A modern house is a building, which has rather stringent requirements for thermal protection. Now on the market there are a large number of highly effective heat-insulating materials. They allow you to provide a comfortable temperature and humidity conditions in the premises. The most effective and reliable way to increase thermal protection characteristics will be floor insulation with expanded polystyrene.
The need for thermal protection and insulation requirements
If a person is told that something needs to be done, he has every right to know why this is necessary. If the house has insufficient thermal insulation of structures, serious problems arise during operation.
The heater performs the following functions:
- prevention of freezing of the floor of the first floor and the penetration of cold into the premises;
- protection against condensation, which leads to the formation of mold, fungus and rotting structures of a wooden house;
- the house will require lower heating costs in the cold season;
- increase soundproof characteristics.
The insulation used in the floor cake has the following requirements:
- good strength characteristics;
- resistance to moisture;
- non-susceptibility to decay and mold;
- safety for humans;
- incombustibility;
- ease of installation.
Extruded polystyrene foam meets all these requirements, which can be used for thermal insulation of concrete, wooden, brick and frame buildings.
What is expanded polystyrene
Expanded polystyrene consists of styrene granules filled with gas. Air is the most effective insulation, so a large number of cavities allows the material to have good heat-shielding performance. Currently, two types of polystyrene foam are widely used in construction: polystyrene foam and extruded material. The second is preferable to use.
These two materials look similar in appearance, but differ in their characteristics and manufacturing method. Polyfoam is made from polystyrene foam balls by sintering. In the production of extruded polystyrene foam, the granules are mixed with a foamed reagent and pressed through an extruder.
What's better? Styrofoam or extruded polystyrene foam?
Polyfoam in comparison with extruded material has only one advantage: low cost.
If the house is being built without a lot of money, it is better to choose the second option.
If we conduct a comparative analysis, then we can come to the following conclusions:
- extruded polystyrene foam has high strength and works better in floor construction;
- polystyrene is characterized by higher water absorption (about two times);
- in the presence of moisture and exposure to low temperatures, the foam can scatter into individual balls;
- polystyrene refers to medium and low combustible materials and, when exposed to high temperatures, releases substances hazardous to humans;
- thanks to special additives, extruded polystyrene foam becomes resistant to fire.
For warming the floor of a wooden house is better suited extruded polystyrene foam. To reduce construction costs, it is possible to apply floor insulation with polystyrene foam of two types at the same time. The lower thicker layer of greater thickness is made of polystyrene foam, and the upper one is made of more durable material with a thickness of 3-5 cm. This method allows to achieve a compromise between price and quality.
Wooden House Overlay Pie
Depending on the strength, the material can be laid in two ways: without lag and with their help.In the first case, the weight of the entire structure of the clean floor falls on the insulation, so a cement-sand screed is made on top of it. Earlier, we already examined in detail the technology of floor insulation under the screed. Most often, this method is used for floors of brick and concrete buildings.
For a wooden house, insulation is made between wooden lags. It is important to take into account the location of the insulation in the building - the thermal protection of the attic floor is different from the insulation of the floor above a cold basement or underground.
Please note that the process of floor insulation in a house on screw piles is slightly different from the above method.
In the first case, the layers are stacked in the following order:
- wood flooring;
- vapor barrier;
- insulation.
When used in construction ground floor The installation procedure is as follows:
- wood flooring;
- waterproofing;
- insulation;
- vapor barrier.
When using extruded polystyrene foam, the vapor barrier can be omitted.
For polystyrene foam, it is important to remember that protection against steam is placed on the side of warm air, and protection against moisture on the side of cold air. Only in this case the house will be reliably protected from the penetration of cold air. As a vapor barrier and hydroprotection, you can use the usual strong plastic film.
Installation process
Depending on the method of laying, work can be done in different ways.
The minimum insulation layer depends on the climate in which the house is located, but on average it is 10 cm.
Laying insulation without lag (under the screed)
The workflow begins by cleaning the base from dirt and dust. Then, if necessary, perform alignment. After preparing the base, the plates are laid out, taking into account the gap for thermal expansion. These spaces are filled with fiberglass or foam. On top of the insulation with this installation method, a cement-sand screed is performed. For fragile polystyrene, it must be additionally reinforced.
The link details the technology of insulation with expanded polystyrene under the screed.
Lagging
The process begins with installation lag, the pitch of which is selected depending on the size of the insulation boards.
This method does not require high strength, so you can safely use foam.
Between the lags, depending on the protected structure vapor barrier or water protection. Plates are mounted, as in the previous case, with a small gap. After the installation of insulation, they begin to erect the structure fine floor.
Floor cake layouts are given in this article above ↑.
Insulation of the floor with polystyrene foam can significantly reduce the load on the building structure. This is especially important if the house is built on unstable soils with poor performance, since it allows you to not overload the foundations.
If you follow all the rules for installing polystyrene foam, it is able to protect the house from the cold for 40-50 years. The right choice of materials and quality control of work allows you to reduce the cost of operation and repair of the home.
This video illustrates the warming with this method: