Horror houses "for sale" or how I renovated an attic after the miracle builders

We publish the story of our subscriber who came across a typical home for sale. In short: what problems can you get when buying a new home; how to fix the developers' flaws; information on fire protection.

The beginning of the story

In 2017, I bought a new economy class house for permanent residence. I'm attaching a photo, but for the quality right away, sorry, I shot what was at hand.

Briefly about the house:

one-storey duplex of 160 sq. m;
foundation - small-format building blocks;
floors on the ground with built-in water underfloor heating;
walls - expanded clay block / facing brick, between them PPP 5 cm;
partitions in the house - expanded clay block;
ceiling - plasterboard is sewn to the ceiling joists;
gas heating - wall-mounted boiler;
the roof is covered with a metal profile;
the attic is a cold room.

Such houses are often built in the south and in the European part of Russia. This type of housing belongs to the so-called houses for sale: the outside is sweet. And inside, you know yourself, is far from sweet. The secret lies in the price of 1.7 million for 80 sq. meters of living space and 2 ares of land - this is not so much to count on some quality. I knew about this and understood that I would have to invest additional funds in the house.

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The attic is the weak point of the house

A particularly weak point in the entire building is the attic. Initially, there were fears that in good wind it would be blown off the mounts, but this did not happen. But the cold came from him noble.

The reason for this was the complete hack done inside. There is no floor in the attic and you won't be able to walk there. Instead of a floor, logs 50 * 100 with a step of 70-80 cm. Drywall is sewn to the lags from below. On the side of the attic, there is some kind of black cloth or paper (I still don't understand), and on it there is a heater. Insulation is generally a dark story: 5 cm of fluffed mineral wool, which creates a visibility of 10 cm.

The rafter system is also extremely terrible: upon examination, it seemed that it was partially made of used wood. But the most amazing thing is that the role of waterproofing was played by burlap! Why it is there is generally incomprehensible. All this had to be brought into a human form. I had a plan for my own half, but I had to negotiate about the neighbor's.

How I cleaned up

He started from the floor in the attic, or rather, from his absence. First, I laid walk-up boards. I removed the old roll insulation. I already wanted to lay a new one, but found that there was a wiring along the ceiling: a cable channel with branches for lighting in the rooms. This prompted a bad thought: the house might burn down! The building itself is brick, but there is a lot of wood in the attic and there is wiring.

How to protect wood from fire?

I voiced the thought of a possible fire to my neighbor - he was puzzled by the possibility of losing all property at once. We decided to pass the wood fire protection. But with this there was a catch: it is in stores, but what it is is not known. How to check what to choose - we combed our heads. We watched videos with tests, but everything is on there, any protection. Based on the videos, by the method of elimination, we have compiled a list that does not need to be applied.

Then we started looking for what is on the Internet. Found one branded online store where there is biosecurity, fire protection, as well as many different products for lacquer paint. We were consulted and we decided to buy fire protection they have a good specialist sitting on the other side of the wire and it inspired confidence! Their products are decently packaged and released in Europe.

Impregnation was sent to us quickly. We decided to test it - they diluted 1: 9, as written in the instructions. Then they put it on a piece of wood, dried it, and set it on fire. They set fire to a gas burner: 2 minutes of open flame - does not burn! Turns black but does not burn! Resolved, all volume we will process her.

What's next?

Then it was like this:

waited for the rest of the canisters from the specified online store;
at once the required volume was diluted in a plastic barrel;
with the help of brushes and an electric spray gun, the rafters and logs were generously processed.

The impregnation has a brownish color and, you can see where it is applied, and which places need to be passed. The validity period of this fire protection up to 10 years. Antiseptic added to the fire-fighting properties, which relieved another headache. Applied at 300-350 ml / m², which corresponds to 1 group of fire retardant efficiency.

Attic floors

After that, our joint action did not end: the roof is one for two, and it must be insulated together. The next stage: insulation of the ceiling - we tightly put a 100 mm min-plate, and on top of it the old insulation.

In my own half, I began to make a wooden floor from a 2 cm board; the neighbor did not, postponed this procedure until better times. On its half, we only put platforms so that we could work on the impregnation of wood and insulation of the attic. Before going up to the attic, we impregnated the entire tree with fire protection.

Roof

They decided to insulate the roof between the rafters with a 200 mm min-plate, and close it with a vapor barrier on top. So they did, but before that they reinforced the rafter system with new fasteners. Since we started to do it, then for sure!

The old burlap, which was left by the miracle builders, was not touched - the insulation was placed directly on it. The mats were tightly laid between the rafters, and to prevent them from falling out, slats were used in some places. Still, this roof was not intended for insulation and was done as best they could - not for beauty, but for the sake of efficiency.

When the insulation was in place, a vapor barrier was put on top of it and pressed down with a 50 * 50 bar. This is a groundwork for the future, because next year I will make a storage room in the attic. I am sure that the attic is well insulated and there will be no more blowing from there. And I also advise everyone online store, which I wrote about - I used only fire protection, but I assume that all the products are of a high level.

Do you think this is the best option for insulating the attic, or could something better be done? Write in the comments!

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