible job yourself.
To install the roof slope, you need to adhere to a certain angle of inclination. It is formed between the rafters and the floor beams located on the upper part of the walls of the house. They form the floor of the attic. For technical work A boardwalk is installed underneath them.
Timely insulation of the attic floor of a house is necessary for the following:
In essence, this is the arrangement of a durable and durable coating made of thermal insulation material with low thermal conductivity.
Attention
Material of dubious quality or non-compliance with technology can lead to tragic consequences.
Insulation of the attic floor of a house, its quality, significantly affects not only heat loss, but also durability rafter system and roof coverings. Water vapor from internal warm rooms diffuse intensively into the attic, but, as is known, in order for the insulation to provide the calculated thermal insulation efficiency, it must be dry. Therefore, it is protected from moisture vapor warm air, laying vapor-proof material on the “warm” side.
Good vapor and thermal insulation, in addition to thermal protection, helps to increase the durability of the roofing structure. Indeed, in the absence of a vapor barrier, water vapor penetrates through the ceiling into the attic, condenses from the attic side on the surface of the roof covering and flows down onto the rafters. As a result metal coatings and parts corrode, wooden rafters and roofing pie are destroyed.
The thermal insulation properties of the structure are also reduced due to a violation of the tightness of the vapor barrier layer.
Ventilation through vents: ridge vents, eaves vents, and slot vents helps to dry the layer and remove moisture from the attic space. dormer windows. To ensure optimal ventilation intensity, the total area of the ventilation openings should be about 0.2–0.5% of the attic floor.
Properly carried out work prevents the intensive formation of icicles on the roof. After all, how do icicles appear? If it is poorly insulated, the heat passing through it begins to warm up the roof, melting the snow lying on it. The resulting water, flowing down the roof, freezes and turns into icicles.
Insulation of the attic floor is almost always carried out not from the side of the living space, but from the attic floor. Performed in several ways. The choice of technology depends on constructive solution structure and insulation used.
An option for retaining heat in such a structure is between the beams. Usually, their height is enough for this, but if there is not enough, you can fill a block on top. The ceiling from below is covered with molded material, say, clapboard or sheets of plasterboard, and the attic subfloor covering is laid on top of the beams: sheets of plywood, OSB boards, MDF, etc.
The insulation must be laid on a layer of special vapor barrier or polyethylene film.
On a note
If the material is foil, then lay it down with the shiny side.
The gap between the beams is then filled with insulation of the required thickness. It is recommended to lay an additional layer of insulation on top of the beams, this will help avoid “cold bridges” and reduce possible heat loss
If high-quality, well-processed timber is used for the beams, then the finishing, say, massive board, laid directly on the beams. The insulation is placed between them, and the attic floor covering is laid on top. This technology is quite common in houses made of rounded logs or timber.
Light fibrous materials are blown by air currents and drafts, that is, heat is removed from them. These troubles, of course, can be avoided if protection is provided with windproof, vapor-permeable materials. Thus, the thermal protection of the attic is improved. Moreover, the insulation is protected from moisture droplets. Let's say the roof has minor damage and minor leaks.
The insulation must be protected from the wind and from the eaves side. For this, slabs of high-density mineral wool or a wooden board left on edge are usually used.
Partial penetration of thermal insulation onto the external wall will ensure complete heat retention of the house.
The installation technology is practically no different from the traditional floor-mounted one for a living space. It is important to choose the right material for making the heat insulator. IN Lately Most often, attic floor insulation is done with mineral wool.
This is a heat-insulating material made from basalt rocks of volcanic origin. They undergo heat treatment in a special drum-type oven. During this process, the molten mass swells and stretches into fibers. To form a dense material, they are processed with special binding materials.
As a result, a material unique in its properties is formed, which is successfully used to insulate attic floors. For an objective analysis, it can be compared with other types of heat insulators - and.
Mineral wool can be used to insulate almost any surface, even uneven ones. It is produced in soft slabs or rolls. It is advisable to use a material that has a metallized heat-reflecting surface. Cut mineral wool using an ordinary knife. Place it tightly between the beams, without jamming, without gaps. This is an inexpensive, but durable and effective option.
The work requires some precautions: glasses, gloves, and those with allergies are advised to use respirators.
The layers are laid in the same sequence:
The floor film is spread overlapping, and the joints must be either glued or secured through wooden slats staples using a construction stapler. The thickness of the layer is selected based on thermal engineering standards for each specific region.
On a note
Insulating and soundproofing the floor with cotton wool materials is considered the simplest and most effective solution.
Mineral wool slabs today are often replaced with stone wool. Unlike mineral wool, which is often made from low-grade slag-basalt using bitumen binders, stone wool is an environmentally friendly material.
This insulation is distinguished by excellent characteristics - both technical and operational. Unique internal structure stone wool: chaotic arrangement of fibers provides an effective thermal conductivity of 0.036-0.045 W/m*K. It significantly exceeds the insulation of its class in these indicators, provides excellent protection against temperature changes and guarantees microclimatic comfort.
The principle of insulation of prefabricated reinforced concrete slabs or monolithic floors is similar to a similar process in the case of beam type. True, since the vapor permeability of reinforced concrete slabs is quite low, performing a vapor barrier on the “warm” side is not necessary. The thickness of the thermal insulation layer is calculated taking into account the type of supporting slab. A tiled floor with a flat surface can bear a large load.
Let's start with the fact that you can install wooden beams on the slabs and place insulation between them. These can be backfill materials or mats of various types.
To install mineral wool, you will need to first prepare the attic space. To do this, you should remove all unnecessary things from there. The surface of the subfloor is cleaned of dust and dirt. If it is wooden flooring, it is recommended to install a layer of waterproofing.
It is best to use rolled polyethylene foam for this. In addition to thermal insulation properties, this floor insulation film has almost zero moisture absorption. A slight thickness (2-4mm) will not affect the increase in the insulation layer.
It is important to choose the right thickness basalt wool– it should not exceed the height of the joist taking into account the waterproofing layer. Models with a thickness of 50 mm and a density of up to 30 kg/m³ are often used.
The installation technology consists of the following stages of work.
You can use double-sided adhesive tape for fastening, but do not use a staple gun or nails. This may lead to seal failure.
If the distance between the ceiling elements is greater, you need to use a rolled type of mineral wool. Depending on the manufacturer, its width can reach 1 m.
Having counted required quantity insulation, you can begin its installation.
Roll material is installed from the roof. The edge of the heat insulator should extend slightly onto the surface of the slope - this will help to avoid the appearance of gaps between the different layers of the heat-insulating layer.
The material is pressed tightly to the floor surface. It does not require additional fastening. When the entire surface between the beams is insulated, the roll is cut using a knife.
The rest of the attic floor is installed using the same scheme. After this, technological wooden flooring can be installed on top of the beams. It can be regular boards, the thickness of which will support the weight of an adult.
Backfilling of insulation can be done without installing lags. Expanded clay or slag is poured in a layer of 25–30 cm, leveled and filled with a thin layer of screed. It is recommended to stick roofing felt onto the slabs.
It is possible to insulate without floor joists using rigid insulation. Foam glass is considered the most effective, but also expensive. Sometimes foam concrete is used, however, it is somewhat heavy and the estimated height of its layer should be approximately 40 cm. In this case, a screed is not used.
Proper insulation of the attic floor is the main factor in maintaining heat in the house. It is important to follow the order of installation of all materials of the thermal insulation layer. You should also worry about operational safety - be sure to install a protective structure around the chimney pipe.
