Cold floor in the apartment - we insulate quickly and inexpensively.

Warming the floor in the apartment, simple and effective ways.

The floor is the weakest zone in the apartment from the point of view of energy saving. Even in the warm season, the surface of the floor is usually cool, what can we say about winter. And there are no secrets in this phenomenon, the elementary laws of physics: hot air always tends upward, and cool air - downward. Also, cold and dampness can enter living quarters through the cracks between the ceilings, corners. In the absence of proper insulation, up to 30% of heat is lost!

Materials for insulating an apartment

The floor is insulated with building materials that have high thermal insulation qualities. Among them, the most popular are:

• bulk materials: shavings, expanded clay or wood concrete.

The most budgetary option for thermal insulation, but relatively difficult to work with and short-lived: it can be infected with mold and fungi. When carrying out repair work, the thickness of the layer of bulk materials is calculated according to individual projects. To strengthen such insulation, a reinforcing mesh is often used;

• mineral and glass wool.

They perfectly insulate not only heat, but also sound. The certified material has a proven fire safety. When buying mineral wool, it is important to pay attention to its density: indicators should be no less than 125 kg / m3;

• polystyrene and expanded polystyrene.

These are affordable moisture resistant materials, strong enough to withstand screed;

• natural cork.

A relatively new type of insulation, popular among adherents of environmentally friendly materials, but its price on the market is much higher than the above analogs;

How to insulate floors: top 3 ways

The best option for underfloor heating is a combination of insulation and screed. This option is perfect for concrete floors, which are most often found in apartments. The algorithm for such insulation:

1. Dismantling of old clean flooring, cleaning of household and construction waste, removal of cement residues.
2. Steam and waterproofing. The best way to eliminate the movement of cold air currents is a film made of polypropylene or polyethylene. It is laid with an overlap. Making sure that the seams fit snugly together.

1. Directly laying the insulation. The thicker the layer, the better, of course. You need to proceed from the height of the ceilings and the planned budget. The optimum insulation height is 50 mm. If we are talking about penoplex, then you can find out how to choose the thickness here - https://whyy.ru/q/kak-podobrat-tolshhinu-penopleksa
2. Laying of the reinforced cement screed framework. This is a mandatory step, which guarantees the durability of the coating and prevents deformation of the floor.
3. Screed. For covering the floor, the following proportion will be optimal: 1 part of cement to five parts of sand. This is a universal ratio that can vary depending on the brand of cement. The thickness of the screed must also be at least 50 mm. There is no need to save here, since a too thin screed will begin to crack a few months after installation. It is also important to wait 2-3 weeks for the screed to dry completely. And only after that cover it with a primer.
4. The final stage of the creation of warm floors is the covering of the decorative coating. Here it is already worth choosing, relying only on your taste, there are many options: laminate, parquet, linoleum, tiles.

The algorithm for insulating a wooden floor will be slightly different. Here it is better to give preference to the lag insulation method. For this you need:

1. Clean the floor from the remnants of the old coating, dirt and dust.
2. Provide moisture insulation. If your apartment is located on the ground floor, it is important to do this both above the wooden floor and from the basement side. The easiest way is to apply a polymer-bitumen solution to the surface. A vapor barrier film will also work.
3. Installation of logs (wooden floors) or metal beacons. It is important to keep the distance between them no more than a meter. This is to ensure that the flooring does not bend.
4. Laying the selected type of insulation. If logs were installed, foam or mineral wool is preferable. For bulk materials, metal beacons are more suitable. Insulation purchased in the form of rolls or sheets must be laid with an overlap or close to each other, leaving no joints or seams.
5. Covering screed. Suitable for OSB, chipboard, gypsum fiber board or plywood with a thickness of about 1.5 cm. You need to connect the sheets at the point of contact with the lags using self-tapping screws.
6. Layer of waterproofing film and topcoat. A waterproofing film is especially important in rooms where high humidity is expected: in bathrooms and in the kitchen.

Another option for insulation is a professional one, which a home master cannot cope with. This is the spraying of a layer of polyurethane foam on the concrete floor in order to create a seamless monolithic coating up to 10 cm thick. For the implementation of this technology, special high-pressure equipment is used, which sprays PPS by an aerosol method and within a few minutes it turns into a dense layer.

This method has very good performance: it provides thermal insulation about 30% better than other options, since polyurethane foam, the coefficient of thermal conductivity is lower, in addition, a huge plus is the absence of seams through which cold passes air. The application of PPP does not require any preparation other than dismantling the old coating and cleaning the surface. It is completely moisture resistant, flame resistant, not exposed to microorganisms, fungi and rodents. You can lay the topcoat immediately on top of it. The only drawback of polyurethane foam is its high cost. But if we take into account that the average service life of such a material is 50 years, then laying this heat-insulating layer can be considered a profitable solution.

If the heat loss through the floor is minimal, but you still want to make the flooring more comfortable for walking barefoot, you can use the "old-fashioned" way - to lay a carpet or carpet. Products with long pile, which contain natural wool, retain heat best of all.