Content of the article:
In any private house, the main sources of heat loss are roofing and flooring. Timely warming the floor in a wooden house will significantly reduce heat loss, improve the microclimate and reduce the cost of heating the home. Depending on the material of the supporting structure, the type of foundation, the area of the glazing and architectural features, various methods are used to conduct thermal insulation measures. This publication will tell you how to insulate the floor in a wooden house with your own hands, and what materials to use for carrying out competent insulation measures.
Thermal insulation schemes for a wooden house floor
A wooden house is considered to be a fairly light construction that can be built on almost all types of foundations. Based on the various options for the base, the house may have a basement or basement, a small underground. In the case of the construction of the carrier box on a monolithic base plate, the construction of the building does not imply the presence of space under the floor.
Depending on the design of the house, a certain scheme of thermal insulation measures is chosen: - Floor insulation in a wooden house from the bottom( from the basement) is performed in the presence of a technical room, basement or cellar.
- Thermal insulation from the premises is carried out in case the house has a low underground or stands on a monolithic slab.
Next, we consider the available insulation schemes for each of the above private house constructions.
Thermal insulation of a wooden floor from the basement of the
The technology for insulating the floor of a wooden house from the basement is as follows:
- Dismantle the subfloor to access the logs.
- Examine the condition of the beams; clean them of debris for good access to the clean surface.
- Fasten the vapor barrier membrane, “Izospan”, around the perimeter of the ceiling. When using rolled materials, the width of each strip should be at least 100 mm.
- Install a “cranial” beam on the side walls of each lag that will support the insulation and create the necessary ventilation gap between the clean floor and the heat insulator. The recommended cross section of a cranial bar is 30x30 mm.
- Prepare a heater. The ideal option for this scheme is mineral wool. The thickness of the heat insulator is selected in accordance with the height of the logs. The width of each fragment should be 20 mm greater than the width of the space between adjacent lags( step) to prevent the appearance of "cold bridges".If foam is supposed to be used as a thermal insulation material( polyurethane foam plates), then the width of the fragment should clearly correspond to the installation step of the lag.
- To fix the material, tamp the transverse rail with a rail. If foam( foam) is used, then fill the gap between the insulation and lags with assembly foam.
- Over heat insulation( in the case of foam) or transverse counter-racks fill the layer of waterproofing: plastic film, roofing material, etc.
The method of warming a wooden floor from the side of the
room. The difficulty of performing such measures lies in the mandatory dismantling of the finished floor covering in order to gain access to the underground and the supporting beam( logs).
. If the finishing floor is made of tongue-and-groove flooring and is in good condition, it is recommended that each room be numbered during dismantling in order to simplify the process of re-installing the material.
So, how to make a warm floor in a wooden house from the side of the dwelling? The process of installation of thermal insulation is relatively simple and very similar to the insulation from the cellar, but only in the reverse order:
- Remove the finished floor. Attention should be paid to the design of the “sex cake.
- Carefully inspect the condition of the support beam. Rotten areas need to be cut and replaced. This is done as follows: in place of the removed fragment, a part of the “healthy” beam is installed and fixed with the help of metal corners or a channel of a suitable size. The overlap on the lag must be at least 500 mm on each side.
- On the lower edge of each lag, tamper with a “cranial bar” with a cross section of 20-30 mm.
- Make a “rough floor”.To do this, lay between the lags( do not fix) boards or wooden boards, the edges of which will rest on the cranial bar. Treat the entire structure with an antiseptic! The recommended material thickness is 30 mm.
The length of each fragment of the subfloor should be less than 10-20 mm in lagging spacing.
Then everything is simple. Layers are laid on the subfloor: waterproofing, heat insulator, vapor barrier membrane, counter-rail( to create a ventilation gap), clean flooring. 
As can be seen from the instructions, insulation of the floor of a wooden house outside the room is a fairly simple but laborious process. Next, we consider another common scheme of thermal insulation measures, in which there is no need to dismantle the finished flooring.
"Double floor": the stages of work
This technology is suitable for wooden structures built on a monolithic concrete base.
It should be understood that the installation of a new warm floor on the wooden floor of the building will take from 12 to 20 cm of dwelling space, therefore this technology is used in rooms with “high ceilings”.
- Remove the skirting board and inspect the cover. If necessary, replace the fragments of the old flooring, seal the gap with foam.
- Install new lags in 600-700 mm increments across the stacking of the old support beam. Adjust their location so that the upper faces of the lag are strictly in the same horizontal plane.
- Cover the structure with a layer of vapor barrier membrane with an overlap on the wall of 100-150 mm.
- Place insulation between new support bars. Mineral wool heat insulators are most often used for such works. The budget option will be the use of expanded clay.
- Lay a layer of waterproofing material on the insulation.
- On new lags tamper with a counterstrike, 15-20 mm thick.
Install the new flooring, which can be used as plywood, OSB sheets, grooved flooring and install the plinth.
System "warm floor"
One of the options for carrying out insulation measures is to create a system "warm floor" in a private house. There are several ways to implement this project.
Laying the heating element under the screed. This method involves the following work:
- base alignment;
- laying of a heat insulator layer( foamed foiled polyethylene, penoflon);
- laying of the heating element( cable, mats);
- reinforcement;
- finishing screed based on ready-made mixtures or sand-cement mortar.
It should be understood that far to each base will be able to withstand a mass of about 300 kg / m2.That is why the technology of creating a "warm floor" system in a wooden house without a screed is very popular with our compatriots. This design does not overload the floor and practically does not "steal" the usable living space.
It should be noted that electrical systems must fully comply with all fire safety requirements and not heat up above 27 ° C and have a power of not more than 10 W / m of cable.
The “warm floor” system is placed on a wooden base in the space between the lags. How to make a "warm floor" on the wooden floor with your own hands?
- Inspect old base and repair if necessary.
- Install logs on the wooden floor in increments of 60 cm.
- Lay metal mesh and heat insulation between the logs. Layer thickness ¾ of the height of the log. Ideal - foamed foiled polyethylene metallized layer up.
- Lay out and fix the heating element on the grid, install the temperature sensor( in the corrugated pipe).
- Lay the floor covering.
It is important to remember that the heating cable in electric systems “warm floor” should not be located closer than 3 cm from any wooden structures, including from the finishing coating.
Insulation for wood flooring
Today, the domestic construction market offers a huge selection of thermal insulation materials, among which the most in demand are:
- Mineral wool insulation: slag, stone and glass wool. Any representative of this class has a number of advantages, among which experts note incombustibility, good sound and thermal insulation characteristics, vapor permeability, low cost.
- Polyfoam - one of the most popular heat insulators in the budget segment. Light is not hygroscopic, has excellent thermal insulation properties. Disadvantage: flammable, and when heated emits toxic fumes. More modern and safer analog of polyfoam - extruded polystyrene foam.
- Foil izolon is an excellent material for most thermal insulation works. Does not absorb moisture, is not susceptible to rotting, not flammable. Good performance with a fairly small layer thickness.
Another representative of the “new technologies” is foamed polyethylene( penofol), which has the same advantages as the isolon. There are types of penofol with self-adhesive side, which facilitates the installation of the material during repair and construction works.
