Hello!
My apartment is on the first floor panel house. Lugansk, Ukraine. The goal is to make the apartment as warm and comfortable as possible.
Last winter we were on state heating - the apartment was constantly cold. The thermometer at eye level in the corridor showed 16-18 degrees. This winter we spent the winter with individual heating. It has become much more comfortable, but there is a problem:
- Cold floor. We have tiles in the bathroom and pantry. In the pantry it is completely icy. The bathroom is a little warmer, but still very cold.
- The floors in other rooms are also quite cold (the floors in the apartment are bad, although the house is from 1995).
- The walls were also cold in the frost.
- There is a slight draft across the floor.
A little about the state of the apartment now. See the attachment for the apartment plan and explanations of the current condition.
From the side of the basement and the entrance opening (you can get there from the basement) you can see interpanel seams- they leave much to be desired. The floor in the living room and kitchen is bad (linoleum). We are going to replace the flooring in the entire apartment next spring.
The task now is in the best possible way warm up. But there are a lot of questions.
- Insulation of walls. Wall thickness - 30 cm.
- What material to produce - regular or extruded foam. Basically, now I'm leaning towards the usual.
- What thickness should I use? 70 or is 50 enough?
- Are there any simpler options than mesh plaster? Because this is the most labor-intensive and without practice, I spent a very long time plastering two basements under my balconies. Preparing the surface, gluing the foam, securing it is a pleasure, but plastering is hell. Therefore, the question arose - are there any options for any kind of coverage or will I still have to turn to specialists?
- Now the window sills are installed with a projection of 75 mm. As I understand it, this is not enough for any option? As I understand it, they should be 3 cm longer than the finished insulated wall?
- Insulation of the wall from the side of the neighboring entrance.
- It's easy to get here, but getting up to the level of the walls to work is quite difficult (narrow distance). I am considering the option of how to insulate this wall. In principle, it is possible to install a narrow long staircase and glue foam plastic, but without securing it with dowels. The sun does not get here at all, and there is basically very little moisture from the rain, since the opening between the houses from above is not closed. For convenience, I am going to glue it onto polyurethane foam, since it probably won’t work any other way when hanging in a narrow space. Those. my option: just glued regular foam
- Is this option suitable?
- Thickness 50, I think, will be enough with a margin?
- Floor insulation. I am considering any floor insulation options you suggest. So far I've settled on the following: glue polystyrene foam to the ceiling in the basement.
- Which foam plastic is best to glue here? Now in the basement there are iron pipes for heating and cold water, the highway runs under two bedrooms with a balcony. A locksmith rarely comes into the basement - we call them to fix it, so I'm afraid. so that during welding the foam does not catch fire from sparks. Could this be possible?
- Which polystyrene foam is better to glue in the basement?
- What is the ideal thickness of foam?
- Since the slabs are concrete, as I understand it, there will be hollow spaces in them (I’m not sure about this), as a result, air can circulate in them. I was going to next year do the floor like this: moisture insulation + cork insulation in rolls + warm floor + laminate. We are not going to turn on the heated floor all the time. Is this insulation enough or is more serious insulation needed on the apartment side?
Almost all owners of apartments located on the ground floor are faced with the problem of cold floors. This is due to cold and unheated, and often damp basements. In such cases, it is necessary to insulate the floor of the first floor with modern materials.
For this purpose, a fairly large number of different insulation materials and methods of their installation are used. In this article we will get acquainted with the most effective methods of how to properly and reliably insulate a concrete floor.
Insulation from the basement
The best solution is to insulate the floor slab on the basement side. In other words, it is necessary to insulate the ceiling in the basement, thus moving the cold and dew point away from the floor in the apartment.
To carry out such work, it is better to coordinate with the housing office. There are usually no problems with this. Having received such permission, you can begin thermal insulation work. The following methods are available for this:
- The simplest, inexpensive, but at the same time sufficient effective method- insulate with polystyrene foam. The foam sheets are glued to the concrete base with liquid nails. Upon completion of work, all gaps remaining between the sheets should be filled polyurethane foam. Since the basement is often damp, and polystyrene foam tends to become saturated with moisture over time, it is necessary to waterproof it. To do this, a thick polyethylene film is glued to the insulation sheets with the same glue. The edges of such waterproofing must be overlapped by at least 10–15 cm.
- You can spray polyurethane foam - one of the most reliable and durable insulation materials known today. After hardening, this material has high strength and excellent thermal insulation properties. Also, polyurethane foam does not burn and does not absorb moisture at all. The only disadvantage of this option is its rather high cost: spraying is carried out using special equipment and requires professional operator skills.
Advice! If you have insulated concrete floor from the basement, this does not mean that the floors in your apartment will automatically become warm. This technique only allows you to “push away” the cold. In any case, thermal insulation of the floor on the apartment side is necessary.
Insulation of the floor from inside the apartment
This method has a large number of materials used. Let's look at the main materials and their installation technology in more detail.
Mineral wool
This option works best when you have wood floors, but can also be used if you want... concrete base lay the tree. Having chosen this option, you need to follow the following technology and sequence of work: 
- First of all, you need to dismantle the old flooring. The boards are carefully removed and numbered, concrete screed beats off with a puncher.
- If you had wooden floors, you need to examine the condition of the installed joists. If necessary, damaged or sagging rafters must be replaced. If the base is concrete, then complete installation of new rafters is necessary.
Advice! It is possible to insulate the floor of the first floor using this method using other heat insulators. For example, instead of mineral wool, you can use polystyrene foam. This material has slightly worse thermal insulation properties, but is cheaper.
Insulation with expanded clay
This method of insulating a concrete base in an apartment on the ground floor is perhaps the most popular. This is due to ease of installation, durability and high performance indicators materials used. To insulate a concrete floor in an apartment located on the ground floor using expanded clay, you should follow the following technology for carrying out thermal insulation work: 
- Old flooring, including cement screed, needs to be deleted.
- Having carefully removed all debris, it is necessary to inspect the floor slab and repair any detected cracks, crevices and other defects with polyurethane foam or cement mortar.
- The next step is laying thick polyethylene film as a waterproofing layer. Its installation is carried out with an overlap, and the seams must be taped on both sides.
- Now the entire floor surface can be covered with expanded clay. The thickness of the layer depends on the height of the ceilings. Here, the thicker the layer, the better its thermal insulation properties will be, but the minimum permissible layer of expanded clay is 10 cm.
- After backfilling, the expanded clay must be compacted. It is strictly prohibited to moisten the insulation!
- A reinforcing mesh is mounted on top of the expanded clay and a cement screed is poured with a layer of 5 cm.
- The screed is carefully leveled and covered with polyethylene for proper drying.
- After the cement mortar has dried, you can begin installing the flooring: laminate, linoleum or other material.
Advice! To increase the thermal insulation properties of the floor, foam granules can be added to the cement mortar at the stage of its preparation. This will significantly insulate the floor in the apartment.
This thermal insulation can be used in both floor insulation methods: with wooden joists and under cement screed. Expanded polystyrene has almost ideal properties:
- low thermal conductivity,
- high density and mechanical strength,
- does not burn,
- practically does not absorb moisture,
- long service life.
When insulating a wooden floor, slabs of extruded polystyrene foam are laid between the joists, like any other material. The use of a waterproofing layer, despite the high insulation performance, is mandatory.
After laying and filling the cracks with foam, the heat insulator is covered with another layer of waterproofing. For these purposes, it is better to use penofol. Then the floor covering is installed: plywood, chipboard or boards. Insulation with expanded polystyrene under a cement screed is carried out as follows:
Advice! Electric heating cables can be laid on top of the thermal insulation material. After all installation work, you will have truly warm floors that consume very little electricity.
Having studied all the options for how to insulate the floor on the first floor, given in this material, you need to choose the most suitable one in your case. Having some skills, you can do all the work yourself, without the involvement of expensive specialists.
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How to insulate the floor on the first floor - 5 proven methods
The centuries-tested folk wisdom that says that you need to keep your head cold and your feet warm is more relevant for owners of housing on the ground floor than for anyone else. These people know firsthand what the consequences can be if you don’t insulate the floor in time. The ineradicable smell of dampness, constant colds in children and general discomfort in the house are just some of these problems. In this article, I decided to dwell in detail on how to properly insulate floors on the ground floor in a city apartment and in a private house.
Suitable types of insulation
In principle, any insulation for the floors of the first floor can be used. Here you need to look at your financial capabilities, professional skills and, of course, the basis for which the material is chosen. It’s one thing to insulate the floor of the first floor in a wooden house, and quite another to arrange concrete slab in a city apartment. I selected the most popular materials and combined them into a table.
| Type of insulation | Advantages | Flaws |
| Mineral wool slabs (slag wool, basalt wool) |
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| Foam boards |
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| Extruded polystyrene foam boards (Penoplex) |
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| Expanded clay ( bulk material, are porous granules of baked clay) |
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| Solution from sawdust mixed with cement |
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| Liquid insulation. (Polyurethane foam and penoizol) |
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|
Subtleties of insulation installation
Since the wooden and concrete bases are quite different in their characteristics, the methods for arranging them will therefore be different. Further, in order not to lump everything into one “heap”, each instruction will be considered separately.
Method No. 1. Insulation of floors from below
The concrete floor of the first floor in multi-apartment city buildings from below, in the vast majority of cases, borders on an unheated, and often even wet, basement. Therefore, I am convinced that work should begin with insulation in the basement. By doing this, you will completely cut off the access to moisture and make your floor at least half warmer.
- It’s not worth spending money on some exorbitantly expensive materials here; ordinary polystyrene foam is quite enough. Insulation thickness in in this case starts from 50 mm. As far as I have seen, in basements the ceilings are not covered with anything, this is a common reinforced concrete slab. Therefore, the first thing you need to do is blow out all the cracks around the perimeter of the ceiling and on the ceiling itself, especially between the floor slabs;
- The concrete slab itself is smooth; naturally, the adhesion of such a coating is quite low. To increase it, we will need to walk along the ceiling with deep penetration soil;
- Then everything is simple. We take polystyrene foam boards and glue them to the ceiling. As an adhesive, you can use the same mounting foam, construction adhesive “Liquid Nails” or dry mortar Ceresit CT83. Personally, I like Ceresit better. After the glue has completely set, the remaining small gaps between the plates will need to be filled in again with polyurethane foam.
If you glue it onto polyurethane foam, then take into account the fact that it expands greatly, so every 15 - 20 minutes the slabs will need to be pressed against the ceiling. Typically the expansion lasts about an hour and a half.
Some craftsmen prefer to install polystyrene foam on the ceiling in the basement in 2 layers, offset relative to each other. Explaining this by saying that the result is a more dense monolith, without gaps. I think this is unnecessary. More precisely, in the case when it is mounted facade insulation at home, this measure is justified, but in the basement it is a waste of material, time and effort.
For an ordinary dry basement this will be quite enough. But if there is water in the basement, then I recommend additional waterproofing of the ceiling. This procedure is also inexpensive.
You will need to take Liquid Nails glue or something similar, apply it with a spatula to the foam and cover the ceiling with technical polyethylene. So that the polyethylene does not fall off before the glue sets, it can be shot in places to the foam with a stapler.
Experts' opinions on whether it is necessary to install so-called external insulation of the subfloor in wooden houses, diverge. Personally, I think that it definitely won’t get any worse. This way you will not only insulate the subfloor from below, but also protect the wood from dampness.
You need to act according to the technology described above. Only here it makes sense to fix the polystyrene foam in addition to the glue on the rough subfloor layer with plastic dowels-umbrellas. This is due to the fact that wood is a living material, and when it begins to “walk”, the sheets may come off.
Method No. 2. Installation of insulation with sheathing
For a novice master, this method is considered one of the easiest and most understandable. The only problem is that the thickness of such insulation starts from 50 – 70 mm. Therefore, in apartments with low ceilings this could be a problem.
- Work begins with preparing the concrete base. The old coating, if there is any, must, of course, be completely torn off and everything thoroughly cleaned down to the concrete. After this, all cracks and cracks will need to be caulked. This can be done using putty or the same polyurethane foam;
- Any concrete base will need to be covered with a layer of waterproofing. For an apartment, too much protection is not required, especially if you have already lined the ceiling with foam plastic in the basement. Here it is enough to cover it with one layer of technical polyethylene. But only polyethylene should be laid with an overlap along the entire perimeter of the walls. From the start I make an overlap of about 10 - 15 cm, the excess is then cut off;
- The basis of the sheathing is wooden blocks. Their thickness is selected according to the thickness of the insulation. The bars are usually laid parallel to the short wall of the room in increments of about half a meter. For fixation, anchors or self-tapping screws with “quick installation” dowels are used. I usually fix at intervals of no more than 1 m, the support bars won’t go anywhere anyway;
- Next comes the installation stage of the insulation itself. If the basement is not insulated from below, then the thickness of the insulation starts from 50 mm. But for mineral wool slabs the minimum is 100m. Filler from sawdust-cement mortar, expanded clay and other bulk insulation materials should be at least 150 mm. Only dense foam, penoplex and liquid modern insulation materials(polyurethane foam, penoizol) can be laid with a thickness of 50 mm;
- If you approached the matter thoroughly and first insulated the ceiling in the basement, then all these dimensions can be safely divided in half;
- Polystyrene foam or extruded polystyrene foam is selected or cut precisely according to the size of the gap between the support bars. In such a way that the slabs fit end to end. Slabs of dense mineral wool should be a couple of centimeters wider than the gap between the bars. They will press down slightly on the sides and you will get continuous, dense insulation;
- The top layer of such insulation can be covered with a tongue-and-groove floorboard with a thickness of 30 mm or more. If you are planning a top finishing coating, such as laminate, linoleum or parquet, then it is better to use plywood or OSB sheets. Moreover, under the laminate, one layer of sheets with a thickness of 12–16 mm is enough, and under linoleum or a package you will have to lay sheets of 10–12 mm, in a double layer with a shift between the layers.
Method No. 3. Insulating the floor in a wooden house
Insulating the floor of the first floor in a wooden house is partly reminiscent of the option using wooden sheathing. Everything in wooden houses interfloor ceilings, including on the first floor, are made of two layers.
The design is based on massive wooden logs Oh. From below it is hemmed with a layer of subfloor, and on top, of course, there is a finishing coating. As you probably already guessed, we will have insulation in the middle.
- When the bottom rough coating is hemmed and all the wood is impregnated protective compounds, you can begin installing the waterproofing layer. Unlike the apartment version, waterproofing the subfloor in a wooden house is done more thoroughly. Moreover, it is laid not only on the subfloor, but also wrapped on top of the joists, in a solid monolithic layer;
- If you choose technical polyethylene, then it is covered in 2 layers and secured with a stapler. Ruberoid or modern roll waterproofing can be installed in 1 layer, but they sit on bitumen mastic, which in turn is also a good waterproofing agent;
- In a wooden house there is already enough to burn, so in most cases preference is given to non-combustible materials. The most popular now are dense slabs of basalt wool. Depth of wooden joists, even in the lungs country houses take at least 150 mm. Accordingly, basalt wool is laid either in one layer of 150 mm, or in two layers of 75 mm, always with a shift between the layers;
- Expanded clay is deservedly considered the second no less popular material. This is folk a budget option. According to the rules, expanded clay should be poured a couple of centimeters below the finished floor, that is, the top cut of the lag. But I always recommend falling asleep from the start bulk insulation flush with the joists. In any case, over time it will shrink and you will get that same ventilation gap;
Expanded clay is produced in the three most popular fractions. Sand has a diameter of up to 5 mm, the diameter of gravel does not exceed 2 cm, everything that goes beyond this is called crushed stone. So, in order for the insulation layer to be more dense and monolithic, before backfilling you need to mix expanded clay gravel or crushed stone with expanded clay sand in a 1:1 ratio.
- As I already indicated in the table, mineral wool and expanded clay are hygroscopic materials. Therefore, such insulation in wooden houses will need to be covered on top with a layer of vapor barrier or simple polyethylene. This is especially true for country houses with seasonal accommodation. Otherwise, in a periodically heated room, the insulation will quickly become saturated with moisture and lose its properties;
- The last stage of arranging insulation, as usual, is the installation of the finishing coating. In permanent wooden houses, tongue and groove is often used batten. In light country houses, plywood or OSB is installed, and what is available is laid on top.
Method No. 4. Insulation with extruded polystyrene foam
Extruded polystyrene foam is a special modern material, and its use is worth talking about separately. Honestly, I think that as insulation for the floors of the first floor, this material is close to ideal. There are several variations of it; in our great power it is better known under the brand name “Penoplex”.
The uniqueness of penoplex lies in the fact that, in addition to all other characteristics, it is absolutely impervious to water, and most importantly, it has a serious reserve mechanical strength. Penoplex is now used to insulate highways and airfield runways.
I have already mentioned that it can be laid in the sheathing, although, in my opinion, this is too expensive. In the case of lathing, it is quite possible to get by with dense sheets of foam plastic weighing more than 30 kg/m³. By the way, they are at least 2 times cheaper. There, after all, the lion's share of the load falls on the support bars.
Penoplex showed itself best in two cases. This is used when installing laminate flooring and as insulation under the screed. Thanks to the grooves located around the perimeter of each sheet, this flooring is installed quickly and completely airtight.
If you already have an insulated basement, then you can safely use sheets of extruded polystyrene foam about 30 mm thick. Even in harsh climates this will be enough. The preparation of the base is the same everywhere. Theoretically, you don’t have to lay a layer of waterproofing under the penoplex, but it won’t be a mistake if you play it safe and cover the room with polyethylene.
- The insulation sheets are connected to each other through grooves, and these grooves are additionally glued with any suitable glue; there is now more than enough of this in the markets;
- As you know, laminate is installed using floating technology, that is, it is not rigidly connected to the base. Therefore, next we cover the insulation with a foamed polyethylene backing and then lay our laminate on it.
Penoplex has one weak point; it can easily carry large loads only if they are evenly distributed over the entire plane. The material may not withstand point pressure. The laminate, in turn, ensures an even distribution of this load.
By the way similar technology you can equip the base under linoleum or piece parquet. A layer of penoplex is also laid there, a thin foam substrate is laid on it, and OSB is installed instead of a laminate to evenly distribute the load. Here, sheet thickness up to 10 mm is sufficient.
As I already mentioned, Penoplex is almost the best option for insulating the screed. Moreover, the screed can be either a regular cement-sand screed or a modern self-leveling one.
- The arrangement technology here is also quite simple. After laying the waterproofing and a layer of penoplex, a metal reinforcing mesh is laid on top. The reinforcement is too thick for ordinary apartment not worth using. I usually take wire with a thickness of 4 to 6 mm;
- After all, the thickness of the screed itself often does not exceed 20 mm. It's only on large areas, with a size of 50 - 70 m², the concrete screed is made up to 40 mm thick;
- If you are going to use cement-sand mortar, then you will need to first secure the beacons, and then lay the reinforcement between them. The easiest way to fix beacons is with a stapler. When everything is ready, the solution is thrown on top and leveled according to the beacons using the rule;
- A self-leveling screed is generally a “song”; you don’t need to have any special talents or skills to install it. There are instructions on the package to prepare the mixture. Then this mixture is poured onto a layer of reinforced penoplex and slowly helped to level it out using a needle roller.
Important: Penoplex can only be installed on a flat floor. Minor, smooth differences in height within 3 - 4 mm are allowed.
Method No. 5. Insulation using dry screed
The so-called dry screed is used exclusively for insulating the concrete base. In terms of cost, it is cheaper than many of its competitors. The basis there is an expanded clay mixture (sand - gravel).
The point is to level the loose base as evenly as possible along the horizon. After that, a rigid monolithic flooring is mounted on it using floating technology. OSB sheets, waterproof gypsum plasterboard or thick, about 10 mm plywood are often used as flooring.
It is quite difficult to perfectly level loose expanded clay without skill. Therefore, I recommend first installing support beacons on the floor.
There is no point in digging into solid concrete with self-tapping screws. It is quite enough to plant beacons on alabaster pyramids. After this, you simply fill the room with expanded clay mixture and distribute it as a rule among the beacons.
Sheet flooring is installed in 2 layers, as usual, with a shift between the sheets. Such installation will not be difficult; you can safely drive self-tapping screws through there; they will not harm the expanded clay cushion in any way. And note that such flooring is called floating because it is not rigidly attached to anything. The gap between the wall and the flooring is left within 10 mm.
Conclusion
Now you know how to properly insulate floors on the first floor. In the photos and videos in this article I have included related information on the topic of floor insulation. If you have any questions, write them in the comments, I will try to help.
If you want to express gratitude, add a clarification or objection, or ask the author something - add a comment or say thank you!
From the author: Hello, dear reader! The heat in the room directly depends on high-quality coating floor. Therefore, when starting to make repairs, first of all, think about how to insulate the floor in an apartment with your own hands. We can bet on repairs on installation additional sources warmth and new windows, but this may not be enough.
If the floor covering is defective, all the heat will go into interpanel joints, corner cracks and basement or the floor below. If you love your neighbors, then this is justified, but if you are the owner of an apartment on the first floor, then this is quite unreasonable, you will agree.
Important: high-quality flooring will retain up to 30% of the heat in your apartment!
Insulation from the basement
One of the options for solving the problem of insulation in a home on the 1st floor - thermal insulation of floor slabs in the basement.
Important: Before carrying out work in the basement, coordinate all work with the Housing Office.
There are several ways to insulate the floor covering on the basement side:
- insulation or . On a concrete base, using liquid nails, sheets are attached, the gaps between which are filled with polyurethane foam. For better waterproofing, we glue the mounting polyethylene film onto the insulation, making a small overlap (up to 15 cm);
- spraying polyurethane foam. Despite the high cost, this option durable, has high thermal insulation properties, does not absorb moisture, and is heat-resistant.
Important: insulating the concrete floor on the basement side will not solve the problem of heat retention in your apartment, but will only help strengthen the thermal insulation with outside premises, to avoid dampness and mold.
Insulation methods
Let's look at a few budget ways using materials with high thermal insulation properties:
- Wood-shaving insulation.
- Mineral materials.
- Polymer: polystyrene foam, penoplex, expanded polystyrene.
Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages, but initially you must decide on the functionality and size of the insulated room and your financial capabilities.
Insulation of a wooden base
Most traditional way insulation - This is the laying of thermal insulation material in the space between the joists. Before insulating a wooden floor, decide on the further course of work and outline the installation diagram for logs and beacons.
Source: http://pol-master.com
Important: After preparing the flooring and installing the joists, lay a layer of vapor barrier, extending it 5 cm onto the wall.
Source: http://pol-master.com
Now you can lay the selected insulation between the joists and cover it with another layer of vapor barrier. You can start installation wooden planks, thick plywood, OSB/GVL sheets and finishing coating.
Bulk materials
Wood-based materials are considered to be of the highest quality and easiest to use. These include the following types of insulation:
- ordinary sawdust/special mixtures: sand+cement+sawdust+lime;
- plywood - involves two laying layers with different thicknesses (1st layer - up to 8 mm, 2nd layer - up to 12 mm) and mandatory gaps between the sheets to prevent shrinkage and creaking of the floor;
Source: http://teplo.guru
- Chipboard is the most easy way insulation of concrete floors, optimal thickness sheet - 20 mm;
- ecowool is a high-quality, environmentally friendly, but expensive insulation material. There are several methods of application between joists: laying with special equipment and manually filling with dry mixture. Note that when laying by machine, material savings can be up to 40%.
Source: http://www.nashpol.com
Mineral insulation
How else can you insulate the floor? Consider use case mineral materials, such insulation materials include:
- mineral wool;
- cement-based building mixtures.
Mineral wool is considered the most popular material for insulating housing on the 1st floor and attic spaces. It has excellent soundproofing and fireproof characteristics, is not subject to deformation from temperature changes, mold infections, and is vapor-tight.
Expanded clay - thermal insulation material, based on clay, with an affordable price range and a high degree of environmental friendliness of the components, but still it has drawbacks. Unlike mineral wool, it has high moisture permeability and fragility.
Important: To improve the performance of expanded clay, it is practiced to use it with cement mortar. Such a screed not only increases the thermal insulation performance, but also increases the strength and water resistance of the coating.
Polymer materials
The use of polymer materials in insulation is gaining popularity. Quality, availability and big choice on construction market allow you to begin installation immediately. Note that the process of installing polymer materials is extremely simple and even beginners can do it!
Among polymer materials it is worth noting:
- penoizol - liquid polymer material with foam structure;
- polystyrene foam and its improved form - polystyrene foam (excellent for concrete floors);
- polyurethane foam - liquid insulation, applied by spraying up to 10 cm thick;
- Penoplex is a modernized version of polystyrene foam.
Today, penoplex is becoming more and more popular. Let's figure out how to properly insulate a floor with penoplex.
Tsugunov Anton Valerievich
Reading time: 4 minutes
Thermal insulation of apartments, especially in houses old building, often leaves much to be desired. First of all, this applies to floors in apartments located on the ground floor. As a rule, the room is separated from an unheated basement only by a concrete floor slab, which does not have good thermal insulation properties, which is why all the inhabitants of the apartment feel uncomfortable during the cold season. How to insulate the floor in an apartment yourself to save the situation and make your home warm and cozy?
What materials should be used for floor insulation?
Exist various options insulation and various insulation materials, the choice of which depends on the characteristics of the apartment and financial capabilities. What thermal insulation materials can be used to insulate the concrete floor of the first floor with your own hands?
First of all, such materials should be:
- Durable. After all, the floor is the surface that experiences the heaviest load in the apartment. Therefore, the insulation must withstand significant pressure.
If the selected type of thermal insulation does not have high strength, then you should choose a laying method that does not involve large loads on the thermal insulation material.
- Light. There is no need to create additional load on the floors. Besides lightweight material more porous, which means it retains heat better.
- Moisture resistant. The insulation should not lose its properties when wet or moistened, or should be protected by reliable waterproofing.
- Durable. It is advisable to carry out such a procedure as insulating a concrete floor only once during the entire period of residence in the apartment. It takes too much time, effort and money, even if everything is done with your own hands.
Note! Floor insulation in an apartment almost always has by-effect in the form of reducing the height of the room due to the thickness of the thermal insulation.
How to insulate the floor in an apartment?
Let's consider which materials will be most preferable in the case of insulation of the concrete floor of the first floor.
- Expanded clay. Some time ago, this material was quite often used for floor insulation. Its main disadvantages are low moisture resistance and a fairly large thickness of the thermal insulation layer.
- Perlite. It surpasses expanded clay in thermal insulation properties, but is heavier.
- Expanded polystyrene or polystyrene foam. Very convenient for do-it-yourself floor insulation. They are not afraid of water, rodents and microorganisms, absolutely harmless. However, polystyrene foam is quite fragile and less durable than polystyrene foam boards.
- Mineral wool. Do-it-yourself insulation of a concrete floor is most often carried out using this particular material. In addition to thermal insulation properties, it also has good sound insulation, is light in weight and has a relatively low price.
The use of mineral wool for floor insulation involves the construction of a frame made of logs and the mandatory use of waterproofing, since when wet, mineral wool loses its properties.
- Cork based insulation. It has excellent qualities, but due to its high cost it is used quite rarely.
Methods for insulating floors
To insulate a concrete floor on the first floor, it is not enough to simply lay warm linoleum or carpet on a thick backing. There are three options with which you can solve the problem of floor insulation:
- using sheets of plywood or chipboard;
- concrete screed over the insulation layer;
- using a lag structure.
Each of these methods has its own advantages and disadvantages. But regardless of the option chosen, it is necessary to comply general principles laying thermal insulation.
- The old floor covering must be removed. Ideally, you need to get to the concrete floor slab. If this is difficult to implement, for example, it is laid on the floor ceramic tile, then linoleum or carpet with a thick backing can be laid on chipboards without removing the tiles. The main thing is that the surface is smooth. And here wood coverings Before insulating the floor, it is better to dismantle it so as not to encounter problems in the future.
- Floor insulation must include mandatory waterproofing. Concrete is famous for its ability to pass and even attract water. Therefore, it is necessary to reliably protect the room from moisture penetration.
- The surface must be leveled before laying insulation. It's easier to do this on initial stage than later leveling the floor with joists or screed.
Insulation using chipboard or plywood
This is the fastest and easiest way to insulate the floor in an apartment, which does not involve the use of special insulation. Using it, you can make a thermal insulation substrate with your own hands in a short time before laying linoleum or carpet. However, it must be kept in mind that this method cannot be named ideal option insulation of the floor of an apartment located on the ground floor, since it provides relatively low level thermal insulation. Floor insulation work is carried out in the following sequence:
- The old base is cleaned of dirt and dust.
- To ensure waterproofing, a layer of polyethylene film is laid on the base, the joints of which are taped.
- Before laying sheets of chipboard or plywood, it is necessary to create a thermal gap of 1.5–2 cm between them and the walls. This will avoid warping of the coating caused by the expansion of sheets with temperature changes.
- The coating slabs are laid in two layers offset from each other. Thus, the sheets of the top layer must overlap the seams formed between the slabs of the lower one. Dowels are used to fasten the sheets.
- The seams are treated with a solution of putty and oil paint. You can use reinforced mesh.
- A finishing coating in the form of carpet or linoleum is laid on the resulting substrate. You can simply press it down with baseboards. Another way is to glue the carpet to a thermal insulation backing using bustilate.
Insulation under the screed
This method will require much more effort than insulation with chipboard sheets. But the thermal insulation that this method provides will be much better. Simultaneously with increasing the thermal insulation properties, the floor surface can also be leveled. How to insulate a concrete floor in an apartment under a screed?
- Initially, the existing covering is removed from the floor, preferably down to the concrete slab. After this, the surface is cleaned of dust and debris.
- A vapor barrier layer is laid that will prevent moisture from penetrating into the insulation. Vapor barrier film it is necessary to extend it onto the walls by about 3–5 cm, and the joints must be taped.
- The insulation is laid tightly, and then another layer of vapor barrier is laid.
If polystyrene foam or expanded polystyrene is used as insulation, a second layer of vapor barrier can be omitted.
- Lay over the entire floor surface metal grid and is attached around the perimeter of the room.
- The screed is being poured. The thickness of the concrete layer after drying must be at least 5 cm, otherwise such a substrate may simply not withstand the loads and crumble. The entire screed must be poured at one time, using a 200 grade solution, stirring the cement in the appropriate proportion.
- After the solution has dried, the surface is primed. The flooring is laid on top. It can be laminate, linoleum or carpet.
Performing thermal insulation along joists
If the selected thermal insulation material is not able to withstand significant loads, then it is necessary to carry out insulation along the joists. For the design, even bars with a cross section of 50 by 100 mm are suitable, which it is highly advisable to pre-treat with an antiseptic solution. It will protect the logs from the penetration of fungus and extend their service life.
- After clearing the surface of debris, waterproof it. To do this, using a brush, you need to apply a layer bitumen mastic, also covering walls to a height of 5 cm.
- The logs are laid from timber; the first and last logs should be located close to the wall.
HELPFUL INFORMATION: The use of plasticizer for screeding heated floors
