We insulate the floor along the ground. Do you need woolen socks for your grandchildren or how to insulate the floor in a house Insulating the floor on the ground

But it is not without a number of shortcomings. If you forget to make vents in the strip foundation (or incorrectly calculate their cross-section), then over time this can lead to problems. Due to insufficient underground ventilation wooden joists become covered with fungus, mold and rot. Excess moisture in the base also leads to destruction concrete floors floor of the first floor.

To avoid this, you can replace traditional vents with a closed, ventilated underground. This is discussed in detail in the article. “Are vents needed in the basement?” . But there is another option - to abandon the underground and build a floor on the ground based on a strip foundation, as FORUMHOUSE experts advise.

Floors on the ground: what is it?such

This structure is a monolithic concrete base (screed). Here is the construction of the floor on the ground: the screed is poured inside the perimeter of the strip foundation onto well-compacted soil, which is used to fill the foundation sinuses and a layer of insulation. A heated floor system can be installed together with a concrete base. This design accumulates heat, so it is well suited as an element of an energy-efficient home.

Floor composition based on soil for a residential building.

The following flooring options are distinguished:

On the prepared base (well-compacted soil), a floor slab is poured, rigidly connected to strip foundation;
A floor slab, not connected to the strip foundation, the so-called “floating” screed, is poured onto the prepared base.

Let's take a closer look at the pros and cons of these options.

Mikhail1974:

– If you pour a “floating” screed, this “unties” the structure of the tape and the floor. If shrinkage occurs, the structure of the floor screed on the ground will “play” regardless of the foundation; cracks will not appear in the structure, because no tension. That's a plus. But there is also a minus - the structure “lives its own life”, separate from all other structures.

Floor installation on the ground.

With a rigid structure, the foundation/screed assembly works as a single whole. The screed will not shrink, because lies on the foundation. But if the soil is not compacted well enough, after a while it may sag and the screed will “hang” in the air. Under heavy load, if there are walls, partitions, or supporting elements on the screed, this can lead to deformation of the base, cracks and loss bearing capacity the entire floor structure on the ground.

How to make a floor on the ground

Both screed options have both pros and cons. The quality of concrete floors on bulk soil largely depends on the quality of the compaction bulk soil and on how correct the design turns out.

Mikhail1974:

– When pouring a “floating” screed, the “foundation wall/screed” knot must really be untied, otherwise the structure may become pinched in the tape frame. Those. the floor inside the tape frame must move relatively freely, otherwise the whole point of a floating screed is lost.

To do this, a damper is made of an elastic material between the screed and the foundation (wall), which restores its original shape after removing the load - in this case it is appropriate to place an isolon 8-10 mm thick. This will allow the concrete screed to “float” freely and compensate for its thermal expansion.

A common mistake is to tie all the knots as tightly as possible. As a result, increased loads occur in structures. In the case of a floating screed, the “floor” and “foundation” elements work independently of each other.

Floor on the ground: device.Basic principles

An important rule: a well-prepared foundation is the key to a long service life of the entire structure. The backfill base (the best backfill for the floor on the ground is sand) must be spilled with water and thoroughly compacted in layers of 10-15 cm. In order to properly compact the base, filling with crushed stone is used (crushed stone should be laid under the floors in a coarse fraction).

Due to the filling of crushed stone, when a tamper is driven through it, a local impact occurs, as a result of which deep compaction of the soil layers lying at the lower levels occurs. It is worth focusing on the correct technique for compacting sand.

– All instructions for vibrating plates say that the plate compacts sand to a depth of 20-30 cm, but I doubt that this layer is compacted well enough. Therefore, I believe that, to be on the safe side, it is better to compact the sand in layers of about 10 cm. It looks like this:

Spread the sand in a layer of 10-15 cm;
We walk through the sand with a vibrating plate “dry”;
We spill the sand with water from a hose. This should be done not with a stream of water, so as not to break the layer, but through a spray nozzle;

You need to spill water so that the sand is wet, but not oversaturated with moisture. If the amount of water is too large, the sand base will practically not be compacted.

We walk through the moistened sand with a vibrating plate 2 times, changing the orientation of the movement;
We spill the sand with water again;
We walk through the moistened sand with a vibrating plate 2-3 more times, changing the orientation of the movement.

What kind of waterproofing to put on the floor on the ground

After thorough preparation of the base, we begin laying hydro-vapor barrier, which will protect the floor structure from moisture. People often ask whether it is necessary to make a footing before laying this layer. After all, in order to avoid damage, welded or glued waterproofing must be placed on a flat, rigid base.

Simply put, a ground floor is a concrete or reinforced concrete slab, not related to the foundation of the building and its external walls. It can be cast separately or made by making a concrete screed.

Floor insulation on the ground

This floor has several limitations, which depend on the properties of the soil: it cannot be laid where groundwater approach close to the surface of the earth and on loose soils (for example, sandy or black soil), which easily sag or swell.

However, installing this type of floor on dense and additionally compacted soil makes it possible to save significant money and time.

Concrete is a “cold” material and does not protect against the cold coming from below; the room loses 15-20% of heat through the floor; it also escapes through the joints of uninsulated floors and walls.

Therefore, a concrete floor laid on the ground is always insulated - insulation is necessary not only in residential buildings, but also in service buildings (garages, hangars, sheds, etc.).

The design of the floor laid on the ground resembles a layer cake. Sequentially stacked:

A layer of river sand;
A layer of expanded clay or crushed stone;
Concrete layer (screed);
Waterproofing layer (polyethylene film or roofing felt);
Insulation boards.

After this, a clean concrete screed is made, on which, like on any concrete base, one or another coating can be laid.

Types of insulation, their properties and working with them

Laying insulation on waterproofing

A wide variety of materials are used for floor insulation, but all of them must comply with certain technical specifications. The insulation should:

It is good to keep warm and not lose its properties for many years;
Absorb moisture as little as possible;
Be durable, not sag, crack or break under the weight of the building and floor loads (this is especially important for technical premises - garages, hangars, warehouses, etc.);
Have a low cost;
Be comfortable to style;
Be environmentally friendly, non-toxic and non-flammable.

The most common floor insulation materials today are polystyrene foam, extruded polystyrene foam, polyurethane foam, mineral wool, foam glass, expanded clay and slag. The choice of insulation depends on the characteristics of the building and/or room, its purpose and material capabilities.
Also, to insulate the floor on the ground, the “warm water floor” system is often used.

Let's briefly look at the insulating materials mentioned above.

Polystyrene foam (regular polystyrene foam)

Floor insulation using foam plastic

Talking about foam boards for insulating floors on the ground, they usually mean polystyrene foam PSB-S-35 (used in residential premises of private houses) and the more durable brand PSB-S-50 (garages, hangars). The unit of measurement for slabs sold in hardware stores is a cubic meter.

One package (0.3-0.4 m3) is enough to cover 3-4 m2 of floor with a 10-centimeter layer of insulating coating. The dimensions of the slabs are 50 x 100 or 60 x 120 centimeters, but they can also be cut to individual sizes.

It is more convenient to use slabs not with flat, but with milled edges - they are connected with an overlap (“ridge-groove”), creating a continuous heat-insulating plane without cracks or gaps.

It must be taken into account that polystyrene foam “melts” upon contact with organic solvents (resins and mastics), so you cannot lay sheets of foam plastic directly on polymer-bitumen mastic.

You need to lay a layer underneath them polyethylene film with an overlap of 10-15 centimeters. The second layer of polyethylene is laid on top of the foam before the finishing concrete screed.

Extruded polystyrene foam

This material is more resistant to deformation than polystyrene foam, so it is often used for floor insulation in garages and other utility and office spaces.

Dense and durable polystyrene foam slabs can be laid directly on a layer of gravel without a concrete “bedding” and poured cement mortar. Since the material practically does not absorb moisture, it is suitable for use on wet soils.

The slabs have dimensions of 60 x 125 centimeters, in construction stores they are marked with the designations XPS 200 / 300 / 500, they are sold packed in 0.4-0.45 m3 (5-6 m2 of floor covering).

Floor Pie

Expanded polystyrene retains heat well, so the thermal insulation layer can be less than 10 cm. As well as regular foam, it is not resistant to resins and mastics based on organic solvents and requires the same precautions when installing.

Polyurethane foam (labeled PUR or PIR)

Plates made of this material are sometimes coated on both sides with an aluminum layer or a layer of fiberglass - this reduces vapor permeability and improves thermal insulation properties.

Thanks to this, they can be laid in one layer or thin slabs can be used.

The dimensions of the slabs are 120 x 60 / 250 x 120 cm, they are sold in packages of 0.3 / 0.6 m3 (coverage area - 4-4.5 / 8-9 m2). Polyurethane foam is quite hygroscopic, so it must be laid on plastic film.

Mineral wool

Insulation of the floor using mineral wool

This one is fibrous non-flammable material, along with the general advantages of materials for thermal insulation, it also has excellent sound insulation characteristics.

It effectively dampens vibrations from the ground to the floor and from the floor to the walls, which is especially important in technical and utility rooms. For thermal insulation, pressed mineral wool is used ( mineral wool slabs).

They are durable and do not deform under weight building structures and pressure on the floor. The dimensions of the mineral wool slabs are 50 x 100 centimeters; one package is enough for a single-layer covering of 1-4 m2 of floor.

The main disadvantage of mineral wool is that it quickly absorbs moisture and releases it for a long time, so mineral wool slabs must be treated with a special composition that reduces their hygroscopicity.

Before finishing the screed, 1-2 layers of moisture-proof coating are additionally laid on the mineral wool slabs.

Expanded clay and granulated slag

Lightweight porous expanded clay granules made from fired clay can be different sizes(factions). For insulation and sound insulation, fractions of 8-16 or 10-20 millimeters are used.

The use of expanded clay in the installation of floors on the ground replaces its three layers: gravel, concrete screed and thermal insulation, which reduces construction time and saves money.

This material absorbs water quite well, however, when laying it in several layers (layer thickness is 15 centimeters, each of them is carefully compacted), additional waterproofing is not needed.

To facilitate further work, each layer of expanded clay after compaction is filled with liquid cement-sand mixture, and the next day they lay another layer on top - there is no need to compact it anymore.

Granulated slag (bulk material in the form of granules 5-10 millimeters in size) is produced by the method of rapid cooling of metallurgical slag.

This is a durable, lightweight and heat-retaining material. It is hygroscopic and requires laying a layer of at least 0.4 meters. Additional waterproofing with this type of insulation is not required; To lay 1 m2 with a layer of this thickness you will need approximately 300 kg of slag.

Fresh slag contains toxic impurities, the presence of which cannot be checked at home. Therefore, it is recommended to use it mainly for non-residential premises.

Foam glass

Less common, due to its relatively high price, is insulation called “foam glass” or “cellular glass”.

It is a non-flammable foamed glass with a special structure: it does not absorb water, does not allow steam to pass through and is able to withstand long-term loads.

Foam glass is sold either in the form of blocks (their thickness is 5-18 centimeters, and their size is from 11.5 x 45 to 60 x 120 centimeters), or in the form of foam crumbs. On average, it takes approximately 5 m3 of blocks to insulate the floor in a residential building.

Procedure for floor insulation

Pie across the floor

Level the soil and compact it thoroughly.
Place a 10-centimeter layer of expanded clay or crushed stone on the compacted soil - in the warm season it will protect concrete slab and a layer of thermal insulation from moisture, and in winter - from cold.
Place on top of crushed stone thick layer river (coarse-grained) sand, and on it - a concrete slab, the base of the floor. If finished slab no, you can make a concrete base yourself: a second layer of expanded clay is poured onto the sand, then it is covered metal mesh and filled with concrete. After complete drying, waterproofing is laid on the resulting slab, and insulating material is placed on it.
When installing a “warm water floor” system, water pipes are laid on the heat-insulating material, and then poured with concrete and the work is completed by laying parquet, linoleum or other floor covering.

Please note that the layer is too thick thermal insulation material reduces the height of the room, and if it is (for example) a garage with low ceilings, it is worth using materials with lower thermal conductivity: which can be laid in one layer.

Warm water floor on the ground

Laying heated floors on the ground

One of the methods additional insulation floor on the ground - equipment inside it for a “warm floor” system (for example, water).

It consists of pipes built inside concrete base floor, boiler that heats water, and circulation pump, the power of which depends on the number of loops in the water pipes.

Underfloor heating is not much more difficult to install than conventional floor insulation, although it requires further maintenance.

In this case, slabs of polystyrene (density 35 mg/m3, thickness 30-90 millimeters) or mineral wool are used as insulating material.

In order for a warm floor to last a long time, the insulation layer must be as even as possible and without gaps between the slabs.

Lay pipes every 10-30 centimeters per reinforcing mesh, placed on top of the insulating boards, and fixed on it plastic clamps, sometimes reinforcing mesh is laid over the pipes.

So, where do the expansion joints go? heat pipes put on protective corrugated sleeves. The resulting structure can be poured with concrete only after testing the “warm floor” system! The concrete layer above the pipes must be at least 30 centimeters.

Non-standard insulation methods for technical rooms

The fastest and economical way floor insulation on the ground - insulation using expanded clay (10-20 mm) in bags that are laid flat directly on the ground.

For 1 m2 of coverage you need 3 bags of expanded clay. The recesses between the bags are filled with granules of the same fraction. After laying, the bags are cut so that there is no air left in them.

The thickness of such a layer is 15-20 centimeters, so the temperature in such rooms does not rise above 16-17 degrees.

The installation of the floor in a private house is determined by design features buildings. With or without a basement, but if the floor is installed on the ground, then the screed or concrete slab is mounted separately from wall panels. Concrete is not the best best material to provide comfortable warmth on the ground, so insulation is necessary. However this option laying is not suitable for soil that is too loose or where the groundwater level is too high.

The installation of a heated floor is a multi-layer structure in which different insulation materials can be used.

Technological features and layer options

Carrying out floor insulation work in a private house is possible in two ways, differing in the type and choice of underlying layer

Concrete layer

It is considered the main insulation pie. The sequence of laying layers of insulation for an earthen floor with your own hands:

Compacted. Consists of backfilling previously removed soil. Compacting is done once to a thickness of 200 mm. This measure helps reduce the risk of cracks appearing in the future floor. How to do this is shown in the video.
Shchebnevy. Medium-fraction moistened crushed stone (fraction sizes 20-60 mm) must be poured in a thick layer (70 mm), leveled and compacted. The purpose of the layer is to further compact the soil base.
Underlying concrete. The purpose of the layer is as a base for waterproofing. Recommended thickness is 60-70 mm, concrete grade M100 is applicable. Laying is done smoothly, without sudden changes.

Important! After installing the insulation, the height differences should not be more than 3-5 mm per 2-meter strip.

Waterproofing layer. Roofing felt, film laid in two layers, polymer-bitumen or PVC membrane are used.
Insulation. Insulation is carried out horizontally and on a dry surface. It is important to maintain the integrity of the sheets and careful joining. Cold bridges formed on the foundation side are eliminated vertical laying insulation with a height of 40-50 mm. Moreover, they need to be secured with dowels.

Important! After laying the insulation, you need to check the level of the surface - it should be located at the level of the horizontal waterproofing layer of the foundation.

Vapor barrier. In a private house, it is best to use polymer-bitumen membranes. In addition to the fact that installation is easy to do with your own hands, the material has an excellent price/quality ratio. When laid on top of an earthen floor, the membranes do not rot, last a long time, but are more expensive than plastic film. You can also work with it on the ground, if it is not damaged when pouring concrete, but it is impossible to check its integrity after this operation. Therefore, the film must be laid in 2-3 layers.
Cement screed. For installation, you need an M100 solution; the layer is reinforced with wire mesh with a cell size of 100*100 mm.

Concrete preparation can be replaced with a sand cushion. The size is 150 mm, and the sequence of arranging the floor insulation cake is the same. But this option will not ensure a smooth surface in a private house, even if ground layer perfectly aligned.

Thermal insulation of floors: methods and features

Expanded polystyrene, polystyrene foam. Insulation of an earthen floor requires laying 30 cm of gravel in the base, covered with a concrete screed (100 mm). The foam slabs are laid on waterproofing, on top of which a 4 cm thick screed reinforced with a steel/polymer mesh is applied. The installation is completed with a finished floor. You can lay waterproofing on top of the slab so that the screed is covered with foam. This method prevents the solution from getting between the plates of material and, accordingly, prevents the formation of cold bridges.

Extruded polystyrene foam. The hardness of the slabs allows the material to withstand significant loads, so it can be laid directly on gravel. The feature of not absorbing moisture ensures ideal specifications material when working on soil where the water level is quite high. But to create heat in a private home, the thickness of the layer of material must be at least 8 cm.
Polyurethane foam. Work is carried out only with the hardest slabs. Low vapor permeability and high thermal insulation properties provide good layer insulation on any soil. Moreover, when working with an earthen floor, you can choose thinner slabs.
Minvata. Just as when working with expanded polystyrene, you need to choose dense, rigid boards that are resistant to deformation. Laying over the subfloor is carried out in 1-2 layers. To reduce the level of moisture absorption, you need to treat the slabs with a waterproofing agent. Laying thickness 10 cm.

Advice! The lush structure of mineral wool fibers requires complete isolation from the ground, as well as from subsequent layers laid on the wool.

Insulation under the finished floor can be done quickly and easily using expanded clay. Light weight, porous structure of the base will provide high thermal characteristics with low moisture absorption. When doing work with your own hands in a private mansion, you need to choose fractions of no more than 8-16 mm, while additional waterproofing is not required when backfilling a thick layer. There is also no need to lay/fill layers of gravel, screed and heat-insulating material. It is enough to pour expanded clay layer by layer to a thickness of 15 cm and compact it. To strengthen the base and simplify work with the finished floor, the expanded clay layer must be filled with a layer of lean concrete. After 24 hours, the surface hardens into a crust, on top of which the waterproofing is installed.

Finally

To insulate a dirt floor on our own, you don’t need a lot of financial investment and time. To create an insulation cake over an earthen surface, the following are suitable:

Foam glass is a fairly environmentally friendly and durable material that provides long term operation. Has low thermal conductivity and insufficient resistance to mechanical stress;
Perlite. Similar to expanded clay, but has higher technical and practical characteristics;
Sawdust. The mixture soaked in clay is placed directly on the ground cut.

Many people are interested in the question of how floor insulation is carried out on the ground. Thermal insulation of floors in private buildings is associated with the design features of the building, that is, it can be a residential building or a garage with or without a basement.

In case of absence last insulation flooring on the ground is carried out directly under the reinforced screed and on the concrete slab.

In this case, the concrete floor, as a rule, is laid separately from the walls, and in this case, to protect a residential building or garage from the cold, creating comfortable conditions for living or keeping equipment inside, such an overlap cannot. Therefore, when constructing floors on the ground, it is necessary to insulate them.

The insulation of the floor on the ground is carried out by laying several layers - you get a kind of “pie”

Standard insulation model

In connection with the construction of thermal insulation of concrete floors on the ground, a multi-layer structure is required, which is popularly known as a pie for a heated floor. When constructing floors on the ground, much depends on the condition of the latter. The groundwater level should be located at a depth of more than 6 m, and the soil itself, accordingly, should not be sandy or chernozem, that is, loose.

In addition, you will also need to take into account the load on the floor. In this regard, the flooring of the heated floor must meet the following requirements:

Ensure reliable thermal insulation of the room.
Ensure protection from groundwater running under the structure.
Create conditions for sound insulation in the building.
Protect from the accumulation of water vapor inside the floor covering.
Be suitable for creating a favorable microclimate in private buildings.

So, the classic model of a heated floor pie contains the following layers:

Compacted soil (layer of coarse wet river sand).
Gravel-sand mixture (coating the layer with gravel and crushed stone or expanded clay).
An iron or ordinary concrete slab, which can be cast separately or made by making a screed that is not connected to the foundation of the building and its outer walls.
Waterproofing (polymer or profiled film membrane or simply a layer of ordinary built-up roofing material).
Insulation (mineral wool, expanded clay, granulated slag, polystyrene foam, etc.).
Polyethylene film (necessarily laid in two layers).
Reinforced or leveling finishing floor screed.

When all the layers of the cake have been laid, one or another flooring is laid on a finished concrete or reinforced screed, that is, on a finished insulated concrete floor, which is also intended to be a kind of comfortable floor insulation.

One of the options for insulation using expanded clay

However, it is worth considering that an excessively thick layer of insulation will reduce the height of the room, and this is extremely undesirable when low ceilings in a buiding. Therefore, when insulating floors on the ground, it is recommended to use heat-insulating Construction Materials, having very low thermal conductivity and which can be laid in just one layer. For example, expanded clay as the most popular, affordable and convenient thermal insulation material.

Choice of insulation

You can insulate the floor in a house or garage using a wide variety of materials, but any of them must meet specific technological requirements:

It should be a material that holds heat well and does not lose its qualities over time.
Have the lowest absorption of liquid, which is always present in the soil.
The insulation must be strong, not deform, not crack or collapse under the influence of various loads on the ceiling (for example, if it is a room such as a garage, hangar or warehouse).
Be accessible, that is, inexpensive and sold everywhere.
During installation, ensure simple and easy packing of the material in layers or rows.
Thermal insulation material must be environmentally friendly, fire-resistant and not emit substances harmful to the human body.

Thus, you can insulate a concrete floor on the ground in a residential building with the following materials:

mineral wool;
expanded clay or perlite;
granulated slag;
foam glass, polystyrene foam or polyurethane foam;
extruded polystyrene foam.

Also, often a cold concrete floor in a private house is additionally equipped with a water heated floor system. The latter consists of pipes built into the concrete base of the floor, a heating water boiler, circulating in the circuit hot water, pump and other auxiliary elements.

You can insulate the floor using penoplex

The system of additional water heated floors on the ground is considered the most complex, not only in terms of its installation, but also in further proper operation.

During installation, the pipes are laid on a reinforcing mesh on top of an insulating material, in this case these are slabs of either polystyrene or mineral wool. Then the pipes are fixed to the mesh using plastic clamps, and where the expansion joints are, protective corrugated sleeves are put on them.

Simply put, a ground floor is a concrete or reinforced concrete slab laid on the ground, not connected to the foundation of the building and its external walls. It can be cast separately or made by making a concrete screed.

Floor insulation on the ground

This floor has several limitations that depend on the properties of the soil: it cannot be laid where groundwater comes close to the surface of the earth and on loose soils (for example, sandy or black soil), which easily sag or swell.

However, installing this type of floor on dense and additionally compacted soil makes it possible to save significant money and time.

Therefore, a concrete floor laid on the ground is always insulated - insulation is necessary not only in residential buildings, but also in service buildings (garages, hangars, sheds, etc.).

The design of the floor laid on the ground resembles a layer cake. Sequentially stacked:

A layer of river sand;
A layer of expanded clay or crushed stone;
Concrete layer (screed);
Waterproofing layer (polyethylene film or roofing felt);
Insulation boards.

After this, a clean concrete screed is made, on which, like on any concrete base, one or another coating can be laid.

Types of insulation, their properties and working with them

Laying insulation on waterproofing

A wide variety of materials are used for floor insulation, but they all must meet certain technical conditions. The insulation should:

It is good to keep warm and not lose its properties for many years;
Absorb moisture as little as possible;
Be durable, not sag, crack or break under the weight of the building and floor loads (this is especially important for technical premises - garages, hangars, warehouses, etc.);
Have a low cost;
Be comfortable to style;
Be environmentally friendly, non-toxic and non-flammable.

Let's briefly look at the insulating materials mentioned above.

Polystyrene foam (regular polystyrene foam)

Floor insulation using foam plastic

When talking about foam boards for insulating floors on the ground, they usually mean PSB-S-35 foam (used in residential premises of private houses) and the more durable PSB-S-50 brand (garages, hangars). The unit of measurement for slabs sold in hardware stores is a cubic meter.

It is more convenient to use slabs not with flat, but with milled edges - they are connected with an overlap (“ridge-groove”), creating a continuous heat-insulating plane without cracks or gaps.

It must be taken into account that polystyrene foam “melts” upon contact with organic solvents (resins and mastics), so you cannot lay sheets of foam plastic directly on polymer-bitumen mastic.

Under them you need to lay a layer of plastic film with an overlap of 10-15 centimeters. The second layer of polyethylene is laid on top of the foam before the finishing concrete screed.

Extruded polystyrene foam

This material is more resistant to deformation than polystyrene foam, so it is often used for floor insulation in garages and other utility and office spaces.

Dense and durable polystyrene foam slabs can be laid directly on a layer of gravel without a concrete “bedding” and filled with cement mortar. Since the material practically does not absorb moisture, it is suitable for use on wet soils.

The slabs have dimensions of 60 x 125 centimeters, in construction stores they are marked with the designations XPS 200 / 300 / 500, they are sold packed in 0.4-0.45 m3 (5-6 m2 of floor covering).

Floor Pie

Expanded polystyrene retains heat well, so the thermal insulation layer can be less than 10 cm. Like regular foam, it is not resistant to organic solvent-based resins and mastics and requires the same precautions when laying.

Polyurethane foam (labeled PUR or PIR)

Plates made of this material are sometimes coated on both sides with an aluminum layer or a layer of fiberglass - this reduces vapor permeability and improves thermal insulation properties.

Thanks to this, they can be laid in one layer or thin slabs can be used.

Mineral wool

Floor insulation using mineral wool

This fibrous, non-flammable material, along with the general advantages of thermal insulation materials, also has excellent sound insulation characteristics.

They are durable and do not deform under the weight of building structures and pressure on the floor. The dimensions of the mineral wool slabs are 50 x 100 centimeters; one package is enough for a single-layer covering of 1-4 m2 of floor.

The main disadvantage of mineral wool is that it quickly absorbs moisture and releases it for a long time, so mineral wool slabs must be treated with a special composition that reduces their hygroscopicity.

Before finishing the screed, 1-2 layers of moisture-proof coating are additionally laid on the mineral wool slabs.

Expanded clay and granulated slag

Light porous expanded clay granules made from fired clay can be of different sizes (fractions). For insulation and sound insulation, fractions of 8-16 or 10-20 millimeters are used.

The use of expanded clay in the construction of floors on the ground replaces its three layers: gravel, concrete screed and thermal insulation, which allows to reduce construction time and save money.

This material absorbs water quite well, however, when laying it in several layers (layer thickness is 15 centimeters, each of them is carefully compacted), additional waterproofing is not needed.

To facilitate further work, each layer of expanded clay after compaction is poured with a liquid cement-sand mixture, and the next day the next layer is laid on top - there is no need to compact it.

Granulated slag (bulk material in the form of granules 5-10 millimeters in size) is produced by the method of rapid cooling of metallurgical slag.

Fresh slag contains toxic impurities, the presence of which cannot be checked at home. Therefore, it is recommended to use it mainly for non-residential premises.

Foam glass

Less common, due to its relatively high price, is insulation called “foam glass” or “cellular glass”.

It is a non-flammable foamed glass with a special structure: it does not absorb water, does not allow steam to pass through and is able to withstand long-term loads.

Procedure for floor insulation

Pie across the floor

Level the soil and compact it thoroughly.
Place a 10-centimeter layer of expanded clay or crushed stone on the compacted soil - in the warm season it will protect the concrete slab and the thermal insulation layer from moisture, and in winter from the cold.
Lay a thick layer of river (coarse-grained) sand on top of the crushed stone, and lay a concrete slab and floor base on top of it. If there is no ready-made slab, you can make a concrete base yourself: a second layer of expanded clay is poured onto the sand, then it is covered with a metal mesh and filled with concrete. After complete drying, waterproofing is laid on the resulting slab, and insulating material is placed on it.
When installing a “warm water floor” system, water pipes are laid on the heat-insulating material, and then poured with concrete and the work is completed by laying parquet, linoleum or other floor covering.

Keep in mind that a too thick layer of thermal insulation material reduces the height of the room, and if it is (for example) a garage with low ceilings, it is worth using materials with lower thermal conductivity: which can be laid in one layer.

Warm water floor on the ground

Laying heated floors on the ground

One of the ways to additionally insulate a floor on the ground is to install a “warm floor” system inside it (for example, water).

It consists of pipes built into the concrete base of the floor, a boiler that heats the water, and a circulation pump, the power of which depends on the number of loops in the water pipes.

Underfloor heating is not much more difficult to install than conventional floor insulation, although it requires further maintenance.

In this case, slabs of polystyrene (density 35 mg/m3, thickness 30-90 millimeters) or mineral wool are used as insulating material.

In order for a warm floor to last a long time, the insulation layer must be as even as possible and without gaps between the slabs.

Pipes are laid every 10-30 centimeters on a reinforcing mesh placed on top of insulating slabs and secured to it with plastic clamps; sometimes the reinforcing mesh is also laid over the pipes.

So, where the expansion joints pass, protective corrugated sleeves are put on the heat pipes. The resulting structure can be poured with concrete only after testing the “warm floor” system! The concrete layer above the pipes must be at least 30 centimeters.

Non-standard insulation methods for technical rooms

The fastest and most economical way to insulate a floor on the ground is insulation using expanded clay (10-20 mm) in bags that are laid flat directly on the ground.

The thickness of such a layer is 15-20 centimeters, so the temperature in such rooms does not rise above 16-17 degrees.

We insulate the floor along the ground. Do you need woolen socks for your grandchildren or how to insulate the floor in a house Insulating the floor on the ground

Types of insulation, their properties and working with them

Polystyrene foam (regular polystyrene foam)

Extruded polystyrene foam

Polyurethane foam (labeled PUR or PIR)

Mineral wool

Expanded clay and granulated slag

Foam glass

Procedure for floor insulation

Warm water floor on the ground

Non-standard insulation methods for technical rooms

Technological features and layer options

Concrete layer

Thermal insulation of floors: methods and features

Finally

Standard insulation model

Choice of insulation

Types of insulation, their properties and working with them

Polystyrene foam (regular polystyrene foam)

Extruded polystyrene foam

Polyurethane foam (labeled PUR or PIR)

Mineral wool

Expanded clay and granulated slag

Foam glass

Procedure for floor insulation

Warm water floor on the ground

Non-standard insulation methods for technical rooms

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