Before you start roof insulation, you need to thoroughly study all kinds of materials used as roof insulation, know the advantages, disadvantages, as well as their scope. The material in this article will help you make the right choice, after studying which you will no longer need to enter a query into Internet search engines about how to insulate the roof.
Today's market provides a huge selection of thermal insulation materials. The most common of them are: polystyrene foam and mineral wool board, foamed glass, cellular concrete and rigid fiberglass board. Let's briefly dwell on each of these varieties.
Mineral wool, or rather, a mat and a slab from it, is today the most common type. Roof insulation with mineral wool can rightfully be considered the best solution to this issue. Since it has a low coefficient of thermal conductivity (from 0.032 to 0.045 W / m × K), good vapor permeability, sound insulation, durability (about 50 years) and elasticity. It also completely lacks water absorption and has a high resistance to mechanical damage. And the most important property of mineral wool is thatit has low flammability.
Glass wool has almost the same characteristics, although water absorption is much greater and vapor permeability is much lower. To obtain the same result as with mineral wool, you can insulate the roof with stone wool, since its properties are very similar to those of mineral wool.
Roof insulation with extruded polystyrene foam can also be called a good option. It has low thermal conductivity (from 0.02 to 0.035 W/m×K), low weight and, importantly, relatively low cost. Special chemical additives added to its composition made it a flame-retardant and self-extinguishing material. There are also disadvantages of this type of insulation, for example, the possession of a very low vapor permeability, which, if the ventilation is not installed correctly, can lead to increased humidity of the ceilings of the structure. Also, expanded polystyrene has low elasticity and high elasticity, which makes it impossible to use it in the so-called "roofing pie" for mounting complex roof configurations.
On the basis of foamed plastic, there is another type of material that is often used for roof insulation - this is polyurethane foam. Its positive characteristics include the following: increased resistance to aggressive environments, a huge operating temperature range (from -180 to +250 ° C). The disadvantages are sensitivity to direct sunlight, which requires the construction of a protective coating. This type of material allows both sticking, mechanically fixing it to the required surface, and spraying it. These are just the main types of foam, there are many others.
Insulation of the roof with the effect of micro-chambers that are filled with air, possibly an inorganic material called cellular concrete. Yes, of course, this can undoubtedly be attributed to “yesterday”. But the use of organic fibrous insulation, which is based on cork chips, is already the nearest prospect for the development of construction technology. But today it is an incredibly expensive pleasure.
