For summer residents and owners of private houses, the question of how to insulate a house from the outside and with what remains one of the most pressing. How to properly insulate a house? Proper insulation external walls not only creates a positive microclimate inside the home, but is very economically beneficial. After all, the need to constantly use heating systems in cold weather is eliminated - therefore, you pay less for electricity. The second aspect is the constant “correct” temperature indoors, the absence of humidity and, as a result, the elimination of the appearance of fungus, mold, and putrefactive processes.
You can insulate the outside of your house with your own hands using various modern materials. Initially, you need to look at what the walls of the house are made of, and then decide on the choice of insulation. Each insulation has its own fastening technology. External thermal insulation is also good because it does not reduce the volume of the room, does not provoke the accumulation of moisture, and prevents “sweating” of the walls. Let's consider the most commonly used insulation materials and the specifics of their installation, methods of insulating a house from the outside.
Insulating the outside of the house with polystyrene foam is a rational solution. This home insulation is good for everyone: it is lightweight, inexpensive, and does not require the use of any special technologies or tools.
Installation steps:
As for houses made of timber, before insulating a wooden house from the outside, carefully examine the surface for holes and cracks, and then seal them with mineral wool, polyurethane foam or ecowool. There should be no drafts or air pockets.
Before we begin describing the characteristics of another insulation material, it is worth clarifying some nuances regarding foam plastic. To the frequently asked question: is it possible to use it to insulate a house from the outside, the answer will be positive - yes, it is possible.
It is characterized by fairly good thermal insulation parameters, but there is an opinion that it is short-lived, has high flammability, and is unsafe from an environmental point of view.
Let's look at these factors in more detail:
Very often you can hear the question, what is the difference between polystyrene foam and penoplex? These thermal insulation materials are indeed practically the same: both have a light weight, moisture resistant, do not rot, afraid of solvents, acetone. Both have a “related” origin - the method of foaming polystyrene. In appearance, their difference lies in different colors– penoplex has a yellow-orange color. But when the question arises, what is the best way to insulate the outside walls of a house with foam plastic or penoplex, the latter demonstrates higher density, moisture resistance, and air tightness.
If you live in the zone high humidity, then when choosing insulation for external walls it is better to opt for penoplex. The same mineral wool in such conditions is completely unsuitable for insulating walls and foundations.
A short list of penoplex characteristics:
In turn, foam plastic:
Otherwise, they are almost the same, the choice is yours with what to insulate.
Now let's look at what is better to insulate the house from the outside, foam plastic or mineral wool? Again, the choice is always determined by many factors: price, climatic conditions, the material from which the house was built. For example, mineral wool (stone wool, glass wool) is optimal for a wooden house; it is a non-flammable building material. When working with mineral wool, you should wear protective clothing, gloves, and a respirator.
If we consider the characteristics of both insulation from manufacturers, approximately the same thermal conductivity parameters will be indicated. In fact, this is not entirely true - foam plastic when insulated shows top scores. It can only be compared with dense balsalt wool in slabs - one of the varieties of mineral wool. In terms of ease of installation, foam insulation also wins: no protection when working with the material, low weight, no dust during processing. Plus, insulating with polystyrene foam is cheaper than using mineral wool.
Mineral wool performs better at joints, cold bridges are practically eliminated, while polystyrene foam suffers from this. The problem is solved if for certain stages of work you choose sheets with an L-shaped edge. How to insulate the walls of a house from the outside, if they have uneven surface? Mineral wool is good because it can be cut into fragments of any shape and size - this is very convenient for insulation uneven walls. For foam insulation, the surface must be flat.
Sometimes they are used together, this technique is called multi-layer thermal insulation. In such cases, the foam should be located under the mineral wool. Mineral wool should act as the top layer.
Some modern building materials used to build houses initially have high thermal insulation properties. Often the manufacturer assures that a house built from this material will not require additional insulation. This is not always the case; let’s take, for example, aerated concrete - an excellent environmentally friendly building material with a cellular structure. It really has high thermal insulation performance, but it also needs insulation.
How to insulate a house made of aerated concrete from the outside? Due to their high vapor permeability, polystyrene foam or penoplex should be immediately excluded. If air exchange between interior space And external environment, on the border of the wall and thermal insulation material Condensation collects (which is why it is constantly wet). If aerated concrete gets wet, it will develop mold, fungi, and putrefactive processes. In this situation, polyurethane or mineral wool in the form of mats would be appropriate as insulation.
Initially, the surface of the wall is cleared of debris and then primed. Any unevenness is plastered with a special mixture.
Installation steps:
Availability high-quality waterproofing extremely important for aerated concrete walls, since the porous structure actively absorbs moisture. When insulating such a house, you should exclude dowels and screws, since any minor chips or cracks can lead to disastrous results for the entire structure. Suitable adhesive mixtures or chemical anchors may be used.
Now let's look at how to insulate a house from wooden beam 150x150 outside. In theory, it would also be possible to use polystyrene foam or penoplex here, but there is one “but” - for wooden houses they are not suitable due to ventilation requirements. Mineral wool allows air to pass through well and at the same time provides thermal insulation. In turn, polystyrene foam provides a reliable barrier to cold, but does not allow free air exchange, which is important for houses made of timber. If wooden walls are insulated with it, then after some time fungus and rot will appear on them, especially since in winter there will be nowhere to escape the condensation.
In addition to mineral wool, you will need waterproofing, a construction stapler, self-tapping screws with anchors, and a protective antifungal agent, which will need to be used to pre-treat the surface of the walls.
The installation steps are as follows:
Mineral wool should be placed tightly, without through gaps. Vents should be left below, near the foundation and above, under the roof overhang, to ensure air circulation and steam removal (so that condensation does not settle on the vapor barrier layer).
What is the best way to insulate the basement of a house from the outside? The base also absorbs precipitation, which means that the insulation for it must have reliable waterproof qualities. This part of the house can be insulated using foaming agents, mineral wool, and polystyrene foam. Each of them requires an individual approach and installation features. However, the best and easiest to work with is polystyrene - durable, strong, and moisture-resistant. By all parameters this material most beneficial among other insulation materials.
Before installing polystyrene boards, the surface must be treated with a primer. Fastening is done on top of the waterproofing layer, with polyurethane glue or using bitumen-polymer mastic. It is important that glue mixture did not contain solvents - this destroys the material. The thicker the slab you choose, the better the insulation will be.
Any house, no matter what it is built from, needs proper insulation. The answer to the question of how to insulate a house from the outside and with what will depend on many factors: source material structure, atmospheric features of the region, cost of insulation. In any case, it is better to spend money on high-quality insulation outside, rather than giving away heat to the street for years and heating the house around the clock.
The question is how to insulate a private house, can arise in two cases: the first - at the design stage of a new house, the second - when an already built house is purchased, which requires significant modifications in order to be comfortable for living. In this article, we will tell you what thermal insulation material you can choose for a particular structure, where to start with insulation, and how to insulate all structural parts of the house.
The modern market is saturated with various thermal insulation materials. When choosing what material to insulate a private house with your own hands, pay attention to the following characteristics:
(λ=0.041 - 0.044 W/(mK)) is a fibrous material similar to cotton wool, obtained from various rocks or slags. The release form comes in rolls or slabs. There are also products of varying densities, from 20 kg/m3 to 200 kg/m3. This allows you to choose exactly the type of cotton wool that is needed in a given situation.
In addition, any cotton wool dampens airborne noise well and has amazing soundproofing characteristics; in addition, it is vapor permeable (“breathes”). It does not burn, but rodents can live in it.
The main and main disadvantage of any wool as insulation is that it can absorb up to 70% of moisture. And despite the fact that having already absorbed 2%, it loses 50% of its insulating properties and will never dry completely, using it to insulate external structures: an unprotected facade or roof is simply madness.
Expanded polystyrene or Styrofoam(λ=0.033 - 0.037 W/(m·K)) - a set of plastic balls connected to each other by a press or non-press method, inside which the air is closed. To obtain such gas-filled plastic, thermoforming is used. This material is produced only in slabs, but comes in different densities, from 11 to 35 kg/m3. Polystyrene foam is a fragile material, cannot withstand heavy loads, burns, emitting toxic gases, and is also destroyed under the influence of sun rays.
Despite the fact that polystyrene foam insulates well and absorbs little moisture, it also has a significant drawback: it does not “breathe”, which means that a serious supply and exhaust system will have to be installed in the house. ventilation system. Also, polystyrene foam still picks up moisture when directly wet. In this case, it becomes completely unsuitable for further use.
Or EPPS(λ=0.028 - 0.032 W/(m K)) - closed polystyrene cells with air. This material practically does not absorb moisture and does not allow air to pass through. Available in slabs that are easy to install. The main advantage of extruded polystyrene foam over polystyrene foam is its greater strength. At the same time, it also “does not breathe”, burns and emits toxic gases.
Important! Manufacturers claim that some brands of polystyrene foam and extruded polystyrene foam do not emit any substances even when smoldering or burning; in practice, this is not entirely true.
Here we looked at the most popular materials, which are recommended primarily by all specialists in insulating private houses. If you are not satisfied with the prospect of living in a modern synthetic thermos, you can consider other materials listed below.
"Warm" plasters(λ = 0.065 W/(m K)) are a mixture that includes small balls (1 - 2 mm) of foam glass, white cement and various additives that increase adhesion, water-repellent, vapor-generating and others. Foam glass balls give the mixture increased thermal insulation properties.
“Warm” plasters “breathe”, do not allow moisture to pass through (serve as waterproofing), and do not burn.
In fact, this material immediately serves as sound insulation, thermal insulation, waterproofing, while it is not afraid of sunlight, fire, moisture (does not allow penetration), is vapor permeable, and can be repaired.
(λ=0.045 - 0.06 W/(m K)) are made from cork oak bark (solid wood) or recycled cork chips. The manufacturing principle is as follows: the cork, crushed to a powder state, is processed under high pressure with hot steam, then pressed into molds using a binder - natural resin; after hardening, all that remains is to cut it into slabs.
The cork “breathes”, i.e. It allows air to pass through, mold and other fungi do not form on it, but it is flammable. True, when burned it does not emit any toxic substances.
Cork insulation can be used to cover roofs, ceilings, external and internal walls and floors.
Ecowool or cellulose wadding(λ=0.032 - 0.038 W/(m·K)) is made from recycled waste paper without the addition of synthetic binders, the only thing is that it is treated with fire retardants to reduce the fire hazard.
Cellulose insulation “breathes”, is resistant to the formation of mold or other fungi, but absorbs moisture well, which means it requires protection from water. The material in the form of cotton wool does not withstand mechanical loads, so it makes sense to use it for insulating attics. Rigid insulation materials are also produced from paper, but with the addition of binders.
(λ=0.04 - 0.05 W/(m·K)) serves as a raw material for the production of many thermal insulation materials based on hemp fibers. The form of release can be different: mats, slabs, rolls, individual fibers that can be used to seal cracks. To reduce fire hazard, boron salts are added to the material. Despite the fact that the density of the material is 20 - 68 kg/m3, hemp does not withstand pressure loads well.
Hemp “breathes”, is not afraid of fungus, and is used to insulate roofs, ceilings, facades and walls.
Straw(λ = 0.038 - 0.072 W/(m K)) is an excellent insulation material that can be used to make lightweight floors, walls and roofs. The material used is rye, wheat, barley, and oat straw. It is pressed and tied with mesh, wire or cords. The density of straw insulation is 90 - 125 kg/m3, they can be plastered on top.
Straw “breathes”, but also burns well. Therefore, it is sometimes treated with fire retardants.
Seaweed(λ = 0.045 - 0.046 W/(m K)) before becoming a heat-insulating material, they are dried, and then they are used to produce slab materials, loose or seaweed ladders. Thanks to sea salt, algae are not afraid of fungi and other mold. Density 70 - 80 kg/m3.
Seaweed ladders do not burn, do not rot, and mold and large living creatures (mice) do not grow in them. Wooden beams, rafters or boards located under the seaweed are always kept dry and therefore last a long time. Algae is used to insulate roofs, ceilings and walls.
We would like to immediately clarify that work on insulating a private house is best done from top to bottom, i.e. start with the roof, then the attic, walls, floor and foundation. But for convenience, we will divide all work into external and internal. Insulating a house from the outside involves insulating the walls of the foundation and basement, as well as façade walls. Please note that the material and its required thickness should be calculated; for this you can contact the design bureaus.
Significant heat loss occurs through the foundation. This is due to the fact that the foundation walls are in direct contact with the soil and backfill, which freeze to a certain depth.
Due to the fact that the foundation walls are constantly in contact with water, it is necessary to select hydrophobic materials for their insulation.
Suitable: extruded polystyrene foam (EPS), foam glass,adobe(clay with straw), red brick with floor(burnt, with air bubbles inside).
EPS insulation or foam glass must be secured to the foundation wall using adhesive mastic. Be sure to reach the depth of soil freezing. From above, these materials do not need to be protected from the ground in any way, but in the basement they can be covered with plaster on a mesh or covered with cladding.
Natural insulation materials adobe and others are actually backfill and do not require fastening.
If you are interested in the answer to the question of how to properly insulate a private house, outside or inside, then know that experts recommend insulating the walls of a private house from the outside, since internal insulation has a number of significant disadvantages. In the layer of the wall pie, the materials must be arranged in such a sequence that the resistance to vapor permeation during the movement of steam outward decreases from layer to layer. Otherwise, water vapor will accumulate in the insulation.
Insulation of the walls of the house from the outside can be done different ways: ventilated facade, well masonry, plaster on top of insulation.
It is a structure consisting of a frame, insulation and cladding. The supporting frame is attached to the wall with anchors, insulation (wadding or slabs) is inserted into it, and a cladding is attached to the top of the frame, which performs decorative and protective (from weather factors) functions. Between the insulation and the cladding there is air gap 2 - 4 cm, it significantly increases the thermal insulation properties of the structure, and also serves to remove steam and excess moisture from the insulation.
For ventilated facades it makes sense to use cotton insulation: stone wool, mineral wool, ecowool.
"Well" masonry is a pie like this: brick walls, insulation, facing brick. Due to the fact that it is impossible to protect the insulation from moisture in such a design, you should choose one that does not absorb water: , vermiculite, expanded clay and others. This largely depends on the facing material.
"Wet" facade is carried out by attaching insulation to a wall made of brick, concrete or blocks, and on top of applying a primer and decorative layer of plaster over a reinforcing mesh.
For insulation under plaster, you can use materials whose density is higher than 30 kg/m3: any cotton wool(mineral, ecowool), expanded polystyrene(Styrofoam), extruded polystyrene foam(EPPS), straw, hemp, traffic jam, seaweed. The thickness is calculated depending on the wall material and thickness, climate zone and other indicators.
The insulation must either be glued to the wall or secured with dowels. A reinforcing mesh is attached to the top and plastering work is carried out.
"Warm" plasters can be used as both insulation and decorative covering. They are applied directly to the wall without additional insulation. This is one of the most environmentally friendly ways insulation - suitable for modern eco-friendly housing with “breathable” walls. It can be used to plaster facades, slopes, curved surfaces, basements and semi-basements, and balconies.
Internal insulation work consists of insulating the roof, attic, floor and ceilings. As stated above, it is not recommended to insulate walls from the inside. In exceptional cases, after consulting a specialist, you can line the inside of the wall with cork or other natural material.
Insulation pitched roof necessary if the attic insulation is not sufficient, or if the attic is in use. To do this, a lath is placed between the rafters, to which thermal insulation material with a density of up to 50 kg/m3 is attached. From the outside, on the roof side, the material must be protected from water ingress waterproofing film. From the inside, from the side of the room, with a vapor barrier membrane.
Important! Rafter structure in this type of insulation it is a kind of cold bridge, since the thermal conductivity of wood is still higher than that of insulation. To eliminate this drawback, it is necessary to lay another layer of insulation from the inside in such a way as to cover the rafters.
Cotton wool can be used as roof insulation ( mineral wool, ecowool), extruded polystyrene foam, seaweed, reed, hemp, straw, traffic jam and other materials. When choosing a material, please note that in case of leakage, the cotton wool will turn into unnecessary trash. Protection of insulation with films is necessary if the insulation layer is isolated from the room. If there is an attic with windows on the roof, steam protection is not needed.
Since ancient times, only the attic, not the roof, has been insulated in houses. And here's why: the roof was made gable with such an angle of inclination that snow lay well on its surface, in attic windows were equipped that could be opened and closed depending on need, the attic floor was insulated. With the onset of frost, the roof of the house was covered with a layer of snow - natural insulation. If the temperature outside was -25 °C, under the roof slope, i.e. in the attic it fluctuated around 0 °C. The insulation of the attic served to increase the temperature from 0 to 22 °C in the living space.
If you bought an old house or are building eco-friendly housing from natural materials, you can perform the following insulation of the attic: coat all the cracks in the ceiling (from the attic side) clay, sprinkle on top sand. If the clay cracks for any reason, the sand will fill the cracks. Whiten the top with lime or sprinkle dry slaked lime, add to this mixture spent carbide to protect against mice. Pour bulk thermal insulation material on top of this: chaff from grain crops, straw, sawdust, seaweed ladders, ecowool.
A modern way of insulating an attic: lay a vapor barrier film on the floor of the attic, pour a layer of about 200 mm of cotton wool on top.
It makes no sense to insulate the ceiling; rather, it may be necessary to insulate the floor between floors or between the floor and the attic. How to insulate the attic floor (lower floor ceiling) has already been described above.
It is necessary to insulate the floor between floors only if the floors have different temperature conditions, i.e. the lower floor is heated, but the upper floor is not, or vice versa.
In interfloor wooden floors, insulation is placed between the joists. Can be used cotton insulation with a density of up to 50 kg/m3, hemp, ecowool. In this case, it will also serve as sound insulation.
If the floor is built on a floor slab, then it is necessary to use dense thermal insulation materials with a density of more than 160 kg/m3. It can be dense cotton insulation,extruded polystyrene foam, cork.
Insulation of the floor in a private house built on the ground must begin with backfill. If the house is old, you will have to remove the floor covering, joists and excavate the soil to the required depth.
Bedding under a wooden floor on the ground should be like this:
To install a concrete floor on the ground after a layer of crushed stone, it is necessary to rough screed floor, then lay waterproofing, the insulation layer depends on the climatic characteristics of the area, the material must be very dense (more than 160 kg/m3) to withstand loads, a finishing screed and finishing coating are laid on top of the insulation.
As insulation for concrete floor on the ground can be used extruded polystyrene foam, expanded polystyrene(Styrofoam), traffic jam.
In conclusion, I would like to note that before insulating a private house, contact design organizations to receive recommendations and calculations of insulation for your region, taking into account the material and thickness of the walls of the house. Don't try to do everything yourself. It may turn out that all the work is in vain: the insulation will get wet from condensation, or the dew point will be in the wrong place.
General provisions.
The point of insulation is not only to increase comfort in the home, but also to reduce heating costs. Therefore, it is worth choosing an economically feasible method of heat preservation. Special interactive calculators make it possible to calculate the heat loss of a house before and after its insulation.
When insulating, two important rules should be taken into account. Firstly, it is better to place the insulation on the outside of the walls. With this scheme, the walls will accumulate heat and release it into the room when the heating is turned off. The microclimate in the rooms will not fluctuate very sharply when the weather and heating and ventilation modes change. If the insulation is located from the inside, then the walls will freeze every winter, which will lead to a decrease in the service life of the entire building.
But this rule is true for houses permanent residence, as well as to country houses, regularly visited in winter. With rare visits, you will have to warm up the entire thickness of the walls of the house, which will increase heating costs.
Secondly, it is important to design the “pie” of enclosing structures in such a way that moisture does not accumulate in it. Condensation leads to the formation of mold that is harmful to health, building construction begin to deteriorate, and the thermal properties of most insulation materials deteriorate.
The attic floor is an outpost in the battle to keep the house warm and reduce heating costs. After all, it is known that warm air rises, and if the ceiling is cold, the cooling of the air will be intense. Signs of insufficient ceiling insulation may include thawed patches on a snow-covered roof and large icicles on the eaves on the north side of the roof. The presence of condensation on attic structures is already a clear signal of distress.
How to insulate a floor using wooden beams? First you need to remove the old insulation and dry all the structures. It may be necessary to clean them of mold and treat them with bioprotective compounds. Then you need to lay a vapor barrier film. It is better to hem it below the beams, on the rough ceiling. But if this is not possible, then you can cover the ceiling with it. As a vapor barrier, you can use ordinary thick polyethylene film, but it is better to buy a special one - it is not much more expensive, but stronger and more convenient to use. The vapor barrier layer must be made airtight. To glue the film sheets together, use butyl rubber adhesive tape or, as a last resort, you can get by with metallized adhesive tape, which is somewhat cheaper. The edges of adjacent film sheets are glued together with an overlap, and the edges of the outermost ones are glued to the walls.
Now you need to lay the insulation. The choice of modern insulation materials is very large, but you can also use traditional materials. For example, the cheapest option would be dry sawdust, spread in a layer of 25-30 cm. To protect against mold and mice, they are mixed with lime.
Of the insulation materials produced by industry, the most inexpensive option is probably cellulose wool. It is made from waste paper with the addition of borax and boric acid. Thanks to these chemicals, cellulose becomes slightly flammable and resistant to rotting. Typically this insulation, also known as ecowool, is applied using blow-moulding machines. In order not to call a team of specialists for this, some craftsmen adapt garden vacuum cleaners to apply ecowool.
But the ceiling can be insulated manually. To do this, just pour cotton wool out of the bag in small portions and fluff it up using a regular electric drill with a mixer attachment. The main thing is to stock up on a respirator, because there will be a lot of dust. For the Moscow region, the thickness of the layer of wool along the floors should be approximately 25 cm. Manufacturers of this material advise increasing the thickness of the layer around the perimeter of the attic to protect it from freezing top part walls.
The advantage of fill-in insulation is that they can be used on floors of any design and with any distance between beams. The insulation comparable in price to cellulose is glass wool. But it is produced in rolls or mats of a certain width and requires an appropriate distance between the beams. The more expensive analogue, basalt wool, also has this drawback.
But on a flat concrete floor you can use any of the above-mentioned insulation materials. You just need to remember to put a vapor barrier under it.
Is it worth covering the insulation on top? Usually this is not necessary. In addition, open insulation dries better after accidental wetting. However, if necessary, the insulation can be covered with a superdiffusion membrane, which will allow the cotton wool to dry and protect it from accidentally spilled water and from blowing out.
A wooden floor is insulated in the same way as an attic - either loose or cotton insulation. Only the vapor barrier here needs to be laid on top, on the side of the room, under the floor. From below, on the underground side, the insulated ceiling should be hemmed with a superdiffusion membrane. For such a design, it is very important that the underground is dry and well ventilated. If the vents left in the basement are not enough for this, then you need to increase the ventilation, for example, remove the pipe from the underground behind the roof. As a last resort, you can try to withdraw ventilation pipe from one of the vents and fix it on the wall at a height of two to three meters. You need to install a socket on top that will direct the air flow away from the facade.
To reduce the likelihood of moisture appearing in the underground, you need to cover the soil under the house with plastic film or roofing felt.
The concrete floor of the foundation can be insulated without dismantling the floors. It is enough to glue foam plastic (usually polystyrene foam boards) 10-20 cm thick to the bottom of the ceiling. For such work, there are cement-based adhesives (they are designed for the “wet facade” system, but are quite suitable here too). Before starting work, you need to thoroughly clean and prime the concrete surface of the floor.
Instead of expanded polystyrene, you can use basalt wool with a density of 80 kg/m3, and reinforce the adhesive fastening with disc-shaped dowels.
Work on external wall insulation will, willy-nilly, be associated with renovation of the facade. The insulation can be covered with a curtain wall (vinyl siding or tongue-and-groove boards) or plastered (the so-called “wet facade”). In building " wet facade“There are a lot of subtleties that are difficult to take into account if you are getting down to business for the first time. So for independent work It is better to use curtain facades.
The most popular insulation for curtain walls is basalt wool. It is ideal for insulating timber houses because it does not support combustion. High-quality basalt wool can get wet and dry several times without losing its properties. But it’s still better to keep it dry - wet cotton wool conducts heat well and ceases to serve as insulation.
Sometimes polystyrene foam boards are also attached under the curtain wall. But in this case, there is a risk that condensation will accumulate under them. It is better to use this insulation on walls made of sand-lime brick or concrete - materials with high thermal conductivity and low vapor permeability. The advantage of expanded polystyrene is that it is not afraid of getting wet, its fire-resistant types do not support combustion.
Ecowool is also used under hanging facades. In this case, it is applied using blowing machines using the “wet-glue method” - before application it is moistened and mixed with glue. This mass adheres to the wall and, after drying, forms a seamless “fur coat”. This method is perhaps the most reliable for insulating a log house or uneven brick walls.
The use of all types of cotton insulation on the facade requires a ventilated gap. The wool is covered with a superdiffusion membrane, and between the membrane and the outer sheathing you need to leave a gap of about 3 cm, which is determined by the thickness of the sheathing.
There are cases when the choice of insulation and methods of its installation is limited. For example, if you need to insulate the walls in an apartment on the ninth floor. Here you will need insulation materials that do not allow water vapor to pass through and do not accumulate moisture. The choice is small. These are foam glass blocks, extruded polystyrene foam and polyethylene foam.
Foam glass can be plastered to create a durable and warm wall. Extruded polystyrene foam (EPS) has a glossy surface and does not adhere well to the wall using cement adhesive. If the plaster on the wall is smooth, then it is better to use not cement glue, but foam adhesive (similar in composition and packaging to regular polyurethane foam). It will ensure a tighter fit of the insulation to the wall and a more deformation-resistant connection. All seams between insulation boards must be sealed using polyurethane foam. There are also special adhesives for this material.
The top of the EPS can be plastered or covered with plasterboard sheathing.
The most affordable insulation for indoor use is polyethylene foam and its variety - foil PPE. The latter is practically indispensable for insulating walls and ceilings of temporary and technical structures(construction cabins, unheated attics, boiler rooms), heated infrared heaters. Radiant Heat is not absorbed by the walls, but returns back into the room. In addition, foil plays the role of vapor barrier, which is especially important for wet rooms in frame and wooden buildings.
Pictures – numbered from left to right
Rice. 1. OPTION FOR INSULATION OF THE ATTIC COVER:
2 - bulk insulation (along the perimeter of the ceiling the layer thickness is increased);
3 - additional insulation with expanded polystyrene in the Mauerlat area;
4 - vapor barrier film on the room side;
5 - rough ceiling cladding (OSB, plywood, etc.).
Rice. 2. OPTION FOR INSULATION OF THE FOUNDATION COVER:
1 - foundation; 2 - wall; 3 - concrete floor; 4 - blind area; 5 - insulation of the basement part from the outside with extruded polystyrene foam (the insulation can be plastered); 6 - it is recommended to cover the soil surface under the house with roofing felt; 7 - mineral wool insulation is mounted to the ceiling using cement glue, the fastening is reinforced with disc dowels.
Rice. 3. OPTION OF WALL INSULATION WITH EXPANDED POLYSTYRENE UNDER A WASHED FACADE:
1 - wall made of material with low vapor permeability;
2 - the first layer of polystyrene foam is attached to the wall using cement glue and disc dowels;
4 - the second layer of polystyrene foam is inserted between the guides and fixed with mounting foam;
5 - vinyl siding sheathing.
Rice. 4. OPTION OF WALL INSULATION WITH MINERAL WOOL UNDER A WASHED FACADE:
1 - wall made of material with high vapor permeability (wooden beams);
2 - horizontal sheathing;
3 - first layer basalt wool 50 mm thick (inserted between the sheathing bars);
4 - vertical sheathing;
5 - second layer of basalt wool 50 mm thick;
6 - superdiffusion membrane;
7 - sheathing slats for sheathing; 8-wood façade cladding.
Floral Print Chair Cover for Home Dining Elastic Slipcovers…
When building a private house, both the developer and the future owner of the cottage must pay great attention to the issue of thermal insulation and ensuring comfortable living conditions even in the most extreme cold. This fully applies to buildings made of logs or beams. But at the same time, such cottages have their own specifics, determined by the material from which they are built. It cannot be ignored - otherwise it will negatively affect the durability of the walls and finishing of buildings made of logs and timber. Therefore, decide how to insulate wooden house outside and with what, it’s not so simple and you need to approach this matter in detail.
When carrying out measures for installing thermal insulation in a house made of timber or logs, it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of wood as a material. There are many of them, but the main ones are two - high vapor permeability and susceptibility to fungus and other microorganisms.
The first means that wood absorbs and transmits moisture well, both from the inside and outside. Accordingly, insulation for a house built from timber or logs must have comparable vapor permeability indicators - otherwise the walls will gradually become damp, rot and become unusable. In addition, there is a need for a ventilation gap between the external finish and the insulation - without it, the latter will absorb too much water and lose its thermal insulation qualities.
And the second feature of wood, associated with the susceptibility of the material to fungus and microorganisms, requires mandatory treatment of all walls and parts of the thermal insulation system with antiseptic compounds, and in several layers.
Insulation of a private house can be divided into two types.
Internal insulation in wooden houses is usually used when there is a need to preserve appearance wood-like buildings. This usually applies to log houses.
But at the same time, such a thermal insulation system has a number of disadvantages:
Therefore, external insulation appears to be a more preferable option. Such a solution has the following advantages.
Due to these advantages, the article will focus on how to insulate a wooden house from the outside and what materials are suitable for this.
From the point of view of ensuring high-quality thermal insulation and preventing the appearance of dampness/condensation on the wall and in the insulation, the most preferable way to protect a house from the cold is to install a ventilated facade. Regardless of the material used, the design is “ layered cake"consisting of the following elements:
At the same time, a ventilation gap is formed between the insulation and the external finishing of the wooden house due to the sheathing, which ensures effective drainage and reduces the risk of condensation and dampness.
Important! Separately, it is worth paying attention to such an issue as the presence of a vapor barrier film between wooden wall and insulation. This film has been the subject of controversy for quite some time. Some craftsmen argue that a vapor barrier between the wall and the insulation is necessary, otherwise the thermal insulation material will quickly become damp due to moisture coming from the house. Others are of the opposite opinion and say that the vapor barrier will disrupt the removal of moisture from the walls of the house, condensation will appear between it and the insulation, and then mold. Taking into account both of these opinions, we can say that it is possible to install a film to protect thermal insulation material from dampness, but only if there is good ventilation in the house and a gap between the vapor barrier and the wooden wall.
Dowel umbrella
You can familiarize yourself with the materials used to insulate a wooden house from the outside from the table below and in subsequent sections of the article.
Table. Insulation of a wooden house from the outside - basic materials.
| Material name | Short description |
|---|---|
| Rolls and slabs of thin fibers of basalt and other minerals. |
| A soft fiberboard made from milled wood. Does not contain glue or chemical binders. It has high density and vapor permeability. |
| Round porous cells of expanded polystyrene bonded into slabs. |
| A type of polystyrene foam made using a slightly different technology. It is distinguished by greater density and better thermal insulation qualities. |
| Paper and fabric processed into cellulose with additives that prevent caking, rotting and rodents. |
Before you start insulating a wooden house, you need to decide what exactly to do it with, i.e. what material. You can see the options available to most in the table from the previous section. These are mineral wool, polystyrene foam, extruded polystyrene foam and ecowool. Let's look at them in a little more detail.
Mineral wool is a combination of many fibers obtained from melts of various rocks. As in cellulose wadding, between the fibers there is a large number of air, due to which the material acquires its heat-insulating qualities.
The following advantages speak in favor of mineral wool as insulation for a wooden house:
But it is worth considering that mineral wool absorbs moisture well and at the same time greatly loses its thermal insulation properties. Therefore, the outside of the insulation must be protected with a membrane windproof film.
A good option for insulating a wooden house is Isoplat soft fiberboard. It is made " wet method» from ground fiber coniferous species trees without adding glue or other chemical binders. Due to this, the slab works efficiently in humid and cold climates and does not delaminate due to temperature changes. The top of the board is treated with paraffin to protect it from atmospheric humidity. The Izoplat plate has a high vapor permeability rate, which means it prevents the walls from becoming damp and the formation of fungus and mold. In terms of thermal insulation properties, 25 cm of material is comparable to 88 mm of solid wood. Isoplat also has a high level of sound insulation, which means the house will become much quieter and more comfortable.
Insulation of a wooden house with Izoplat slabs
Other insulation options for a wooden house are polystyrene foam and extruded polystyrene foam. Both are polymers consisting of cells glued together with many pores and voids. The latter, filled with air, provide the material with high thermal insulation qualities. Extruded polystyrene foam is made using a slightly different technology than regular polystyrene foam, due to which the material is denser and its cells are smaller. The material itself becomes stronger, but also retains its thermal insulation qualities.
Foam insulation - no the best option for a wooden house, but many resort to this solution due to the low cost of thermal insulation material
However, both polystyrene foam and extruded polystyrene foam have a serious drawback, due to which their use as insulation for a wooden house is doubtful - this low vapor permeability. Moisture and water vapor penetrate these materials very poorly. Therefore, if a wooden house is insulated with polystyrene foam, a humid environment will certainly arise between the wall and the thermal insulation layer, favorable for the development of fungi and other microorganisms and, as a result, for rotting and damage to the wood.
According to environmentalists, up to 40% of heat and electricity generated in the northern hemisphere is spent on heating residential, industrial and other facilities. For this reason, high-quality insulation of buildings brings tangible benefits in terms of financial savings and living comfort. One of the most popular heat insulators is (expanded polystyrene, EPS).
Another insulation option is ecowool. This material is obtained from paper and textile waste that is turned into cellulose. But at the same time, it is supplemented with additives that protect the material from caking, rotting, burning and make it unattractive to insects and rodents. It has excellent thermal insulation properties. But at the same time, the method of laying it differs from mineral wool and polystyrene foam - ecowool in liquid form is sprayed onto the surface wooden walls between the sheathing elements using special equipment. The material then sets, dries and becomes a very durable layer of thermal insulation. However, you need to understand that without the help of a specialist, ecowool insulation will be impossible.
Now that you know more about the materials used for thermal insulation of cottages made of timber or logs, let's begin to describe how the insulation process should be carried out.
Thermal insulation materials
It is very easy to insulate a wooden house with Isoplat. The plate is a dense, but at the same time elastic material. It is enough to simply press it against the wall and nail it with nails with a wide flat head. Isoplat fits securely to the base and prevents the appearance of “cold bridges”. A ventilated facade is installed on top of the slab. In addition, Izoplat slabs of 25 mm or more can be covered with plaster. Insulation in this way can be done independently without the involvement of specialists. This is the fastest, easiest and most reliable option for insulating a wooden house.
It is very simple to insulate a wooden house with Izoplat slabs
Let's look at how to perform one of the most popular ways to insulate a wooden house from the outside - using mineral wool slabs.
Work begins with calculating the required amount of insulation. To do this, calculate how many square meters of the house there are surfaces to be covered with mineral wool. This problem is solved using the following algorithm.
Step 1. Calculate the height of the walls from the base to the beginning of the pediment. If one part of the house is one-story, and the second is two-story, perform calculations for them separately.
Step 2. Determine the perimeter of the walls by calculating their length.
Step 3. Multiply the perimeter of the walls by the height and subtract the area of the openings from the resulting figure - this will give you the approximate surface area to be insulated. But the calculations do not end there.
Step 4. Using formulas for determining the area of a triangle, calculate how many square meters there are in your gables (if you are going to insulate them too), and sum the resulting figure with the result of the calculations from the previous step.
Determining the area of a wall, a simple pediment in the form of an isosceles triangle and a complex pediment (which is the sum of a trapezoid and a triangle)
Step 5. Determine what brand and size of mineral wool you choose. Divide the total insulation area by the area of each individual insulation board. Then increase the result by 10-15% for reserve. The figure you receive is the number of mineral wool slabs that will be needed for one layer of external insulation of a wooden house. Please keep in mind that several insulation panels are sold in one package and, as a rule, it is written on them how many square meters this pack is designed for.
Mineral wool ROCKWOOL Light Butts. One such pack contains six slabs with a thickness of 50 mm and dimensions of 600x800 mm. Their total area is 2.88 square meters.
Step 6. Determine how thick the insulation should be. As a rule, in the southern regions it is 50 mm, in the middle zone - 100 mm, in Siberia and northern latitudes - 150 mm. If it is impossible to perform insulation in one layer in your case, double the number of mineral wool slabs from the previous operation.
First of all, you will need something that can be used to cut and saw the sheathing materials. If the frame for the insulation is made of wood, it will cope with this task perfectly electric jigsaw with matching blade. But in the case when the lathing is made of metal profile, it is better to give preference metal scissors.
Jigsaw
Important! Using a grinder to cut a profile into a frame for insulation is acceptable, but undesirable - in the process of such sawing, the external anti-corrosion coating is damaged, which significantly reduces the service life of the future structure.
Next, you will need a tool for screwing self-tapping screws into wood or metal. Considering that the insulation work is carried out with a house made of timber or logs, to complete this task it will be quite enough only screwdriver and set of attachments. Choose a tool with a battery - the wire will not dangle under your feet and get in the way.
Screwdrivers
Advice! Experienced craftsmen use a screwdriver with two batteries. While one is working, the second is charging. Then they change places, and the person gets the opportunity to install the sheathing for insulation without stopping and wasting time.
To fit some wood sheathing pieces or to work with disc dowels, you will need hammer or rubber mallet.
One of the indispensable tools for construction work is a knife for cutting mineral wool. You will need it to open packages of mineral wool and to cut slabs of this material. Alternatively, you can use construction knife with retractable blade.
Attaching a windproof membrane film to the insulation sheathing requires construction stapler and staple set.
The sheathing for insulation should be as straight as possible horizontally and vertically. This is almost impossible to achieve by eye, so be sure to use building level and plumb.
The wall of the house itself is made of timber or logs and that’s it wooden elements lathing requires the mandatory application of several layers of antiseptic to protect the materials from rotting. For this you will need container and roller. But if you want to do everything quickly, use spray paint.
Both before and during work on insulating a wooden house, a craftsman may need to apply various marks, measure distances and create records. These tasks are successfully completed using a pencil, several sheets of paper (or one notebook), a tape measure and a carpenter's square.
Let's first consider the most common option, when mineral wool is laid between the elements of the sheathing made of wooden beams.
Step 1. Prepare the walls - remove all protruding elements from their surface, if any. These could be shutters, ebbs, decorative details, etc. Then treat the wall with an antiseptic and fire retardant, preferably 2-3 times. Apply a new layer only after the previous one has completely dried.
Important! When working with a log house, pay special attention to processing the corners and end parts of the logs - they are the ones most susceptible to fungi and other microorganisms.
Step 2. Make the sheathing. For her, take the highest quality timber, in in this case products with a cross section of 30x30 mm are used. The wood should not show signs of fungus or rot. First, install the upper and lower bars, secure them with galvanized self-tapping screws (it is not advisable to use others due to corrosion). Then install horizontal sheathing elements, between which the first layer of mineral wool will be laid. The interval between the beams should be approximately 5 mm less than the height of the insulation slab - this is necessary to secure the material more tightly and eliminate gaps.
Step 3. On top of the first “layer” of the sheathing, secure the second one, where the elements are located perpendicularly. In this case they are mounted vertically. Also, do not forget to secure the bars around the perimeter of window and door openings.
Step 4. Unpack and prepare the mineral wool slabs. If necessary, cut them into pieces for installation around openings and other places where full-size insulation elements will not fit. Install the slabs between the sheathing elements of the first layer, making sure that they fit tightly there. Secure them with disc-shaped dowels. Then, using the same principle, lay the slabs of the second layer of insulation. It is desirable that they overlap the horizontal seams between the mineral wool sheets of the previous layer.
Step 5. Place and secure on top of the insulation windproof membrane. Join its individual sections together with an overlap of about 10 cm (as a rule, there is a special marking on the film for this purpose). Attach the membrane to the sheathing with a construction stapler, and cover the joints with special adhesive tape. When working with windproof film, pay special attention to openings that also need to be covered.
Step 6. Fix thick slats on top of the windproof film onto the wooden elements of the insulation sheathing, which will hold the exterior trim of the house.
Step 7 Lay the exterior trim on the mounted slats. In this case, boards are used for this. Then install other exposed features such as window and rain caps, shutters, trim, trim and more.
Now let's look at another option for external insulation of a house. Here the mineral wool is attached not to the sheathing, but to metal brackets.
Step 1. Prepare the walls - treat them with antiseptic and fire retardant. Next, unpack the mounting brackets and calculate how many you need.
Step 2. Attach the metal brackets to the wall using two long roofing screws with press washers. Since the house will subsequently be finished with siding, the fastening elements are located in increments corresponding to the interval between the sheathing elements for the vinyl panels.
Important! To ensure better sound and heat insulation, place small pieces of paronite under the part of the brackets that touches the wood.
Step 3. Unpack the mineral wool, check the quality of the insulation and prepare it for installation.
Step 4. Install mineral wool slabs on the walls. To do this, place them on the brackets mounted in the previous stages of work. The holes for this can either be pressed through with the fasteners themselves, or cut with a knife.
Step 5. For better fixation, screw the disc dowels evenly over the area of each individual slab.
Step 6. Repeat the previous two operations for all walls and gables of the house.
Step 7 Lay a windproof film over the insulation layer. Secure it with overlapping disc dowels.
Step 8 Using a knife or scissors, cut slots in the windproof film through which the ends of the brackets should pass.
Step 9 Prepare, cut and secure the vertical and horizontal elements of the metal profile sheathing to the brackets using self-tapping screws. In this case, it is very important to achieve the evenness of each individual rack or beam using a plumb line and a building level.
Step 10 On the sheathing installed in the previous operation, install the exterior trim. In this case, these are vinyl siding panels.
With a competent approach to the matter, external insulation of a wooden house will provide you with coziness and comfort of living in a new place.
Is it possible to live in country house, which is insufficiently or not insulated at all? A dozen of the most powerful heaters will not help here, since the heat created will quickly evaporate through cracks in the walls, flooring, roof, and foundation.
There is only one way to significantly reduce the loss of heated air, while saving on energy - insulating the house. Thanks to it, comfortable living conditions are provided, the service life of the building is extended and money is saved that could have been spent on electricity. How to properly perform insulation country house- Further.
Each person has his own opinion about the convenience and coziness of a living space. In accordance with regulatory requirements (GOST 20494-96 “Residential and public buildings. Indoor microclimate parameters”), comfortable conditions mean the following characteristics:
A minimal deviation from the requirements listed above indicates that it is necessary to thoroughly insulate the house.
If a beginner in the construction business is wondering how to insulate a private house, he needs to learn a few fundamental rules that guarantee the expected result. Violation of even one of the work requirements listed below contributes to violation of GOST requirements and, as a result, a decrease in the effectiveness of previously performed actions.
Fundamental rules apply to both methods of cladding a country house - external and internal. However, they are not always used together. How to insulate a house made of cinder block, wood or brick? When is it correct to insulate a room outside and inside, and in what case can you get by with only the inner lining? This issue also needs to be dealt with.
In most cases, it is enough to get by with internal insulation, but for houses located in the northern regions, it is still necessary to carry out both external and internal thermal insulation.
Having decided on the methods of insulating a country house, the next question that pops up before the consumer is choosing a suitable heat insulator. There are no ideal materials, but the options under consideration need to be analyzed according to a number of criteria, including:
The most popular insulation materials for external and internal wall cladding are:
The thermal conductivity coefficient of materials varies from 0.03 to 0.065, and most of the previously listed properties are inherent in them to a sufficient extent.
If possible, the insulation is initially installed on the foundation of the room. Through it, the house loses about 20-25% of heat. The ideal insulation for the foundation is polystyrene foam or foamed polyurethane foam (which, as is already known, is not so cheap). The slabs of material are secured with adhesive mastic until the soil freezes to the depth of freezing.
After insulating the foundation, it is logical to move on to thermal insulation of the walls. And here preference should be given to polystyrene foam. Walls lined with mineral wool are more susceptible to getting wet than inside the house, so about it in at this stage worth forgetting.
Foam insulation can be done in three ways:
The first method is the most effective and common, but not the easiest.
All areas of the house are insulated from top to bottom, that is, in the following order:
Preference should be given mineral wool, polystyrene foam, ecowool. If you need to make thermal insulation of walls as cheaply as possible, you can get by with compressed straw, and in the case of the floor - expanded clay or clay, having first excavated the soil to the required depth.
When insulating an attic, external or interior walls Lathing is required. It consists of cells into which sheets/plates of thermal insulation material are inserted. In the case of polystyrene foam, their length and width should be 1-2 cm greater than the size of the slab, and with mineral wool, they should be the same amount smaller.
Almost any work on insulating a private country house can easily be done by one person without any experience. Using the recommendations listed above, a novice builder with his own hands will be able to create an architectural masterpiece that will protect his family from frost for many decades.
