As you know, warm air tends to rise up, as a result, the floor remains the coldest place in an apartment or house. This is especially true for the first floor, which often has a basement or underground. In our article we will talk about how to insulate the floor on the ground floor and not only.
The most reliable way to protect against the cold is to use insulation, which can be in the form of blocks, rolls or bulk materials. When deciding how best to insulate the floor, you must choose between cost, heat-insulating properties and durability of the material.
Warming of the basement space
Builders don't care much about airtightness when laying out the floor. In the basement space most often there are gaps. You can even see them from the basement. The first thing to do is to close up the gaps in the ceiling. Small holes can be puttied from below. In a private house, insulation boards can be glued to the floor from the underside.
This is where styrofoam mounting adhesive comes in handy. How to make an insulated floor from below so that the plates do not lag behind? To do this, they are additionally grabbed with parachute dowels, and the joints are foamed.
A clear advantage of the method is that nothing needs to be broken. Everything will remain as it was, and the house will become warm.
Wooden floor insulation
The old floor board can be replaced with a new one. If it is in good condition, then the floor is carefully disassembled. At the same time, you need to make the marking of the boards, so that later you do not waste time and effort on fitting. This is especially true for the half floor. Disassembly is done in order to assemble it back in the same way. The nails are removed carefully so as not to damage the boards. When assembling the floor, it is advisable to use self-tapping screws, which create stronger connections and are easily removed.
Before insulating the floor on the ground floor, the cracks from above must be carefully sealed with mounting foam, putty and cement-sand mortar. Logs should be checked by level and further strengthened. Otherwise, the floorboards will creak just as before. In hardware stores, there are racks for sale that screw into logs and abut against the ceiling. They can also be made from steel studs.
Floor slabs are tightly laid with mineral wool, which should go on the walls. A budget solution is to use mats made of straw or sawdust, but they decompose over time. You can also use expanded clay, foam chips or slag. In principle, any insulation is suitable if it performs its functions. From below, a layer of vapor barrier is laid on the ceiling so that moisture does not accumulate, from which the properties of the insulation deteriorate significantly.
How to insulate the floor with polystyrene foam or polystyrene foam
If the floor is covered with ceramic tiles or cement screed, it can be insulated with thin sheets of Styrofoam or Styrofoam.
Fiberboard and drywall GVL are also used. But their thermal insulation properties are much lower.
A layer of vapor barrier is placed on the concrete floor, and a layer of insulation and a plastic film are placed on it. Then a screed of cement or a special mixture is laid on top. It must be reinforced with mesh. To compensate for temperature fluctuations, an edge tape is laid along the perimeter of the wall. A new floor covering is installed on top: tile, parquet, laminate or linoleum.
Insulating underlay for linoleum
The problem of how to insulate the floor on the ground floor can be solved in the simplest way by using linoleum with a backing. It is the most common, cheap, easy-to-install and maintain coating. It is enough to cut it correctly and insert it under the plinth.
The material consists of layers of PVC with a pattern, fiberglass and a substrate, which is often used as the same material on both sides, which prevents the coating from deforming when the temperature changes.
There is also a heater for the floor under the linoleum. It is the bottom layer, which can be made from jute or fabric.
Additional underlay for linoleum
If the coating does not have the necessary protection from the cold from below, then additional substrates are used for the main coating: cork, linen and expanded polystyrene. Cork is a good insulation, but it can also be used as an independent coating. Ordinary plywood or fiberboard also have heat-insulating properties, but the effect will be much greater if an additional layer of expanded polystyrene is laid under them. Linoleum floor insulation is best laid under plywood or fiberboard.
This is done in the following way:
- an insulating substrate is laid on a dry and even floor;
- plywood is laid and fastened with screws to the floor;
- linoleum is covered from above and the edges are hidden under the plinth, which protects the substrate from water penetration.
This method is used in rooms with high ceilings.
How to connect a warm floor
It makes it possible to create uniform heat in the room. It is a heating system located under the cover, which gives the most favorable temperature distribution in the room in height.
The problem of how to insulate the floor on the ground floor using electric heating can be solved in one of the following ways:
- with the put polymer keeps within under any covering of a floor. It does not require pouring the screed.
- whose power varies with temperature. It heats cold areas more and warm areas less. It requires pouring the screed.
- Carbon rods attached to a fiberglass mesh can be filled with ordinary tile adhesive.
After installation, you need to know how to connect a warm floor. This requires a thermostat to which the heating cable is connected. All connections should be made according to the instructions, carefully following all the steps.
Water heating is carried out using pipes with circulating hot water. They are laid under the floor or poured with a screed. Heating is carried out through copper, polypropylene or metal-plastic pipes, which are connected to the space heating system.
Floor heating can be distributed in such a way that separate sections are connected. To do this, a manifold with control valves is placed at the top.
Conclusion
It is possible to insulate floors by installing heat-insulating materials used separately or as a substrate for floor coverings. Heat-insulating panels from the bottom of the floors are especially effective. When installing them, there is no need to disassemble the floor above. In addition, you can install a floor heating system, which can be autonomous or part of the home heating system.
Frosts are rapidly approaching, and the temperature in many apartments is far from the most comfortable. We are forced to put on warm clothes, buy heaters, sleep under several blankets, which causes discomfort. What to do if it's cold in the apartment? It is quite possible to solve this problem on your own.
What to do if the apartment is cold
Cold batteries in the apartment: what to do?
High-quality radiators are the key to warmth and comfort in the house. If the radiators are many years old and the apartment is cold in winter, it may be worth replacing them. But before you run for an expensive purchase, do a survey: sometimes the batteries do not heat up due to air jams or due to the negligence of utilities. Where to complain if it's cold in the apartment, we told.
Many modern radiator models are made with, so you can set the right temperature. High-quality heating devices can serve faithfully for decades, therefore, having spent only one time, you will forget about cold batteries in the house for a long time.
There are several types of radiators:
- Cast iron - the most classic option, which has been used for heat supply for over a hundred years. Cast iron batteries are durable, corrosion resistant and have high heat dissipation. They are not afraid of hard, low-quality water and pressure drops. The disadvantages of cast iron radiators include bulkiness and unaesthetic appearance. Nevertheless, the modern design of these batteries with monograms and original coloring will fit well into the interior of a classic style.
- Aluminum - durable, lightweight and elegant heaters. Ease of installation, optimal price and high heat dissipation make aluminum batteries an ideal choice for many. However, this type of radiator is prone to corrosion at a high alkali content in the water.
- Steel radiators are often used for heating private houses and offices. They have excellent heat dissipation and corrosion resistance. Their disadvantage lies in the sensitivity to water hammer - sudden pressure drops in the pipe.
- Bimetallic the radiator, in simple terms, consists of a steel core and an outer aluminum layer. This design is optimal for city apartments: the steel pipeline is not subject to corrosion, and aluminum, which has good thermal conductivity, perfectly supplies heat to the room. However, all these advantages are overshadowed by the high cost of the product.
- Copper batteries provide efficient space heating due to their thermal conductivity - it is much higher than that of aluminum and even more so than that of steel and cast iron. But the price of copper radiators, as well as bimetallic ones, will not please everyone.
The choice of a radiator depends not only on your tastes and financial condition, but also on compatibility with your heating system. Therefore, before buying, you should determine whether the characteristics of the heater (pressure, allowable temperature, heat transfer, etc.) correspond to the indicators of the heating system.
Apartments located on the ground floor suffer from moisture and cold more than other apartments in the house. This is due to the direct contact of the flooring with the floor slab, which separates the apartment from the unheated basement. As a result, the floor is always colder than the air in the apartment, and if in summer it is not so noticeable, then in winter such a cold floor will cool the entire room, besides provoking the appearance of dampness.
Therefore, for the normal temperature of the floor covering, it is necessary to insulate the floors. This can be done by doing repairs with your own hands or with the help of hired workers. The essence of floor insulation is laying a layer or several layers of insulation on the ceiling between the basement and the apartment. In addition, a vapor barrier is needed, since due to the temperature difference, condensation is inevitable, and moisture negatively affects the insulating materials. Next, we will consider various options for insulation, insulation, talk about materials, prices, and explain how to do all the work yourself.
Types of heaters
Styrofoam
Expanded polystyrene, better known as polystyrene or its modified counterpart foam polystyrene, has excellent thermal insulation properties, is lightweight and easy to use. There is also extruded polystyrene foam. Its difference from the usual, in water resistance. If ordinary polystyrene foam can absorb a certain amount of liquid and deform due to this during temperature changes, then its more technological look is almost completely waterproof. The only disadvantage of expanded polystyrene is its combustibility.
Expanded clay
This bulk material is attractively priced and versatile. It can be used with a dry floor screed or mixed with cement mortar. Also, with its help, you can arrange a floating screed with your own hands.
Polystyrene concrete
Unlike expanded clay, polystyrene concrete requires a much smaller layer to create acceptable insulating properties. You can lay almost everything on it, including tiles. In addition, it has excellent soundproofing properties. You will learn more about this material from the video
Mineral wool
Mineral wool, as well as glass wool, are one of the most popular heaters, which are made in the form of tiles or rolls. The advantages include thermal insulation properties, reasonable price and vapor absorption. The disadvantages are the composition hazardous to health. When installing with your own hands, you should use respirators and avoid getting on open parts of the body. Therefore, mineral wool and glass wool need to be carefully insulated so that dust does not enter the premises.
Cork
Cork material is perhaps the most expensive on our list. It is environmentally friendly, durable and moisture resistant. It can be used even for fine finishing, because in addition to its insulating properties, it looks beautiful as a top coat. Among the shortcomings can be noted instability to cuts and other mechanical damage.
Ecowool
It is made on the basis of cellulose, which means it is environmentally friendly and not hazardous to health. It has high heat and noise insulation properties, but does not tolerate moisture. Therefore, it is used in areas where there is no risk of contact with moisture. For more information about the advantages and disadvantages of ecowool, see the video
Penoizol
This is liquid polystyrene foam, about all the advantages of which we spoke above. The advantageous difference between the liquid form of such material is the ability to penetrate into the most inconvenient places.
Warm floor
The option of installing underfloor heating is becoming more and more popular. It only repels its cost. There are several variations:
- Water;
- Electric;
- Infrared.
Water heated floor, heats with the help of communications with hot water under the subfloor. An electric underfloor heating is also installed and heats by converting electricity into heat. Infrared is the most modern, easiest option and you can lay it yourself without the involvement of specialists. Thin elements of the warm floor are laid under the finishing flooring. Only this kind of floor can be realized with your own hands, without special skills.
Basement insulation
If the apartment is on the first floor, then most likely there is a basement under it. The obvious solution when insulating the floor is to make repairs from the basement, if there is no need to carry out repairs inside the apartment. In this case, it will be a big plus that the floor in the apartment will not rise, and also, if the repair has already been done, then you will not have to open the floor and redo it again. When insulating from the basement side, there is no need for a neat fine finish, which makes it possible to do the work with your own hands, even for an inexperienced builder.
Ordinary polystyrene foam or mineral wool is best suited as a material for such repairs, but its installation by one's own hands is more time-consuming and the price is higher.
- At the first stage, you need to find floor plans, and make markings around the perimeter of your apartment. It is better to do it with a margin, so that the area of \u200b\u200binsulation goes beyond the boundaries of the walls by several centimeters.
- Then conduct surveys of the basement walls. Most likely, they will have cracks and chips, and maybe holes. They should be sealed with cement mortars or simple polyurethane foam.
- The vapor barrier is glued with the first layer, on building glue or adhesive tape. The material used is polyethylene. Joints must be tightly sealed with tape.
- Then a frame is constructed from wood or aluminum profiles for fixing the insulation.
- Next, the insulation material is laid. If you use expanded polystyrene, then it is mounted in a frame and fixed with special dowels with a wide plastic cap, as shown in the photo below.
If your choice fell on mineral wool, then logs from a bar are installed on the ceiling, in increments of 5 cm less than the width of the insulation, so that the wool enters more densely. The last step of the repair will be the installation of plywood sheets on top of the insulation on the logs, for greater reliability.
Warming in the apartment
Before carrying out repairs on floor insulation with your own hands, you need to calculate how high you can raise the floors. The higher - the thicker layers of insulation can be used.
- If the work will take place indoors after repair, then the first step is to dismantle the base.
- After removing all floor coverings, a thorough inspection of the carrier plate is carried out for cracks, chips, and holes. If any are found, they are sealed with cement mortar, or a ready-made mortar for repair. After hardening, it is recommended to treat the surface with siling, a special strengthening impregnation.
- The next step is waterproofing. This layer consists of polyethylene or a special primer with water-repellent properties.
- A layer of roofing material is laid on top of the vapor barrier, a beam is laid on it, and logs are already placed on the beam. The entire structure is anchored to a concrete base. A detailed description of the do-it-yourself lag device on video
Insulation of the floor of the 1st floor in an apartment is similar to work in a private house. After all, the owners do not have a warm room below. This means that the problem needs to be solved radically.
And each owner is concerned about the question, but how to properly insulate the floor of the house with your own hands, which is located above the cold basement or underground.
In this article, we will look at how to independently make the floor insulation of the first floor with a different base.
Scheme floor insulation on the 1st floor made of wood is made by laying insulation between the rough and finish flooring.
Scheme of floor insulation on the first floor of a wooden house We note right away that for ease of installation and reduction of waste, first calculate the distance between the lags (bars that are designed to lay roofing sheets or floorboards on them). It should be a multiple of the width of the insulation.
- Install floor beams.
- From below, on these beams, nail the bars to fasten the base for laying the heat-insulating material.
- Cut boards, OSB sheets or plywood into strips of the required width so that they can fit between the beams.
- Lay these sheets and screw them with self-tapping screws to the bars. This will be the first level of the raised floor.
When insulating private houses, mineral wool is often used. - Lay waterproofing layer from polyethylene film. If this is not done, then when the insulation gets wet, it will be useless (see article).
- Lay the insulation itself (base layer) tightly between the bars in a checkerboard pattern, i.e. with moving joints.
Important! For thermal insulation, it is better to use mineral wool in the form of a roll of suitable width or slabs. As well as polystyrene foam or polystyrene.
In addition, there is a whiter economical option - expanded clay or sawdust. Although they are several times inferior to the above in terms of thermal conductivity and are unstable to moisture. More information about all types of thermal insulation materials can be found in the article on our website.
Floor insulation of the 1st floor with expanded clay is the most affordable and effective option - Lay the waterproofing in a monolithic piece over the heat-insulating material on the bars.
- Fasten the waterproofing layer quickly with a construction stapler.
- Lay the sheets of vapor barrier one after another without gaps - 10-20 cm, and glue the joints with adhesive tape.
- Before you start cladding with boards, do not forget to leave a gap for ventilation. To do this: Screw the bars (40x100 mm) onto the logs over the waterproofing layer.
- Now you can sheathe the logs by any method, i.e. even plywood, chipboard, floorboard. And lay down the finish coat. Important! Do not forget to leave an expansion joint - about 1-2 cm at the walls.
If you have any questions, how to do it right (on the first floor) floor insulation in the house, video
Floor insulation of the 1st floor with liquid foam
It looks like Penoizol The essence of floor insulation with this material is as follows:
- Remove one board or drill small diameter holes.
- Fill the space tightly with Penoizol between the joists, which can take any shape.
- In the process of polymerization, this insulation increases in volume, and its remains go out through the gaps between the floorboards and around the entire perimeter of the floor covering. So, the whole space under the boards is insulated, even the smallest gaps.
First floor - floor insulation with a concrete base
Remains very relevant to this day. 1st floor floor insulation panel house or house with a concrete floor. The thermal insulation scheme in this case will differ significantly from the previous options.
Here, instead of a log made of wood, it is necessary to apply, as well as denser heat-insulating materials.
Warming with mineral wool So let's get started:
- Fill the unevenness on the concrete base with fine sand. Otherwise, during the load, the thermal insulation material may change shape. In addition, expanded clay can be used for this, which simultaneously performs several functions: it levels, raises to the desired height and insulates the base.
Expanded clay not only insulates, but levels and raises the base of the floor - Attach a damper tape around the perimeter of the room to self-tapping screws or self-adhesive tape. It is necessary to increase sound insulation and maintain an expansion joint.
- Lay a waterproofing film on the floor with a layer on each other and on the walls.
- Seal the seams with tape.
Important! To insulate the floor of the first floor with a concrete base, it is better to use penoplex (extruded polystyrene foam), because. it is highly durable and has excellent thermal insulation parameters. However, you can also use dense varieties of foam and mineral wool.
Floor insulation with polystyrene - Lay the sheets of insulation tightly to each other. It is not necessary to attach them to the base of the floor!
- Install beacon profiles to get a flat surface. For this:
- Mix the leveling solution by adding plasticizer and fiber to it.
- Scatter this solution along the perimeter of the floor with a margin and level it with the help of beacon profiles, which you will level and fix on self-tapping screws. More about floor insulation on the 1st floor, base - concrete can be read in the article on our website.
Underfloor heating
If you have, but you want to make the room even warmer, then you can install a "warm floor" from the boiler. This is if you live in a private house.
Underfloor heating on the first floor If you live in a city apartment, then for floor insulation on the first floor install electric floor heating. Install heating under the screed or in the tile adhesive during its installation.
Installation of metal-plastic pipes in the screed Insulation of the frame floor - on the ground
Most people living in private houses during their construction make floors on the ground. This option is appropriate for buildings without basements, while it attracts attention due to simple technology. do-it-yourself floor insulation at home and low building costs.
The scheme of the floor of the first floor on the ground Important! On the ground floor, floor insulation on the ground must be carried out even at the construction stage, and the thickness of the heat-insulating material, the need for heating, etc. must be preliminarily calculated. By the way, the required thickness of the sealant is determined by calculating according to SNiP 23-02-2003. However, it is not recommended to make it less than 5 cm.
Instruction frame floor insulation on the ground on the ground floor looks like this:
- Remove soft and fertile layers of soil.
- Make a "cushion" of coarse gravel and sand, while carefully pressing it in layers. Important! Do not forget that there should be a layer of sand on top of the rubble - about 10 cm.
- To prepare the base, you can first pour a reinforced concrete slab - about 8-12 cm. Although this is not necessary.
- Lay the penoplex on the sand, because. does not absorb moisture and is always highly effective, even in wet conditions.
Important! The density of the heat-insulating material used must be greater than 35 kg/m 3 . And when using heaters that have a high moisture absorption capacity, be sure to protect them on both sides with a waterproofing layer.
Frame floor insulation - Lay damper tape around the perimeter of the walls. Important! The base of the floor should not be connected with the structure of the house. That is, it should act as a separate element. This will allow the base of the floor to change its position with the inevitable shrinkage of the building.
- With an overlap on the walls and a hermetically sealed vapor barrier or polyethylene foam.
More details on how to do in a frame house do-it-yourself floor insulation, video- instructions can be found here:
Insulation of the floor of the first floor with an unheated basement
How to insulate the floor on the 1st floor if there is a cold basement under it? In this case, the layers of thermal insulation material must be laid as follows:
Dry screed attached to expanded clay sand in 2 layers - Smooth out any unevenness on the concrete slab with fine sand.
- Lay foam boards.
- Cover the top with plastic wrap.
- Make any screed. Concrete, dry or cement-sand (see article).
- The tie is ready. Lay any fork of the finish coat.
Finally, we note that there are times when it is impossible to do in an apartment on ground floor e floor insulation. For example, if not so long ago there was a repair. Then, in order to insulate the floor on the 1st floor, you need access to the ceiling in the basement and, of course, the consent of the neighbors.
Sheathing with heat-insulating material of the ceiling in the basement - First, glue polystyrene foam, mineral wool or polystyrene foam onto a special glue.
- Fix the insulation on 4 or 5 umbrella dowels. Their top can be covered with nothing. However, if your basement has high humidity, then waterproof it.
How to do with different bases floor insulation video- instructions can be found here:
