The problem of a cold floor today is found in many apartments, especially those located on the first floors. In order to protect the premises from cold air and moisture that come from the ground or basement, many people think about how to insulate the floors in the apartment. It is not difficult to do this, besides, modern manufacturers offer a wide range of building materials that make the process of insulation quick, convenient, simple and economical.
Step one - choose material
Modern materials provide ample opportunities for the competent arrangement of your home. As a heater, experts advise using expanded polystyrene, foam plastic, expanded clay, mineral wool or fiberglass, cork or cellulose material. All of them can be divided into natural, that is, natural, and artificial. These materials differ in the way they are used. For example, expanded clay, granulated slag and foam glass are poured onto the surface, liquid foam or ecowool is sprayed on, and the floor is poured with polymer mixtures. However, most often in search of a solution on how to insulate the floors in an apartment, they resort to the use of roll materials that are easy to install. This ismineral wool, linoleum, flax, isolon, cork or penofol. Tiled materials are no less popular for insulation.
Step two - decide on the technology
An important issue is the choice of floor insulation technology. For example, if expanded clay, mineral wool or penoplex are chosen as heaters, lags or screed installation will be required. If rolled materials are used, they are simply rolled out on the floor, after which they are covered with a solid finishing material, such as wooden parquet, laminate or linoleum.
The minimum amount of space is hidden by polymer floors, which are heat-insulating mixtures. On the other hand, many are looking for ways to insulate the floors in an apartment cheaper, and therefore polymer coatings are not suitable for everyone because of their high cost.
Third step - we make competent calculations
Before choosing building materials for insulation, it is worth measuring the coverage area, finding out the height of the ceilings in the room. In a spacious room, you can use almost any insulation, otherwise you will have to work hard and choose a material that will not hide extra centimeters of usable area. An important role is played by the level of humidity in a particular room, which is being finished. For example, cellulose, linen, GVL sheets cannot be used for finishing rooms with high humidity, and material such as glass wool needs additional waterproofing.
How to insulate the floor on the ground?
Howinsulate the floors in the apartment? This can be done in many ways, but many opt for this option. Its peculiarity lies in the contact of the floor and the thermal insulation layer with the ground, and therefore it is necessary to choose a heater that will be resistant to moisture. If the house has a basement, then you can limit yourself to a thin layer of thermal insulation. To insulate the floor, level it and then mount the flooring, you first need to form a bulk layer, for example, from gravel or slag, which is subsequently compacted. From above, the flooring is fixed with lags, the gaps between them are covered with expanded clay or granulated slag. Depending on the type of climate, you can choose a variety of materials for ground insulation - from polyurethane foam and foam glass to expanded polystyrene and mineral wool.
Process Features
In most apartments, the floor is a concrete screed, which is unlikely to retain heat. Since it is possible to insulate a concrete floor with the help of different building materials, it is worthwhile to start orienting yourself in a wide variety of options. Most often, foam, extruded polystyrene foam, mineral wool or ecowool, as well as various types of liquid insulation are used for this. From above, the coating is finished with plywood, boards, laminate, parquet or linoleum. Sometimes a combination of Styrofoam and cement-sand screed is used as an alternative.
It is good to insulate the concrete floor with a dry screed based on expanded clay or GVL slabs. In suchcase, the thickness of the "pie" should be at least 7 cm. If the surface is flat, then you can limit yourself to a thickness of 2 cm - this will save usable space. You can insulate the floor with foam: this material is inexpensive, but provides effective thermal insulation properties of the future floor covering. This method of insulation is also popular when fiberboard sheets are used: with their help, you can create a flat surface.
Arrangement of wooden floors
If there are wooden floors, it is advisable to insulate them based on lags. This is the simplest and most effective way to significantly reduce heat loss. This method is especially relevant for warming floors that are located close to the ground, for example, on the first or basement floors. To make a warm floor, you should follow a certain technology:
1. Wooden logs are mounted in the foundation in increments of 0.6-1 m.
2. Boards are hemmed from below.
3. Insulation material is laid on the flooring.
4. The next step requires the laying of hydro- and vapor barrier layers.
5. At the final stage, the floorboards are mounted, after which the flooring is finished.
The most popular insulation for a wooden floor is mineral wool or fiberglass, which are protected from above by a layer of vapor barrier material. In some cases, builders recommend using sawdust, foam or expanded clay - the choice depends on the preferences of each buyer.
Sawdust: pros andcons
When choosing how to insulate a concrete floor, many are guided by roll materials, which are more convenient and easy to use. In the case of wooden houses, everything is not so simple, since the majority are looking for the most profitable solutions. For example, the most commonplace method of insulation is sawdust, which is characterized by low cost, ease of backfilling even in hard-to-reach places, as well as environmental friendliness. An alternative can be wood blocks, which are based not only on sawdust, but also on cement and blue vitriol. Wood concrete is popular for insulation, which is obtained by mixing cement, organic aggregates and chemical additives. The boards are non-combustible, easy to process and have high bending strength, but they are not very resistant to moisture.
Cheaper or more expensive?
For many, when choosing building materials, affordable cost plays a decisive role. Insulation for the floor is selected in the same way. The price of many building materials is low. For example, a universal way to heat and soundproof a room is to use fiberboard sheets, which cost an average of 150-280 rubles per square meter. Foamed polyethylene "Tepofol" will cost about 500-600 rubles. URSA roll heat and sound insulator can be attributed to products with an average level of cost - it can be purchased for 1200-1500 rubles. And materials such as extruded polystyrene foam and liquidthermal insulation - the cost of these materials starts from 3000 rubles per square meter.
