Heat loss is not always related to the thermal conductivity of the material, very often the reason for this is the different temperature in the basement and on the ground floor of the house. Thermal insulation of the floor in a wooden house prevents heat leakage, thereby reducing heating costs. High-quality floor insulation in a wooden house can be done with the right choice of insulation.
This is what an insulated floor looks like in a section
Why is it necessary to insulate the floor in wooden houses
It is very rare to find wooden houses with high-quality thermal insulation of the floor, which ensures a comfortable stay even in severe frosts. In most cases, a cold floor is a fairly common phenomenon in wooden buildings.
This happens according to the laws of physics from the school course, according to which heavier cold air accumulates below. The lack of thermal insulation on the floor or a violation of the insulation process causes cold bridges between the dried boards.
This phenomenon contributes to the loss of almost a quarter of thermal resources.
Video description
Clearly about the feasibility of floor insulation in the video:
Based on this, it is safe to say that the insulated wooden floor eliminates the following problems:
Increased indoor humidity.
Low temperature inside the building.
The accumulation of condensate, which is the cause of the formation of mold.
The appearance of harmful microorganisms.
The formation of rot inside wood structures.
The combination of these factors encourages the homeowner to insulate the wooden floor, and to do the job in accordance with all the rules.
Laying thermal insulation in interfloor ceilings
The result of the actions taken will be a comfortable and cozy stay, and most importantly, the leakage of thermal resources and the corresponding costs will decrease. Thermal insulation can be carried out not only in old buildings, but also in commissioned buildings.
How to choose the right thermal insulation material
Owners of private buildings often wonder if they need floor insulation in a wooden house, which one is better to buy to get the best effect. The selection of material for this purpose can be called a rather crucial moment, so it is important to adhere to the following:
Weight of materials. It makes little sense for owners of private wooden houses to take into account this characteristic, since their houses themselves do not create a large load on the foundation tape or pillow. It is necessary to know the mass of the material only when working in multi-storey buildings, where too heavy insulation will exert an additional load on the floor slabs.
Moisture resistance. Most often, this criterion is looked at when they are finishing “wet” rooms - a bathroom or kitchen. It is also necessary to focus on it when building a house in latitudes with a humid climate.
Operating period. This parameter directly affects how many times and after what time the homeowner will carry out work related to the repair or replacement of the floor.
On the packaging of quality and certified materials, their full characteristics are always indicated.
Thermal conductivity index. The lower the value of this parameter, the more heat will remain in the house.
The degree of complexity of laying the material. Every master dreams of simplified installation work, therefore, the simpler the installation of insulation, the better.
The presence of a basement or basement. If there is an unheated room under the insulated floor, then it is important to choose a thicker thermal insulation.
Ceiling height. Laying insulation is always accompanied by a decrease in usable space, so in rooms with low ceilings it is better to opt for thinner insulation.
Features of use. Permanent or temporary residence also determines the thickness of the thermal insulation.
Fire resistant. It is very important that the heat-insulating material is resistant to fire or at least does not support combustion. In addition, it should not emit harmful gases when heated.
In our catalog, you can find a list of companies of companies specializing in finishing materials and works, among the houses presented at the exhibition Low-rise Country.
Popular types of thermal insulation materials
Ease of use is one of the most important criteria for choosing materials. Some of them are solid and can only be used on flat surfaces, while others are also successfully used for thermal insulation of areas of complex shape. Before insulating the floor in a wooden house, you should choose the most suitable type of insulation.
When choosing a material, it is necessary to take into account the conditions under which it will have to be laid.
Heaters in rolls
In this form, heaters are supplied, the basis of which is cork or mineral wool. The physical characteristics of these materials (softness and reduced density) make it possible to lay thermal insulation without much difficulty, not only on a perfectly flat surface. Roll insulation can be laid with the least number of butt joints, which increases the degree of thermal insulation. In most cases, this type of insulation is afraid of high humidity, so when laying it, you should take care of waterproofing. Sometimes roll materials have an outer foil layer that protects the material from moisture.
Rolls are easy to unwind on a flat surface
Plate materials
These are lightweight slabs or insulation mats that can not change shape during installation. They are characterized by low thermal conductivity and low weight. Easily mounted on the surface with minor errors.
Tiles can be installed alone
Liquid polymer thermal insulation
This type is a special formulation that forms a solid foam structure when exposed to air. With the help of such thermal insulation, all hard-to-reach places and errors are filled. Among the well-known representatives of this type of insulation, penoizol can be distinguished, which is applied to the surface from a can using a special sprayer. The only drawback of liquid heaters can be called a high price.
Liquid insulation sticks to any surface
Loose thermal insulation
This type of insulation is represented by such bulk materials as slag, expanded clay or sawdust. They fill the prescribed volume quite tightly, while laying is possible both on a pre-equipped base and on ordinary soil.
When using such heaters, it will be necessary to install additional beams for a finishing coating and, as a result, raise the floor level.
When choosing a method of insulating wood flooring, one should be guided by the efficiency of the use of the material and the material benefit.
Least effort on flat surfaces
Popular materials for wood flooring insulation
Usually you don’t have to look for a long time for the best way to insulate the floor in a wooden house - in building stores there is a large selection of various materials and all that remains is to choose the right one, starting from their characteristics.
Styrofoam and expanded polystyrene
In addition to good thermal insulation, one of the main characteristics of these materials is their vapor impermeability, so it is most effective to use them for warming the floor of the first floor or basement. Under normal conditions of mid-latitudes, it is enough to use slabs 5-13 cm thick. If you take thinner slabs, then over time, the savings will be covered by increased heating costs.
Work with foam
Mineral wool
The properties of this material do not allow its use in floor screeds on the ground. But wooden floors, insulated with mineral wool, can boast an increase in service life. It is recommended to insulate the floor between the basement and the first floor with a material whose thickness is 20-30 cm. Higher floors are insulated with materials 10-15 cm thick.
Video description
The procedure for working with mineral wool on the video:
Ecowool
The material is produced from shredded waste paper and cardboard packaging with further impregnation with flame retardants and antiseptics. Ecowool cannot be used for ground insulation due to its low density, but for beam slabs, the material is considered the best option. In this case, the thickness of the floor insulation in a wooden house can be 20-25 cm.
Backfilling of ecowool
Foamed polymers
The main difference is the high cost compared to other heaters. The use of this insulation on the floor and ceilings along the beams cannot be called effective. Therefore, it is best to use foamed polymer heat-insulating materials for thin-layer structures for floor coverings.
Before installing the finished floor
Foam glass
The material is obtained by foaming quartz sand. The mass of such a heater is much less than that of a dry tree. The main advantages of the material are good vapor barrier properties, the ability to withstand heavy loads without changing shape and losing quality characteristics, as well as good sound insulation.
Foam glass is produced in slabs that can withstand the weight of a heavy vehicle, or in granules for backfilling wooden floors.
The standard density of the material is 150kg/m³, which makes it possible to use it for insulation of the basement and ceilings located above. In this case, the thickness of the thermal insulation should be respectively 18 cm and 15 cm.
Foam glass plates
Expanded clay
Recently, this insulation has been used much less frequently due to the appearance on the construction market of more efficient thermal insulation materials. Some characteristics require an increase in the thermal insulation layer by 4-6 times compared to stone wool or ecowool. Overlapping along the beams cannot always accommodate such a volume of insulation.
Expanded clay needs a lot of space
Fiberboard
This type of insulation is obtained by mixing cement powder, liquid glass and wood wool. The advantage of such thermal insulation of the floor in a wooden house is the ability to dampen noise of various origins, as well as significant heat retention when gluing the load-bearing walls of the house with this type of insulation. The high hygroscopicity of the material limits its use in floors on the ground, but it is ideal for insulating floors along beams and for creating multi-layer pies of wooden structures. The insulation of the floors between the basement and the first floor is carried out with a layer of 15 cm, for the upper floors 10 cm of insulation is sufficient.
Fiberboard
Sawdust
Such insulation cannot be called the most effective way to insulate residential premises, since in order to reduce heat loss it is necessary to lay a layer with a thickness of at least 30 cm. Therefore, sawdust is most often used in non-residential attic spaces. Recently, sawdust has been used in the production of highly effective thermal insulation and materials with similar characteristics.
Leveling the layer of sawdust
Izolon
This thermal insulation, obtained from polyethylene foam, has a low coefficient of thermal conductivity even with a thickness of 0.2-1 cm. This quality makes the material indispensable for insulating a wooden floor. Among other advantages, good sound insulation can be noted, which makes it unnecessary to lay additional soundproofing layers. When using isolon, laying is mandatory not end-to-end, but with an overlap of the strips, the resulting seams are treated with polymer glue or bituminous mastic.
Rolls of Izolon
Penofol
The material is a roll insulation of a new generation. This lightweight and easy-to-use material provides shielding to prevent radiant energy from dissipating. Heat preservation occurs due to the reflective layer, which makes the material especially popular when insulating the floor between floors. Among the advantages are the ability to resist heavy loads, low thermal conductivity and easy installation.
The thickness and flexibility of Penefol allows it to be used in difficult places.
Comparing the properties and features of use, we can conclude that for wooden elements it is better to choose vapor-permeable materials, and in other cases, use high-density heaters.
The procedure for the installation of thermal insulation
Before insulating the floor in a wooden house, it is important to familiarize yourself with the general rules for the work.
Video description
First of all, you need to understand what you can’t do - clearly about it in the video:
And the process of warming is as follows:
First you need to remove the baseboard and remove the old floor. In this case, care must be taken not to buy new material.
Open floor beams are inspected for rotten elements that must be replaced. It is best to fasten new wooden parts with galvanized self-tapping screws that are not subject to corrosion.
The support beam is best fastened from the bottom of the log.
The rough flooring is made of unedged boards, the length of which corresponds to the distance between the lags or 2 cm less than this parameter. The rough floor is not laid closely, and the beam can be omitted from the elements of this coating.
Houses located in areas with a high level of groundwater very often suffer from high humidity, with all the ensuing consequences. Therefore, it is very important to protect the floors with roofing felt or glassine. The waterproofing strips are overlapped, gluing the joints with adhesive tape.
Insulation is laid on top of the finished floor log. In addition, another layer of waterproofing is needed.
To create a ventilation gap, counter rails are nailed over the insulation.
The final step is laying the new flooring.
Final floor finish
Whatever material or technology is used, first of all, you should always remember that a high-quality result can be obtained only if the technology of work is strictly observed.
