How to insulate the floor of the first floor

In the cold season, one of the main issues of concern to people is home heating. Only a few, perhaps, boast of excessive heat in apartments and private houses, the rest are unequal battle with the winter cold. And here all means are good. It should be borne in mind that if you own an apartment on the first floor or a private house, along with the insulation of walls and windows, you also need to warm the floor. In this article we will explain how to insulate the floor of the first floor in an apartment or house, as well as give a video instruction.

Ways of warming

Considering this question, it should be noted that this work can be carried out in various ways. The choice must be made on the basis of personal skills and the device of the floor, as well as the fact that we are talking about a private house or city apartment.

Carpet covering

Perhaps the simplest from a technological point of view, the decision to lay on the floor carpet. The effectiveness of this method is rather controversial, because the floor does not cease to be cold, but it is not so strongly felt. It will not affect the indoor temperature, moreover, if there are children in the house, then you should not solve the issue of a cold floor in this way.

Thermal insulation foam

A more effective method, with the help of which the insulation of the ground floor floor is carried out, can be called work with the use of foam sheets as insulation. Depending on which floor is being insulated, concrete or wooden, the stages of this process will differ slightly.

• First you need to prepare the surface. In the case of a concrete surface, this means maximally level and clean the surface of the slabs or screeds, as well as seal all the seams. If the floor is wooden, then you need to dismantle the old boards to the batten from the log. During the preparation, it is necessary to take into account that from the basement or simply from the ground, if you have a private house, not only cold air, but also humidity, penetrates the floor through the room.

• If dampness of surfaces of the base of the floor takes place, then the next step should be laying of the steam and waterproofing layer. For these purposes, you can use roofing felt or thick polyethylene. First, bitumen mastic is applied, onto which insulating material is glued on top, and if there are joints, as practice shows, they will be - they need to be applied with an overlap of about 10–15 cm, after which additional adhesive tape is glued. It should be noted that if the works go indoors with wooden floors on the logs, then before laying the waterproofing they must also be dismantled and then reassembled. At the same time, it is worth paying attention to the state of the elements of the carrier batten and, if the lags are damp, replace them with new ones.

• A further stage of floor insulation is the laying of the insulation material itself. If we are talking about a concrete field, the foam plates are stacked on the base surface in rows, close to each other. And if there is a base of wooden lag, then the foam is placed between the bars. Small gaps between the individual sheets of foam in the first case and the foam and the crate in the second, you can blow the mounting foam. This will significantly reduce the risk of so-called cold bridges, which will not only cause heat loss, but also condensation, which can lead to the appearance of mold fungi.

• After the insulation is laid, on top of it is made either a concrete screed, or laying the base of the floor on the logs. Technological aspects of these processes do not fit into the context of this article and require separate consideration, but it should be said that they also do not differ in complexity.

Mineral wool insulation

Another material used as a heater may be mineral wool. This available material has good characteristics. From a technological point of view, the process of laying mineral wool is no different from the one described above, and therefore does not require separate consideration.

Conduction insulating screed

In order to insulate the floor of the first floor can be used so-called insulating screed. Some technological nuances of this process need to be considered.

• At first the moisture isolating layer is laid.
• After it the layer of expanded clay or polystyrene crumb is poured.
• On top of this layer is cement-sand screed.

It should be noted that the expanded clay can not pour in a separate layer, and add as a component of the screed in equal proportions with the other components. It should be borne in mind that the thickness of this screed should be at least 10 cm. This fact is especially important if the ceilings of the room are low.

Installation of heated floor

Along with others, one of the most effective ways to warm the floor is to install underfloor heating. The emergence of this technology was a great way out. It is worth saying that the technological side of the issue requires separate consideration. In short, the process is as follows.

• Underfloor heating panels are laid to the surface.
• Reinforcement is performed on top of the panels either using reinforcement or a finished mesh with cells of at least 10 × 10 cm.
• Next is a concrete screed.

It should also be said that the floor heating panels can be with water heating elements, electric and infrared. It is necessary to decide which ones to choose independently, but it is worth considering that water floors can leak, and will also depend on the general autonomous heating system (water floors cannot be connected to central heating - this is illegal). Panels powered by electricity are somewhat preferable.

Concluding the above, it can be noted that due to the development of technology, a cold floor in an apartment or house is no longer the inevitability with which we have to put up. There are plenty of ways to solve the problem.

Video

This video describes the insulation of the ground floor: