What insulation is best to use in a frame house. How to properly insulate a frame house from the inside and outside

One of the most important works when constructing a frame building is the installation of insulation. Only with the help of the right and high-quality thermal insulation it is possible to prevent heat from escaping through the building envelope, and also reduce heating costs. In our article we will try to answer in detail the question of which insulation is better for a frame house: walls, floor and roof.

Choice of insulation

It should be noted that the final choice thermal insulation material will depend on the preferences and financial capabilities of the owner country house or apartments.

Expanded polystyrene

Foam plastic is considered one of the most popular heat insulators on the domestic market. Such products have many advantages, for example:

Low cost;
Easy to lay slabs on leveled surfaces;
Light weight.

The disadvantages of polystyrene foam include:

Low strength;
Possibility of fire under the influence of open flame;
Insufficient sound insulation performance.

Mineral wool is considered the most common thermal insulation for insulating frame country houses. Such products are supplied to hardware stores in the form of durable pressed rectangular slabs. The material can be cut well with a sharp knife or hand saw, which allows you to quickly create pieces of the desired size.

The main advantages of this material are:

High rates of heat and noise insulation;
Strength;
Durability.

Mineral wool is the best option for insulation frame structure

Also, a big advantage of the material is the ability to “breathe the house.” The disadvantage of the material is the loss of properties after moisture enters, so the slabs are protected from water by waterproofing.

Note! For the manufacture of mineral wool natural stone is used, for example basalt. After melting the rock, fibers are obtained, which are knocked together into slabs or mats. Such products are not afraid of exposure to high temperatures and fire.

Glass wool

The oldest type of thermal insulation is glass wool. The material in question is produced from waste from the glass industry and broken glass, dolomite, limestone or sand.

Products are supplied to hardware stores in the form of rolls or slabs. The advantages of glass wool include:

Fire resistance;
Low thermal conductivity;
Resistance to chemicals;
Relatively cheap.

The disadvantage of a heat insulator is the loss of properties under the influence of moisture, so the slabs must be protected from water ingress plastic film. It is also necessary to use special equipment (rubber gloves, respirator, safety glasses) when working with such products.

Ecowool

The first place among insulation materials in terms of environmental safety should be given to ecowool. According to experts, the main type of raw material for producing such a product is considered to be cellulose. Such thermal insulation is not afraid of moisture, but requires special equipment for embedding into the wall cavity.

With the dry installation method, the substance is compacted between the joints of the frame house. Other disadvantages of the material include high cost and the need for insulation work to be carried out by highly qualified specialists.

Polyurethane foam or penoizol

One of the best ways Insulation of the walls of a frame house is considered to be the use of penoizol or polyurethane foam. To obtain a working solution, two components are used, which, when mixed in special device fill all cells on the surface of the frame house.

Penoizol has good thermal insulation characteristics, but such a composition is applied with the participation of specialists. The price of polyurethane foam is quite high, so not everyone will be able to afford this method of insulating their home.

One of the simplest and available ways insulation is considered to be the use of sawdust. To prepare the working solution, wood particles are mixed with cement or other binder, as well as antiseptics that prevent rotting processes.

A mixture of sawdust and cement is used to insulate the floor or ceiling. This method has certain disadvantages. These are labor-intensive work, low efficiency, and the possibility of material subsidence when installed inside walls.

Park or Rockwool

Many developers are trying to determine which thermal insulation - Parok or Rockwool - has the best specifications. If many user reviews on the Internet point to Parok, then in our article we will provide a comparison of these two products.

Characteristic	Park	Rockwool
Coefficient of thermal conductivity	0.036 W/μ	0.036 W/μ
Vapor permeability indicator	0.55 mg/mchpa	0.3 mg/mchpa
Maximum Density	35 kg/m³:	35 kg/m³:
Fire resistance	Incombustible	Incombustible
Overall dimensions of products	1.2*0.6 m	1*0.6m
Total area of slabs in one package	10.08m2	6m2
Packaging cost for a product thickness of 5 centimeters	800 rubles	550 rubles
Price m3 of thermal insulation	1600 rub.	1800 rub.

Note! Despite similar technical characteristics, Parok mineral wool does not tend to shrink, which cannot be said about Rockwool thermal insulation. In addition, such material has a lower cost.

Insulation technology

The structure of a frame house requires high-quality insulation. Next, we will describe how work is carried out to insulate the walls, floor and roof of a building.

Stan

Note! According to experts, insulation of the walls of a frame house should be carried out using mineral wool. A 5 centimeter layer of this material is equal in thermal conductivity to 60 centimeters of brickwork.

As we have already said, such products are afraid of moisture, so the slabs must be protected from condensation and water-saturated air using vapor barrier films and special membranes. The insulation in question is attached between the vertical guides of the sheathing, which are installed every 59 centimeters, with a slab width of 60 cm.

Thermal insulation materials are laid in several layers depending on the thickness of the frame guides, and the joints of each row of slabs should be at different heights. Here we also take into account another layer of mineral wool located with outside building.

To lay thermal insulation, wooden blocks 5 centimeters thick are nailed to the frame in a horizontal position. The distance between the guides for high-quality joining of the plates should be 59 centimeters.

Laying insulation on walls

On next stage The work involves laying mats on the outside, after which the insulation is protected from external negative influences with a windproof film. The membrane is attached to wooden blocks using staplers; the joints of the film are sealed with tape. In the future, wooden blocks with a cross section of 5*5 centimeters will be stuffed onto the surface of the walls with a windproof film to form a ventilation gap. At the final stage of work, finishing material will be attached to these guides.

Now let's move on to the internal insulation of a frame house. Here the guide bars are located vertically. For insulation, you can use mats of various thicknesses, for example, 5 and 10 centimeters with a frame support thickness of 15 centimeters. As we have already said, the joints of mineral wool slabs must be at different levels, so the material is trimmed and the seams formed are covered with the next row of thermal insulation. Total: the thickness of all layers of insulation is at least 20 cm.

Scheme of a cross-insulation pie for a frame house

After filling the space between the frame posts, a high-quality vapor barrier is nailed to the wooden blocks. In this case, the rough side of the film should be oriented towards the inside of the room. Next, the same wooden blocks with a cross-section of 5*5 centimeters are nailed to the racks to form an internal ventilation gap. Next, the finishing material will be attached to these guides.

Note! The rough surface of the vapor barrier film helps protect the insulation from moisture. Droplets of water will accumulate on the tubercles of the material.

The insulation of interior partitions is carried out in a similar way. In this case, mineral wool is used as sound insulation. Here, glassine is used instead of vapor barrier.

Nuances of wall insulation:

Mineral wool slabs must be carefully pushed into the constructed frame, avoiding bending and deformation;
The insulation cannot be compacted; use a layer greater than the thickness of the frame posts;
After laying the thermal insulation, areas of poor-quality installation of the material are determined and the cracks are sealed.

Paula

When insulating the floor in a frame building using joists, the structure is conventionally divided into two types: finishing and rough. At the initial stage of work on wooden beams unhewn boards are installed, which are pre-treated with antiseptics. Such materials need to be fitted as closely as possible to each other, which will prevent the penetration of cold air.

To prevent the penetration of rodents, they are fixed on top of the boards. metal mesh with a small cell, further windproof film, which is attached to the joists using a stapler or small nails. Now you can lay the mineral wool slabs. The joints between these materials are fastened using polyurethane foam.

Note! When laying mineral wool, a gap of 3-5 centimeters is left between the clean floor and the insulation boards, which will help remove moisture from the thermal insulation.

Roofs

The main material for insulating the roof of a frame house is mineral wool. Similar work is carried out in cases where there is a residential attic floor. At the initial stage of work it is necessary to inspect truss structure, treat the wood with an antiseptic.

Now we begin to install the sheathing with inside rafters, nailing boards every 20-30 centimeters. Mineral wool slabs are laid with outside in several layers.

Note! When laying thermal insulation, ensure that the products are sealed at the joints. It is not recommended to leave gaps in the thermal insulation.

At the next stage of work, a waterproofing film is fixed on the outside of the rafters in such a way that the material can transmit water vapor only in one direction - up. The panels are joined with an overlap of 15 centimeters, after which the products are additionally secured with tape.

For effective insulation between the membrane and mineral wool is left air gap 2-5 centimeters. To form it, wooden blocks of the required thickness are used.

The film is nailed down with staples or using thin wooden slats with small nails. Several ventilation holes are made at the location of the ridge. Now the vapor barrier is secured and laid roofing material. Internal lining made from a block house, wooden lining or sheets of plywood.

September 6, 2016
Specialization: Capital construction works(laying a foundation, erecting walls, constructing a roof, etc.). Internal construction work (laying internal communications, rough and fine finishing). Hobbies: mobile communications, high tech, computer technology, programming.

Today I want to talk about how to choose insulation for a frame house. This is a specific structure consisting of a timber frame covered with sheet material, therefore the comfort and energy efficiency of the entire building depends on the quality and efficiency of the thermal insulation layer. Therefore, special requirements are placed on the materials used.

Specifics of insulation of frame housing

A comfortable indoor microclimate and the amount of energy spent on maintaining it directly depends on the thermal insulation material used for the walls of the building. And this rule applies to the greatest extent to a frame house, since the materials used in its construction have a fairly high thermal conductivity coefficient, and their thickness leaves much to be desired.

Therefore, the only barrier to cold or heat outside is insulation. At the same time, the dimensions of the walls and the material of the enclosing structures significantly limit the choice, because thermal insulation for such a building must have several features, which I described in the table below.

Characteristic	Description
Low thermal conductivity	The insulation material must have excellent heat-retaining properties. The lower the thermal conductivity coefficient, the thinner the insulating layer should be. For a frame house optimal thickness thermal insulation is from 10 to 15 cm. But the final decision on how much insulation needs to be installed is made depending on the climatic conditions of the area where the house is operated.
Light weight	I advise you to choose a material that does not place significant additional load on the building envelope. A frame dwelling is already not particularly durable, so you should not aggravate the problem by installing heavy insulation.
Vapor permeability	The sheet materials with which the walls are sheathed allow air to pass through well. Therefore, I would advise buying insulation that does not prevent its infiltration. This will extend the life of the wooden structure and provide a comfortable microclimate for living inside with a normal level of humidity.
Fire safety	A wooden house that is safe to live in can only be built using non-flammable insulation materials that do not ignite in a fire and do not support combustion. As a last resort, it is necessary to purchase thermal insulation containing fire retardants.
Environmental friendliness	To protect the people living in the house, I advise using environmentally friendly thermal insulation material that does not release toxic chemical compounds into the air, regardless of operating conditions.
Hygroscopicity	Walls of a frame house, regardless of method exterior finishing, are constantly exposed to atmospheric moisture (during rain and melting snow). Therefore, it is better to use waterproof insulating materials or those that do not change their technical characteristics depending on the moisture content inside.
Antiseptic	The insulating layer must be protected from the appearance of harmful microorganisms inside, which can not only impair the effectiveness of insulation, but also have a destructive effect on the enclosing structures (wood is susceptible to rotting). In addition, I would advise choosing a material that does not harbor insects and rodents.
Strength	For a frame house, it is very important that the insulation used retains its original dimensions throughout its entire service life, and its shrinkage is minimal. During construction, the distance between the racks for the insulation is calculated in such a way that the slabs of material fit as closely as possible to each other without forming islands of cold.
Affordable price	Considering that the estimated cost of constructing a frame house is low (when compared, for example, with brick building), insulation also needs to be chosen cheaper, but in no case sacrificing quality.

In the next section I will talk about popular types of insulation, and based on this information you can decide for yourself which insulation is best for a frame house.

Characteristics of materials used

Let's consider which insulation to use for thermal insulation of a frame dwelling. In my opinion, the best way Several varieties are suitable, which are shown in the diagram below:

Well, now let's determine the best material for the job.

Basalt mats

This thermal insulation material is made from a mineral of volcanic origin - basalt. The collected raw materials are melted at high temperature, after which ultra-thin threads are formed from the melt. Subsequently, they are formed into mats or slabs by gluing with phenol-formaldehyde resins.

Thanks to the use of basalt and a special production technology, the material in question acquires some features, especially from the point of view of its use for thermal insulation of a frame structure.

I will describe the most important of them in more detail:

Low thermal conductivity. The insulation consists of a large number of thin fibers oriented in different sides and glued with resin in such a way that there are many gaps filled with air between them.

Thanks to this, the material acquires a very low thermal conductivity coefficient. Exact value this parameter is between 0.032 and 0.048 W/(m*K) and depends on the density of the slabs used. To reliably insulate a frame house, it is enough to use several layers of basalt mats with a total thickness of 10 to 15 cm.

This exactly corresponds to the cross-section of the beams that form the basis of the building. In other words, the insulation is completely placed inside the frame and covered with sheathing sheets. There is no need to construct additional sheathing on top or inside.

Low hygroscopicity. Basalt mats can safely be classified as hygroscopic thermal insulation materials. Unlike, for example, fiberglass, insulation fibers do not absorb water. And to increase water-repellent properties, the necessary substances are added to the resins used for gluing.
Water absorption of basalt insulation boards is no more than 2% of its own volume. In this case, the liquid that gets inside does not increase the thermal conductivity of the material and is quickly removed outside. To evaporate it during outer skin ventilation gaps are usually made in a frame house.
In some cases, the material is covered with vapor-permeable membranes, which do not allow the insulating layer to get wet during rain and prevent the fibers of the mats from fraying.
High vapor permeability. Basalt insulation has an open structure, so it does not prevent air infiltration through the enclosing structures. As a result, the liquid contained in the wood has the opportunity to freely evaporate during the operation of the building, and the level of humidity in living quarters is automatically regulated.

The vapor permeability coefficient of mineral wool (0.49 mg/(m*h*Pa)) is much higher than, for example, plywood (0.02), which is usually used for wall cladding frame house. Therefore, the insulation will not become a bottleneck that limits the “breathing” of the building.

High fire safety. Basalt fibers are made from a mineral of volcanic origin, so they have a very high melting point (more than 1000 degrees Celsius).
According to the requirements of the standards fire safety(NPB number 244-97) mineral mats made of basalt fiber belong to the category of non-combustible insulation. They do not ignite when exposed to open flame and limit further spread of fire.
What is very important is that when the walls of a home burn, the insulation does not emit toxic smoke, which can harm human health and complicate the evacuation of the inhabitants of the house.
Mineral wool, due to its open structure and random arrangement of fibers, perfectly absorbs structural (impact) and airborne noise. This is very important for a frame house, the enclosing structures of which do not differ in thickness.

Another important point is reducing the reverberation time of sound waves. In other words, mineral wool insulation protects the inhabitants of the home not only from external noise, but also limits the propagation of sound waves through internal ones.

High strength. Basalt mats can withstand very heavy loads. At 10% deformation, the insulation has a compressive strength reaching 80 kPa.
The special beauty of the material is that it retains its geometric dimensions throughout its entire service life, regardless of temperature and humidity. Installed inside the walls, it does not shrink or fall off, forming gaps through which heat escapes.
Typically, the pitch of the racks for insulation is calculated in advance and adjusted to the size of the mineral mats that will be used in building the house.
High antiseptic and chemical resistance. The material does not undergo biocorrosion, regardless of air humidity and the method of its operation. Inside mineral mats and, accordingly, frame walls, mold and fungi that can destroy the wood do not grow.

Another advantage of mineral wool is that its fibers are not destroyed by mice and insects. Therefore, I recommend using such insulation for construction country houses and similar suburban dwellings.

Thermal insulation material tolerates contact well with many chemicals and does not create an acidic environment that promotes corrosion. metal elements, used during the construction of a house according to frame technology.

Highly environmentally friendly. The insulation discussed in this section is made from gabbro-basalt, therefore, by definition, it cannot cause harm to the environment and human health.
However, formaldehyde resin is used for gluing resins, which can release toxic substances during operation. To reduce negative impact of this substance on the human body, mineral mats are subject to thermal effects during production. The formaldehyde emission level fully complies with established standards.

Moreover, as you use possible harm decreases from mineral wool.

I believe that mineral wool is the best option for home insulation. The only limitation is the rather high price of the material. Therefore, for people who want to save as much as possible, I offer another option for insulation - polystyrene foam.

Foam boards

This insulating material is made from polystyrene by foaming it with steam. As a result, a large number of thin-walled polymer granules are formed, filled inside atmospheric gas. From them, slabs are formed using the pressless method, which are used for insulation of various buildings, including frame houses.

As in the previous case, I will focus on describing the important technical characteristics of this material:

Low thermal conductivity. Polystyrene foam is a material, 98% of which consists of air, and the rest is very thin walls, which hold the gas in place. Thanks to this, it acquires a very low thermal conductivity coefficient - less than that of mineral wool.
The thermal conductivity coefficient of the material ranges from 0.028 to 0.034 W/(m*K). In other words, the heat-preserving properties of hardened polystyrene foam are quite enough to save heat inside a frame house in winter and prevent it from overheating in summer.
If we take block foam with a density of 34 kg per cubic meter, then the thickness of the insulating layer is sufficient for middle zone Russia will be 10 cm, which fits well into the standard cross-section of timber used in the construction of the frame.
Low hygroscopicity. Given the closed cell structure of polystyrene foam, it absorbs liquid very poorly. When the surface of the material is moistened, it absorbs no more than 4% of the liquid during the first 24 hours. After this, water absorption stops completely.

Two conclusions follow from this:

Firstly, the material does not require additional protection in the form of a waterproofing membrane, and its technical characteristics do not deteriorate as it gets wet.
Secondly, the thermal insulation layer can withstand great amount cycles of freezing and thawing, since there is no water inside it, which, upon crystallization, destroys the structure of the material.

Low vapor permeability. In this indicator, the insulation differs sharply from the mineral wool described above. Its vapor permeability coefficient is 0.05 mg/(m*h*Pa), which is comparable to monolithic concrete. Therefore, the thermal insulation layer sharply limits air infiltration, although it does not stop it completely.
When using polystyrene foam to insulate a frame house, I advise installing the insulation in such a way that the frame of the house has contact with environment, that is, it ensured the removal of moisture from the wood during operation.
It is also advisable to equip a reliable ventilation system, otherwise water vapor generated as a result of human activity will accumulate inside.
High fire hazard. Regulatory documents regulating fire safety building materials, polystyrene foam belongs to the category of very flammable materials (G4). Combined with the wood used for construction, this makes the home very dangerous to use.

The problem is further aggravated by the fact that in the event of a fire, the insulation spreads the flame further and emits black toxic smoke, which limits visibility, complicates the evacuation of people and the elimination of the fire, and can also cause serious poisoning.

To avoid at least some of the negative consequences, I recommend using material marked “C” for work, which contains fire retardants that promote self-extinguishing of the flame. Well, no one has canceled the treatment of wooden parts of the house with fire-prevention impregnations.

High sound insulation properties. Polystyrene foam protects rooms well frame construction from structural noise, but poorly absorbs sound waves propagated through the air.
If you want to achieve complete silence inside your home, in addition to polystyrene foam, you need to use additional material with high coefficient sound absorption. As an example, I can cite foam rubber (polyvinyl chloride foam) or mineral wool.
High strength. Despite its brittleness to fracture, the material has an excellent coefficient of compressive strength. Like mineral wool, insulation of sufficient density can withstand a force of 80 kPa at 10% surface deformation.

Another important point is dimensional stability. Once installed between the frame posts, the insulation retains its width, length and thickness throughout its entire service life.

The only feature is low elasticity. The insulation cannot be bent and placed between the frame, so it is important to carefully observe the dimensions when installing timber or cutting foam boards.

High antiseptic properties and good chemical resistance. Research has long proven that the existence of microorganisms on the surface and inside the foam is impossible. That is, there is no need to worry about rotting and molding of the insulation layer.
But polystyrene is susceptible to destruction by rodents. Mice love to gnaw passages inside the material and make nests, although they do not feed on it themselves. Therefore, when using the material, I recommend additional protection of the material.
The insulation in question withstands the effects of most chemicals used in construction. Antiseptic and fireproofing impregnations, and also (with the exception of oil ones), which are used in the construction of frame houses, do not destroy the material.
An important point is that foam plastic should be reliably protected from exposure to ultraviolet radiation. Direct Sun rays capable of destroying the material.
Environmental friendliness. The insulation described in this section, if the conditions for its installation in a frame structure and subsequent operation are observed, does not harm human health in any way.

As you can see, polystyrene foam is suitable for insulating a frame house, but with some reservations. And I would advise using it only if the cost of the material is the determining factor in your choice.

Polyurethane foam

It is a porous material resulting from chemical reaction two components, occurring immediately before applying insulation to the heat-insulated surface.

I consider polyurethane foam separately due to the fact that it is almost impossible to use for self-insulation dwellings:

firstly, you need to purchase or rent a spraying installation with a compressor;
secondly, you need to be able to work with it.

But no one is stopping me from telling you about the features of this insulation. Perhaps this will help you make a choice in favor of innovative polyurethane foam rather than obsolete, but no less popular mineral wool and polystyrene foam.

Low thermal conductivity. When applying polyurethane foam to the surfaces being treated, it is possible to regulate the density of the material. Thermal conductivity also depends on it, which ranges between 0.019 and 0.035 W/(m*K).

Therefore, hardened polyurethane foam fits perfectly into the rule I derived that all insulation should be placed in the space between the sheathing sheets of the frame structure. It is enough to place a 10 cm thick layer of polyurethane foam in the gap between the frame beams in order to avoid problems with unproductive losses of thermal energy during the heating season.

Low hygroscopicity. Like polystyrene foam, polyurethane foam has a very low water absorption coefficient. A frozen layer of insulation can absorb no more than 2% of its own volume, which is even less than that of other cellular insulation.
To further enhance the water-repellent properties of the foam, castor oil is added to one of its components.
In other words, there is no need to take any measures to insulate polyurethane foam from moisture. However, this does not mean that the thermal insulation layer does not require external decorative finishing. After all, this substance is destroyed by other natural factors.
Low vapor permeability. The material is among the leaders in this indicator. The vapor permeability coefficient of polyurethane foam with a density of, for example, 40 kg per cubic meter is no more than 0.05 mg/(m*h*Pa). That is, after hardening, the foam completely stops air circulation through the frame walls.

A particular danger (when compared with polystyrene foam) is that when sprayed, foam covers the elements of the building’s frame, so the moisture inside the not completely dry beams is locked inside and can cause premature destruction of the building.

To avoid this, when constructing a frame dwelling, I advise using only well-dried lumber and ensuring the possibility of ventilation of the wooden parts.

High fire safety. Despite the fact that, like polystyrene foam, polyurethane foam is made of polymer components, it belongs to the category of fire-resistant, self-extinguishing and low-flammable materials. Special additives give increased fire resistance to insulating foam.
Wooden parts of a frame house treated with polyurethane foam receive additional fire protection. In special cases, you can use specialized, fire-resistant polyurethane foam, a layer of which is applied on top of the base one. However, it costs much more and this method of insulation can only be used in rooms where there is a high risk of fire (furnace rooms in a bathhouse or boiler room in a house).
High sound insulation properties. The ability of polyurethane foam to absorb sound waves directly depends on the rigidity of the frame on which it is applied, as well as the density of the material itself.

In any case, sprayed insulation protects interior living spaces from impact structural noise and partially protects against sounds propagated through the air. There is a special highly elastic polyurethane foam that can act as a reliable sound insulator.

Strength. A material of a certain density (over 35 kg per cubic meter) has such high strength characteristics and compression resistance that it can be treated on top with thin-layer cement plaster.
An important property of the insulation under consideration is its almost zero shrinkage coefficient. When applied, the foam increases in size, and after the end of the chemical reaction it hardens and retains its size until the end of operation. Moreover, the geometric parameters of the insulation are not affected by ambient temperature and humidity.
Another advantage of polyurethane foam is that when applied inside a frame structure, it adheres tightly to the surface and fills all the cracks, defects and irregularities. As a result, the appearance of cold bridges that reduce the energy efficiency of the building is eliminated.
Antiseptic and chemical resistance. Like mineral wool, polyurethane foam is neutral to biological damaging factors. Mold and mildew, as well as other harmful microorganisms, do not appear on the surface of the insulation. But unlike polystyrene foam, mice don't like polyurethane foam.

As for chemical resistance, insulating foam is not damaged by chemical solutions contained in other building materials. Due to low vapor permeability and chemical neutrality, the insulation reliably protects the metal fasteners of the frame structure from damage.

However, polyurethane foam has an inherent disadvantage of polystyrene foam - poor resistance ultraviolet radiation. The hardened insulating layer must be protected from the sun by external cladding.

Environmental friendliness. After polymerization, the foam has almost zero emission of harmful substances. However, during spraying the material emits harmful substances, therefore, it is necessary to work with it only in a special suit and carefully protect the respiratory and visual organs.

If for some reason you do not want to use mineral wool, I advise you to try polyurethane foam. But to obtain a high-quality result, it is better to seek help from special companies that deal with thermal insulation of buildings using polyurethane foam.

Summary

Based on the considered characteristics of thermal insulation materials, you can independently decide which insulation to choose for a wooden frame house. The instructions presented in the video in this article will help you to insulate such a home yourself.

What do you think is the best material to use for thermal insulation of a frame house? You can leave your thoughts on this issue in the comments.

They are assembled in a fairly short time, using minimal labor resources. However, with all its advantages, it still has one small drawback. If you do not provide high-quality insulation of the walls and roof, it will be possible to use it only in the summer, since it is not suitable for year-round use in our climate.

Insulation of a frame house - types of materials

The modern market offers a huge selection of building materials for insulating frame houses. Based on the above, it is very important that the insulation retains its functionality for decades; for this it is necessary to use only high-quality material.

Currently, thermal insulation materials are conventionally divided into two categories - organic and synthetic.

The first includes natural materials of natural origin (sawdust and shavings, compressed straw, etc.).
The second category includes types of insulation obtained using a high-tech production method, using various chemical components and compositions, namely: mineral wool, polystyrene foam, basaltine, and others.

Magnificent thermal insulation properties synthetic materials make them the undisputed winners in this group. They boast such qualities as:

good moisture resistance;
low thermal conductivity and flammability level;
no shrinkage and long term services;
prostate to use;
safety for humans.

Insulating a house is the most popular and well-proven method. The material has excellent noise absorption, retains heat well, and also has high class environmental friendliness

Insulation of walls from inside and outside

There is no particular difference from where to start work on insulating a frame house, from the inside or the outside. Here it is more convenient for anyone. For example, installing insulation from the street is a little easier, but there is a risk that it may start to rain and then the work will have to be stopped for some time.

Standard mineral wool insulation has a width of 600 mm. Therefore, when constructing a frame, this point must be taken into account. To ensure that the material fits tightly to the vertical posts, perfect size the pitch between them is 580-590 mm. This distance will not allow the insulation to slide down over time, since it will be tightly clamped.

According to established standards, the thickness of insulation for a structure in the central region of Russia is 150 mm. Therefore, it would be advisable to use slabs with a thickness of 100 and 50 mm.

Thus, instead of three slabs, two slabs will be enough for the structure, thereby significantly reducing labor costs. Also the material is 100 mm. less prone to deflection and therefore more securely attached to the structure.

Fastening vapor barrier and OSB boards

In order to prevent moisture from entering the insulation, it must be well protected from it. To do this from the inside wooden walls the frame must be covered vapor barrier film. Using a regular stapler, we roll out the roll in horizontal stripes and fasten it overlapping along 5 cm. to the vertical posts. Make sure that the film adheres tightly to the surface everywhere;
Next, we need to cover the vapor barrier film with OSB boards, which will serve as the basis for the interior finishing. Using ordinary wood screws and a screwdriver, we attach the panels one by one, cutting them with an electric jigsaw if necessary.

Installation of insulation

Let us consider, as an example, the insulation of a frame with slabs based on mineral (stone) wool. The material is quite elastic, so fixing it does not require additional method fastening, simply insert it between the posts. The slabs must be held tightly there due to the difference in size.

Installation of insulation is carried out in two layers, using a checkerboard pattern. The second should overlap the butt joints of the first, exactly in the middle. This method allows you to avoid the appearance of so-called “cold bridges”, which contribute to the appearance of condensation and dampness on the inner surface finishing, as a result of which mold and mildew may appear.

Once all the slabs have been installed, they will need to be protected from rain and strong winds. To do this, by analogy with internal walls, external ones are sheathed in the same way.

The material used is a hydro-windproof membrane; it will reliably protect the walls from drafts and raindrops getting inside. To securely connect the membrane, secure it to the posts with counter-latching.

External wall cladding

Depending on the material you choose for finishing, you need to properly prepare the base for it. For regular siding or block house, they are attached to the counter-batten moisture-resistant OSB slabs to which guide bars are nailed.

It is very popular among the population, which accurately imitates the structure of real wood.

Sectional diagram of insulation

If the walls are covered with any other finishing material (facade tiles, artificial or natural stone etc.), it is unnecessary to nail guide bars to the OSB boards; the walls are left in this form for finishing.

Roof insulation

Not many people know that roof insulation plays very important role in creating a favorable microclimate in the house. High-quality insulation of this element reduces heat loss in the house by 25-30 % , therefore it is very important to approach this issue responsibly.

One of the most common ways to insulate a roof is to lay insulation between the roofs, and in order for the insulation to last a long time, the roofing pie must have a ventilation gap.

The essence of the process of framing a frame house with mineral wool is quite simple and looks like this:

On the outside of the roof, a diffusion membrane is nailed to the upper base of the rafters, which is fixed with a counter-latten;
Next, on the inside in two layers (each 100 mm.), using the same checkerboard order, insulation boards are laid. Special attention give places to the gables and the ridge part of the roof;
The insulation must be covered with a vapor barrier film, which is attached with horizontal stripes from bottom to top, overlapping 5 cm.;
The final stage is lining the ceiling with finishing materials (lining, plywood, block house, plasterboard, etc.)

Floor insulation

Another place where the leak occurs 15-20% warmth that is so precious in our time. You can, of course, fork out the cash and install a system in your home, especially since in our time there is plenty for this.

However, why not try to insulate it well first. After all, the floor is the place where a lot of interesting things happen.

You can’t even count how many kilometers your baby crawls along it, and then takes his first steps in life on it. Spending time doing yoga and reading interesting books will bring pleasure in addition to benefits.

Sequence of floor insulation in a frame house:

A layer of waterproofing film is rolled out onto the subfloor. All joints are taped with reinforcing tape;
Between the floor joists, insulation is laid (thickness not less than 200 mm.). To prevent the formation of a gap, the width of the insulation must exceed the distance between the joists by 1-2 cm;

Overlapping insulation on top 5-10 cm. covered with a vapor barrier carpet;
Further, depending on flooring, the floor is covered with sheets of plywood, or a finishing board is laid.

Conclusion

Today there are many different modern materials that are suitable for insulating houses built using frame technology. However, numerous positive reviews from owners show that overpaying for expensive materials in this case there is no point. Mineral wool, which is quite affordable, does an excellent job of protecting your home from the cold.

Therefore, we can safely conclude that mineral wool is a reliable, inexpensive and fairly effective material for insulating a frame house. Due to its environmental friendliness and fire safety, insulation can be used both inside and outside the house, and nothing else is needed.

In the previous article, I described step-by-step instructions for assembling a frame house with your own hands. Now, we will look at instructions on how to properly insulate it and isolate it from wind and moisture, so that during operation, it for a long time remained reliable protection from frost in the cold season, and also saved from the sweltering heat in summer.

What insulation to use for a frame house

I will not describe here which insulation is better for a frame house; this is a separate topic, and it is discussed in detail in another article.

But it is worth noting that about 80% of the total number of frame houses are insulated with mineral wool or insulation based on it. Taking this into account, this step-by-step instruction will mainly be based on this kind of insulation.

In addition to mineral wool, there are several other types of insulation that are, to one degree or another, suitable for use as thermal insulation for frame houses, such as ecowool, expanded polystyrene, expanded clay and others. We will talk about the differences in the technology of their use at the end of the article.
Insulation of a frame house with glass wool occurs in exactly the same way as with insulation based on mineral wool, so we will not consider this type of insulation separately.
Mineral wool, compared to other types of insulation, is the most universal material. It is used to insulate not only frame houses, but also any others. It is used as insulation almost everywhere in the construction of private houses.

It is important to know that when working with mineral wool, especially indoors, it is necessary to use products personal protection, such as gloves, goggles and a respirator. Contact with skin can result in severe itching, redness, and allergic reactions.

In principle, the insulation of all parts of a frame house is not much different from each other, but there are still some nuances, so it is necessary to consider each part separately.

Do-it-yourself insulation of the floor of a frame house

The technology of floor insulation largely depends on the type of foundation, but since most frame houses are currently built on a pile-screw foundation, this is what we will start from when insulating the floor.

Insulation of the floor of a frame house, regardless of the type of insulation, begins with waterproofing. In addition to the waterproofing membrane, we still need to build a structure under the floor joists that will hold both waterproofing material, and the insulation itself, as shown in the diagram.
If the house is located high relative to the ground, and you can crawl under it, then first a waterproofing membrane is stretched under the floor joists and secured with a furniture stapler. The overlap of the waterproofing strips should be as tight as possible so that there is no leakage from under the floor. Find out from the manufacturer which side the material is stuffed in and which side is out.
Also, from below, on top of the waterproofing, a board is made. The size of the board and the installation pitch are not particularly important, but no more than 40-50 cm, as long as this is enough to prevent sheets or strips of mineral wool from falling through. Sometimes the board is packed tightly, without gaps, this strengthens the floor structure. This is what you should end up with:
If it is impossible to crawl under the house, then a board is first placed under the joists, and then a waterproofing membrane is attached to the joists from inside the frame house, as shown in the photo.
When the base for the insulation is ready, mineral wool is laid between the floor joists of the frame house. It is necessary to lay it tightly, the presence of voids is not allowed. Mineral wool is cut with a sharp knife, you can use a construction knife, but always a little longer than the required length, about 1 cm.
For ease of installation, the distance between the logs is selected in advance, depending on the insulation, in our case, the width of the mineral wool slab is 60cm. This means that the distance between the joists should ideally be 58-59cm.
The thickness of the insulation layer completely depends on the region where the frame house is being built, but on average it is 15 cm. It is also necessary to take into account the height of the floor joists of the frame house. As a rule, the thickness of all layers of mineral wool does not exceed, and sometimes even slightly less than the width of the board or timber from which they are made.
An important point in laying mineral wool is that each layer must overlap the joints of the previous one, as shown in the photo. The overlap should be at least 15-20cm.
On top of the mineral wool, inside the frame house on the logs, it is necessary to fix vapor barrier membrane. It will protect the insulation from moisture from the inside, and also serve as additional wind protection. In order for it to be airtight, the joints must be glued double-sided tape, For example.
Plywood, OSB board is laid over the vapor barrier membrane, or a board is sewn together, which will be the basis for further finishing.

It is worth noting that mineral wool itself is not a wind barrier, so the waterproofing and vapor barrier membrane must be stretched so that there is an overlap on the walls, excluding moisture and wind from getting between the wall and the floor of the frame house.

Insulating the walls of a frame house with mineral wool

In a frame house, as in any other, there are two types of walls - external, one side of which is located on the street, and internal, which are located entirely inside the house. So, it is necessary to insulate both of them.

The walls of a frame house can be insulated both from the inside and outside; this does not change the materials used and their quantity. We will look at insulation from the inside; everything is done from the outside in exactly the same way, only in a slightly different sequence.

Insulation of the external walls of the house

It is worth immediately noting that when covering a frame house outside and inside with your own hands, various materials, they may be different from those that I describe in this manual. The order of actions may also differ, but in general, it turns out almost the same, as in the diagram. This is an approximate diagram, for example, instead of OSB boards, on one side you can pierce the sheathing with slats or a 25mm thick board. The board, as a rule, breaks through a certain distance - about 40cm between the axes, but it is worth remembering that in this case, the rigidity of the walls will suffer a little.

The process of insulating walls with mineral wool with your own hands is almost identical to the thermal insulation of the floor, and is carried out as follows:

The outside of the frame is sheathed with OSB boards, with gaps between them specified by the manufacturer, usually 2-3mm. After installation, the gaps can be foamed. This is what it looks like from inside the house:
Then, also on the outside, a waterproofing membrane is stretched, which will protect the mineral wool, the frame of the house, as well as OSB sheets from external moisture, on top of which external Finishing work, such as installing siding, for example. Some manufacturers make waterproofing materials with self-adhesive strips to make the joint tighter. If there are no such stripes, it is advisable to glue the joints with double-sided tape.
From the inside of the frame house, between the frame posts, which, if you did everything correctly, are located at a distance of 58-59 cm from each other, sheets of mineral wool are tightly inserted.
It is better to use mineral wool with a density of at least 35-50 kg/m3. Less dense insulation will settle or roll to the bottom, which will lead to the appearance of voids and cold bridges. As a rule, manufacturers write on the packaging what material can be used for.
Just like with the floor, layers of mineral wool should be laid so as to overlap the previous joint of the sheets by at least 15-20cm. The total thickness of insulation depends on the climate zone, but the average value is also 15 cm.
After all the insulation has been laid in the walls, it is necessary to fill with foam all the small voids formed at the joints of the boards and beams.
A prerequisite for insulation with mineral wool is that from inside the house, over the insulation, it is necessary to stretch a vapor barrier membrane, which will protect the insulation from moisture coming from inside the house. On top of which, most often, the same OSB sheets are stuffed as on the outside, but you can also use boards, slats and similar materials, depending on the further finishing. An important point in installing a vapor barrier membrane is that internal corners it could not be tightened, and the vapor barrier completely followed the angle of the frame. Otherwise, in the future, it will be difficult to nail the trim at the corners.

It is worth noting that this entire procedure can be done in reverse, first stretch the vapor barrier membrane from the inside, then the internal cladding material, and the process of insulating the walls with mineral wool can be done from the outside.

Insulation of internal walls of a frame house

Distinctive features of insulating the internal walls of a frame house are:

If it is not possible, or there are no strict requirements for the soundproofing of internal partitions, it will be sufficient to use the same insulation as for external walls. The thickness of the heat-insulating layer can be much less.

Do-it-yourself insulation of the ceiling of a frame house

Insulation of the ceiling of a frame house is practically no different from other types of houses with wooden floors, and is one of the most critical aspects of thermal insulation of the entire house as a whole.

Now let's take a step-by-step look at how to properly insulate the ceiling of a frame house with mineral wool:

Since warm air tends to rise upward, if the ceiling or roof is not insulated correctly, it will escape from the house. maximum amount heat.

Insulating the roof of a frame house with your own hands

Very often, instead of the ceiling, and sometimes together with the ceiling, the roof of a frame house is also insulated with mineral wool. This is usually done in cases where attic space residential and heated.

The insulation technology is practically no different from the thermal insulation of the ceiling, with the exception that a waterproofing material must be stretched over the insulation to protect the insulation from the external aggressive environment.

This is how the thermal insulation layer of mineral wool on the roof of a frame house looks like in the diagram:

Here are a few features that will help make the DIY insulation process easier:

It is worth noting that the roof can also be insulated from the inside if it is fully assembled. But this is much more inconvenient, because you will have to come up with some kind of temporary fastenings, before stretching the vapor barrier material, so that the insulation does not fall out.

Features of using other types of insulation

All preparatory work for thermal insulation of a frame house, regardless of the type of insulation, is no different. The differences, and even then minor ones, are in the installation of the insulation itself, which will be discussed further.

Now let's look at the main differences between insulation with other materials, which can also be used as thermal insulation for frame houses.

Insulation with expanded polystyrene (foam) and EPS

If you dig around on the Internet, you will find a lot of controversy about foam insulation not only for wooden houses, but also for others. Indeed, polystyrene foam for frame houses is not the best option, although it will be the warmest, with the same insulation thickness, and why is a separate topic for discussion.

The process of insulation with polystyrene foam and extruded polystyrene foam is practically no different, so they can be combined. Here are some features of expanded polystyrene and insulation based on it:

Polystyrene foam does not always fit between the joists as tightly as mineral wool, so all cracks and voids must be removed using polyurethane foam or similar materials.
Expanded polystyrene is a flammable material; this must be remembered and even potential combustion sources should not come into contact with it.
When using polystyrene foam, it is necessary to take care of improved ventilation, because this material practically does not allow air to pass through.
Despite the fact that polystyrene foam practically does not allow or absorb moisture, it cannot be left as the only waterproofing for the house. Waterproofing and vapor barrier layers must still be present, because they protect not only the insulation, but also the wood itself from which the frame of the house is assembled.
Expanded polystyrene is very fond of rodents who make their moves in it, so you need to take care that they do not get to it.

These are the basic rules and differences in the use of polystyrene foam boards and insulation based on them. Otherwise, everything is done exactly the same as in the case of insulation with mineral wool.

Features of insulating a frame house with ecowool

Ecowool - relatively new material for insulating not only frame houses. It can be used as insulation in almost all areas of private construction, including frame construction.

Despite the fact that ecowool insulation can be done without special equipment, I still would not recommend doing so. Firstly, because with the help of special equipment ecowool is applied more evenly and blows out all the voids. Secondly, manually prepared ecowool has less good characteristics, both in terms of shrinkage and thermal insulation.
Ecowool absorbs moisture very well, so waterproofing and vapor barrier materials, as well as their installation, must be approached with special responsibility.
It is necessary to apply ecowool with a reserve, because it will shrink over time, up to 10-15%.
When applying it, you must use personal protective equipment.

It is worth noting that when insulating a frame house with ecowool, it is necessary to hire responsible and highly qualified specialists who will take into account all its features during installation.

Insulation of a frame house with expanded clay

This insulation technology is currently used extremely rarely, because now there is a huge selection of materials with much best characteristics, but still I’ll tell you a little about it.

Expanded clay in dry form, as insulation, can be used either to insulate the floor or ceiling, and it can also be used to insulate interfloor ceilings. Using it in walls is problematic, and, in my opinion, not justified.
Very often, expanded clay insulation is combined, for example, with sawdust, ash, etc.
The difference between expanded clay insulation is that the floor and ceiling, underneath the joists, must be pierced either with a board at the joint or with some kind of plywood materials.
It is better to use expanded clay of a small fraction, thereby there will be fewer voids.

In addition to those described by me, there are many more materials and methods for insulating frame houses with your own hands. But they are all so similar that describing each of them does not make much sense.

Frame houses are prefabricated structures and are the main type of residential buildings in the USA, Canada, Finland, Germany and Sweden. With the advent of the new millennium, technology frame construction is finding more and more supporters among our compatriots. However, the climate of the above countries is still milder, therefore, in most of Russia, the construction of a frame house requires the use additional insulation. This short article will tell you about some of its types.

There are a number of requirements for insulation, as indeed for any other material that is used. The most important among them are:

Lightness, since most residential frame buildings are built on light types of foundations (pile, columnar, etc.) However, if it is used, then this requirement can be neglected;
Resistance to flame and high temperatures is one of the main requirements in a wooden house;
Resistant to humid environments, especially if interior decoration natural “breathable” materials are used;
The ability to ensure tightness, i.e. minimal number of seams, or better yet, their complete absence;
Elasticity, since frame houses tend to “move” throughout their entire service life, this occurs due to alternating drying out and moisture gain by the wood;
Long service life without loss of thermal insulation qualities. Is it true, this requirement not so critical, since it is quite easy to open the wall of a frame house and replace the old insulation, but it is still better to do without it;
Environmentally friendly and safe for human and domestic animal health. This requirement probably does not need additional comments.

Main types of insulation

Progress in all spheres of human life does not stand still, including in the construction industry, so every year new types of insulation for walls, floors and ceilings, foundations, etc. appear on the building materials market. If just a couple of decades ago, only mineral wool, sawdust (shavings), and expanded clay with slag were available to the average person, today it is much richer. In addition to the above, these include:

Ecowool;
Sprayed polyurethane foam.

Mineral or basalt wool is one of the most popular insulation materials for. This material is flame resistant and high temperatures, environmentally friendly, has good sound insulation. The last property is very important in frame buildings. To understand what thermal insulation characteristics mineral wool has, it will suffice to say that a layer of this material 50 mm thick is equal in properties to the thickness brickwork at 580 mm.

Regarding the insulation technology itself, the construction of the frame is carried out initially with the expectation that slabs of mineral (basalt) wool will be used. Between racks wooden frame leave a distance of 60 cm, which is equal to standard width thermal insulation material.

Basalt slabs should be laid tightly so that there is not too much free space between them and the outer and inner walls, but they should not be pressed too hard, as over time this can lead to damage to the material and the formation of “cold bridges.”

Expanded polystyrene (EPS) in boards is a foamed thermoplastic, which consists of fused granules. This may seem surprising, but the insulation boards themselves consist of 98% air, which fills both the granules themselves and the space between them, and only 2% polystyrene. Of all types of insulation for frame structures polystyrene foam boards are the easiest.

With prolonged exposure, polystyrene foam is affected by vegetable, animal and paraffin oils, fats, diesel fuel and petroleum jelly. EPS is unstable to various types of organic solvents, but it does not dissolve or swell in water, practically does not absorb moisture, is durable and resistant to rotting. This material is not digestible by animals and microorganisms, therefore it is not used by them as food and does not provide a breeding ground for bacteria and fungi.

Ecowool, which consists of 80% cellulose and 20% various components (binders and fire retardants), in our country relatively recently began to be used as insulation for frame houses, although, for example, in the States this material was widely used back in the 70s. -s of the last century. For comparison, it must be said that a layer of ecowool 130 mm thick in its thermal insulation characteristics equivalent to the thickness of an aerated concrete wall of 600 mm.

Essentially, ecowool is waste from paper production that has been treated with brown acid or ammonium sulfates (prevent burning) and boric acid(prevents rotting). It is resistant to combustion, harmless to the health of people and animals, does not rot and rodents are not very fond of it.

However, when choosing this material, you need to take into account this feature: ammonium sulfates and phosphates, when interacting with boric acid, lose their flame retardant properties over time. In addition, these connections can become a source unpleasant odor. Therefore, you should purchase ecowool that uses only brown acid (borax) as a fire retardant, which does not lose its properties and is odorless.

Another bulk insulation material is waste from wood processing enterprises - sawdust. Perhaps this is the most cheap way insulate the house. Some furniture production shops give away sawdust free of charge if a person independently removes the waste from the territory.

However, it should be remembered that for insulation you can only use sawdust of a fairly coarse fraction, and that remaining after cutting the primary wood.

Thus, sawdust from chipboard, fibreboard, MDF panels and other materials, in the production of which various binding components are used, are not suitable not only for reasons of environmental safety, but also because they are too small and are, in fact, fine dust .

In addition to being cheap, sawdust also has a number of other advantages:

Absolute harmlessness to others;
Excellent thermal insulation characteristics;
Excellent sound-absorbing properties.

However, there are also a number of disadvantages. So, for example, the low cost can be offset by the need to use manual labor when forming a heat-insulating layer. Sawdust tends to caking over time, which after some time will force work to open the walls and replace them.

If you do not add lime when filling, the sawdust will begin to rot quite quickly. Also quite strange love This material is susceptible to mice and rats, so the outer parts of the walls must be well protected from their penetration. The figure below shows a possible scheme for insulating the walls of a frame house using sawdust.

Expanded clay has been used as insulation for almost a century. A huge advantage of expanded clay is its almost one hundred percent resistance to fire, as well as its environmental friendliness, because it is made from light-alloy clay or shale rock by swelling and firing. The method of producing expanded clay determines the porosity of its structure, which, in turn, makes it light and soundproof. Also, expanded clay granules are not subject to rotting and small rodents are not very fond of them. Over time, it does not lose its properties.

True, of this material There is also a full range of shortcomings.

Firstly, the relative fragility of the granules does not allow for great efforts to be made when compacting when filling into the walls, which can result in the formation of significant voids and “cold bridges”.

Secondly, expanded clay is hygroscopic, and the absorbed moisture is not released, but dries out gradually, that is, when used in rooms or climates with high humidity, the walls will constantly absorb water.

According to the shape and size of the fractions, expanded clay is divided into three varieties:

Crushed stone. The granules of this fraction are large, acute-angled, the size ranges from 20 to 40 mm.
Gravel. Granules oval shape, the value is about 10–20 mm.
Sand. The smallest fraction, the size of the granules does not exceed 10 mm in diameter.

To insulate frame houses, you need to use a mixture of all three fractions, where 60–70% should be gravel, 20% sand and 10% crushed stone. Instead of expanded clay, slag is sometimes used, but this material is quite harmful to health and does not provide proper thermal insulation.

Polyurethane foam (PPU) itself is part of the group of gas-filled plastics, which are based on polyurethane. Just like expanded polystyrene, this insulation consists of 90% air. Sprayed polyurethane foam is used to insulate frame houses.

The use of this material allows not only to get rid of the need to install vapor barriers and wind and moisture protection from membrane materials, but also to significantly reduce the financial and time costs of constructing the load-bearing frame of the structure. But the thickness of the polyurethane foam layer should be at least 120–200 mm (200–300 mm when using extruded polystyrene). Only a house with such a layer of polyurethane foam insulation can be considered truly energy-saving. A layer of polyurethane foam with a thickness of 70–80 mm corresponds to SNiP for enclosing wall structures, while a layer of 100–120 mm corresponds to SNiP for enclosing roof structures.

Spraying polyurethane foam perfectly solves the problem of “cold bridges”, and also copes with quite challenging task fastening such building structures, like doors and windows, which can only be installed using this material. Polyurethane foam eliminates possible problems with distortions and shrinkage, which is very important in a frame house. Another quite significant advantage of this type of insulation: it performs protective function for frame elements.

All wooden posts, beams, joists are completely protected from rotting (however, they must be completely dry before installation), since polyurethane foam has extremely low vapor permeability and is practically impenetrable to oxygen.

However, the last of these properties forces frame houses to be equipped with high-quality ventilation.

The thickness of the thermal insulation layer depends on several factors. The first and main thing is the type of insulation. The second is the climate of the area where frame housing is being built. For example, if in the Krasnodar region 100 mm is enough (2 layers of standard slabs) basalt wool, then in the Arkhangelsk region you will need 200 mm, and 150 mm (3 layers) should be located between the frame posts, and 50 mm (1 layer) must be fixed outside in order to cover all frame beams and prevent the formation of “cold bridges”.

Of course, when calculating required quantity thermal insulation material can be guided by life observations, asking neighbors, friends and acquaintances of self-taught builders who have already dealt with frame houses, but it is better to take a scientific approach and apply simple formula: δut = R x λut, where λut is the thermal conductivity of the insulation, and R is the thermal resistance of the walls. You can consider the application of the formula using a specific example: during the construction of a frame house, where interior walls made of plywood 6 mm thick, and external ones made of OSB boards 9 mm thick, it is necessary to calculate the thickness of the basalt wool layer.

The thermal resistance of the walls of any residential building located in the Moscow region should average R=3.20 m2*0C/W. This value varies depending on the region. Information about the thermal conductivity of a particular material can be found in the product certificate; its presence in it is mandatory; the absence of it should alert the buyer, as this may be evidence of poor quality and even harmful to health material.

The thickness of the thermal insulation layer for a frame structure is determined by the same formula: δth = R x λth. Basalt wool has a thermal conductivity value of 0.045 W/m*0C, so in this case the thickness of the insulation layer should be δth = R x λth = 3.20 x 0.045 = 0.14 m. That is, 2 layers of slabs are needed, as already mentioned higher when comparing the construction of a frame house in the Arkhangelsk region and the Krasnodar region.

Video

Watch a video about choosing the best insulation for a frame house.