How we insulated the attic, what materials we used

The new house we have built consists of a full floor and a second floor, which is partially in the form of an attic. Partly because the walls on the second floor are quite high - one and a half meters. And only at this height the roof bevels begin.

Why do people build attics? It is believed to be cheaper than taking out a full floor. Although today, knowing the prices for insulation, vapor barrier, waterproofing, wood and finishing materials, such as drywall, I doubt it very much.

Nevertheless, we built an attic floor, covered the roof with metal tiles, under which, of course, we installed waterproofing to protect the metal from the humid air that comes from the dwelling. These are the first two layers that go in our attic from the street. Then comes the wooden crate, to which, in fact, everything is attached.

After that comes basalt insulation in the form of slabs, which is laid in several layers between the rafters. Of course, the pitch between the rafters must match the dimensions of the slabs. Experienced builders know this. But those who build a house on their own sometimes do not even think about this topic and then do not know how to approach the installation of insulation. We have to cut it, crumple it. This affects the quality of insulation and, of course, it is not necessary to count on a warm attic. This is a key point, it is very important - to correlate the distance between the rafters with the standard dimensions of the insulation.

During the construction, we used high-density Ecover basalt insulation. It is firm and holds its shape well. They put it in several layers. The layers are staggered so that cold does not penetrate at the joints.

But Ecover was used only on inclined surfaces. And on a horizontal surface, that is, on the ceiling, they used Ecowool. It is sold in huge yellow bags.

This is a mixture, which is crushed in a special apparatus, as if foaming and with the help of a thick hose (in the photo there is a blue box with a hose) it is sprayed with a thick layer. Its sound insulating properties are superior to all insulation materials currently on the market. With a roof made of metal tiles, this is very important.

After basalt and ecowool have been laid, a layer of vapor barrier is sewn onto it from the inside, which prevents moisture from penetrating into the insulation. The photo shows that we have Ondutis Smart vapor barrier.

Then, from the inside, we sheathed with plasterboard, putty and primed. Wallpaper can already be glued to this layer.

So we got a multi-layer attic, in which it is warm, you can not hear the noise from the street, the roar of rain on the metal tile.

Maybe someone used more expensive materials, but our experience has shown that the most expensive is not always the best.