We estimate sawdust as insulation
In the villages you can find houses where clay with sawdust are made with overlapping, they stand for many years without damage. On the basis of sawdust in an industrial way, wood blocks, sawdust concrete, sawdust pellets and arbolite are produced. So it is difficult to overestimate their significance. The main advantages of sawdust are thermal insulation properties and price.
A layer of sawdust holds heat in the same way as a layer of mineral wool, that is, the flow rates are approximately the same. Sawdust preserves all the properties of natural wood, they are environmentally friendly. Sawdust can be dropped into a hard-to-reach place, that is, they must first be mixed with other components and compacted after filling. The result is a wood block of the required shape with excellent thermal and sound insulation properties.
There are only two drawbacks to sawdust, and both refer to untreated sawdust without impurities. Clean dry sawdust is flammable, they reproduce and live in rodents. Therefore, the sawdust is mixed with lime, gypsum or cement and moistened with a solution of copper sulfate. The resulting mixture does not ignite and does not support combustion, and rodents do not like it, and they avoid it.
What do we need for insulation with sawdust?
The use of sawdust as a heater is best in single-story frame houses with independent construction. Before you start, you need to prepare:
- sawdust;
- cement;
- lime;
- wood antiseptic - boric acid or copper sulfate;
- watering can;
- mixing tank;
- shovel or stirrer.
The thickness of the layer depends on the average temperature of the terrain and the purpose of the house. For seasonal living is enough 25 cm in the ceilings and 15 cm in the walls. If the house is supposed to live all year round, the layer needs to be increased to 30 cm. For this, additional racks are added to the frame, forming a space for backfilling.
The location of the chimneys and wiring must be strengthened with fireproof materials. Wiring is preferably hidden in metal pipes with a wall thickness of 3 mm. Sockets, switches, heating wiring and other flammable places should be laid out with non-flammable material.
No steam insulation is required, the cement in the mixture absorbs excess moisture and the wood block becomes stronger only. The fresh sawdust contains substances that prevent cement from binding to water, such a mixture will be unstable. Therefore, you need either give the sawdust to stand for about 2 months, or a little moistened with liquid glass.
How to properly carry out insulation work?
The backfill mixture is prepared in such proportions: 1 part of cement and half or a whole bucket of lime are taken for 10 buckets of sawdust. Everything is mixed, sawdust is enveloped in cement and lime. Then in the water, an antiseptic is diluted and water is sprayed through the garden watering can. At this amount of sawdust you need 5-10 liters of water, it all depends on the initial moisture.
The mixture should be stirred and tried to squeeze. The lump must be so moist that it does not crumble, but it's still impossible to squeeze a drop of water out of it. When this moisture is reached, the mixture is ready.
After that, sawdust, as a heater, falls asleep in the right places and rammed layer by layer. The final maturation of blocks occurs within 2 weeks, all this time the room should be ventilated at least once a day. It is better to wait for a couple of weeks to make sure that all the voids are filled, and if necessary, fill the missing.
You can prepare the plaster from sawdust: add clay, cement, newsprint and water to the sawdust. It turns out a warm plaster for interior works. From the same mixture can be made in the form of sheets of any size, just tamper and let it ripen. Such sheets can be used as insulation at their own discretion.