Variants of insulation of the attic floor on wooden beams. Insulation of the floor of a cold attic Insulation of a wooden attic floor of a house

During the heating period, up to 15-20% of heat can escape through the "cold" roof. That is why the issue of attic floor insulation along wooden beams is relevant for many homeowners. Specialists offer several options for thermal insulation, each of which has its pros and cons.

In private houses, the attic floor is most often made of wood. This allows optimize construction costs, reduce the overall load on the foundation . In addition, working with wood does not require the involvement of special equipment.

Proper organization of thermal insulation of the beam structure of the ceiling allows not only to reduce the cost of heating the house, but also:

• improve the microclimate in the house in the summer - avoid excessive heating and additional costs for air conditioning;
• minimize the amount of moisture, condensate - this helps to extend the life of the attic structure: wood will not rot, and metal elements will corrode;
• reduce the formation of ice and icicles on the roof by lowering the temperature of roofing materials.

That is why it is so important to ensure complete reliable insulation of the attic space.

What materials can be used

High-quality insulation for floors made of wooden beams should be different:

• light weight so as not to create an extra load;
• low thermal conductivity, in which case a smaller layer is required;
• moisture resistance- moisture that accidentally gets into the insulation can become an environment for the active reproduction of fungi, mold;
• fire safety;
• geometry resistance- otherwise, over time, the insulation material will lose its characteristics and begin to collapse;
• biological stability– the material should not be a habitat for microbes and bacilli.

For effective insulation of the attic floor on wooden beams, the following are used: solid ( slab), rolled, bulk or liquid ( sprayed) materials.

Piece insulation

Mineral and basalt wool consists of many microfibers connected in a chaotic manner. different enough low thermal conductivity, fire safety and light weight. Over time, mineral wool practically does not deform. Suitable for thermal insulation of attic floors roll and plate insulation. The disadvantages of cotton wool include it ability to absorb moisture with a subsequent decrease in their thermal performance and the need for special personal protective equipment(mittens, respirator, etc.).

Styrofoam combines several positive parameters: low cost, lightness and good heat-insulating ability. He moisture resistant and easy to install. Cutting with a sheet can be carried out with an ordinary clerical knife. However, many homeowners are refusing to use Styrofoam due to its low resistance to elevated temperatures and a high probability of damage to the material by rodents.

Extruded polystyrene foam has a denser structure. It is characterized zero capillarity, good resistance to seasonal temperature fluctuations. For ease of installation, sheets with a groove-comb system are used.

Cork slabs provide good heat and sound insulation. They are are not affected by rodents, slowly smolder when ignited, have increased strength. The thermal insulation index of the plates is 0.08 W / m K.

Bulk and sprayed insulation

Main advantage bulk materials- ease of installation, as they are simply poured into the inter-beam space. The most common include:

• expanded clay- balls of small diameter obtained by firing clay;
• perlite- the rock is crushed and fired to obtain a porous structure. Lighter, but at the same time, quite expensive material;
• ecowool- Made from cellulose. For fire resistance, it is treated with special solutions.
• Styrofoam- light balls that are sold in bags.

Sprayed polyurethane foam – environmentally friendly, durable, durable (serves at least 30-40 years) insulation with good thermal performance. Energy efficiency comes from uniform application without joints and gaps. The application does not require special preparatory work, the foam fills all the bumps and voids, after hardening it can be walked on. The disadvantages of PPU include it relative high cost and the need to use special equipment for installation.

Which floors require insulation

The calculation of the thickness of the insulating material can be carried out independently according to SNiP II-3-79* "Construction heat engineering".

This takes into account:

• climate zone- the average air temperature during the cold period and the duration of the heating period in the construction area;
• material features is the thermal conductivity coefficient.

General principles of insulation

In preparation for the insulation of floors in a wooden house, one should accurately measure the distance between the beams. According to this indicator, materials are cut. If a residential building is thermally insulated, then at the preliminary stage it will be necessary to remove all unnecessary items and debris from the attic. If there is an old insulation, it will have to be dismantled.

Biological damage on wood (fungus, mold) it is necessary to remove with an iron brush and treat these places with an antiseptic composition.

If the calculated thickness of the insulation is greater than the height of the beams, then wooden slats are additionally stuffed. They are necessary to create an air gap. This is true with further flooring in the attic floors.

Arrangement of vapor barrier

Vapor barrier materials prevent the penetration of moisture into the beam structure and the insulation layer. Especially important is the arrangement of this layer over wet rooms: kitchen, bathroom, sauna. Experts recommend using strong reinforced polymer or membrane films. To reduce heat loss, foil materials are used. They are attached with a reflective surface down.

The best solution is to install a vapor barrier in the attic floor. continuous layer. During the construction phase, it is convenient to do this from the side of the first floor. The film is attached directly to the beams, if this is not possible, then laying is carried out in the inter-beam space. Material mounted overlap and to ensure tightness fixed with special tape.

Insulation laying

If several layers of material are used to insulate attic, interfloor floors along wooden beams, then it is important to take care of their installation in a checkerboard pattern, that is, the upper sheets should cover the joints of the lower ones.

When insulating floors on wooden beams, it is important to monitor the density of the material. Any gaps, gaps or voids can cause a decrease in the thermal insulation index of the structure. Joints between rigid polymeric boards can be filled with polyurethane foam.

Bulk materials evenly distributed in the inter-beam space, since it is important to observe the calculated thickness of the backfill.

Termination Processes

To protect the insulation from above is attached hydro, wind protection. It is laid with an overlap (10-15 cm), with mandatory sizing of the joints. Usually in the attic they equip floors from edged boards, you can also use chipboard, plywood, etc.

Conclusion

Thermal insulation of a wooden floor between living quarters and an unheated attic is a process that requires a lot of labor. It helps to reduce heating costs, create a comfortable microclimate in the house, and for greater clarity, we offer a meaningful video on the rules for warming the interfloor ceiling on wooden beams.

Ask any builder about the need for structural insulation, and he will definitely tell you that all buildings in which a person is supposed to live and work need to be insulated.

The only exceptions are temporary buildings where a person spends little time, small architectural forms and buildings that are located in very warm climatic zones.

For these buildings, thorough thermal insulation is not needed, since the temperature on the street does not drop to extreme values ​​\u200b\u200beven in winter. Particular attention should be paid to the insulation of attic floors. This process will now be discussed.

1 Features and purpose

Insulation of floors should be given no less attention than insulation of walls or floors. Someone may object, they say, why not concentrate on thermal insulation of floors, if it is much more important to protect walls from heat loss.

Indeed, the walls are almost the main structure that cools the house even with. This is due to their large area, length and thickness. The wall in the winter season can freeze, thereby seriously lowering its temperature, and hence the temperature inside the room.

There is another point that concerns the expenditure of resources for heating the house. Excessive heat from radiators can warm up the wall completely, but it will give off almost half of the heat energy to the outside.

Builders call this process in professional jargon “heating the street”. As you understand, this is at least an unprofitable use of resources.

However, attic floors are no less a priority. To understand why the calculation and installation of thermal insulation for floors is needed, it is worth referring to the laws of physics.

According to these laws, warm air always tends to rise, and cold air is at the bottom. If we are talking about a house or a room, then here the space is closed most of the time, and therefore the air has nowhere to go. As a result, warmer air currents are predominantly under the ceiling.

If your ceiling is cold, then they cool down and sink lower, making room for air with a higher temperature like. The result is a kind of reverse circulation, when the temperature in the room slowly drops, and all because of the non-insulated ceiling, which has a lower temperature.

It is especially important to insulate attic floors. After all, the attic is, in fact, an unused room. It is rarely insulated properly, leaving it as a kind of buffer space. Therefore, the temperature in it, although higher than outside, is still quite low.

If you have monolithic or prefabricated attic floors, then you are still very lucky. Concrete, although it does not withstand loads very well, is still a material with a high density. It cools slowly and creates significant barriers to lower temperatures.

However, many buildings have attic floors laid on wooden beams. The device on wooden beams makes it possible to do the work with your own hands, and significantly reduce the cost of arranging the floor, however, its thermal insulation properties can hardly be called acceptable.

The simplest floor of this type consists of beams on which wooden boards are stuffed, and the insides, at best, are filled with a small screed or backfill materials.

2 Types of materials for floor insulation

Let us turn to specific heaters, which are most often used for thermal insulation of floors.

Heaters can be very diverse, their thickness and optimal characteristics are determined after the calculation of all parameters is performed.

However, the calculation is not always necessary. So, if you are going to insulate a standard attic floor with a reinforced concrete slab base, then 7-10 cm of mineral wool insulation or about 5 cm of foam insulation will be enough for you.

If it is necessary to protect floors on wooden beams, then the required thickness will be a little more, since wooden floors, even with filling, do not provide the same resistance to temperature loss. Therefore, a larger layer of insulation will have to be laid on top of the main structures along the beams.

2.1 Warming technology and its nuances

You can insulate the attic floor yourself. Especially if you need to work with wooden beams. Here everything is ready for work. You only need to fill the space between the beams and do it as efficiently as possible.

Stages of work:

It almost does not matter whether you use mineral wool or polystyrene foam materials, in any case they are mounted using the same technology.

If necessary, they can be additionally fixed with dowels, but only if your ceiling has a base and does not consist of beams alone, on which boardwalk is stuffed on both sides. Steam and waterproofing is fixed with a conventional stapler to the elements of the beams or crate.

2.2 Thermal insulation of the floor with liquid polystyrene foam (video)

The attic floor separates the heated part of the building from the cold part. Choosing the right material and thickness of the insulator means reducing heat loss and saving material costs during the heating season. Let's talk about the insulation of the attic floor on wooden beams with your own hands.

Construction of a wooden attic floor

The load-bearing elements in the attic wooden floor are beams. They are made from coniferous wood. The size of the section of the beams is taken according to the calculation for the load that the element perceives. We told you about the correct calculation of wooden floor beams in the article "How to calculate wooden floor beams".

For each specific climatic conditions and depending on the ability of the material to resist heat transfer, according to the heat engineering calculation, its own value of the thickness of the heat insulator is obtained.

Scheme of insulation of the attic floor: 1 - log; 2 - cranial bars; 3 - board shield or boards; 4 - vapor barrier; 5 - counter-lattice for the ventilation gap; 6 - insulation; 7 - clean floor; 8 - ventilation gap

The black floor of wooden shields or boards is mounted on cranial bars. Next, a membrane-type vapor barrier is laid, a heater is laid on it, which is covered with another layer of the membrane.

If the attic is in use, a clean floor is laid on top. If not, then running boards (min. 40 mm thick) are laid on the beams. All wooden elements are antiseptic. To ventilate wooden structures, when laying a clean floor, a gap is left between it and the insulation.

The choice of material for insulation

Bulk materials

Expanded clay

It is possible to insulate attic floors with bulk materials, which include expanded clay. It has a relatively low weight (250-600 kg / m 3) and high resistance to heat transfer. Ease of installation and relative cheapness determine the choice of this material.

Vermiculite

Expanded vermiculite is obtained by heating the vermiculite rock to a temperature of 700 ° C, which at the same time increases in volume by 25 times. Its thermal conductivity is from 0.13 W / m K, and the volumetric weight is up to 200 kg / m 3.

Perlite

Expanded perlite also belongs to loose heat-insulating materials. The perlite rock is crushed and fired to obtain a porous structure. Expanded perlite is environmentally safe, non-flammable and bioresistant, has high thermal insulation properties (0.052 W/m K). Its volumetric weight is 160-250 kg/m 3 .

piece materials

Piece insulating materials are produced in the form of: sheets, rolls, plates, mounting shells and segments. To insulate the attic floor, slabs and rolls are most often used. At the same time, a roll-type insulation is preferable, since it does not leave butt joints, which slightly worsen the resistance to heat transfer.

Basalt wool

Mineral wool slabs and rolls of basalt fibers are the most popular heat-insulating material in housing construction. It is made from crushed and melted basalt by blowing. Basalt wool has a low thermal conductivity (0.32-0.048 W / m K), low volumetric weight. This material is bioresistant, environmentally friendly and relatively inexpensive.

glass wool

Glass wool in its characteristics is very close to mineral wool. It is also obtained by melting the source material, which in this case is cullet. Glass wool has longer threads, greater chemical resistance and strength, lower cost than mineral wool.

It is produced in the form of plates, mats, rolls, reinforced and with a reflective layer. The volumetric weight of glass wool is from 25 to 200 kg / m 3, heat absorption - 0.035-0.045 W / m K. The disadvantage of fiberglass is the need for personal protection during installation.

Styrofoam

Expanded polystyrene (foam plastic) also belongs to plate heaters. This is a cheap, lightweight, moisture-resistant material with good thermal insulation properties. In private housing construction, it is often abandoned due to rodent damage and low resistance to high temperatures.

Extruded polystyrene foam (penoplex) has good insulation properties, is less flammable than simple polystyrene foam, but emits toxic substances when burned.

polyurethane foam

Plate polyurethane foam (foam rubber) has a high resistance to heat transfer (0.029-0.041 W / m K) and low volumetric weight (30-80 kg / m 3). Rigid types of this material are used in construction. The sprayed polyurethane foam creates a continuous insulation of the surface, both thermally and hydro. It is also resistant to temperature extremes and durable in operation (up to 20 years).

Foam glass

Foam glass is a type of glass that has a cellular structure. It has low thermal conductivity (0.04-0.08 W / m K), water resistance, high strength and fire safety. The percentage of foam glass porosity reaches 80-95%. The volumetric weight varies from 100-200 kg/m 3 .

Peat slabs

Peat slabs belong to organic heat-insulating materials. They are made from young sphagnum moss using a wet and dry method. Under the influence of temperature, the peat fibers stick together. Peat slabs are divided into ordinary and moisture resistant. Their volumetric weight is 170-300 kg / m 3, the thermal conductivity coefficient is 0.05-0.07 W / m K.

Fiberboard

Fibrolite boards are made from wood fiber, which is first mineralized and then mixed in the required proportion (cement - water). Heat-insulating boards have a lower volumetric weight (300-350 kg/m 3) and thermal conductivity (0.085-0.95 W/m K) than a structural fiberboard.

It is quite affordable to make a fibrolite mixture yourself and lay it directly in place. It is possible to preliminarily, using a special technology in the formwork, make slabs of the desired size out of it, and then mount them on the ceiling.

reeds

As a heat-insulating material, reeds are also used, which is practically the cheapest. It is made from pressed reed stalks sewn together with steel wire.

The volumetric weight of reed is 175-250 kg / m 3, the heat absorption coefficient is 0.05-0.08 W / m K. Its disadvantages are low fire resistance and biostability, high water absorption and damage by rodents.

Ecowool

Ecowool (cellulose wool) refers to environmentally friendly heat-insulating materials. It is made from recycled cellulose raw materials with the addition of antiseptics and flame retardants. Most often they are boric acid and borax.

In stores, it can be found packed in plastic bags. When laying, ecowool is loosened and then laid out at the place of insulation. In fact, the density of the insulation should be at least 35 kg / m 3 for overlapping, which is quite difficult to determine “by eye”.

This heat-insulating material has good thermal conductivity - 0.037-0.042 W / m K, low volumetric weight (28-63 kg / m 3), moderately combustible and bio-resistant. Ecowool can prevent about 20% of humidity from passing into the inner layers, while maintaining its thermal insulation properties.

Cork slabs for thermal insulation have been used for a long time. They are made from shredded cork waste by mixing with glue or heat treatment. Pressed plates in special forms are dried at a temperature of 80 °C.

The volumetric weight of cork insulation is small and amounts to 150-250 kg / m 3, the thermal insulation index is high (0.04-0.08 W / m K). The advantages of this insulator include:

• biostability;
• low water absorption;
• low volumetric weight;
• relatively high strength as a heat-insulating material;
• fire resistance (smolders slowly);
• not attacked by rodents.

Features of laying thermal insulation on a wooden floor

Insulation made of mineral and glass wool is laid with mandatory vapor barrier. Absorbing water, the insulation loses its thermal properties, so careful protection against moisture is needed. The vapor barrier films are laid with an overlap of 100 mm.

A heat insulator with a reflective coating reduces the heat loss of the ceiling. It is laid down with foil. The use of penofol is justified only in baths and saunas.

If the thickness of the heat-insulating material is greater than the height of the floor beams, it is necessary to lay additional rails to create an air gap. Multilayer thermal insulation is arranged with overlapping butt joints.

The dimensions of rigid heat-insulating plates are adjusted with great care so that the gaps do not increase the thermal conductivity of the floor. Otherwise, the installation of this type of insulation does not differ from the installation of thermal insulation from mineral wool boards.

Bulk heat insulators are evenly distributed over the entire space between the beams, observing the required (calculated) layer thickness. Since almost all of them absorb moisture, such an insulator is protected from moisture by a membrane film from above and below.

The choice of material for thermal insulation of the attic floor is determined by the following criteria:

1. Material costs, including shipping costs.
2. Local availability of material.
3. Ease of installation.
4. Health safety.
5. Fire safety.

It is possible to reduce the stress of the building structure by choosing a heater with a lower volumetric weight and a low heat absorption index.

Attic spaces in a private house require insulation if the owners do not want to throw money away by heating the surrounding space.Insulation of the interfloor ceiling on wooden beamsperforms a dual task: it prevents the penetration of cold air masses in winter and protects from heat in summer. At the same time, the insulation layer must allow vapor to pass through so that condensation does not form in the attic. To achieve these conditions, work on high-quality roof insulation is required.

Since the attic space is not quite a standard room, its thermal insulation is not an easy task. The difficulty is that the roof is in close proximity to the street, and, as a rule, of an inclined design. To make the atmosphere in a private house comfortable for living at any time of the year is the task of properly insulating the attic, for example, with ecowool. Unlike the rest of the house, the attic space is most likely to lose heat due to direct contact with the environment.

Requirements for attic floors

When starting to insulate the attic, you should know what building codes and rules exist for attic floors. In order not to violate the basic parameters that the attic design must meetcold attic floor insulationshould be carried out taking into account the basic requirements. For attic floors, this is strength and compliance with fire safety standards.

Attic floors on wooden beams

The strength of the attic floors must correspond to the purpose of the under-roof space. If an attic is arranged in the attic, then the ceilings must withstand the weight of the floors, furniture and people in it. Floor beams should not sag, and the allowable load should not exceed 100 kg per square meter.

The second main requirement is fire safety, which is especially important for houses with a wooden structure.

Important!

All structural wooden elements must be treated with special flame retardants.

Fire resistance, i.e. the ability of the material and floor slabs not to ignite, measured in hours, is regulated by the following standards:

• reinforced concrete floors - 1 hour;
• wooden floors from beams with refractory backfill - 45 min.;
• wooden floors from beams without backfill - 15 min;
• unprotected wooden structures - 5 min.

Before proceeding directly to the laying of heat-insulating materials, it is necessary to determine the type of floors in the attic. The most common are two types of floors, regardless of the design of the house (brick, wood or block). Each type of flooring has its own rules, which will be discussed a little lower, and before that we will give the types of heat-insulating materials used in the floors of the attic, also carried outbasement insulation).

Types of insulating material for floors

Attic insulation with sawdusthas become a thing of the past, at present, the thermal insulation of the attic floor is carried out with modern materials (for example, ecowool) that meet the building codes and requirements given above. Main types:

1. Mineral (basalt wool). This insulation is produced by many manufacturers and is currently very common. It is very environmentally friendly, because it is a basalt fiber mixed with stone chips. This is a high-quality protection against rodents, the material is durable, resistant to moisture, after wetting it does not lose its properties and shape. With mineral wool, you can insulate the attic in the shortest possible time and without much effort by rolling out and laying the roll, while there are no cracks and gaps, which is difficult to achieve when laying insulating boards. Insulation from the inside of the attic with mineral wool is the best option in terms of simplicity and economy. But use should be approached individually and carefully, since basalt fiber sometimes causes allergies.

Advice!

For Russian climatic conditions, it is enough to use mineral wool 20 cm thick. Do not forget to use safety glasses when working with mineral wool. Thermal insulation requires laying a vapor barrier layer.

2. Ecowool. Attic insulation with ecowool is more preferable than mineral wool, since this material does not cause allergies. Made from cellulose fibers, ecowool is sold in bags and placed between beams. This insulation does not burn, as it is impregnated with special refractory compounds. Also, when insulating with ecowool, a vapor barrier device is required. Of the minuses, the high cost of ecowool insulation can be noted.

3. Glass wool. A kind of mineral wool, but with certain features associated with the raw materials from which it is produced. Since waste glass products are used for the production of glass wool, dust harmful to the human body is formed during its use. Laying work must be carried out in special clothing, using goggles and a respirator. Refers to the budget version of heaters. The advantages include high thermal insulation, low cost, lack of toxicity, non-flammability. Vapor barrier required.

4. Styrofoam. Insulating the attic with foam is the most economical way. This material has a low density and is well cut with a knife. The laying of foam boards should be carried out very tightly, and large gaps should be sealed with construction foam. Styrofoam insulation is refractory, at high temperatures it melts with the release of toxic gases.

5. Foamed polyurethane (foam). Refers to modern technological materials.Attic insulation with polyurethane foamproduced by applying it with spraying devices. The price of polyurethane is quite high and its laying technology is not the easiest. The advantages include the high speed of applying polyurethane to walls and ceilings from the inside of the attic. The entire floor can be covered with foam plastic in a few hours, while achieving a complete absence of gaps, in contrast to heat-insulating plates.This option is comparable to ecowool insulation. Recommended styling vapor barrier from the inside.

6. Bulk materials. Older house designs used a mixture of sawdust and dried leaves.Wood floor insulationkept warm in a private house, but had a high fire hazard. Currently, when installing bulk insulation, perlite, slag or expanded clay are used. Such thermal insulation is somewhat heavier than the first four types, therefore, the strength of the ceiling structure and ceiling filing should be carefully calculated. It is more often used for ceilings made of slabs. Expanded clay also does wellbasement insulation.

The correct way to insulate with rolled material and insulation in the form of plates is to lay it on beams in several layers in a checkerboard pattern. This method of using heat insulators will avoid the formation of cracks.

Proper insulation of the attic and attic ceiling

Insulation of the slab

As mentioned above, there are two types of overlaps. Overlapping the attic floor with reinforced concrete slabs is found in large houses with several floors. The construction of slabs, which can be hollow or solid, also requires insulation. Here, the process of thermal insulation is somewhat simpler, since there is a flat plane on which any insulation can be laid.

Slab floors are most often covered with slag or expanded clay, since the strength of the plates is quite high. The thickness of the insulating layer varies from 25 to 35 cm, a vapor barrier is preliminarily laid. Warm attic with an attic requires a cement screed device.

For laying a rolled heat insulator, floor slabs must be equipped with logs (bars). With the help of concrete screws or dowels, the logs are attached to the ceilings, after which a heater is laid between them.

Warm attic requires a mandatory waterproofing layer, but if the attic floor is not planned to be used, you can make it cold and save on waterproofing and flooring.

Beamed ceilings are more common in the construction of private houses. Insulation in this case is carried out by laying heat insulators between the beams. Before this, a vapor barrier must be made to remove moisture from the premises of the house. Specialized vapor barriers work like a valve, having the ability to let air in from the inside and not let cold masses in.

Ideal if you can arrange a continuous vapor barrier layer. But when the design features of the attic floor prevent this, then the film should be laid between the beams with an overlap and fastened with construction tape for tightness.

If the height of the beams is insufficient, in order for the insulation to be laid flush, additional slats should be nailed on top. For high-quality insulation from the inside of the beam attic floor, as well as to get warm attic in the house, you can lay several types of different heat insulators.Attic floor insulationwill give an additional effect.

Insulation of floors on wooden beams

Ksenia Skvortsova. Chief Editor. Author.
Planning and distribution of responsibilities in the content production team, work with texts.
Education: Kharkov State Academy of Culture, specialty “Culturologist. Lecturer in History and Theory of Culture. Experience in copywriting: From 2010 to the present. Editor: since 2016.

To maintain a normal temperature and humidity regime in a private house, it is necessary to provide reliable protection against the penetration of cold air. It requires not only thermal protection of the walls and basement floors, but also insulation of the attic floor with effective materials on wooden beams.

Types of attic floors

In a private house, you can apply the following types of horizontal structures:

• precast concrete;
• monolithic reinforced concrete;
• on metal beams;
• over wooden beams.

For the construction of a wooden house, the most rational solution would be the option of overlapping on wooden beams. Wood has higher thermal insulation characteristics than concrete, but still the thermal insulation is insufficient.

Warming technology

How to insulate the attic floor so that there are no problems in the future? In the general case, do-it-yourself thermal insulation technology is almost the same. But how to install it depends on the specific situation.

Insulation of the attic floor is carried out in the presence of a cold attic. The thermal protection of the structure is performed from above, since in this case the thermal insulation is the most competent. But in some cases, another scheme is used - protection from warm air.

The answers to the question why insulation from the ceiling of the upper floor is undesirable can be the following disadvantages of thermal protection from below:

• the insulation only protects the ceiling, and the ceiling remains cold;
• do-it-yourself work from below is quite laborious;
• the point of condensation is shifted inside the floor pie, which can lead to rotting of the structure along the wooden beams.

It is also important to follow the correct order of all related materials.

When insulating, you need to remember one rule: the vapor barrier is always located on the side of warm air, and the waterproofing is always on the side of cold air.

Incorrect placement can lead to the following problems:

• wetting of the heater;
• condensation on the ceiling surface;
• rotting of the cold attic ceiling on wooden beams.

Whether vapor barrier and waterproofing are needed depends on the chosen insulation.

The choice of insulation

The methods of insulating the ceiling of the upper floor of the ceiling along the beams in a private house are very diverse. When doing do-it-yourself work, the insulation is placed between the lags and provides reliable thermal insulation and noise protection. There are many options for insulating the structure, the most common of them are:

• mineral wool insulation;
• laying on wooden beams of expanded polystyrene (polystyrene or foam plastic);
• backfilling with expanded clay;
• sawdust insulation;
• filling the ceiling space with foam.

Each of these options has its own characteristics and advantages.

Mineral wool insulation

The material is produced in two versions: plates and rolls. Thermal insulation of the attic floor with mineral wool has the following advantages:

Styrofoam

Styrofoam has become one of the most common materials for thermal insulation. He deserved a place in the top three thanks to a very attractive price. The use of this insulation in an individual house provides the following advantages:

• high degree of protection;
• resistance to decay and the occurrence of mold and fungus;
• low degree of water absorption;
• ease of installation and no need for complex tools and protective equipment;
• the light weight of the material does not allow excessive load on the structures and allows for insulation from below.

Extruded polystyrene foam

More often this material is called a shorter word - penoplex. Being the closest relative of polystyrene, penoplex is devoid of most of its shortcomings. In the process of improving performance, the cost has increased. The material is produced fireproof, it has sufficient strength to be used as a base for flooring and a small mass for use in the construction of the ceiling.

Do-it-yourself installation is quite simple. This issue is discussed in detail in the article. The text discusses the use of both foam and foam plastic for different types of floor construction.

For people who decide to build their own wooden house, the naturalness of the materials is usually important. Here, penoplex, like polystyrene, loses to other types of insulation due to artificial origin.

Expanded clay or sawdust

If you decide to use completely natural materials in the house, these two types of insulation will become indispensable helpers. They do not have high heat-shielding characteristics, like the previous types, but provide reliable protection from the cold with a sufficient layer thickness. Sawdust can be obtained almost free of charge, expanded clay is also an inexpensive material.

Insulation of the attic floor can be carried out by non-professionals and does not require special skills. The limitation of the application is the physical features of these materials: they cannot be used for thermal protection from below.

Foam for thermal protection

Polyurethane foam insulation is a fairly new material in construction. With the independent construction of the building, this method can provide high speed work and reliable protection from the cold. You can read about the insulation of the building, including attic floors, with foam in the article.

This provides a large selection of materials for insulation and significantly save on construction.

The insulation of the wooden floor is carried out between the joists, therefore it does not require high strength from the heat-shielding material: the main load from people, furniture and equipment will be taken by boards or timber.

A large percentage of heat loss occurs precisely through the ceiling of the upper floor, so it is so important to choose the right insulation and follow the laying technology.