Warming 

Floor insulation in the apartment of the first floor. Insulation of the concrete floor of the first floor

The scheme of insulation of the concrete floor of the first floor depends on how the floor is finished:

  •   (described in detail in the article, we do not consider here);
  • Floor slabs (with cold underground).

Consider all the options for warming the concrete floor of the first floor on floor slabs.

Insulation of the concrete floor of the first floor, from below, from the underground

Such insulation can be done when there is a place in the underground for these works (at least 1 meter). Underground soil, while not specifically closing. Underground products are needed (the right amount is determined by calculation). A reinforced screed is poured on top of the slab. Reinforcement from a mesh with a cell 100x100 of wire with a diameter of 3-4 mm.

Insulation of the concrete floor of the first floor, from the top under the screed



Insulation of the concrete floor of the first floor (on top under the screed)

Such a scheme is used if access to the space under the slabs is no longer available. Reinforced screed is poured on top of the insulation. Reinforcement from a mesh with a cell 100x100 of wire with a diameter of 3-4 mm.



Insulation of the concrete floor of the first floor (with the use of lag)

When there is no access to the space under the slabs, a lag pattern is also used. This design eliminates the need for screeds; all work is dry.

How to insulate the concrete floor of the first floor

Consider insulation options for all insulation schemes (shown in the figures above).

To insulate the concrete floor of the first floor, from below, from the side of the underground (Figure 1), EPSP is used, density 30-35 kg / m3. The thickness of the EPSP is determined by calculation for a specific region of construction, but not less than 50 mm. EPS from the underground can be plastered on a grid, but this is completely optional. This material is not afraid of moisture, and there is no sunlight there (EPPS is not recommended to be left for a long time under the influence of UV).

To warm the concrete floor of the first floor, from the top of the room under the screed (Figure 2), EPS or foam is used. EPSP density of 30-35 kg / m3, polystyrene with a density of at least 30 kg / m3. Under the insulation, a vapor barrier film is necessarily laid on the plate. The thickness of the insulation is determined by calculation for a specific region of construction, but not less than 50 mm.

To insulate the concrete floor of the first floor, from the top of the room, using a lag (Figure 3), mineral wool or fiberglass wool is used. Density for mineral wool is 20-40 kg / m3 (both slab and roll positions are possible). For fiberglass, the density is 11-17 kg / m3, plate and roll positions are also possible. Under the insulation, a vapor barrier film is necessarily laid on the plate. From above, the insulation can be covered with a superdiffusion membrane (for rooms such as a kitchen). The thickness of the insulation is determined by calculation for a specific region of construction, but not less than 50 mm.

Each person, equipping his house, tries to make it extremely cozy and as comfortable as possible.

To achieve these goals, you need to perform many operations, one of which is home insulation.

This will reduce heating costs and keep warm indoors in winter.

It is necessary to insulate the walls of the house, and its roof, and floors.

But this is especially true for floors, and first of all, the floor of the first floor. Here the heat loss is approximately 20%. It is the floors of the first floor that cool the fastest.

To solve this problem, they usually plaster or rooms carefully and close the ventilation openings in the underground rooms in winter.

Modern technologies are developing rapidly. The construction industry did not stand aside. Therefore, the current market for building materials in Russia can offer customers a wide variety of thermal insulation materials with their own advantages and disadvantages.

To insulate the floor of the first floor, you can use:

  • Expanded clay
  • Minvata
  • Glass wool
  • Styrofoam
  • Arbolite
  • Polyurethane foam
  • Foamed polyethylene
  • Styrofoam. There are two types, extruded and foamed.

The choice of material will depend on the design of the insulated floor and on the operational characteristics of the insulation itself.

What should I look for when buying a heater?

  • Firstly, in appearance, so that there are no obvious defects. They can affect the quality of insulation during floor use.
  • Secondly, on the size of the material and the correctness of its forms. With soft insulation there are no problems. They can be squeezed, bent and trim neatly enough. But with hard products it will be a little more complicated. A slight deviation will lead to the formation of gaps and crevices, which is unacceptable.
  • Third, product density matters. This parameter affects the weight of the insulation and the pressure on the floor structure. If you want to reduce the load on the structure, you should choose a material with a lower density.
  • Fourth, when choosing a heat-insulating material, it is necessary to take into account its water absorption. If moisture gets into the insulation, it will greatly increase heat loss. The ability to absorb water and keep it inside, and their waterproofing will depend.
  • Fifth, do not forget about the thermal conductivity of thermal insulation materials. The lower this characteristic of the material, the less it is necessary to create high-quality thermal insulation.

Having dealt with the materials, we begin to insulate the floor.

If you have a concrete floor

In durability and strength concrete floors  no equal. But they have a serious flaw, they are the coldest.

And when such a floor is on the ground floor, this figure only worsens.

In addition, since the concrete floor is multilayer, the process of insulation is still a little more complicated.

Usually, several heat-insulating materials are used for its insulation.

Warming of the concrete floor of the first floor takes place in several stages:

  1. When pouring the concrete base of the floor, you should abandon the usual crushed stone, replacing it with expanded clay.
  2. After waterproofing the base, a thermal insulation layer is laid on it, the density of which reaches 28-35 kg / cu. meter. It must be durable to withstand the pressure of the following layers.
  3. The arrangement of the "warm floor" begins. It is laid before pouring reinforced concrete screed. True, you can not do it.
  4. The final stage of thermal insulation is the creation of flooring. Under it, you can lay a layer of soft thermal insulation. This will depend on the type of flooring.

If the room has high ceilings, we recommend warming with a mixture of sawdust.

This environmentally friendly product has one drawback. It will reduce the height of the room by 15 cm. This mixture can be obtained from sawdust, sand and cement. If you want the solution to solidify quickly, you need to add chemical ingredients to it.

The mixture is poured in two layers. The thickness of the first layer reaches 70-80 mm, the second, finish - 20-25 mm. Cement - 1 part, and sand - 2 parts, the same for both layers, but sawdust for the first layer use more - 6 parts, against 3.

When the sawdust concrete hardens after 3 weeks, you can perform flooring.

We sorted out the concrete floor. There is a wooden coating.

After insulation, the floors will be made warm by our instructions at:. This is the best solution for the case when there is basic heating, and the underfloor heating is used as additional or comfortable.

Wooden floor

We will not be mistaken if we say that wooden floors in private houses are the most common type. It should be noted that their design is too simple, which makes it possible to lay thermal insulation at any time.

To warm the wooden floor of the first floor, soft and elastic materials with low density and low weight should be used.

The wooden floor is easily disassembled and also easily insulated, however, insulation work must be carried out at a certain stage.

We recommend immediately creating a double wooden floor.

Such a design will allow you to place several layers of insulation.

  • The first heat-insulating layer must be laid on the board roll between the support beams.
  • The second layer should be placed on top of the waterproofing under the finish floor.
  • The final layer will be laying under the floor covering of the insulation.

A good heat-insulating option can also be the assembly of a dry floor, which is suitable for laying on both wooden substrates and concrete coatings.

To build a similar floor, you need:

  • Small expanded clay
  • Quartz sand
  • Moisture resistant plywood or gypsum fiber (GVL)

The device process is as follows.

  • Remove the old floor (if it was).

Then a solution of cement and sand is closed up:

  • Slots between floor slabs;
  • The gaps between the walls and the ceiling;
  • Mounting recesses.

Then the floor is cleaned of construction waste.

“Dry floors” are afraid of moisture, from which they can swell. Therefore, a vapor-moisture-insulating layer is laid on the floor, under the base of the floor, which protects the backfill from moisture.

Moisture may appear from a downstream room, or stand out from a concrete floor.

Using a level, a mark of the surface of the backfill is applied to the wall and a protective layer of plastic film is arranged. It is laid with an overlap of adjacent strips so that in the area of \u200b\u200bthe walls the film would rise to a dry screed.

In addition to the film, you can use glassine or other modern materials.

Waterproofing is an important step in creating a dry floor on the ground floor. It must be carried out exclusively with high quality. If you refuse to lay it or make it bad, then the floor structure will begin to wear out quickly.

Then dampness, mold will appear in the room, and then fungi form. Naturally, in this case it is not worth talking about comfort or coziness.

To perform sound insulation around the entire perimeter, a 10 mm soundproof layer is created. Usually, edgeband made of mineral wool, polyethylene foam and other similar materials are used.

To obtain a flat surface under the flooring, bulk material is applied to the film, leveling it according to the level of marking. Exfoliated perlite sand, fine-grained slag, claydite production screenings, quartz sand, etc. are usually used for backfilling.

The standard backfill thickness is 30-50 mm. If this indicator exceeds 60 mm, the dry screed is reinforced with an additional tiled layer.

Sheets of plywood (gypsum fiber), laid on the floor surface, are glued together, and then the joints are puttied.

floor insulation foam with a screed

As you know, the floor is almost the only surface that people constantly come in contact with (walking barefoot or in shoes), so warming the floor of the first floor will be the number one task for apartment owners located on the ground floor of a multi-storey building and private owners. In this regard, certain requirements are imposed on surfaces: for example, the difference in temperature values \u200b\u200bon the floor surface and in the room should not exceed two degrees. If this value is not maintained, then you have to resort to warming - this difference is especially “acute” in the off-season and winter months.

Warming Methods

In order to insulate the floors, usually in the ceilings between the first floor and the basement, an additional layer of thermal insulation is laid. According to the laws of heat transfer, heat loss flows from top to bottom through the floors in the underground (multi-storey buildings with unheated basements are considered).

In this case, in addition to heat loss, there is also a condensation of water vapor released from the warm air in the rooms. This adversely affects the state of the insulation material, which absorbs all moisture. To prevent excessive moisture, you can either use a moisture-resistant material as thermal insulation, or (and this is recommended in any case) to lay an additional vapor barrier before thermal insulation. As a vapor barrier layer, you can use a conventional polyethylene film with a thickness of 150 microns.

By the way, if different floor coverings have different coefficients of heat absorption: the concrete floor is colder than the parquet floor - and this is logical, since concrete more actively “absorbs” heat, unlike wood. That's why experts advise using flooring for decoration that has a low rate of heat absorption - wood, parquet, chipboard, linoleum, polymer tile - otherwise the floor will be cold all the time.

Insulation of the concrete floor of the first floor

When your apartment is located on the first floor of a multi-storey residential building, and below there is a technical underground ( basement) with the ability to access there.

Mineral wool insulation

In this case, you can insulate your floor from the basement - with ordinary foam, gluing it to a special adhesive solution or a solution of cement with glue (like a tile). The gaps between the foam sheets can be foamed with construction foam.

The disadvantage of this method is the possible rejection by your neighbors of your enthusiasm for floor insulation. And if it is easier to insulate the entire floor of your section with polystyrene, then it will be much more difficult to calculate the area of \u200b\u200byour apartment and its location ("basement, bottom view"). In this case, you will have to arm yourself with a house plan and a tape measure, then to mark "your" territory for insulation.

When there is no way to insulate the floor from the technical underground.

Here they usually do the following: they arrange lags, lay plywood or boards between them, and already foam sheets are laid on them. Also a fairly simple way of insulation, but it has its drawbacks. One of them is to reduce the height of the ceilings (for prefabricated houses, where insulation of the concrete floor of the first floor is required).

For apartments with wooden floors, the situation is somewhat simpler: the floors are disassembled (if possible, old or rotten log boards are replaced with new ones), foam sheets are laid between the lags. In this case, the room will not "lose" its size.

When there is no way to insulate the floors with foam.

Then we have to apply expanded clay insulation - here it is necessary to arrange a cement screed with a layer thickness of at least 9 cm.The disadvantage of this method is a significant reduction in the ceiling height in the room, since the thickness of the floor covering with hydro- and heat-insulating layers will also have to be taken into account. However, there are pluses here: for example, in a cement screed with expanded clay, you can arrange warm floors - electric or water.

Floor insulation on logs

If you have your own house, consisting of two floors, or even an ordinary cottage, then floor insulation is still necessary - it does not matter if there is a basement or not. And here, since you are the boss in your house, you can arrange warm floors (of course, as far as your financial capabilities are).

In this case, they insulate even at the stage of the device for the subfloor. And, according to many construction specialists, the best modern thermal insulation material is extruded polystyrene foam, which has good thermal insulation characteristics, is moisture resistant, and can withstand mechanical stress. In addition, expanded polystyrene will be the best thermal insulation material in areas where groundwater is located close to the base of the foundation.

Polystyrene insulation


Wall and floor insulation

Expanded polystyrene is laid on a bed of sand with gravel, a layer thickness of at least 10 cm. The thickness of the insulation is selected, depending on the climatic characteristics of the region. In this case, the waterproofing is a polyethylene film, which is laid on the warm side of the insulation material, fixing it on ordinary glue, without the use of plastic substances. The laid waterproofing layer is poured with a screed solution consisting of sand with cement, or two layers of GVL. If you plan to arrange underfloor heating, then the heating elements must be laid on the screed.

If it is planned to insulate the floors using "ordinary grandfather" materials, then you can use glass wool or mineral wool boards. However, it should be remembered that such heaters are not sufficiently moisture resistant, so they will have to be carefully waterproofed.

For wooden houses, when flooring occurs above the ground in logs, insulation materials are laid between the logs, with waterproofing, on boards hemmed from below. And the vapor and waterproofing material itself is laid on top of the insulation on the warm side of the thermal insulation.

And finally: floor insulation will be more effective the more insulated surfaces will be in the apartment (walls, windows and doors).