Wood shavings or sawdust for insulation. Pros and cons of various binding materials: we use sawdust as insulation with gypsum, cement, clay, lime

Every owner of a private home sooner or later faces a problem related to the issue high-quality insulation of your home.

This question may arise at the stage design work or when the purchased house requires some modifications to make living in it comfortable.

Why is the air temperature inside a living space not always comfortable? This is due to the following factors:

• The heating system does not function well enough;
• there are many cracks in the walls through which cold air penetrates;
• poor thermal insulation of walls (this is the most common reason).

Since walls occupy a significant area of ​​the room, they are naturally the main source of heat loss.

You can insulate your home in one of several ways. Experts strongly advise insulating walls with outside , it is recommended to carry out such work in extreme cases.

This is due to the following reasons:

1. If the house is insulated, then the walls will be protected not only from heat leakage, but also from the destructive effects of moisture. The heat that comes from inside the house warms the walls, and when moisture gets on them and condensation forms, it favors their rapid drying.
2. By insulating the walls of the house from the outside, you will not only protect the room from the cold, but also save usable area rooms.

On modern market building materials available big choice products intended for insulation of walls and ceilings. Each of the materials offered by various manufacturers has many attractive qualities. But it often happens that the choice of product comes down to one important detail– cost of the product.

Insulation with sawdust

Naturally, building a house is not a cheap pleasure, and sometimes at the final stage of construction work, the homeowner’s wallet becomes much thinner. Therefore, we have to resort to various tricks in order to somehow get out of this situation with dignity. As for thermal insulation, there are many options to reduce the cost of construction, one of which is the use of alternative materials.

Materials for insulation can be:

In this article we will dwell in detail on one of the possible options wall insulation – thermal insulation using sawdust.

If you use this method correctly, you can achieve good results. This will cost significantly less money, but you need to be prepared for the fact that you will have to do a much larger amount of work.

For this technique, carpentry workshop waste is suitable. This material has both positive and negative properties. Therefore, before making the final decision to begin measures to thermally protect walls with sawdust, you need to carefully weigh everything and study this issue to the smallest detail.

To insulate walls with sawdust most often use waste hardwood forestry, namely: ash, spruce, pine, etc.

For this purpose the most suitable option oak sawdust is considered. These raw materials are expensive, but they help preserve heat in the house even in 30 degree frost.

The best option is pine shavings - it contains resin that repels rodents and bugs.

It is best to take sawdust of the medium fraction, since small ones will produce a lot of dust, and large ones will have little effect.

NOTE!

The sawdust should not contain any third-party aromas or elements. Wood processing waste must be subjected to chamber drying. Chips having natural humidity, it is advisable to dry on fresh air . Without pre-treating the material with an antiseptic, it cannot be used.

After the sawdust is completely dry, it is worth adding a mixture of copper sulfate and slaked lime (10% by weight).

Insulating external walls with sawdust has its advantages:

• it is easy to work with;
• getting sawdust will not be difficult for you. There are wood processing enterprises in many localities;
• long service life;
• high efficiency;
• environmental Safety;
• small specific gravity;
• excellent noise-absorbing and heat-insulating properties;
• This product can be purchased at the sawmill for free or for a nominal fee.

Thermal insulation device

Disadvantages of the material:

• the insulating layer is of considerable thickness. If the sawdust layer is small, then their effectiveness as insulation will be minimized;
• high fire hazard of the material. Wood shavings readily burn. Using sawdust as insulation for walls greatly increases the likelihood of a fire occurring and spreading;
• the material is not resistant to moisture, it absorbs it well. As soon as liquid gets on the insulating layer, it is fraught negative consequences, dampness, mold will appear, and harmful insects will appear.

Therefore, if you decide to install such a structure, you need to pay attention Special attention vapor and waterproofing. If these layers are made without following the technology, the insulation will quickly become unusable. To prevent sawdust from being exposed to moisture, they are treated with special reagents.

But the cost of such material becomes many times higher, and it also becomes toxic and can even cause an allergic reaction. Treated sawdust can be used as thermal insulation material It's not safe in a residential area.

Insulation of walls with sawdust and lime

In order to make wall insulation, which includes lime and sawdust, you need to take these ingredients in a ratio of 1:10. You need to add a little antiseptic solution (25g per 1 bucket) to the prepared mixture.

Then the mixture must be poured into the walls and compacted. Sawdust treated in this way does not sag and bugs do not grow in them.

Sawdust with lime

Sawdust with straw

Straw is an excellent material for wall insulation. For these purposes, you can use straw from barley, oats, rye, and wheat. It is first pressed and then tied with wire, cord or mesh. Straw insulation has a density of 90 – 125 kg/m3; as a rule, straw “slabs” are plastered on top.

The advantage of straw is that it breathes. Disadvantage: it ignites quickly and burns well.. To prevent this from happening, it is treated with fire retardants.

Sawdust with straw

How to make sawdust with clay

If you use sawdust as a base, you can prepare a solution for plaster. To do this, you should mix sawdust with water, cement, clay and newspapers.

A composition obtained from clay and sawdust is used to plaster the walls inside the building. Slabs are sometimes made from such a solution, compacted and dried well. The resulting sheets are used as thermal insulation material.

Sawdust with clay

Wall pie device

One of the most important factors when building a house is correct design walls It doesn't matter if you all construction works do it yourself, or order it already ready-made option anyway you should know correct composition"pirogue" frame house.

Layers of the correct “pie” of the wall:

1. Frame made of wooden beams.
2. There should be insulation between the racks.
3. Fiberboard (OSB).
4. Horizontal sheathing.
5. Insulation.
6. Multifunctional membrane.
7. Vertical lathing.
8. Finishing.
9. Vapor barrier.
10. Internal lining.

wall pie

Alternative option

If you use sawdust as wall insulation, you need to make a lath.

First of all, you need to mount the frame. Then at a certain distance you need to attach it to the wall wooden slats and put lathing on them.

Detailed installation diagram of sawdust with clay

If you make a mixture that will consist of clay and sawdust, you will get an excellent material with waterproofing and thermal insulation properties.

It is well suited for insulating the walls of a house built in any region.

This mixture will keep the house warm in severe frost and will not allow the room to warm up during the summer heat.

Insulating walls using sawdust-clay material is not as simple as it might seem at first glance.

That's why During the work process, you must strictly adhere to the following recommendations:

• When preparing the mixture, you must adhere to the exact quantitative ratios of the ingredients.
• The finished mixture must be applied to the walls at a certain thickness. This is the only way you can achieve maximum effect.
• For thermal insulation of walls, you need to make slabs from clay and small sawdust.

Lathing for insulation

A mixture of clay and sawdust can be made and laid in several ways; we will consider one option, that is, laying the wet substance on a sheathing pre-fixed to the wall.

What proportions must be maintained to make the mixture plastic?

You need to take a bucket of clay, diluted to a thick sour cream, and 2/3 of a bucket of sawdust. The clay should be filled with water in a 1:1 ratio. It should swell for at least a day. Then it needs to be mixed until uniform. It's best if you soak all the clay at once. It will not deteriorate if left in water for a long time.

Clay diluted with water should be mixed with sawdust in a shallow metal container. You can use a concrete mixer to mix the composition.. Ready composition must be applied to the walls.

You can also insulate the walls with such a mixture by pouring it into the formwork attached to the frame wall. If you fix shingles on the wall, then you can spread the clay in a layer of no more than 30mm.

After the sawdust-clay layer has dried, it needs to be leveled cement-sand mortar and only then - plaster.

Manufacturing and laying of slabs

Waterproofing

The waterproofing film must be laid on the outside of the insulation (from the facade side). So, with its help, the structure will be protected from the penetration of cold air and precipitation into the house.

In houses frame type Waterproofing is usually made from diaphragm film or glassine. This material is overlapped and used construction stapler, and the joints need to be taped with a special tape.

Useful video

Insulating a frame house with sawdust in video instructions:

Conclusion

In order to prepare materials for sawdust-based wall insulation, they must first be treated with a special composition. This is the only way you can get a high-quality mixture that will be an excellent thermal insulator, no worse than any modern materials.

Worth knowing! Some synthetic insulation can cause allergies and cause more serious illnesses.

In contact with

There is a myth that insulation must be technologically advanced. In fact, the insulation should be functional and as cheap as possible. In accordance with these requirements, such an archaic material as sawdust seems more than suitable for use as insulation.

Using sawdust as insulation

It should be immediately noted that sawdust is never used as a dry backfill. A solution of lime, clay or concrete is used, in which sawdust serves as a filler. This solution is poured into briquettes of a certain size and thickness, after which the briquettes are used as insulation.

The determining factor in the use of sawdust is the price. Near wood processing enterprises you can get sawdust for free. Constant waste disposal forever headache this kind of companies. The problem is that the sawdust needs to be dried in sunny summer conditions. Wet sawdust is not suitable for use. If we add to this the need self-made briquettes, it is easy to understand that it will take the entire warm season to insulate a house with sawdust.

However, significant cost-effectiveness, generational experience confirming all the properties of insulation, and the environmental friendliness of the original materials are three factors that make sawdust a fairly good insulating building material.

The only factors in sawdust separation are the method of production. The fact is that when wood is cut, fine-grained wood dust is produced, which is called dust. In other cases, the result is shavings. Wood shavings are better suited for insulation, since wood channels remain in them, which help increase vapor permeability and heat-insulating properties.

If we talk about wood dust, it quickly clumps, is extremely hygroscopic and susceptible to rotting. It's hard to saturate protective compounds. Therefore, when they talk about insulating a house with sawdust, they mean insulating it with shavings.

Special attention should be paid to the type of wood. Oak and aspen are best suited for insulation. The worst option is pine. The sawdust of this tree is more hygroscopic and releases resins into the surrounding space, which has a bad effect on the insulation.

Advantages and disadvantages

Let's talk about the advantages and disadvantages of sawdust as insulation. Advantages for the most part clear and logical:

• Environmental friendliness
• Cheapness
• Availability

The disadvantages are a little more complicated, so let’s look at each point in detail:

• Labor intensity. You will have to insulate the house yourself. Because hired specialists can only charge so much money for work, but still insulate a house basalt wool In any case, doing it yourself will be easier, cheaper and faster. Therefore, if you need to save on insulation, then you will have to do all the work yourself.
• Hygroscopicity. Wood is exposed to moisture. To some extent this is mitigated by special impregnations, but the danger still remains. This is why dry filling of sawdust into walls or ceilings is rarely used.
• Fire hazard. Even 10-15 years ago this problem would have been relevant. Today great amount impregnations on the market practically neutralize the effect of wood flammability.
• Rodents. The environmental friendliness of wood makes such insulation a favorite home for rodents, insects and other pests. Therefore, the composition of insulating briquettes should include antiseptics or dried tobacco. The effect will be approximately the same, so it is better to calculate the feasibility of using tobacco based on economic considerations.

In general, on this moment Almost all the shortcomings except labor intensity are completely removable modern means. Therefore, if extra work is not scary, and the owner of the house has free time, then insulation with sawdust will become excellent option save money and meet the winter in an insulated house.

Methods of application for insulation and binding components

All insulation methods can be divided into:

• Backfill
• Filling
• Plaster
• Briquettes

Backfilling is used extremely rarely. Today, it is advisable to use backfill only for attic floors. To some extent, this approach can replace ceiling insulation. The dry material is mixed with tobacco or broken glass, after which it is covered in layers of 10 cm. It is advisable to change the fractionation of sawdust in the layers from coarse to fine.

Before backfilling, all cracks must be sealed. polyurethane foam, the ceiling itself is covered with an overlapping vapor barrier. Be sure to take care of the protection of the wiring and chimney so that the sawdust does not catch fire from high temperatures or a missed spark. After backfilling, the sawdust is covered with boards. A ventilation gap is required between the boards.

If you use backfill as insulation, you need to be prepared to add more material after 2-3 years. No matter what fraction the shavings are, they will fall off in any case.

Filling involves using a solution filled with sawdust. The solution is poured into wall cavities or ceilings. But it’s easier to use briquettes for walls. These are blocks of convenient dimensions for insulation, which are laid in the wall as internal insulation. It is not recommended to use sawdust insulation for external insulation, since the wood will in any case attract moisture, which will lead to corrosion and rotting.

Sawdust is an excellent insulation material

The following are used as binders:

• Cement
• Lime
• Clay

Please note that lime is not used without cement. Lime powder is added as an additive to save cement composition. Before considering the use of each of the binders, it should be noted that there are two ways to process sawdust before insulation. In the first case, the sawdust is soaked before use. To do this, you need to spray antiseptic and other impregnations over the middle layer of sawdust. The problem is that sawdust takes a long time to dry; this process must occur when natural ventilation in summer, indoors. The sawdust will dry with this impregnation all season long. This means that insulation will have to be postponed until next year.

There is a way to speed up the process. To do this, you need to add impregnation to the water that is used to prepare the solution. An antiseptic can be added at all at the stage of preparing the solution. Copper sulfate or borax can be used as an antiseptic. But you need to keep in mind that when heated, these substances can release harmful substances. human body substances. Therefore, such additives are not suitable for baths.

To prepare a cement-based mortar you will need:

• 20 parts sawdust
• 2 parts cement
• 3 parts water

It is advisable to make the solution by hand. In a concrete mixer, sawdust can fall down, which will ruin the material. After mixing all the parts, the sawdust should be smeared in the solution. To check the readiness of the mixture, squeeze it in your fist. The finished solution allows moisture to flow, but drops will not flow down the fist. This means you can start pouring. Use sawdust concrete in one layer, with light compaction. This mixture is suitable for flooring, since you can walk on it without fear for the integrity of the coating.

For walls and attic use lime-based mortar. It includes:

• 0.85 parts sawdust
• 0.1 part lime
• 0.05 parts alabaster

Water is poured based on the water required for diluting building gypsum. The advantage of lime mortar is that it saves cement and antiseptics. Not a single rodent can crawl into the thickness of the limestone material. But at the same time, lime makes the material softer. Because of this, such a solution is not suitable for floor insulation. Otherwise, the floor will have to be covered wooden slabs and always be afraid that excessive furniture will push through the rough floor covering.

The third binder option is clay. The clay needs to be oily; only this kind of binder has characteristics sufficient for the use of sawdust. A piece of clay will feel like soap to the touch. It should be noted that it is necessary to soak the clay before creating the solution. The clay should lie in the water for about a day. If you take into account large volumes of work, it is better to prepare more ready mixture for future use

The clay is filled with water in a ratio of 5 parts clay to 2 parts water. After swelling, the clay is mixed with sawdust. It is advisable to mix sawdust with lime powder in a ratio of 10 to 1. The solution is laid in areas of 25 by 25 cm. The approximate layer thickness is 10 cm.
The rough coating takes about a month to dry. After this, a solution is prepared based on fine chips or wood dust and numerical coating is performed. The finished coating may become cracked, which means that the thickness of the second layer was chosen too thin. It is enough to cover the cracks with the same composition. You can walk on the resulting floor without fear, arrange furniture, and cover various kinds coatings. The biggest disadvantage of clay: time.

Using sawdust to insulate various parts of the house

The composition of the insulation will not change significantly, but for different coatings will fit better different compositions. Therefore, let's discuss best option for every surface.

Walls

The walls are characterized by increased attention from rodents and pests. At the same time, there are no requirements for increased resistance to mechanical stress on the walls. Therefore, plaster or lime-based briquettes can be used as insulation.

Of course, you can use the casting method. This way the house will be insulated more reliably, but the efficiency will not increase much, and the labor intensity will increase significantly.

Floor

For the floor of the first floor, it is best to use concrete or clay mortar. The choice depends on the time available and the desire to work. Clay mortar is harder and more durable. Sawdust concrete is easier to make and quicker to pour.

Ceiling

It is not the ceiling that is insulated, but the attic floor by sprinkling the attic floor with sawdust or a mixture of sawdust and lime. Many summer residents advise mixing sawdust with tobacco or broken glass to prevent the appearance of rodents. Why doesn't everyone use lime?

When heated, lime powder can begin to generate heat in large quantities. Together with loose sawdust, this can lead to a fire.

Roof

The roof has too high requirements for the lack of hygroscopicity and resistance to moisture. Therefore, sawdust is not used to insulate the roof. There are many fairly cheap materials that are easier and more reliable to install on the roof instead of sawdust briquettes.

Criteria for choosing the optimal composition of the insulating mixture

In fact, the determining criterion for choosing a mixture is the available time. If you have time, it’s better to insulate everything clay mortar. If there are problems over time, then it is better to use sawdust concrete in the living part of the room, and sprinkle the attic floor with a mixture of sawdust and broken glass. Otherwise, everything depends on the available materials. If lime is available and you need to buy cement, then it is better to insulate the walls with lime mortar and so on.

In general, sawdust has not lost its relevance as insulation. It's cheap, environmentally friendly and quite functional. The only factor that can scare off a builder is labor intensity. In order to use sawdust, they need to be processed, dried, and the place where a particular fraction will be used must be planned. Prepare the solution, prepare briquettes and a lot of other quite labor-intensive and lengthy procedures. Nevertheless, the right approach insulation with sawdust will create a warm and durable structure.

Sawdust insulation was widely used in the 60s and 70s Western countries. But later the sawdust was replaced with modern high effective insulation materials, more durable and reliable, which are easier to install.

However, it may be advisable to insulate with sawdust even now, if it is possible to “get” them for free. Until now, many organizations that process wood are ready to give sawdust and shavings for free or not at all expensive, but the costs of transporting them remain, Additional materials, which are laid in a mixture with sawdust, as well as the increased labor intensity of using this insulation.

But before we consider how to insulate using sawdust and shavings, let’s decide how much and what kind of sawdust will be needed for insulation, what layer needs to be created...

What sawdust and wood shavings should be used for insulation?

It should be taken into account that the larger the sawdust, the more advisable it is to insulate with it - the specific gravity and thermal conductivity coefficient are slightly lower. Also, as the size of sawdust increases, the dependence on its moisture content sharply decreases.

In fact, it is recommended to use small wood shavings, twisted into rings. It can form an elastic thick carpet filled with air with a volumetric weight of less than 200 kg/m3. It is better to leave small sawdust from sawing aside.

It is unacceptable to use small sawdust and shavings from sawing plywood, of which there is a lot of furniture factories and which no one needs. This plywood waste is oversaturated with formaldehyde and is not safe. Their thermal conductivity coefficient is high.

Sawdust layer thickness

The thermal conductivity coefficient of the sawdust layer is approximately 0.07 - 0.095 W/m?C, depending on the moisture content of the material, its size and packing density. For design and calculations, you can take the average value of 0.08 W/m?S.

Those. compared with modern insulation materials(0.03 - 0.045 W/m? C) sawdust has approximately twice as much conductivity, and the thickness of its layer will need to be twice as thick.

For regions with the Moscow climate, when insulating the attic of a house, you will need a sawdust layer thickness of at least 32 cm to achieve optimal insulation according to the standard, or better - 35 cm. For a house of 100 sq. m. in the attic you will need a 30 m cube of sawdust, about 7 tons.

On the wall, for its insulation, there must be a layer of sawdust of at least 20 cm. Under the floor with a positive temperature - at least 26 cm, which no longer fits between the joists.

It is because of these figures that the question arises: “Is it advisable to use sawdust as insulation?” But still monetary savings compared to insulation mineral wool It can turn out impressive with free materials, especially if you do it yourself.

How to protect against rodents and decay

It’s probably hard to think of a better home for a rodent than sawdust. And all possible insects and microorganisms will eat sawdust very quickly. Therefore, there is no particular point in filling them in in their pure form; the material must be treated with antiseptics. The most common and accessible is fluff lime. But it's not cheap.

Recipe for use: 20 volumes of sawdust per volume of lime. Water is added to this mixture to create a suspension and all the sawdust is saturated with antiseptics. But soap, boric acid, and copper sulfate are additionally dissolved in water (you can do a little of everything together for a comprehensive solution, so to speak...). The material is laid wet, then within a week or two the water evaporates, and the dry, treated insulation remains in place.

Bonding the composition

Additionally, it is recommended to add two volumes of cement to this solution. As a result, after laying, the sawdust will bind together and become stronger, which will prevent their further shrinkage. When laying in vertical panels, binding sawdust with cement or gypsum is mandatory.

It is not permissible to place sawdust or wood shavings in direct contact with chimneys or similar heating structures. A fire barrier made of mineral wool of at least 30 cm is required. Electrical wiring is laid through sawdust only in a fireproof shell (in metal pipes).

How to use on floors

Sawdust and wood shavings are vapor-transparent material, so you need to use usual recommendations on the use of such insulation materials. A vapor barrier must be installed on the attic floor on the side of the house; it will reduce the humidity inside the thermal insulation layer and prevent it from getting wet in cold weather.

A ventilation gap with a thickness of 3 cm to the flooring or fence must be left on top of the layer. Typically, shavings are poured onto a vapor barrier film between the joists, then a counter-lattice with a height of 15 cm is made and the mixture is topped up, leaving the vent. gap under the top deck.

How to use wood chips to insulate walls

When insulating walls, wood shavings can be placed between the wall and the mesh fencing. If the wall is thick and made of dense materials (not a thin shield), then a vapor barrier is not needed.

A vertical sheathing is installed on hangers with a pitch of 600 mm along the thickness of the insulation - 20 cm from the wall, on which a fine fiberglass mesh is fixed.

Moistened wood shavings impregnated with cement or gypsum are gradually poured between the mesh and the wall from bottom to top in layers of 20 cm. To prevent the mesh from blowing out too much, plywood panels are used, temporarily installed on the sheathing until the insulation dries.

30 mm thick beams are placed on top of the sheathing to form a ventilation gap, after which siding or other cladding is installed.

Typical mistakes when insulating with sawdust

In this video about insulating an attic using sawdust, you can see some actions that can negatively affect the quality of insulation.

• There are gaps allowed during construction, which are sealed with polyurethane foam. But it is better not to use this foam in layers of insulation, where water vapor condenses due to temperature differences, since it is easily saturated with water and therefore collapses, leaving cracks open. Replaced with polyurethane foam glue.
• There is no vapor barrier on the room side. As a result, the insulation will become moisturized during the cold season, losing its heat-saving properties, with accelerated decomposition.
• Clean sawdust is used without treatment with antiseptics, as a result of which soon they may become putrefactive and become waterlogged.
• Non-optimal software is used economic feasibility layer thickness - by eye, according to speculation and recommendations... - as a result, loss of money due to insufficient energy saving.

It is human nature to strive for perfection. And this desire helps us develop further. It manifests itself in all areas, including construction. How many have already been created special materials for insulation - countless, there are even.

Mineral wool, expanded polystyrene, penoizol, foamed polyethylene - this is just a small list of the huge variety that is presented on the market.

However, we should not forget about time-tested methods. For example, about insulating frame buildings with sawdust. This process will now be discussed.

1 Why sawdust?

It would seem, why use sawdust? After all, this is outdated material that was used by our grandfathers. Sawdust was, of course, very widely used in construction, but the peak of this use fell on a rather distant period of time.

In those days, mineral wool, expanded polystyrene and all other insulation materials were not used. They didn't exist at all. In such a situation, the solution really was to insulate it with sawdust.

After all, with their help it was possible to finish the surface of the walls of a house, bathhouse, their floor structures and ceilings. Sawdust was even used to finish the roof. Now they are often used to insulate the attic.

But it is worth understanding that we do not always have the opportunity to purchase the same mineral wool or extruded polystyrene foam. Packaging cotton wool is expensive, polystyrene is cheaper, but the difference is not so significant.

Sawdust costs almost nothing. Moreover, in some sawmills sawdust is considered consumables. It is impossible to create anything from them, and no one will order a full-fledged truck with sawdust for further processing.

Transportation to the nearest recycling center, if there are any in your area, will be too expensive.

As a result, owners have to literally get rid of small items wood shavings, and even waste time on it. Therefore, you can negotiate with the management of the enterprise and pick up the sawdust for yourself completely free of charge.

All that remains is to pay for delivery. But you must admit, you will have to pay for delivery in any case, but here is the opportunity to get a large number of free insulation remains tempting.

1.1 Features of sawdust insulation

In addition to being cheap, sawdust has many other useful properties. We will now try to note all their advantages in order to more accurately understand the situation with the benefits of sawdust when insulating residential buildings, bathhouses, etc.

Main advantages:

• Exceptional low cost;
• Acceptable thermal conductivity;
• Ease;
• Can be used to insulate any structure;
• Functionality;
• Environmentally friendly as;
• Possibility to save on insulation.

As you can see, there are really many useful properties. However, it is worth clarifying some of them.

As for thermal conductivity, it is, of course, inferior to the thermal conductivity of mineral wool or expanded polystyrene. Such indicators, I think, are obvious. Since mineral wool is a specially invented and produced insulation material, and sawdust is just waste from the woodworking industry.

However, the difference there is not so significant. The sawdust layer will simply have to be increased in thickness.

In some situations, for example when finishing framed external walls, the thickness can be almost 2 times the thickness effective insulation mineral wool, but you just have to remember the price of sawdust, and everything falls into place.

However, we cannot help but remember the fact that insulating the same ceilings with sawdust can seriously affect the final height of the room. And if such indicators are not so important for a bathhouse, then for a residential building they can become critical.

Lightness also plays a serious role. Especially when you have to finish lightweight design frame house or attic. This applies primarily to the attic, because for insulating the attic it is very important to choose the most lightweight material to reduce pressure on supporting structures.

However, this also applies to any frame house or bathhouse. For frame wooden house the load on the structure should be minimal. Don't think that you have frame structure weak strength. This is wrong.

It’s just that the wood for the walls or ceilings of a frame house can bend a little under pressure. While under the influence different temperatures, the house constantly dries out (for wood, this process can take years). As a result, all this leads to a situation where the boards, to put it in construction jargon, “fell.”

That is, the structures of the frame house were slightly bent, and then dried out and were fixed in this state. There is nothing wrong with this, but it is better to avoid such situations.

Another important point– savings on insulation. First of all, this concerns the bathhouse. For a bathhouse, insulation is a priority. And in many ways, insulation is needed there to protect the insulation.

But insulation with sawdust creates a structure that does not react to moisture or steam at all, and therefore insulation is not required here. As for the frame house, everything is much simpler here too. You will need insulation, but only external, and even then in much smaller quantities.

• Sawdust is highly flammable;
• When insulating with sawdust, there is a high probability that a family of rodents or insects will settle inside the structure of a frame house or bathhouse.

As you can see, such solutions also have disadvantages. And they must be taken into account.

The flammability of sawdust has the greatest influence. You can get rid of it, but only by using sawdust as the basis for a thermal insulation solution.

2 Insulation technology

The process of insulating walls with sawdust is actually quite simple and even trivial. If we are talking about insulating walls, attics or floors with sawdust, then all you need to do is pour sawdust into the finished structure.

That is, the initial goal is to assemble the frame required sizes. This is where some misunderstandings can begin.

The fact is that the creation of the frame must clearly correspond to the size and amount of insulating material.

GOSTs contain formulas for calculating the required insulating layer of insulation. To do this, you need to calculate the thickness of the wall, multiply it by the thermal conductivity of its material, then divide the resulting figure by the climatic conditions in your region.

In the end you will get certain number. This is a nominal indicator of the thermal capacity of the walls. Now you look at the norms by region and try to level out the difference between the norm and your number.

It is this difference that affects the selection of insulation. Or rather, its quantity. Only after making calculations can you know exactly how much sawdust you will need.

As a rule, for normal finishing of brick walls, an insulating layer thickness of 15 cm is sufficient.

Then they begin to assemble the frame. There is another interesting point here. The frame must be assembled so as to fill it completely. There cannot be any voids, openings, or unfilled areas. After all, in this way, you will simply expose part of the surface of the walls.

The frame is assembled mainly from treated wood. If you have to work with drywall, you can fasten it using aluminum profiles. When finishing the attic, it is even preferable to act this way.

After all, aluminum is not eaten by rodents, and plasterboard is used almost everywhere as attic walls.

The process of adding sawdust is even simpler. Here it is advisable to focus only on their compaction. Without compaction, the insulation will not fill the wall frame well, and this cannot be done.

2.1 Creation of insulating solution

In addition to filling dry sawdust, you can also create a solution from it. This solution is popularly called sawdust concrete.

When creating sawdust concrete, cement, lime and sawdust are used. Sometimes clay is also used.

Our ancestors also used clay, even when only expensive buildings were strengthened with cement. The situation with lime is similar.

Clay can be used to bind sawdust in dry form, forming slabs of the desired size from them. However, the clay material does not have sufficient strength. Under serious pressure it can crumble, and insects settle in it very willingly.

With cement the situation is simpler. It binds the material very well, forming truly reliable blocks. In combination with lime, a powerful, strong block is obtained with a sawdust filling and good thermal insulation properties.

It can already be laid according to the standard scheme, as is done with the same mineral wool or expanded polystyrene. Before mixing the solution, it is advisable to sprinkle sawdust boric acid or special antiseptics. This way, you will reduce the likelihood of material destruction and increase its durability.

In fact, the resulting material will in many ways resemble modern wood concrete, only made in an artisanal way and with a simpler structure.

Modern and effective insulation materials have not been able to completely displace environmentally friendly materials that have been tested for generations from the market. For thermal insulation of a house, universal and affordable ones are often used. sawdust. Saving money and reducing construction costs are the main factors that force you to choose such a heat insulator. In order to draw objective conclusions about the advisability of using sawdust as insulation, it is necessary to consider their pros and cons.

Waste from sawing and wood processing are shavings various sizes, which depends on the equipment parameters. Preference should be given to the middle fraction; dust is difficult to work with, and large particles increase thermal conductivity. These residues are widely used for household purposes: animal bedding, mulching material, thermal insulation of houses. Sawdust in its pure form has significant shortcomings and are not used for thermal insulation. Before use, they are treated with compounds to prevent rotting and fire, and mixed with various substances: sand, lime, copper sulfate.

Warmth and soundproofing properties wood shavings are comparable to mineral wool, the materials are laid in a layer of equal thickness. Except bulk method it is used in the manufacture of building materials.

Wood block is a mixture of sawdust treated with copper sulfate and cement. The substances are combined in a ratio of 1:8 and poured between the walls covered with a waterproofing sheet. The moisture released from the wood during compaction helps bind the composition.

Sawdust concrete - blocks made from a solution of shavings, sand, cement and water. The dry ingredients are mixed and water is gradually added. Fire-resistant blocks with low thermal conductivity are formed from the solution.

Arbolit - lightweight concrete, 90% of the composition of which is wood waste. The material is used to make slabs and blocks that are durable and resistant to combustion. Wood concrete is sensitive to moisture and therefore requires waterproofing.

Advantages of using natural thermal insulator

• Environmental safety is one of the main advantages of the product. Sawdust preserves everything as insulation beneficial features trees and do not pose a risk to human health.
• Economic benefit - wood processing waste has a low cost, some enterprises give it away for free on condition of pickup.
• Reliability - the practice of using wood chips to insulate a home goes back hundreds of years.

This period indicates the quality of the material, for which no worthy alternative has been found.
Versatility - sawdust is used to insulate walls, attic floors and the floor of the building. Easy installation allows you to do all the processes yourself. Bulk insulation fills all the cracks even in hard-to-reach places.

Disadvantages of natural insulation:

• high flammability;
• used by rodents as a home.

The disadvantages of wood shavings have been known for a long time, so we have learned to deal with them. Various substances are added as protection against rats and mice: slaked lime in a proportion of up to 10% of the total volume, tobacco - 10-15% of the mixture, boric acid.

To provide fire safety sawdust is treated with fire retardants or included in non-combustible substances.

Methods for insulating the ceiling

For thermal insulation of floors, sawdust of fine and coarse fractions mixed with lime, copper sulfate or borax is used. The work begins with laying a substrate that prevents small dust from spilling out. A common option is dry cardboard; it is laid out with an overlap of 15 cm and secured with staples. The substrate must allow steam to pass through to prevent condensation from forming, causing mold growth. Cardboard copes well with its functions, but is a flammable material; if financial possibilities allow, it is replaced with a vapor-permeable membrane.

Sawdust insulation is formed in several ways: dry, with the addition of cement, or mixed with clay.

The dry version involves backfilling in two layers. The large fraction is laid first, fine dust is poured onto a layer of 15 cm and compacted. For better shrinkage, moisture is allowed; the total layer of thermal insulation reaches 25-30 cm. Sawdust can be protected with a coating of clay, slag or sand.

A mixture of wood shavings and cement creates a durable and reliable coverage for ceiling insulation. The substances are mixed in a ratio of 20:2 and moistened. Before laying out the insulation, a sand cushion 3-4 cm high is poured. The solution of sawdust and cement is compacted to a thickness of 10 cm. After it hardens, the surface is covered with a flooring of boards or plywood.

When making a mixture with clay, it is mixed and dissolved in water, and then sawdust is added. The finished composition should not spread; it is applied to ceiling layer of 10 cm. Each section is compacted and smoothed, cracks are covered with clay after drying.

Features of floor insulation

Using sawdust as floor insulation is economically profitable and safe. The material must be pre-treated with antiseptics, slaking lime is added to repel rodents, broken glass and copper sulfate. Filling with one chip shrinks over time, so when insulating the floor, substances are always added to help harden the insulation.

Sawdust is mixed with lime, gypsum or cement, and water is added if necessary. The solution should retain its shape when compressed. The mixture with gypsum hardens very quickly, so it is prepared in small portions.

Before performing thermal insulation, a moisture-resistant primer is applied to the floors and laid vapor barrier film. The composition is laid out on the substrate and carefully compacted. After the mixture has hardened, the floor covering is laid.

You can prevent the floor from freezing with a clay composition. The resulting solution has a liquid consistency, so it requires laying a waterproofing film on the base. A mixture of clay and sawdust is prepared in a concrete mixer, applied to the surface in a layer of up to 10 cm and leveled with a board. The solution will take 1-2 weeks to dry. The finished insulation is covered with mastic to prevent moisture and covered with a finishing wooden flooring.

How to insulate walls with sawdust

Creating reliable thermal insulation from natural wood material between frame walls enough difficult process. Chips used big size, mixed with lime and gypsum. A waterproofing sheet is placed between the partition and the insulation. The mixture is moistened and laid manually in layers of 25-30 cm, making sure to compact well. Due to subsidence, voids can form that allow cold to enter. Thermal insulation should fill the entire space of the frame; its thickness is from 15 to 30 cm. It will take about 1 month until the composition completely hardens.

1. When choosing chips, it is evaluated appearance, you should not purchase material with a large number of foreign objects. Existing waste is selected by hand or sifted.
2. Using wood waste it is necessary to take a responsible approach to ensuring fire safety. In places of passage chimneys install protection from non-combustible materials, electrical wiring is placed in special boxes.
3. The shavings are treated with an antiseptic against rotting and insects, a fire retardant and water repellents. These compounds must be compatible with each other, the best option- products from one manufacturer.
4. To create an insulating mixture, it is better to use not fresh sawdust, and those that have lain for 2-3 months. During this time, substances that interfere with the strong binding of the mortar will disappear from the wood, and less cement will be required. If it is not possible to purchase products of the required quality or wait, you can improve the properties of the mixture by adding liquid glass.
5. Thermal insulation is recommended to be carried out in summer period, when it is possible to dry the composition well, preventing the development of mold during operation.
6. Before adding copper sulfate or other chemicals, you must wear protective equipment.
7. Shavings of different types of wood differ in their properties. Pine waste contains a resin that repels insects, so it is used to insulate a home. Deciduous shavings are used to insulate outbuildings.