A monolithic base made of concrete or made of bricks protects from the cold in several ways, a certain method of warming the foundation of a house is chosen taking into account the conditions for building a house.
When building a private house, it is not difficult to insulate the foundation, but when it is insulated under a finished building, difficulties may arise. You need to know that it is correct to consider any materials waterproof only conditionally.
The top layer of any material absorbs moisture that will freeze when frozen, as a result it will expand, reduce resistance to heat loss and gradually destroy the structure of the base of the building.
Due to high humidity and subsequent freezing of the soil, poor-quality waterproofing layer, the influence of groundwater, the foundation of the building suffers greatly and can even be destroyed over time.
Heat leakage through the basement and floor of the first floor can reach up to 15%. This figure is higher for slab foundations and buildings without basements. For this reason, warming the base of the house will subsequently save a lot of money on expensive energy resources.
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Why insulate the foundation
Foundation insulation
Thermal insulation, like waterproofing, is necessary to protect the foundation of the house from the negative effects of the environment. In any house, the roof and walls are insulated, but the foundation often becomes a place of heat leakage. This is of particular importance if the house has a basement or a garage is made under the building.
Comparison of thermal conductivity of building materials
It is not necessary to completely protect the basement or underground from the cold. They insulate the basement ceiling, basement and foundation walls - to reduce heat loss.
Thanks to thermal insulation:
- heat loss is significantly reduced;
- the cost of heating the building is reduced;
- the negative effects that are possible with the appearance of heaving of the soil are prevented;
- the average temperature in the building stabilizes;
- eliminates the possibility of condensation on the walls;
- additional waterproofing protection is provided.
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Any base in the warm season is affected by low temperatures and moisture. To protect it, select the appropriate insulation, which should have the following properties:
- efficiency;
- resistance to temperature changes ranging from -40 to +30 degrees;
- resistance to moisture;
- strong material structure that can withstand pressure;
- high thermal insulation qualities;
- unattractive to insects and rodents.
The ability of the material to withstand open fire does not matter: since it will be located below the soil surface, the possibility of such an impact is minimal. Permeability is not important either.
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Types of heaters and their main properties
Types of heaters
Most often, for the thermal insulation of the foundation during the construction of residential buildings, several thermal insulation materials are used that are affordable and meet the requirements:
- expanded clay;
- extruded and sheet polystyrene foam, foam plastic, foam plastic;
- sprayed polyurethane foam.
They have their own characteristics, the effectiveness of the heat-insulating layer, different costs for insulation and differences in installation technology. Mineral wool is not used for this purpose due to its low strength and complete lack of moisture resistance. The choice of material suitable for a particular house is carried out taking into account its characteristics, thermal insulation properties and the requirements of the owner.
Expanded clay
Expanded clay
The main advantage of expanded clay granules is that they are cheaper than other heaters for foundations. In other respects, this filling material is worse than foamed polymers. The emergence of new materials has made expanded clay little-demanded in construction.
The ability of expanded clay to moisten after a while reduces its insulating ability by 25-30%. For this reason, to increase efficiency, it must be made thicker, which leads to an increase in material consumption. It is mainly used where it makes no sense to use modern materials - in small wooden houses, for warming country houses. This is a porous material, in the soil it forms an air cushion around the base of the house and removes excess soil moisture.
Warming of the foundation with expanded clay
The sequence of insulation with expanded clay:
- I clean the soil around the foundation by digging a trench (width not less than 80 cm) to its sole. Remains of soil are removed from the walls of the base, and the base is prepared for waterproofing.
- Before thermal insulation, the foundation is waterproofed with roll materials or by coating. The cheapest way is to use bituminous mastic. Before work, you need to remove sharp edges and slightly round off the corners, cover the surface with a special primer until completely wetted. There are 2 types of bituminous waterproofing - cold and hot. Cold only mix and cover the surface. Hot must be preheated in a metal container to 180 degrees.
- An important stage is the drainage device. when moistened, expanded clay becomes less effective. At a distance from the foundation, a foundation pit is prepared, deeper than the foundation of the house. Geotextiles are laid in the pit, covered with a 20 cm layer of crushed stone, perforated pipes are laid on top. Everyone is covered with rubble, and a layer of sand or turf is poured on top.
- After that, the bottom of the trench is covered with plastic wrap, tucking the edges by 10 cm, then you can proceed to filling the trench with expanded clay, this will protect the foundation insulation from moisture in the soil. You need to use dry expanded clay, medium fraction without construction waste. The heat insulator is poured to the depth of the trench, the blind area is poured from above with cement mortar.
blind area increase the quality of insulation and protect expanded clay from silting. For its device around the perimeter of the house, at a distance of 50 cm from the wall, a formwork 10-15 cm high is installed.
Inside, a reinforcing frame is connected according to a simple scheme or a wire mesh and poured with concrete mortar. It is possible for a blind area device, to use fixed formwork.
Extruded polystyrene foam (EPS)
Foundation protected with extruded polystyrene foam
The molding of this material is carried out by processing the molten polymer mixture in an extrusion unit. At the same time, carbon dioxide is supplied to the installation, due to which the melt foams. Simple air is not used, otherwise the characteristics will change and the fire hazard of the product will increase.
XPS panels are expensive but, due to the molding of polystyrene foam boards, they have a flat and smooth surface with closed cells that will not absorb moisture. Due to this, the insulating properties are increased and the service life is increased.
Foundation protection with extruded polystyrene foam
Thermal insulation of the base of the EPPS house is carried out in several stages:
- Foundation preparation. The walls are cleaned, it will be necessary to knock down all the protrusions, remove the layers of concrete. They cover large chips and shells, eliminate the unevenness of concrete.
- Actually installation:
- it is convenient to fix the heat-insulating material with a polymer-cement mixture, to speed up work and reliable installation, use polyurethane adhesive-foam. The adhesive solution is applied along the perimeter of the plate with strips about 3 cm thick, a strip of glue must also be applied in the center;
- from the edge to the strip make an indent of at least 2 cm wide;
- plates of polystyrene after applying the adhesive withstand 5-10 minutes, after which they are mounted on the surface;
- if in the end there are gaps of more than 2 mm between the XPS boards, they are sealed with mounting foam;
- when fixing the plates mechanically per 1 m2, you need to drive in 5 dowels on the central surface of the base of the house. The surface sheathing with insulation panels at the corners is tightly pressed with the help of 6-8 fasteners.
Glue application
Sealing gaps
Material cutting
Polyurethane foam (PPU)
Insulation of the foundation with polyurethane foam
This is the most expensive insulation, it requires special equipment to work. But at the same time, it is the most effective heat-insulating material available for thermal insulation of the foundation.
Its main difference is that that the PPU layer has no seams at all, the coating is a single layer.
It is good because:
- has high adhesion and securely adheres to a surface that has not been cleaned of dirt;
- minimum coefficient of thermal conductivity;
- the frozen material turns into a waterproof layer;
- the coating is plastic and hard at the same time;
- insects and rodents are not interested in this insulation.
Due to water resistance, when protecting the foundation with polyurethane foam, it is possible not to make a waterproofing layer which allows you to quickly and correctly insulate the foundation from the outside with your own hands, and reduces overall costs.
PPU equipment
Use compositions of 2 components. Polyisocyanate and polyol are supplied in a separate vessel, they are mixed before work.
Installations for working with this heater consist of several mandatory elements:
- compressor unit;
- working containers. Usually use a container with a capacity of 150-200 liters;
- mixture preparation unit;
- a set of pipes and a gun for applying the composition.
Before spraying the composition, you need to prepare protective clothing, a respirator and goggles. During the polymerization and drying of the solution, toxic substances enter the air.
Thermally insulate 2 types of house foundations - slab and tape. It makes no sense to protect columnar and pile foundations from the cold. It is only possible to insulate the “sewn” plinth and grillage, to eliminate all possible cold bridges so that cold chilled air does not penetrate into the underground.
Features of insulation of different foundations
| Material | Features of use |
|---|---|
| polyurethane foam | You need to make sure that there are no traces of grease and pieces of chipped concrete on the surface. If the surface is strong, then it is not necessary to treat with a primer. |
Styrofoam | Rolled bituminous materials are used to protect polystyrene foam from moisture. Liquid waterproofing should not be used, since the heat-insulating material will not hold securely on it. Joints must be well sealed to prevent moisture penetration. |
Expanded clay | The wall of the base of the house must be protected from moisture in advance. |
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Strip foundation insulation
The technology of fastening the heat-insulating material depends on the season of work and the design of the base.
When working with a strip foundation located underground, it is necessary to provide access to the walls of the building base. If the house is just being built, then this is easy to do.
The insulation is attached to the surface immediately after the formwork panels have been dismantled.before backfilling the trench.
For houses already in use, a trench is prepared along the perimeter from 50 cm wide, deep to the level of soil freezing. Insulation is attached to the slab foundation only before it is poured.
Mistakes made at any stage will cause a violation of the integrity of the heat-insulating layer and lead to freezing of the foundation. Sometimes it is not possible to carry out external thermal insulation.
If the house has been in operation for a long time, then opening the foundation is a risky process, it is recommended that you carefully prepare for work first. There is a risk of subsidence of a part of the horizontal base of the building and the destruction of load-bearing structures.
To avoid this problem, it is better to insulate the foundation from the inside, and then use the surfaces for decorative finishing. Although the protection of the inside of the foundation does not insulate the foundation itself, but the underground premises.
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The advantage of outdoor insulation
Insulation of the foundation of the house
With external insulation, you protect concrete from temperature changes. It does not suffer from cold and microcracks do not appear in it. With internal insulation of basements, only the basement is protected from the cold, and concrete is exposed to the damaging effects of temperature changes.
Protecting the building with internal insulation helps prevent condensation, which often forms in any basement conditions. But do not forget that the outer side of the foundation in this case will freeze, it will be affected by groundwater - which will adversely affect the ability to withstand loads, durability and strength of the foundation - cracks may form.
Insulation of the foundation outside the wooden house
In addition, during prolonged frosts, deformation of the base may occur. Most often, this drawback is almost imperceptible, but with frequent temperature changes, the base may collapse. After installing the internal thermal insulation, it is covered with plaster or decorative panels.
It is necessary to insulate the house, it affects not only the level of heat loss, but also the service life of a residential building. Do-it-yourself insulation of the foundation from the outside can significantly increase comfort in residential premises, protect the lower part of the house and walls from damage caused by freezing moisture.
The most important thing in this case is to follow the sequence and rules for performing work, try to reduce the possible disadvantages of the material and use only high-quality products.
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