Insulation of the floor in the apartment of the 1st floor. How to do floor insulation in an apartment on the ground floor with your own hands? Arrangement of a layer of thermal insulation

On reinforced concrete floor slabs, floor insulation in an apartment on the ground floor can be performed using dry or wet screed technology, or thermal insulation can be laid between the logs of a wooden floor. After the elimination of heat losses in the ceilings, the quality of living can be significantly improved by adding the contours of a warm floor to the design.

When designing the insulation of the concrete floor of the first floor in an apartment or country dwelling, one should take into account the features of existing heat-insulating materials:

Vapor barrier;
Thermal conductivity;
Density;
Price.

For the same conditions in construction, there are always several technical solutions. An option is chosen with a rational combination of the construction budget, safety margin and operational resource, taking into account the requirements of the developer and the actual conditions of the project.

Compatible with concrete and wood

Before you insulate the concrete floor in the apartment on your own, you must consider the following nuances:

the necessary rise in the level of the finishing floor covering;
the presence of contours of the warm floor and its design (electric, water, film);
characteristics of the construction materials used.

To eliminate the heat loss of the lower floor, foamed polymers are not considered in principle. The materials most in demand for these purposes are:

Important! Specific heaters should be considered only in combination with the technology of their installation. Since for some finishing flooring only screeds are suitable, while for others - a wooden subfloor.

Layer thickness

Heaters have unequal thermal conductivity, which affects the thickness of the layer to eliminate the same heat loss. For the materials under consideration, this characteristic is:

The thermal conductivity of all these heaters, with the exception of expanded clay, is approximately the same, the performance properties are different. For example, ecowool is considered the only effective remedy against mice; in all other heat insulators, these rodents either make moves or settle in families.

When choosing expanded clay, you will need a much larger layer to insulate the floor in the apartment with your own hands to the level of other materials. However, it is this bulk product that is used in dry screeds, which is why it is considered on a par with the others.

Technology Choice

Before insulating the floor on the ground floor of the apartment, it is necessary to consider several technologies, depending on factors:

humidity of the room - hot water, cold water and sewage pipes pass in bathrooms and kitchens, there is a high probability of leaks, so it is better not to use dry screeds and wooden floors along the logs with your own hands, concrete screed or self-leveling floor should be preferred;
the type of flooring - porcelain stoneware and tiles have a maximum resource exclusively on screeds, for parquet and grooved boards it is more convenient to log or wooden black floor, for other coatings (laminate, carpet, linoleum, PVC tiles) there is not much difference.

However, the performance characteristics of heaters limit their use in some technologies:

it is impossible to lay ecowool in the screed;
expanded clay will mix with concrete and float to the surface, the thermal conductivity of the material will change and grinding or leveling with a self-leveling floor will be required;
EPPS foam glass and expanded polystyrene will withstand any operational loads under a layer of concrete, will not get wet over time, and will retain their initial characteristics;
mineral wool will remove excess moisture from wooden logs, which penetrates into the cake, despite the presence of vapor barrier membranes;
ecowool also has hydrophobicity, does not shrink, but it is more difficult to work with it, it is almost impossible to install the contours of a warm floor into the material.

Advice! Dry screed is chosen for residential premises in order to reduce repair time. In this technology, expanded clay is poured under the GVL slabs, finishing is possible on the same day.

Concrete screed

In the presence of slab reinforced concrete floors, the floor of the first floor is easiest to make using wet screed technology. Design features are:

the minimum layer thickness is 3 cm;
structural material - sand concrete (proportion 1/3, cement, sand, respectively) or ready-mixed concrete with a fine filler fraction (crushed stone 5/20 mm);
waterproofing - applied over the floor slab, extends to the walls by 15 - 20 cm, is carried out using a coating or gluing technology in a continuous layer;
insulation - foam glass or high-density extruded polystyrene foam XPS.

Wet screed with a layer of insulation.

The main advantage of a wet screed is the ability to add underfloor heating contours and acoustic material to the design.

Important! The thickness of the screed is calculated from the last (upper) layer located inside it, that is, from the insulation or pipes of the water-heated floor.

The technology has been worked out to the maximum by generations of developers, it does not have complex operations:

finding the top point - in all rooms at an arbitrary height, the laser plane builder creates marks of a single horizontal level, the distance from the line to the ceiling is measured, the smallest value will be at the top point of the structure;
waterproofing - two layers of bitumen or polymer mastic or a waterproofing membrane;
laying insulation - a layer of XPS 5 - 10 cm in a continuous layer with filling the slots with mounting foam;
damper installation - the walls at the junctions with the slab are pasted over with rubber tape or strips of insulation 2 cm thick are installed;
reinforcement - wire mesh is laid with an overlap of 5 cm at least on polymer pads that provide a protective layer of concrete;
warm floor - used as needed, pipes are attached to the wire mesh with clamps or wire twists;
- the profile is installed on the quick-hardening starting putty in a single horizontal level in order to ensure a screed thickness of at least 3 cm at the top point;
pouring - concrete is laid between the beacons, the excess is removed by a rule or a vibrating screed;
grinding - in order to reduce the thickness of the layer and even out possible unevenness of the hardened concrete, the surface is processed by a grinder.

Instead of sanding, you can use a thin layer (5 - 10 mm), which can also be a top coat.

The main nuances in the manufacture and implementation of the project are:

the thermal conductivity of the structure, even in a panel house, will be 0.25 - 0.35 W / m * K;
structural noise will decrease by 20 dBa, air noise by 3 dBa;
thermal insulation of the floor is provided by a 2 - 8 cm layer of expanded clay sand, on top of which two layers of GVL are laid;
the compressive strength of the structure is 22 MPa, it is possible to glue porcelain stoneware or mount a laminate.

Gypsum fiber boards can be walked on already in the process of laying, facing them on the same day.

Advice! Despite the presence of moisture-resistant GVL, it is better not to use this technology in kitchens and bathrooms, and other wet areas. Even before laying the tiles, the surface of the gypsum fiber boards will have to be additionally treated with waterproofing, which will increase the repair budget.

Note! In the presented video, the installation of a dry floor is carried out without a film under it. If the apartment is located on the first floor, then the film is required.

Wooden floor on joists

In budget or, conversely, luxury interiors, wooden flooring is often used. Therefore, instead of a screed, you can immediately make a boardwalk or subfloor from wood-based chipboard / OSB boards, plywood. Despite the fact that wooden coatings have high thermal insulation properties, additional insulation may be required, for example, if the 1st floor is located above the underground.

In this case, a leveling screed is not necessary; the load-bearing structural elements - logs - are mounted according to the level. Insulation is laid between them, from below it is protected by waterproofing, from above by vapor barrier. Absolutely impenetrable materials do not exist, a certain amount of moisture penetrates into the construction cake. Therefore, in this case, you should choose mineral or ecowool, which will partially absorb moisture, give it back when the microclimate in the room changes.

The best solution for this technology is an adjustable floor:

logs are set on studded floor slabs;
after adjusting the horizontal level, the protruding part of the studs is cut off by the angle grinder;
the space is filled with ecowool, basalt slab or glass wool;
the insulation is sewn up with a vapor barrier membrane;
a black floor is mounted from plywood, edged boards or chipboard.

Important! With a lag step within 40 cm, you can do without a subfloor if you choose a grooved board as a floor covering.

Thus, the concrete floor of the lower floor in the apartment can be insulated in several ways. The main task of the builder is to choose a heat-insulating material suitable for a particular technology and to comply with the minimum thickness of the construction layer.

Advice! If you need repairmen, there is a very convenient service for their selection. Just send in the form below a detailed description of the work to be done and you will receive offers with prices from construction teams and firms by mail. You can see reviews of each of them and photos with examples of work. It's FREE and there's no obligation.

It is necessary to deal with the insulation of the apartment even at the stage of repair, although some people realize it a few years after its completion. And if it is still possible to correct the situation with the help of wall insulation, then doing the same with the floor is much more difficult. Therefore, insulating floors in an apartment should be a top priority, especially when the property is located on the ground floor.

In this article we will talk about how to insulate the floor in the apartment.

Types of floor for an apartment

In modern apartments, two types of flooring are usually installed:

Concrete;
Wooden.

We will talk about their features below.

Wooden floor

Wooden board remains one of the most common types of coatings. The advantage of such flooring is environmental friendliness, presentable appearance, practicality and affordable price. The wood coating makes the flooring warmer, but even in this case it is necessary to insulate the floor in the apartment on the 1st floor.

Concrete floor

In multi-storey buildings in apartments, concrete flooring is most often found. They are based on concrete slabs. If on the middle floors they warm up a little, since there are living quarters above and below, then the insulation of the floor of the first floor in the apartment is simply necessary in order to walk on it without fear of catching a cold.

Wooden floor insulation

For insulation, a warming material is placed under the rough coating of wooden flooring. The instructions for warming in this case are as follows:

First, logs are installed on the interfloor ceiling in one plane along the horizontal level - wooden beams, the size of which is 70 * 50 cm. The logs should be placed at intervals of 35-40 cm.
Insulation is laid between the lags.
A rough coating is installed on top of the insulation.

Advice! As a rough coating, you can use moisture-resistant plywood, floorboards, chipboard.

At the end, a finishing coating (parquet, laminate, etc.) is laid on the rough coating.

Underfloor heating options

In order for the insulated floors in the apartment not only to retain heat, but also to warm the air, different types of warm floors can be used.

Such coatings are divided into:

Electrical. They can be mounted directly into the screed (if a heating cable is used) or laid over a rough coating (if heating mats are used).
infrared. They are a special film installed under the finish coating.
Water. In this case, the coolant (water) circulates through pipes built into the screed. Water in this case is constantly heated and pumped into the heating system.

Warm floors in an apartment on the ground floor will not be superfluous, because the better it is to insulate the floor in the apartment, the more comfortable it will be.

Insulation of concrete floors

In order to insulate the concrete flooring in the apartment, the insulating material should be placed between the ceiling and the leveling screed.

The technology in this case involves the creation of a multilayer structure.

First, a thick film is laid on the concrete floor in such a way that at the joints it overlaps by at least 10 cm. The film is used to create waterproofing.

Advice! To prevent the film from wrapping, you can fix it with tape.

The selected insulation is placed directly on the film. Insulation sheets should be placed as close as possible to each other, as well as to the walls.
Another layer of a thick film is laid on top of the insulation, which ensures the moisture resistance of the entire insulation structure.
The floor surface is reinforced with a metal mesh.
At the final stage, a cement screed is poured.

Floor insulation materials

In order to effectively insulate the floor, you need to choose the right insulation for the floor in the apartment. Today, the choice of such materials is quite large.

Vermiculite

Vermiculite is considered the most environmentally friendly insulation today. It is obtained by processing mineral products. Sold in the form of plates, the thickness of which varies from 20 to 60 cm.

Tiled vermiculite is a rather expensive material, but you can use its analogue - granular vermiculite, the price of which is much lower. Vermiculite does not accumulate moisture, which is very important for an insulating layer.

In the photo - tiled vermiculite

Mineral wool

This is a cheap insulation that provides low heat transfer. If you are thinking about how to insulate the floors in an apartment so that it is cheap and effective, mineral wool will be an excellent solution.

However, it also has disadvantages: over time, wool becomes denser, which means that its thermal insulation properties decrease. In addition, it is not entirely safe for health.

Styrofoam

Polyfoam provides low thermal conductivity, prevents the formation of condensate, eliminates air convection inside the insulation layer. In addition, it is cheap and environmentally friendly. The disadvantages of polystyrene include its fragility and susceptibility to aggressive environmental influences.

Expanded clay

The advantages of expanded clay include strength, low thermal conductivity, durability. However, it absorbs moisture to a large extent, so you need to consider a competent floor waterproofing system.

gypsum fiber

Most often used as . This material is ineffective as a heater.

Polyurethane foam (PPU)

This is an innovative material that can be used to insulate any surface. Unlike other materials, PPU is simply sprayed onto the surface. This type of thermal insulation is considered the most effective today.

Bulk insulation

For floor insulation, special mixtures are also used, called self-leveling floors. They provide high heat and noise insulation, as well as waterproofing and fire safety. These coatings are environmentally friendly materials, and they can be mounted by hand.

We talked about how to insulate the floor in the apartment. We also examined the types of insulation materials used today. We hope our tips are helpful to you.

You can get more information on the topic from the video in this article.

Often, residents on the first floors of apartment buildings are faced with the problem of an icy floor surface in winter. Therefore, the question of how to carry out thermal insulation correctly, what methods exist and what is better to use in a given situation is relevant. Practical recommendations on how to choose the optimal insulation of the floor of the first floor, as well as instructions for doing the work yourself, are designed to help solve this problem.

Materials to choose from

In apartment buildings, there are two types of coating: wooden and concrete. Depending on this, the appropriate type of insulation is selected.

Bases for warm coating on the floor are liquid, loose, as well as in the form of blocks and in rolls. They can be used together with each other or separately.

Liquid

The insulation can be a cement mixture filled with expanded clay, foam or other materials.
Currently, polymer penoizol is widely used.

However, in order to work with it, you need special equipment.

Bulk

Expanded clay, foam plastic chips, sawdust stand out from the heaters of this group. They are suitable for insulating floors in apartments where there is an unheated basement.

Expanded clay - strong and durable, has low thermal conductivity. But, choosing it as a heater, you need to take care of high-quality waterproofing, since its granules absorb moisture well.

Block

They come in the form of plates and mats of mineral wool, polystyrene, basalt fiber.

Styrofoam has low thermal conductivity, low cost and environmentally friendly. But it is fragile, and with strong heating it melts, releasing harmful fumes.

A more modern version of polystyrene is expanded polystyrene. It has the best density, does not burn. Sheets of such insulation are convenient in that they can be used to mount a warm floor, install a plank floor, pour a screed, and so on.

The most environmentally friendly material among the blocks is vermiculite, which is obtained by processing mineral products.

However, it is by no means cheap, and in order to save money, you can use its analogue, granular vermiculite.

Rolled

In the form of rolls, heaters are made from polystyrene, cork, mineral wool and foil bases. When the thickness of the roll-type insulation is not enough, they are placed in two layers or used in conjunction with blocks.

Mineral wool, being a cheap insulation, guarantees low heat transfer. But, it must be borne in mind that over time it can condense, due to which its properties will decrease. In addition, during installation, mineral wool crumbles and forms dust that is harmful to health, therefore, it involves the use of a respirator and overalls when working with it.

Concrete floor

Concrete is durable and therefore very often used as a floor. However, this material is very cold. Therefore, in those houses where it is used, thorough thermal insulation is necessary on the first floors. Otherwise, any heating will not be able to warm up properly.

On the first floor, apartment owners should do waterproofing, as dampness often forms in the basement, as a result of which, without appropriate work, mold will appear on the walls.

Work instructions

Begin the process by preparing the foundation. To do this, it is necessary to remove all the coating and check the plates for cracks, chips and cracks. If there are defects, they are eliminated with a special solution based on concrete or cement. After the surface hardens, it is treated with a special impregnation that strengthens the layer.

The next step is to waterproof. This is where plastic wrap comes in handy. It should go on the walls by about fifteen to twenty centimeters. Cope with the task and a special primer deep penetration.

For the installation of insulation, a frame is made. To do this, lay the bars, and under them - pieces of roofing material. Logs are placed on the bars, and the whole structure is attached to concrete.

After that, you can install loose insulation alone or as part of a liquid version. On top of it, mineral wool is laid in the cavity of the structure. You can also use foam or other material.

Then a steam insulating film is laid, which is fastened with staples to the logs.

The process ends with the installation of the subfloor. Depending on the type of finish, it can be made of boards or thick plywood.

In modern high-rise buildings, wooden floors are no longer installed. But they can often be found in old-style houses.

Wood is a warm and environmentally friendly material, but over time it tends to dry out, causing gaps in the floor to form. And they cause drafts. Therefore, it will be correct to further process such coatings.

Isolation Technology

To make insulation on the first floor, you need to perform the following steps:

dismantle the old coating, check and, if necessary, replace it, and in normal condition it can be laid in place;
treat the surface with antifungal antiseptics and allow to dry;
install insulation and cover it with a vapor barrier film;
a board is laid on top of the surface.

Basement work

The apartment on the first floor can be insulated from the basement side. For this purpose, heat-insulating material is attached to the ceiling in the technical room. It can be foam or foam plastic, which are simply glued. Suitable in this capacity and mineral wool. But attaching it will be more difficult. For this you need:

fix the bars with a thickness of a couple of centimeters more than the insulation layer;
lay mineral wool between the elements of the installed structure;
using a stapler, install a vapor barrier membrane on the surface
sheathe the structure with plywood or fiberboard.

This type of insulation is becoming increasingly popular. Thanks to him, the floor surface on the ground floor will always be warm, the humidity in the apartment will decrease, and its microclimate will improve. The system happens:

electric, mounted in a screed or over a rough coating;
infrared, from a special film installed under the finish coat;
water, when the liquid is constantly heated and injected into the heating system.

It is best to lay such structures in a leveling screed. The water floor can also be used for wood flooring. But this will be more difficult to implement, since polymer pipes must be laid in the grooves made for them and covered with foil. Finishing is installed on top of the system.

Such a coating is used not only as a decorative, but also as a floor insulation, especially on the ground floor. Special mixtures guarantee thermal insulation and waterproofing, as well as fire safety.

They are made of environmentally friendly materials that can be installed independently.

Installation instructions

Before starting installation, it is important to properly prepare the base.

whatever the rough surface is - concrete, wood, ceramic tiles or cement screed, it must be carefully checked;
close cracks, cracks, chips, loose elements, dismantle and replace;
clean all coating;
sand wood and concrete;
generously prime the floor so that all pores are completely closed;
a day after that, you can start laying.

The prepared mixture is simply poured out of the bucket and leveled with a spatula. The whole room is covered at once to get a flat surface. At the end, in order to avoid the appearance of bubbles, you need to walk with a roller with needles over the entire coating. A polyurethane varnish is applied to the dried floor.

In order for the work on the apartment to be successful, you need to take into account some points:

the walls of the basement are examined to detect cracks, holes and chips there, which must be repaired;
ventilation holes in the basement for the winter can be covered, but not completely;
installation of a vapor barrier is required.

The cold floor is the weak point of all apartments located on the first floors. Residents of these premises every day are forced to face not only the cold coming from below, but also the spread of dampness, mold and fungus. The question of how to insulate the floor on the ground floor is relevant both for apartment owners in multi-storey buildings and for residents of private houses, under the first floor of which there is an unheated basement. Work on warming the floor structure helps to solve the problem of cold and constant dampness: if this is done with the highest quality, the temperature in the rooms during the winter period will be comfortable, and the mold will disappear forever.

Concrete floor insulation work

Cold penetrates into the apartments of the lower floors of high-rise buildings due to the location of the room above the basement, as well as due to the poor thermal insulation characteristics of the floor slabs themselves. Warming of the concrete floor of the first floor is carried out using a cement-sand screed and heaters, which are characterized by a high density of the material.

What is the order in which the flooring works are carried out? The old coating is dismantled and removed, the remaining base is leveled and covered with sand or expanded clay. This backfill is used for three purposes at once: it not only makes the surface even, but also partially plays the role of thermal insulation, and also raises the level of future flooring. Many experts advise using a bulk pillow when insulating floors on the ground floor, since it eliminates deformation of the heat-insulating layer layer under heavy loads.

A damper tape must be glued along the perimeter of the floor of the first floor. If there is no adhesive layer on the tape, then it can be attached to the walls with self-tapping screws. The tape is needed for two purposes. It serves as an additional way to heat and, and also protects the walls of the room from the expansion of the cement screed, which will be poured from above.

On top of the expanded clay backfill, a layer of waterproofing is spread on the working surface - a dense polyethylene film, its joints are firmly fastened with construction tape. Then you can proceed to the installation of insulation. It is best to lay polystyrene foam on the ceiling of the cold floor of the first floor, since its high density provides the best thermal insulation qualities. As a replacement for expanded polystyrene, you can consider options with floor insulation with mineral wool or polystyrene foam.

The material for the heat-insulating layer must be chosen carefully, the desire to save money can lead to the fact that all repairs will not provide a good result, and the temperature in the apartment during the cold periods of the year will remain uncomfortable.

Styrofoam boards.

Expanded polystyrene tiles should be placed tightly on the surface, it is not necessary to fasten them to the ceiling. When the installation of the heat-insulating layer is completed, the insulation of the floor of the first floor proceeds to the next stage of work: preparations for pouring the screed begin. In order for a decorative floor covering to be laid on the surface of the screed without any problems, it must turn out to be very even. for these purposes, before pouring the cement mortar, experts advise installing beacon profiles.

This is how the profiles for the future pouring of the screed look like.

Profiles must be set strictly according to the level and fixed. For fixing, you can use both self-tapping screws and the cement mortar itself. When mixing cement mortar, fiber and plasticizer can be added to it. These special additives are of great importance for increasing the strength of the future concrete screed. The finished solution is poured onto the work surface in the direction from the walls to the door and leveled with the rule. After the screed has completely dried, you can lay the selected floor covering on it. On this, the insulation of the concrete floor of the first floor can be considered complete.

Concrete or cement-sand mortar can be replaced with a dry screed. Dry mixes fit quickly and quite simply. The drying of the cement screed lasts about four weeks, if you do not have such a long period of time, then a dry screed remains the only possible option. It is not required to wait for it to dry, it is almost immediately ready for installation of the top layer of the floor.

Floor insulation in a wooden house

How to insulate a wooden floor? Floors on the ground floor often require thermal insulation work. Cold and damp enter the premises from the cold underground, making it uncomfortable to be in the rooms on the lower floor of the house. To insulate the floor structure, the insulation is placed between the rough and finish coatings.

Before starting work, it is necessary to choose a heater, since the distance between the lags will depend on the type of material. The sequence of work in the arrangement of the floors of the first floor is such that first a lag frame is mounted, and then heat-insulating material is placed between them. So that you have to cut and fit pieces of insulation as little as possible, the step between the lags should be equal to the width of the material.

Experts recommend installing double logs across, as this will greatly raise the floor, and nail the bars under the insulation flooring onto the floor beams. Using this method will save the height of the ceilings, which is most important in small rooms where it is impossible to sacrifice extra centimeters.

After installing the lag, the surface should be covered with a dense plastic film.

It is impossible to neglect the arrangement of the waterproofing layer, since the effect of all other works in its absence will be minimal. If the thermal insulation layer is exposed to moisture and gets wet, then almost all of its characteristics that ensure heat retention will be lost.

After the bars on the logs and the thermal insulation are installed, the first level of the raised floor is attached to them using self-tapping screws. It can be made both from boards or plywood, and from OSB sheets. If you are making a warm floor in an apartment on the ground floor, then you do not need to install an additional rough coating; a concrete floor slab will serve as the basis for the entire structure.

Insulation of the floor of the first floor can be done using polystyrene foam, polystyrene foam or mineral wool. The material should be laid between the lags in a checkerboard pattern tightly to each other. Most often, for the purposes of insulation, mineral wool is used, which is produced in rolls or tiles. As a replacement for the listed heat-insulating materials, an embankment of expanded clay or sawdust can be considered. They can also be used as thermal insulation, but in exceptional cases, since the falling asleep of expanded clay and sawdust is accompanied by a large amount of dust. Backfill made of expanded clay or sawdust is afraid of moisture and loses its properties when wet.

Mineral wool.

On top of the laid insulation, another layer of waterproofing is laid, which can be firmly attached using a construction stapler. If the waterproofing material cannot be laid with a single sheet, then at the joints, parts of the polyethylene are overlapped at least 10 cm wide. Then it is necessary to fill small bars on the logs in order to leave a gap between the insulation and the board finish to ensure ventilation of the entire floor structure.

After thermal insulation work, the floors of the first floor can be sheathed with any material you like. The flooring can be made of both floorboards and plywood or chipboard. When installing a finishing coating, it is necessary to remember about the gaps near the walls: a space of 1.5 - 2 cm wide should be left between the flooring and the wall of the room.

One of the alternative options for warming wooden floors is the use of penoizol, which many call liquid foam. Insulation of the floor of the first floor when using penoizol differs in that it does not require removal of the casing. This saves you a lot of time for repairs. The cost of the floor insulation method using penoizol depends on how much material you need to fill the space between the lags.

The sequence of work is quite simple. Holes are drilled in several places in the wooden floor, or you can simply remove one or two boards from the flooring. Penoizol is supplied under pressure through these holes into the structure. The material fills the entire space between the lags, no matter what form it needs to take.

The advantage of this method of warming the floors of the first floor is not only the simplicity of its implementation, but also the protection of the entire floor. Penoizol in the process of polymerization increases in volume and exits through the slots of the boardwalk. As a result, it fills absolutely all voids and cracks that can contribute to heat loss.

When choosing a material for thermal insulation of the floor, one should be guided by financial possibilities and adhere to a rational approach. If you have enough time to dismantle the old floor and lay a new flooring from the boards, then you can choose mineral wool or expanded polystyrene as a heater. Both materials can be mounted with your own hands, without using the services of specialists.

The use of rolled mineral wool is one of the most common ways to insulate the floor, which is used by many. Thermal insulation of the floor in the premises of the first floor with the help of expanded clay is undesirable, since the result of the work carried out will not be highly effective. If there is no opportunity to spend a serious amount of money on the purchase of thermal insulation material, then you should pay attention to insulation with foam. Using penoizol requires serious costs, but it will save you time.

How to insulate the floor on the ground?

In some private houses, the floor is mounted directly on the ground, therefore it also requires serious insulation. Thermal insulation of such structures should be considered at the stage of building a house.

When building a house, the top layer of soil is removed and removed, crushed stone and sand are poured in its place. Each layer is poured to a height of about 10 cm and well compacted. Insulation of the floor of the first floor in this case can be carried out on sand or on a concrete screed. In the first method, the heat-insulating material is laid directly on the compacted sand, in the second, a concrete slab up to 12 cm thick is first poured.

As a heater, it is best to use expanded polystyrene, which is not afraid of moisture. The perimeter of the room is treated with a damper tape, and waterproofing is laid on the insulation in the form of a polyethylene film or a vapor barrier membrane. Then, a cement screed with a reinforcing mesh is poured over this entire structure. After the solution has dried, the floors of the first floor can be covered with a decorative coating.

How to insulate the floor on the ground floor is not an idle question for many owners of private houses who are busy improving the energy efficiency of their homes. Reducing heating costs with steadily rising energy prices is an important task that can be achieved by careful thermal insulation of all external surfaces of the building and structures adjacent to them.

Insulation of the floor of a private house - a way to save energy

Why you need to insulate the floor on the first floor

The floor of the first floor is the boundary separating the internal warm rooms from the unheated basement or ground. In winter, cold outside air and frozen soil cool the foundation, plinth, and walls adjacent to the floor.

Condensation occurs when cold and heat meet. This leads to freezing structures, their constant moisture. Fungi settle on the surface and in the thickness, destroying not only wood, but also brick and concrete with the emitted substances. The floor covering, wall decoration suffers.

In addition to the discomfort caused by the wet icy surface, heating costs increase. Through an uninsulated floor, up to 15% of heat is released into the ground and the atmosphere.

Losses through an uninsulated floor reach 15%

We have to maintain a more intense heating mode, which sometimes does not help much. The air in the house warms up enough, and the floors remain cold.

Insulation of the floor of the first floor of a private house should be given special attention. This will help maintain a favorable indoor climate, reduce costs during the heating period of the year, and extend the life of materials and structures.

Types of floor insulation and their characteristics

The construction industry produces a variety of thermal insulation materials that meet the requirements of GOST and SNiP.

For floor insulation use:

granulated - expanded clay, blast-furnace slag, vermiculite, foam glass;
rolled - stone, glass, slag wool, polyethylene foam, polystyrene foam, technical cork;
plates with and without foil coating - basalt wool, expanded polystyrene, foam plastic, wood concrete, plywood, chipboard or oriented chipboard, chipboard, OSB;
concrete-based mixtures - expanded clay concrete, slag concrete, foam concrete, polystyrene concrete, sawdust concrete.
foams, liquids - polyurethane foam, ecowool, heat-insulating paints.

Modern thermal insulators increase the energy efficiency of the house

Together with insulation, an underfloor heating system is often installed - laying a heating cable, infrared emitters, electric mats or thin tubes filled with water. Heating is carried out from the power supply or a heating boiler.

General characteristics that thermal insulation materials have:

low coefficient of thermal conductivity - 0.03-0.3 W / m ° C, which effectively reduces heat loss even when laying a layer of small thickness;
high fire resistance - most heat insulators belong to the class NG, G1 or G2, which means incombustibility or a low degree of flammability;
biological inertness - materials do not rot due to the chemical composition or antiseptic impregnations, are resistant to mold growth;
durability - with proper installation and operation, the service life declared by the manufacturer is 20 years or more;
low density and low weight - the structure of heat insulators is porous or fibrous, therefore, coatings made of them are light and do not create a load on the supporting structures;
manufacturability - insulation is easy to lay on horizontal surfaces, fasten or apply with special equipment, it does not take much time.

Polymer heaters are several times more effective than natural materials

The advantages of heat insulators include environmental friendliness. They do not emit harmful fumes and radiation into the environment. For the use of heaters indoors, this is very important.

The choice of insulation option

The method of floor insulation is chosen taking into account:

base material and design;
the presence of a basement;
characteristics of the heating system;
climatic conditions.

In a wooden house that belongs to fire hazardous structures, it is advisable to arrange thermal insulation from non-combustible materials - expanded clay, perlite, foam glass, mineral wool in rolls or slabs, polyurethane foam.

Concrete floors can be insulated with polymeric insulators - polystyrene foam, polystyrene foam. They do not support combustion, but emit acrid smoke when heated. According to the standards, such materials must be covered with a protective layer of cement-sand mortar with a thickness of at least 30 mm.

Fibrous and bulk insulation tend to absorb water vapor from the environment. A moisture barrier is created using a variety of films and membranes, which are laid from the side of unheated basements or underground floors. Insulators are often covered with aluminum foil, the function of which is to reflect infrared rays into the room, additionally protecting it from heat loss.

Before choosing a heat insulator, you need to consider all options

When choosing a heater for the floor of the first floor, important criteria are:

price category;
labor intensity of work.

The most inexpensive thermal insulation is polystyrene foam, polystyrene foam, polystyrene foam. Polymers are offered at a price of 1800 rubles / m³. A layer with a thickness of 50-100 mm is usually laid on the floor, which corresponds to 36-89 rubles / m².

Expanded clay will cost 1200 rubles / m³, in terms of a square meter of floor 240 rubles. (layer 20 cm).

Basalt wool in rolls or unstitched mats costs an average of 170-180 rubles / m².

The cost of laying is calculated based on the established prices for work in the construction market. If we do the repair ourselves, you can mount the insulation without resorting to the help of teams.

The least labor intensive when installing thermal insulation made of foam and related materials or mineral wool. Laying expanded clay or slag is more difficult, their specific gravity is 400-600 kg / m³. To move and cover 100 m² of floor with a layer of 20 cm, 20 m³ is required, which is 8-12 tons. For such work, at least an assistant is needed, and preferably 2 or 3.

Ecowool is a cellulose insulation that is gaining popularity. It is applied with professional pressure equipment. Independently, this type of insulation is not mounted. The price per square is voiced by specialized firms. It is from 170 rubles / m² and depends on the configuration of the surface, the thickness of the layer.

Cotton blowing is carried out by professionals

You can scatter ecowool over the surface manually, similar to granular materials. The quality of such insulation is much lower than with dry blowing.

Climatic conditions impose certain requirements on the choice of insulation for the floor. For example, in cold Siberian regions, in order to isolate the surface with expanded clay, it will be necessary to lay a layer of about 40 cm (determined by thermal engineering calculation). Therefore, it is advisable to perform work using lightweight thermal insulators with a lower coefficient of thermal conductivity.

Thermal insulation with bulk materials

The oldest bulk insulation is dry earth. Later, man began to use wood shavings or sawdust. They are still used today, impregnated with antiseptics and flame retardants or mixed with lime, cement, clay. But the most popular insulation is obtained by swelling shale clay.

It is easy to use, inexpensive, not loved by rodents. A layer of expanded clay can be distributed over the ground, after spreading the waterproofing. It will protect the material from moisture.

Expanded clay is very easy to use

To insulate the floor of the first floor, a mixture of 15 mm granules and smaller fractions is used to fill the gaps between large elements. The layer thickness is at least 20 cm. Thermal insulation is performed by a dry, wet or combined method.

The sequence of "dry" work using bulk insulation:

Fill the space between the logs of the wooden floor with expanded clay, vermiculite or other materials.
Draft floors are laid from MDF, plywood, boards, chipboard, OSB.
Lay the finish coat.

"Wet" floor insulation:

Expanded clay is mixed with a cement-sand mortar.
Expanded clay concrete is laid on the base.
Align, wait for complete drying.
Set up a clean finish.

With the combined method, a layer of dry insulation is first filled up, then it is poured with a cement-sand mortar. Level and after hardening lay finishing materials. It is possible to lay a reinforcing mesh in the screed for strength.

Dry expanded clay screed

The disadvantages of bulk insulation are the tendency to shrink, moisten. To level them, during installation, the granules must be sealed, protected with waterproofing from the side of possible wetting.

Warming with roll materials

Basalt wool is the most common floor insulation in private homes. Produced in rolls, mats or slabs. The first two types - inexpensive and loose, are designed for thermal insulation of wooden floors. Plates are denser, stronger, but more expensive. Used under concrete screed.

Algorithm for laying roll materials:

Waterproofing is spread on the boards or shields of the subfloor - films, membranes.
Between the lags, a heater 10-20 cm thick is laid without gaps and without excessive compaction, the layers must overlap each other.
A vapor barrier is placed on top, which will not prevent the evaporation of moisture from the heat insulator if it gets wet.
Counter rails are mounted along the lags to form a space for ventilation.
The insulation is completed by a finishing coat with an additional layer of sound insulation.

Insulation with rolled mineral wool

If foil varieties are used, turn the metal surface towards the room. Heat rays should be reflected into the room.

Installation of plate heaters

Expanded polystyrene and penoplex are types of polystyrene. Consist of closed balls filled with air. Due to their structure, polymers have the lowest thermal conductivity among building materials - 0.03 W / m ° C and are widely used in private housing construction for thermal insulation of floors on the first floor.

Expanded polystyrene is very unpretentious - it does not absorb moisture, like mineral wool or expanded clay. It can be laid on soil, concrete or bedding. During operation, it does not lose its properties for a long time, since it does not compact over time.

Laying polystyrene foam is a simple task. The main stages of installation for the floor on the ground:

Prepare the base - compact the bedding, pour the rough screed.
Lay waterproofing film.
The plates are mounted, combining the groove and the crest along the edges of two adjacent elements.
Spread another layer of waterproofing.
A reinforcing mesh is placed on top, a screed is poured.

In the same sequence, work is carried out when insulating a concrete monolith, with the exception of the device for backfilling and a rough screed.

Foam boards are easy to lay on your own

If you lay a foil film on top, then the base for installing the underfloor heating system is ready.

Concrete or floors on the ground with mineral wool slabs are insulated according to the scheme:

On a dense base - gravel backfill or concrete - waterproofing is laid in 2 layers with an overlap of 15-20 cm.
Mount mineral wool slabs, making sure that no gaps remain.
Another layer of waterproofing is spread on top, which will protect the screed from leakage of cement milk.
A concrete screed with a thickness of 50 mm or more is poured.
Set up a clean finish.

The greatest efficiency in floor insulation can be achieved if:

conduct thermal insulation of adjacent structures - basement, foundation, blind area;
protect the insulation from moisture with waterproofing, and for the evaporation of water, provide a ventilation gap of at least 50 mm;
fill joints and gaps between the plates with scraps of material or mounting foam;
from the invasion of rodents, use special small-mesh (up to 8 mm) nets, they are laid in places where animals can access;
if a floor covering is laid on the insulation layer, stepping back from the wall by 10 mm, an additional soundproofing effect will be obtained.

The decision on how and with what to insulate the floor of the first floor is made by the owner. The advantages of thermal insulation are obvious - while reducing the cost of heating indoors in winter, comfortable conditions are maintained. Modern materials are available and technologically advanced.