How to insulate the ceiling in a private house with your own hands - options and solutions. How to insulate a wooden ceiling in a house? Proper insulation of a wooden ceiling in a private house What can be put on the ceiling for warmer

CONTENT
If in the house, as in a song, the ceiling is icy, the door is creaky, then the heating bills will be prickly. After all, it is through the ceiling and roof that the most serious heat loss occurs. You can create a comfortable temperature in the house, reduce heating costs, and at the same time solve the issue of sound insulation by insulating the ceiling in the house with mineral wool. It successfully copes with the above tasks, belongs to the group of non-combustible materials, is made from natural components and has a service life of at least 50 years.

How to properly insulate the ceiling in a private house

Experts in the field of insulation and soundproofing with 80 years of experience in these matters (ISOVER) will help you understand how to properly insulate the ceiling in a private house with a cold roof. To begin with, we will determine whether the installation will be from the outside or from the inside, because. the ceiling is insulated either from the side of the ceiling of the lower room, or the heat-insulating layer is installed on the floor of the upper room, followed by plywood sheathing.

If the house has an attic, the ceiling is insulated from the outside. This will allow you to maintain the same height of the ceiling and is very convenient in terms of installation.

On the floor of the attic we install a frame with a distance between the bars of 600mm in the light.

Frame installation

To protect the insulation and the entire structure from steam from the living space located under the attic, we mount a vapor barrier membrane. We fix it with a construction stapler, avoiding gaps between the canvases. To do this, it is better to provide an overlap of 100 - 150 mm and close the seam with mounting tape or construction tape. The ISOVER VS 80 membrane is laid with the logo on the ceiling.
Next, install the insulation. According to experts, it is enough to choose a heater, the scope of which includes cold ceilings, for example, or ISOVER HEAT AND QUIET Floors and Ceilings. We cut the roll across into two equal parts of 610 mm each and roll it into a frame. Due to the width allowances of 10 mm and the elasticity of the mineral wool, the material is laid without gaps and crevices. Installation of rolls can be done independently. Everything is done simply and quickly.
On top of the thermal insulation, we install a hydro-windproof membrane with an overlap of 100 - 150 mm and glue the seams with mounting tape or construction tape. The ISOVER HB membrane is laid with the logo on the roof.
If you insulate the ceiling from the outside, then the space of the unheated attic itself serves as an air gap and nothing else needs to be done.

For those who plan to insulate the ceiling from the inside of the room, i.e. bottom, experts recommend paying attention to the elastic properties of the material. The insulation must be securely held in the structure and not fall out.

REFERENCE INFORMATION:

ISOVER is a global expert in insulation and noise protection. For 80 years, ISOVER products have been produced in accordance with the world quality standard. In Russia, ISOVER is the first and only manufacturer of mineral wool based on both quartz and basalt.
Quartz-based ISOVER products are manufactured using proprietary technology, which is now successfully used around the world. In Russia, mineral thermal insulation and noise-insulating materials from quartz melt are produced at a plant in Yegorievsk (Moscow region) - one of the largest ISOVER enterprises in the world. More than 70,000 tons of insulation and sound insulation are produced here annually.

The technology for insulating the ceiling from the inside of the room includes several stages:

With a step of frame racks of 600 mm, it is necessary to cut the roll in half. The manufacturer has provided allowances of 10 mm on each side (roll width 1220 mm). To create not only reliable thermal insulation, but also additional noise protection, you can opt for the material in the ISOVER Zvukozaschita boards.
With a non-standard step of the racks, the thermal insulation in rolls is cut into the required dimensions with allowances in width, which will ensure reliable fixation of the material in the structure. If the pitch is up to 800 mm, the allowance should be 5 mm on each side, with a pitch from 800 mm to 1200 mm - 10 mm on the right and left.

Installation of thermal insulation

When insulating with plates in several layers, install the material with a spaced seam.
Do not forget about the vapor barrier membrane, which is always installed on the side of the warm room, and the crate for the ventilated gap. We considered the process of installing the membrane in the second paragraph of the insulation of the ceiling from the outside.

Installation of a vapor barrier membrane

Compliance with the installation technology of mineral wool will allow you to competently insulate the ceiling, keep the heat in the house, and reduce heating bills.

Recommended material for ceiling insulation - ISOVER Teply Dom

Material parameters

Thickness, mm	50		100
Width, mm	1220
Length, mm	5490	7000	5490	7000
Quantity in a package, m 2	13.4	17.1	6.7	8.54
Quantity in a package, m 3	0.67	0.85	0.67	0.85
Quantity in a package, pcs	2		1

14942 0 4

Which ceiling insulation to choose or 3 available ways to self-insulate the ceiling

When the question arises about maintaining heat in the house, the first thing that an ordinary person immediately remembers is the insulation of walls and floors. But such a one-sided approach is fundamentally wrong, because everyone knows from the school physics course that warm air rises and if you do not take into account the ceiling, then all other efforts and investments will be in vain. In this article, I will talk about which ceiling insulation is best to use and how to insulate the ceiling in the house in three different ways.

What to consider when choosing a material

When choosing a heater, there are several main evaluation criteria - this is the level of vapor permeability, flammability, weight and strength of the material itself, there is also a price, but this is more of a personal matter.

Ceilings only at first glance to an uninitiated person may seem different, in reality there are only 2 types of floors - concrete and wood:

With concrete floor slabs, everything is simple, they do not burn and have an enviable load-bearing capacity. By itself, concrete is considered to be partially vapor-permeable. But for floor slabs, this indicator is so low that when choosing which insulation it is better to equip the ceiling, it can simply be ignored;
Attic floors in private houses are often mounted on a wooden base, and wood, as you know, is a living material that burns well and passes steam quite well. So if you block the access of air, then the rafters will sooner or later begin to rot. At the same time, combustible insulation under the arch of a wooden house is dangerous.

Now we have reached one of the main parameters, which directly affects how to choose a heater. This is the location of the insulating layer. After all, the ceiling can be insulated both from the inside of the room and from above, that is, from the unheated side.

For an amateur, the simplest, most affordable and inexpensive option is the arrangement of an attic floor. After all, you must admit that here a person does not need to “fence” improvised scaffolding and balance on them, hemming the ceiling from below.

In addition, the question of how thick the insulation should be, for outdoor installation, actually disappears, the more the better, there is enough space. Moreover, both slab and bulk material can be used.

Installation from the inside is a completely different matter. Really high ceilings are not so common in our houses, which means that every centimeter will have to be borrowed from the living space. In my experience, owners rarely agree to "lower" the ceiling by more than 150 mm. Accordingly, the insulation must be selected light, durable and with the lowest possible thermal conductivity.

In winter, at least 25% of the heat goes through the roof of an uninsulated building, the losses are compensated by enhanced heating. Of course, heating also entails increased energy consumption. A budget way to solve the problem is to insulate the ceiling in a private house, the attic remains cold. The overlap is smaller than the roof slopes in area, hence the savings. Our task is to tell you how to properly insulate the ceiling, after selecting the appropriate materials.

The eternal question - to insulate from the inside or outside

Any external fence separating the living space from the street is best sheathed with thermal insulation from the outside. Accordingly, the insulation of the ceiling on the upper floor of a private house is done from the side of the attic. The reasons:

Installation is physically simplified, which is important when doing do-it-yourself work. No need to make a hanging frame or hem the insulation from below to the ceiling.
A layer of insulator with a thickness of 10-20 cm (depending on the region of residence) will not reduce the height of the rooms. This is an important plus for old buildings and "Khrushchev" with low ceilings.
In a habitable house or apartment, you do not have to redo the repairs.
If you do not follow the technology of internal thermal insulation, the surface under the insulation will get wet, a fungus will appear. Moisture condensation inside the “pie” is facilitated by 2 factors: the penetration of water vapor and the formation of a dew point at the junction of dissimilar materials.

When the outer fence is sewn up from the inside, the moisture condensation point is located near the interface of 2 different building materials

About the notorious dew point, which frightens ordinary homeowners. To avoid condensation inside the structure, it is worthwhile to withstand 2 conditions: prevent water vapor from entering the room and use an insulator of sufficient thickness. Then the dew point will be inside the insulation, where there is nothing to condense. The second way is to organize the removal of moisture with the help of ventilation (read below).

Reference. The dew point is the phenomenon of condensation of water vapor from the air at a certain humidity and temperature. The lower the air temperature, the sooner the degree of extreme saturation with moisture is reached and condensation begins.

There are exceptions to the rules, not every room can be finished with insulation from the outside. Examples:

the ceiling of the upper apartment of a multi-storey building;
attic;
balcony, loggia;
concrete floor of the garage above the basement, cellar;
the need to save money, etc.

For obvious reasons, it will not be possible to insulate the garage basement from above.

In these cases, internal thermal insulation of ceilings is arranged with strict adherence to technology. We will describe the procedure for doing work in the form of step-by-step instructions, but first you need to find out ...

The better to insulate ceilings

For insulation of ceiling structures, 4 groups of materials are used:

Fibrous - mineral, stone (basalt) and glass wool.
Loose - sawdust, clay, expanded clay, vermiculite.
Polymers made from expanded polystyrene and polyethylene.
Sprayed - ecowool, polyurethane foam, liquid foam - penoizol.

We will not focus on the last group of heaters - liquid mixtures are applied by spraying or filling cavities under pressure, which requires appropriate technological equipment. You can’t do such ceiling insulation in a private house with your own hands - you need to hire craftsmen from a specialized company and pay for services.

Application of cellulose ecowool (left) and PU foam (right)

Note. Sprayed materials are the most effective and at the same time expensive. Only Polynor insulating polyurethane foam with a low thermal conductivity coefficient λ = 0.04 W/(m °C) is applied manually. The price of an aerosol can is 8 USD. e., the coverage area is 1 m² with a thickness of 50 mm. Thermal resistance of the layer: R \u003d 0.05 / 0.04 \u003d 1.25 m² ° C / W - the information will be useful to us for comparison.

Let us consider in more detail each group of building materials, then we will choose suitable heaters for ceilings in various rooms.

Porous fibrous materials

For thermal insulation of roofs and attics under a cold roof, 3 types of fibrous products are used:

mineral wool on a synthetic binder, thermal conductivity λ = 0.055-0.06 W / (m ° C);
basalt non-combustible insulation λ = 0.05-0.053 W / (m ° C);
mineral wool based on fiberglass (otherwise - glass wool) λ = 0.044 W / (m ° C).

Clarification. We give the parameters of heaters for real operating conditions, taken from regulatory construction documentation. To overestimate the characteristics of insulators, manufacturers indicate the coefficient λ for the material in the dry state. The lower the thermal conductivity, the better the insulation resists cold.

Above, we calculated the thermal resistance R of foam insulation 5 cm thick (1.25 m² ° C / W). Let's compare the indicator with the characteristics of fibrous materials of similar thickness by performing a short calculation for each (the technique from SNiP was applied):

mineral wool - R \u003d 0.05 / 0.055 \u003d 0.9 m² ° C / W;
stone wool - R \u003d 0.05 / 0.05 \u003d 1 m² ° C / W;
glass wool - R \u003d 0.05 / 0.044 \u003d 1.14 m² ° C / W.

Conclusion. In terms of thermal insulation properties, fibrous insulation loses to liquid and foamed polymers. Glass wool shows the best result, ordinary mineral wool insulators show the worst result. By the way, the values of thermal resistance R are interpreted the other way around: the higher the indicator, the more efficient the insulation of a certain thickness works.

Externally, basalt wool differs from mineral wool in color and corrugated fiber structure.

We list the remaining, no less important properties of fibrous insulation:

Cotton wool is produced in rolls, slabs and mats of various densities - from 35 to 200 kg/m³.
The structure with open pores promotes good vapor permeability of materials.
Mineral wool absorbs moisture, but with proper ventilation dries quickly.
Basalt fiber is considered non-combustible because it can withstand temperatures of 600-700 °C. Ordinary mineral wool slabs also do not burn, but are destroyed by strong heat. Glass wool begins to melt at 250 degrees.
Heaters do not have high strength, they are attached to glue or using a frame.

Wool based on fiberglass contains the smallest particles of glass, therefore it is not applicable inside residential premises. The well-known manufacturer of roofing insulation "Isover" recommends covering attic floors with glass wool from the outside.

The structure of glass wool - the fibers form many air spaces

Other mineral heaters use a synthetic binder containing formaldehyde. Under certain conditions, these substances can be released and mixed with air. With internal insulation, mineral wool must be well isolated from the living space with the help of a film, drywall, and so on.

Loose insulation

All backfill materials are of natural origin, and therefore environmentally friendly. The following heaters are used for insulation of ceilings:

expanded clay;
small chips, sawdust;
clay;
vermiculite gravel.

Reference. Vermiculite is much more expensive than expanded clay, so it is used quite rarely. Clay in its pure form is also not used - it is usually mixed with reeds or sawdust.

The main disadvantage of natural heaters is their low efficiency compared to mineral and polymer products. Example: the thermal conductivity of expanded clay gravel with a density of 200 kg / m³ is 0.11 W / (m ° C). The thermal resistance R of a 50 mm layer will be only 0.05 / 0.11 = 0.45 m² °C / W. The indicators of expanded clay of increased density, sawdust and clay are even less.

Vermiculite (left) and expanded clay gravel (right)

Briefly about the properties of building materials:

All bulk insulation well pass water vapor.
Flammability of clay, expanded clay and vermiculite gravel is practically zero. Sawdust or reeds mixed with clay mortar also successfully resists fire.
Long service life (excluding wood shavings).

The low price of natural heaters is a relative concept. To create a heat-insulating layer comparable to mineral wool 5 cm thick, you need to fill in expanded clay to a height of 100 mm, that is, spend twice as much.

Characteristics of polymer thermal insulation

To begin with, we give a list of the materials used, indicating the heat-conducting characteristics in the operating mode:

foam plastic with a density of 15 ... 35 kg / m³, λ \u003d 0.045-0.041 W / (m ° C);
extruded polystyrene foam EPPS, density - 20 ... 40 kg / m³, λ = 0.039-0.037 W / (m ° C);
foamed polyethylene 30…50 kg/m³, λ = 0.044-0.042 W/(m °C).

Reference. Extruded polystyrene foam is often called Penoplex after a popular brand name. Products made of polyethylene foam are known by the names "Penofol", "Izolon" and "Tepofol".

Thin polyethylene foam insulation with foil reflective layer

For comparison with fibrous insulators, we determine the thermal resistance of polymers 50 mm thick:

polystyrene 25 kg / m³ - R = 0.05 / 0.043 = 1.16 m² ° C / W;
"Penoplex" - R \u003d 0.05 / 0.038 \u003d 1.32 m² ° C / W;
"Penofol" - R \u003d 0.05 / 0.042 \u003d 1.19 m² ° C / W.

It is noticeable that the thermal insulation performance of polymer insulation exceeds the characteristics of mineral and basalt wool. The leader is extruded polystyrene, whose result is comparable only to machine-applied polyurethane foam.

The rest of the properties look like this:

Due to the closed air pores, the insulation practically does not allow moisture to pass through. An exception is foam plastics with a meager vapor permeability of 0.05 mg / (m h Pa). Mineral wool indicators - 0.4 ... 0.6 mg / (m h Pa).
All polymers are combustible, no matter what sellers and manufacturers claim.
Materials based on polystyrene have high strength, are produced in plates.
Foamed polyethylene has a soft and flexible structure and is sold in rolls. To reflect the infrared heat flux, the surface of the insulation is covered with aluminum foil.

In terms of availability, polystyrene is the leader - its price is comparable to natural materials. "Extruder" is sold at the price of basalt non-combustible wool or even more.

Useful fact. A good insulator can be a polymer stretch ceiling, which forms an air gap under the ceiling. This cavity cannot be called airtight, but there are very few ways for the penetration of warm air.

A review and comparison of the characteristics of insulating materials showed that each group of insulators has strengths and weaknesses that limit the scope. For example, combustible polymers cannot be used to insulate the interfloor floors of wooden houses - fire regulations prohibit it. You should not ignore the requirement - with the help of a heater, the fire will easily spread to the next floor.

Reference. When installing wooden ceilings, the regulations require that the supporting beams be treated with a refractory compound and the use of non-combustible insulators. If you follow these instructions, then in the event of a fire, the ceiling will last 30-60 minutes until complete collapse. Here is the answer to the question of whether it is possible to insulate a wooden ceiling with foam plastic.

Building codes recommend that wood structures be treated with fire retardant

Based on experience in construction and other regulatory requirements, we will give the following recommendations for choosing thermal insulation:

It is better to insulate wooden floors from the side of the attic with basalt wool, expanded clay, vermiculite, or a mixture of clay and sawdust.
The ceilings in the bath rooms (especially the steam rooms) must be insulated with environmentally friendly materials. Here the choice is small - the same expanded clay, sawdust mass, vermiculite gravel, natural moss. No polymers and mineral wool, from strong heating, the release of harmful substances will begin.
The ceilings of attic rooms are sewn up from the inside with dense basalt fiber, glass wool is not applicable.
Concrete monolithic coatings are usually insulated with foam or polystyrene foam. In a country house - from the side of the roof, on the balcony of a high-rise building or in the basement of a garage - from the inside.
It is more correct to insulate flat reinforced concrete roofs with polymers from the outside, before the installation of a built-up bitumen roof. If this is not possible, "Penoplex" is hemmed from below without problems, but in compliance with the technology.
Foil polyethylene foam is desirable to use as an additional insulating layer. How to properly insulate the ceiling with Isolon and Penofol, from a separate guide.

Practice shows that it is better not to combine wood and vapor-tight building materials. The polymer, which is tightly attached to the beam, blocks the access of air, the wood does not “breathe”. If steam begins to condense at the junction, which has nowhere to go, the wood will turn black and rot.

The author of the video is clearly exaggerating and exaggerating the problem, but the situation shown is, of course, unacceptable. There is only one way out - when using polymers, it is necessary to ensure the contact of wood with air, which is not easy to implement technically.

How to calculate the thickness of thermal insulation

We will show the determination of the thickness of the insulating layer with examples. We take the formula for calculating thermal resistance as a basis (in the previous sections, we have already used it to compare the effectiveness of different materials):

R - heat transfer resistance of the insulating "pie", m² °C / W;
δ is the thickness of the insulation, m;
λ is the coefficient of thermal conductivity of the material, W/(m °C).

The essence of the calculation: according to the standard thermal resistance specified for your region of residence, calculate the thickness of the insulation, knowing the characteristic λ. The value of R is determined according to the scheme given in the regulatory documents, the map with indicators for the Russian Federation is shown in the photo.

Similar maps can be found in the regulations of other CIS countries

Example 1 It is necessary to calculate the insulation of a dacha with an attic, located in the suburbs. We find the characteristics R for Moscow, select the indicator 4.7 m² °C / W (for coatings), take the coefficient λ of basalt wool equal to 0.05 W / (m ° C) and calculate the thickness: δ = 4.7 x 0.05 = 0.235 m ≈ 240 mm.

Example 2 We determine the thickness of the insulating layer from "Penoplex" for concrete floors, location - Cherepovets. The algorithm is this:

We find on the Internet or reference literature the thermal conductivity of reinforced concrete λ = 2.04 W / (m ° C) and find out the thermal stability of a standard floor slab 220 mm: R = 0.22 / 2.04 = 0.1 m² ° C / W.
According to the map-scheme, we find the standard value R for Cherepovets, we take the overlap indicator - 4.26 m² ° С / W (the figure is highlighted in green).
We subtract the found resistance of the plate from the required value of heat transfer: 4.26 - 0.1 \u003d 4.16 m² ° C / W.
We calculate the thickness of the polystyrene foam insulation λ = 0.037 W / (m ° C): δ = 4.16 x 0.037 = 0.154 m ≈ 160 mm.

Comment. The algorithm does not take into account the heat resistance of the interior and attic floors, so it gives a result with a small margin. If we subtract the resistance of the floorboards and the plasterboard ceiling lining, the thickness of the XPS will decrease to 135 mm.

We warm the ceiling with mineral wool

As mentioned above, mineral wool is used to insulate wooden floors and ceilings in attic rooms. So that the material does not become saturated with moisture and does not lose heat resistance, 3 conditions must be met:

protect cotton wool from the ingress of water vapor from inside the premises;
ensure ventilation of the outer surface so that the resulting moisture is weathered from the thickness of the insulation;
the vapor permeability of the materials used in the "pie" should increase towards a colder room or street, as shown in the diagram.

Slab or rolled mineral wool is located in the space between the ceiling beams, as shown in the insulation diagram. When laying thermal insulation with your own hands, follow the following procedure:

Roll out a vapor barrier film from below the beams, laying adjacent sheets with an overlap of 100 mm wide. Make an overlap on the walls with a width of 10-15 cm. Carefully glue the joints with adhesive tape.
The right photo shows a variant of moisture insulation with polyethylene foam with a reflective foil layer.
Glue the film overlaps to the walls with silicone sealant. The goal is to cut off indoor moisture from penetrating into the attic.
Work is being carried out from the side of the cold roof. Therefore, first make a rough lining of the ceiling, where the cotton wool will subsequently fall.
Lay the mineral wool boards as shown in the photo. The rolled material is carefully trimmed and inserted between the log; wadding is unacceptable.
Lay out waterproofing sheets on top of the insulation - a diffusion membrane that allows moisture to pass only in one direction - out. Overlap 10 cm and glue the joints.
Arbitrarily lay attic floors from edged boards across the lag. Solid flooring is optional.

An important point. Between the surface of the wool and the waterproofing, a ventilation duct must be provided. Thanks to the air gap, moisture is removed from the insulation.

Sometimes builders lay the first moisture-proof film over the boards of the draft ceiling, bypassing each beam. We do not recommend using this approach - the vapor barrier will close the access of air to the log wood, and from below it will remain open for saturation with steam. Further it is clear - the tree will begin to rot.

How to lay mineral wool on the ceiling if the thickness of one layer is not enough. In such cases, a second tier of heat-insulating plates is made, shifted by 30-50 cm relative to the first row. If the height of the supporting beams is not enough to organize the air, the frame is built up from the battens of the crate, then the 2nd layer of insulation and waterproofing are arranged.

On the left, an additional crate is shown when the height of the beams is not enough

The attic insulation scheme is very similar to the thermal insulation of a wooden floor:

A counter-lattice is provided on the roof, the diffusion membrane is rolled out from above along the rafters. If there is no external frame, waterproofing can be fixed from the inside, bypassing each rafter leg and shooting the edges of the sheets with a stapler.
The insulation is placed between the rafters by surprise. If the width allows, we put the plates in 2 layers with dressing, otherwise we mount a horizontal counter-lattice.
We nail the vapor barrier to the rafters through the slats, where the interior trim from the plasterboard or lining is subsequently attached.

Reminder. When working with glass wool or basalt fiber, do not forget to wear a respirator and gloves, the material is very dusty and irritates the skin. How to isolate a wooden coating without errors, look at the video:

It is extremely undesirable to insulate concrete ceilings with cotton wool from the inside, especially in wet rooms - the kitchen and bathroom. The porous material will freeze and lose properties if not provided. Another thing is to fix the mineral wool in the space behind the stretch ceiling, where water vapor almost does not penetrate.

Expanded polystyrene technology

Polymers are usually used to insulate reinforced concrete floors and ceilings, and on both sides. In order to isolate the structure from the inside, the surface must be prepared - seal the joints of the plates, level with mortar and carefully treat with a primer.

The second stage of internal thermal insulation is the installation of a subsystem of wooden bars or metal profiles. The frame plays the role of a platform for the finishing device - drywall, false ceiling, and so on. Polystyrene boards are attached directly to the concrete surface with an adhesive mixture and dowels-umbrellas.

Reference. Performing thermal insulation of balconies and loggias with extruded polystyrene, craftsmen often do without a subsystem - they glue or screw the plates to the ceiling in a continuous layer. The slats for the inner lining are attached to the concrete floor through the insulation with special screws - dowels.

How to insulate a reinforced concrete ceiling in a private house from the inside:

After preparing the surface and assembling the frame (or without it), prepare the adhesive mortar according to the instructions on the container.
Apply glue to the foam board and press it to the surface, hold for a while. Fasten the next element end-to-end with the previous one, do the next row with a shift relative to the first.
When the mixture hardens, additionally fix the polymer plates with dowels in the form of umbrellas. It is advisable to blow the joints with mounting foam.
The right photo shows the option of mounting the EPPS together with the false ceiling frame under the gypsum plasterboard
Cover the ceiling with a vapor barrier, observing the overlaps and gluing the joints. The film or "Penofol" is aimed at the subsystem with a stapler.
Lay the edges of the film on the walls and glue with building sealant. Install the slats of the crate and proceed to the finish.

Advice. Do not screw "Penoplex" to the ceiling without glue. Firstly, there will be gaps under the insulation, and secondly, you need to perfectly level the surface. Otherwise, differences of 1-3 mm will appear at the joints of the plates.

External insulation of reinforced concrete slabs with polymeric materials is used on flat roofs and exploited attics. The "pie" on the roof is formed like this:

The technology for mounting polystyrene insulators from below to the ceiling is shown in detail in the video:

Of course, you can insulate reinforced concrete from the inside with mineral wool, and the ceiling of a log house with polystyrene foam. Then take additional measures: carefully isolate the mineral wool from the room, and blow mounting foam between the polymer and wood - it allows air to pass through and prevents decay.

Finally, backfilling the attic

The use of bulk materials is the simplest option for insulating the ceiling of a country house, although not the most effective. Thermal insulation is carried out on top of the floor in various ways:

If you have an auger concrete mixer at your disposal, you can prepare a more modern ceiling insulation - polystyrene concrete. The cement-sand mortar is mixed with polystyrene beads and laid on the floor with a layer of 200-300 mm. You don’t have to lay the flooring - the monolith has sufficient strength.

Note. A mistake was made on the video - it is not necessary to lay the film under bulk materials. Water vapor (especially in the bath) should freely escape through expanded clay or sawdust concrete to the outside, and the tree should dry thoroughly.

From 25 to 40% of the heat is lost through the non-insulated coating of the house. A prudent owner, seeking to optimize heating costs, understands that roof or attic floor insulation is a direct way to save money. In this article, we will look at how to properly insulate the ceiling under a cold roof.

There are two ways to insulate an attic floor:

Insulated the ceiling from the side of the premises.
Insulating the ceiling from the side of the cold attic.

Professionals consider ceiling insulation from below not the best way out for the following reasons:

Forced ventilation will be required.
To insulate the ceiling, effective board materials with a high cost are needed.
It is technically difficult to carry out the work.

The advantage of the method is the performance of work in any weather.

Thermal insulation of the floor from above has the advantages:

It is more competent, from the point of view of building thermal physics.
Wider choice of heaters.
The work is much easier to do.

The disadvantage is the dependence on the outside temperature when working with some heaters.

The choice of insulation

When choosing how to insulate the ceiling, it is necessary to take into account the following indicators:

Thermal resistance.
Vapor permeability.
Hygroscopicity.
Flammability group.
Volume weight.
Resistance to UV radiation.
Durability.
Safety for human health.
Price.
The possibility of laying without involving a team of builders and renting special equipment.

To insulate the ceiling from below, you can use the following materials:

mineral wool insulation - rigid, semi-rigid slabs or soft mats based on basalt or stone fiber;
expanded polystyrene boards - foamed or extruded;
polyurethane foam boards;
linen slabs.

Insulation from the attic provides the widest choice of materials. It:

All types of mineral wool insulation - from stone, basalt wool, slag wool, glass wool.
Thermal insulation materials from flax - plates and mats.
Expanded polystyrene boards - foamed, extruded, graphite-containing.
Polyurethane thermal insulation - plates and liquid polyurethane foam.
Bulk insulation - expanded clay, vermiculite, gas silicate.
Sprayed liquid compositions - ecowool, polystyrene.
Environmentally friendly natural insulation - sawdust, straw, reeds, clay.

Mineral wool insulation

These heaters are effective, non-flammable, vapor-permeable, resistant to sunlight, durable, but absorb moisture and lose their thermal insulation qualities. When laying on top of the ceiling or insulating the ceiling, a vapor barrier of the material from below and a waterproofing from above are required.

Slag wool is a very cheap TIM, but it is made from blast furnace waste and may contain residual radiation. Before buying, radiation control of the material is required.

Glass wool is effective, but during installation, its threads form dust that is dangerous for the respiratory system and skin, and its use in housing is highly undesirable.

Linen thermal insulation

TIM from flax waste is an environmentally friendly material, similar to mineral wool in terms of performance, but has an undeniable advantage - even absorbing up to 30% moisture, it does not lose its heat-insulating qualities.

The only negative is the cost is higher than that of the miniplate.

Expanded polystyrenes

Various types of polystyrene foam are an excellent heat-insulating material that has two unpleasant qualities - rodents settle in it, and therefore it requires special protection, and in a fire it emits toxic smoke, although it does not support combustion. The use of expanded polystyrene indoors requires protection with non-combustible cladding.

polyurethane foam

Plates and sprayed foam insulation are by far the most effective heat insulator: they do not absorb moisture, are not afraid of rodents, and are environmentally friendly. Among the disadvantages are the high cost and the need to rent special equipment for spraying.

Bulk insulation

Expanded clay, vermiculite, gas silicate - non-combustible bulk heat-insulating materials, widespread everywhere, with low cost. Disadvantages - absorb moisture, insufficiently effective and heavy.

For thermal insulation of the attic floor in a residential building in central Russia, it will be necessary to pour a layer 40 ... 50 cm thick with a volumetric weight of 200-300 kg / m3. The reinforced concrete slab will withstand such a load, and the overlap along the wooden logs will have to be strengthened.

Liquid heaters

Ecowool is used for thermal insulation of the attic quite often - the material has proven itself well, although it requires special equipment for spraying.

The introduction of flame retardants into the composition of ecowool and polystyrene reduces the combustibility of materials, which makes them safer.

Natural heaters

Natural heaters of local origin, such as straw, reeds, flax, sawdust, clay do not cost anything, or cost a penny, this is their main advantage. The use of these materials will not harm nature and humans, but they are ineffective - you have to lay a thick layer, rot, mice start up in them, they are short-lived.

Use of these materials is desirable, as a last resort.

Underfloor ceiling insulation

How to properly insulate the ceiling in the house? There are several ways to perform insulation from below:

With the help of a wooden crate.

On anchors with subsequent plaster on the grid.

On anchors with plasterboard lining.

The layered construction with the crate device looks like this:

Bearing beams of the attic floor.
Draft floor.
A waterproofing membrane fixed to the beams with a crate mounted in a direction perpendicular to the beams.
In the cells of the crate, the plates of the insulating material are placed on the glue.
A layer of vapor barrier is attached to a double-sided vapor-permeable adhesive tape.
The filing is carried out with plasterboard, chipboard, OSB or clapboard.

For insulation from the bottom of a reinforced concrete slab, you can use the second technology:

Anchors are shot on the ceiling with dowels in a checkerboard pattern after 300 mm.
Insulation plates are wrapped with vapor barrier material, fixing the edges with double-sided vapor-permeable tape.
The insulation is put on the anchors, the anchors are bent.
Mount the plaster mesh, tying it with wire to the anchors.
Perform plaster on the grid.

The third technology differs from the second one in that after the installation of the heat insulator, guides of the metal frame are attached to the anchors for plasterboard sheathing.

Attic floor insulation technologies from above

In the case of insulation from the attic side, the structure looks like this:

Floor load-bearing beams, if necessary, increasing the height of the beams by installing additional wooden bars.
Draft floor.
Laying the vapor barrier layer with a continuous sheet, with an overlap of 10 ... 15 cm, with fastening on a double-sided vapor-permeable adhesive tape.
Laying TIM - slab, mats or bulk.
The waterproofing layer is a membrane or a material based on a bitumen-polymer.
Air gap - 40 mm.
Laying of walking decks.

The height of the load-bearing floor beams in this structure must be at least 40 mm higher than the thermal insulation.

Insulation with bulk material on the floor will have the following form:

Floor slab.
Vapor barrier.
Bulk thermal insulation.
Polyethylene film.
Boardwalk.

You can insulate the attic floor with a mixture of clay and sawdust. To keep the heat in the house, you will need a TIM layer 20 ... 30 cm thick. To prepare a sawdust-clay mixture, you will need a concrete mixer.

4 ... 5 buckets of clay are poured into a barrel of water or into another container, stirred until completely dissolved;
the mixture is poured into a concrete mixer, sawdust is added;
stir by adding water;
the mixture is poured onto a layer of vapor barrier material.

Drying, the mixture may crack, the cracks are covered with clay.

Conclusion

There are a large number of technologies for warming cold ceilings; a variety of materials can be used for work. There is nothing difficult or impossible in insulating the ceiling with your own hands, although an assistant may be needed.

Ceiling insulation in a private house is a guarantee of warm rooms in winter and a cool climate in summer. You need to take care of this even at the stage of building a house. But if the house got ready, you can still insulate the ceiling with minimal effort.

School knowledge of physics can still be useful in life. So, due to convection, when cold air goes down and hot air goes up, all the heat accumulated in the room will penetrate through the uninsulated ceiling into the unheated attic. Because of this, it is necessary to increase the power of the boiler and, as a result, incur additional heating costs.

For the same reason, ceiling insulation requires a more serious approach than wall insulation - due to air currents, the heat loss of a wooden ceiling can reach 3 W / m2 / K. For brick or concrete floors, the figure is even higher. At the same time, there is no need to insulate the ceilings between living quarters if the temperature in them is the same. It is enough to take care of soundproofing and save money on thermal insulation of the attic and roof.

In summer, it is also better to have an insulated ceiling - the roof heated in the sun transfers heat into the room, nullifying the work of air conditioners. Having spent once on thermal insulation, you can enjoy a comfortable microclimate in your home for many years.

What to look for when choosing a heater?

First of all, you need to decide on the place of laying the insulation - inside or outside the living rooms. The first option is highly undesirable for several reasons:

ceiling height is reduced;
it is impossible to use bulk insulation;
the cooling point is shifted closer to the inner side of the floors;
inevitable repairs due to the dismantling of the old ceiling.

Attic insulation is devoid of all these negative features. But if an attic is not provided, or an attic floor is provided for in the project, the roof must be immediately insulated.

The choice of materials for insulation with your own hands

Styrofoam or EPPS, as well as mineral wool and its analogues, are suitable for insulation from the inside and outside. Such materials are laid between beams or in a specially constructed frame and covered with drywall, OSB boards or clapboard.

But if the house has a sauna, then it is better not to insulate the ceiling above it with polystyrene foam - due to high temperatures, it can begin to release substances harmful to humans.

Aerated concrete slabs are also excellent for internal insulation - due to their low weight and ease of installation. Their thickness up to 10 cm will not “eat” a lot of height, and additional plating is not required. Glue for polystyrene boards is applied to the plates with a notched trowel and pressed against the ceiling.

The insulation is puttied and painted.

Bulk heaters are quite economical - shavings, ecowool or expanded clay. True, having a high hygroscopicity, they require good waterproofing. Such insulation is poured between the beams from the side of the attic with a layer of about 15 cm, and for ease of movement in the attic they are covered with OSB boards.

True, having a high hygroscopicity, they require good waterproofing.

What kind of insulation is not chewed by mice?

Mice gnaw on any insulation. But not as food, but to expand their moves. You can hear claims that mice eat Styrofoam. This is not entirely true - they gnaw through it and build nests in it. But the same fate will befall mineral wool, although a little later.

Because of the flowability, ecowool can save a little - but rodents will simply endure it until they can settle and move normally in a heater. Expanded clay most resistant to rodents is strong “pebbles”, large enough so that mice and even rats cannot carry them away, and at the same time small enough to fill up their moves.

But there is a catch here - the mice will arrange “laying” there. Therefore, the only way to protect the insulation is to keep rodents out of it in principle. Everything else is just a temporary and very unreliable solution.

How to insulate the ceiling of the attic floor?

Do-it-yourself insulation from the attic side is quite simple. First, space is freed up and the floor covering is completely removed (if it was). Work is done step by step:

To insulate a concrete floor, the technology is exactly the same - it is enough to lay logs on top of the concrete. You can also use sprayed materials, but this requires special equipment and certain skills.

How to insulate the ceiling from the inside?

With the help of a suspended ceiling, you can insulate the room from the inside. For this:

Due to the lack of ventilation, it is undesirable to use spotlights in an insulated ceiling - they heat up and quickly fail. And upon contact with the foam, the insulation may begin to melt.

There are three ways to solve the problem. The first is to use only pendant chandeliers and wall lights. The second is to remove the layer of thermal insulation around the fixtures built into the ceiling. At the same time, do not forget about the vapor barrier - it should close the mineral wool without gaps. And the third is to lower the ceiling a few more centimeters, sufficient to install spotlights.

How to insulate the attic floor and the ceiling of the attic floor is described in detail in the video: