Heat insulation of walls with polystyrene

Thermal insulation of walls by polystyrene with their own hands - very is a common technology, as it is a fairly simple process with the use of quite affordable materials. Polyfoam( foam polystyrene) is very popular for thermal insulation of facades and balconies due to its physical and operational characteristics. The only - interior walling with this material is not recommended.

Thermal insulation of facades with foam is carried out in various ways:

- fixing the panels of material on the walls with the help of glue, followed by finishing it with plaster or brickwork;

- the use of various thermal pans having a thermal insulation base of expanded polystyrene and external coating with decorative tiles imitating brick or stone masonry, or even a monolithic concrete surface.

- insulation with extruded polystyrene is also carried out during the construction of the building, using the technology of fixed formwork, when concrete blocks are poured into the concrete blocks from the insulation.

Advantages of using expanded polystyrene

Why is it often necessary to choose foam or cladding materials for insulation? This is due to its specific properties:

• The material is smooth and dense enough. These qualities facilitate and accelerate the installation process, and also make the walls almost perfectly flat.
• The lightness of the material allows for self-assembly. It can be raised without any problems to any height without using special equipment, and it fits well on the wall surface.
• Low thermal conductivity will well hold heat indoors, and the high noise attenuation will keep the house quiet.
• Water resistance of the material will help protect the walls from the influence of atmospheric precipitation and high humidity.
• Heater does not require for his installation laborious preparatory work, such as the device for the battens( although this is also possible if the walls do not differ in flatness).
• And still one advantage of this material in front of other heaters - is its affordable price.

Thermal insulation of walls with polystyrene by hand - from start to finish

In order for the work to go quickly and without a hitching, it is necessary to do without preparatory measures, which include determining the quantity of the required material, its acquisition, as well as buying or preparing the necessary tools.

Next Ide t t Careful preparation of the wall surface, and only then you can proceed to the installation of polystyrene foam panels .

Tools and materials

• The first thing to do - is to conduct calculation thermal insulation material. For this purpose, the total area of ​​the walls of the house to be insulated is calculated. Thermal engineering calculation will help to choose the thickness of the foam, which is based on the determination of the displacement of the dew point. If the thickness is too large in the calculations, the foam can be stacked in two layers. The second layer of the material is glued only after the first one has dried completely.
• If an ordinary foam PP is used, then it is recommended to lay mats made of mineral wool for fire safety around openings doors and windows. The thickness of these fire breaks should be equal to the thickness of the foam, and the width - not less than 200 ÷ 250 mm. Mineral wool should have a high density, approximate to the density of expanded polystyrene.

If extruded material is used, it is possible to do without the use of mineral wool, since it is practically incombustible .But this kind of foam has a somewhat greater thermal conductivity.

• For the reinforcement of the insulation requires a grid-serpyanka. Its is applied to the top of the styrofoam pasted on the wall, since it will not crumble after any after some time with an external cladding( eg plaster layer).

• To prepare the walls you will need a primer. Its consumption will depend on the porosity of the wall material. In addition, it is necessary to take into account, from what specifically the walls are erected, as for the wood, brick or cement it is necessary to purchase different types of primers. The walls are covered with soil in two layers.
• The adhesive for fixing the foam to the walls can be sold in bags in the form of a dry building mix, or in cylinders, in the form of a substance resembling a mounting foam.

• Reinforcing corners and metal profiles. Corner with fixed on it sickle, size 50 × 50 mm, used for reinforcing all angled joints of foam panels, and the profile, the size of the thickness of the insulation, is necessary to install the starting bottom row.

• For additional fixing of the insulation on the wall, special fasteners - "fungi" - will be needed.

Their approximate amount can be calculated by relying on the area of ​​the insulated wall - so on 1 m² it will take up to 10 - 15 fasteners.

• Tools will need a spatula, smooth and jagged , a construction knife, nozzle-mixer for an electric drill, a level, a drill with a drill 60 to 80 mm longer than the thickness of the foam and a diameter of 10 mm, capacity for making glue, if it will be made from a dry mix.

Surface preparation

Prepare the in for everything you need, you can proceed to the preparation of the wall surface. Without this stage, the work will not be of high quality, so it can not be ignored in any way.

• First, the wall is inspected. The surface should be more or less even. To do this, all the convexities are knocked off the wall and all deep depressions are sealed. The need for this is due to the fact that the exposed flaws prevent the insulation plates from sticking to the surface, and the significant grooves, unfilled with , can cause the foam to fall behind the wall.
• The next stage after leveling comes cleaning the walls from dirt and dust. This work makes rigid and soft brushes .From the painted walls, you must remove all old stale paint.
• After the preparation of the wall, you can proceed to dilution of the primer. If liquid is purchased in the concentrate, then it must be diluted according to the instructions on the package.
• Primer cover the entire surface of the wall - this process can be carried out using a roller or a wide brush. Basically, nt pr should be applied in two or even three layers until the wall is well reinforced. This is checked as follows: after the primer has dried, you need to hold the wall by hand. If there is no sand or construction dust left in the palm of your hand, then it is no longer necessary to ground the surface.
• On the primed and dried wall along the entire perimeter in the lower part of the building a strictly horizontal strip is discouraged by color. From this mark, and will be mounted insulation panels.
• The planned "zero" line is fixed to the metal profile, which will act as a support for the first row of insulation plates. The perforated metal profile is fixed to the wall using anchoring fasteners or dowels, and on wooden walls there will be enough self-tapping screws.

Mounting of a heater

When installing, you need to take into account some features, so as not to spoil the material, and all the work done. Insulation, fixed on the wall, should not be uncoated with plaster for more than 4 ÷ 7 days, as ultraviolet rays have a destructive effect on expanded polystyrene. It loses its heat-insulating properties , occurs destructuring of the heater surface, the material turns yellow and begins to crumble. That is, if the master does not have time to finish and plaster all the walls during this period, it is necessary first to insulate and trim one or two walls, and then move on to the next surfaces.

The process of work is as follows:

• If the extruded material is used for insulation work, then the will have to work on it , since it has an absolutely smooth surface and the panels will have very low adhesion to the wall. To increase the grip, the slabs are treated with a needle roller, which will give the material a certain relief. You can walk on a smooth surface and a metal brush - , it will also make the its rough.
• 

  Needle roller treatment will increase the adhesion of extruded polystyrene foam to the surface of the

wall. You can also purchase extruded foam sheets ready for labeling, in which the embossed surface is made by the still in the manufacturing process.

• Adhesive must be diluted strictly according to the instructions. In a sufficiently large capacity cold water is poured and in the the is filled with a dry mixture. The solution is mixed with a special nozzle, which is installed in an electric drill. The glue must be carefully kneaded - to have a uniform consistency and not contain lumps. The mixture must be infused within 4 - for 5 minutes, and only then can proceed with further work.
• Adhesive mass is applied to the foam as follows: - with a sufficiently wide band along the entire perimeter and three ÷ four blunders in the center of the plate.

The adhesive is applied and spread with a spatula.

• The first row of foam panels is installed with support on the fixed metal profile. Sheets of insulation are tight, but neatly pressed against the wall.

• wall. Drawing the bottom row, proceed to the second row, which is laid on the brickwork system - in the dressing.
• In some places, the foam sheets need to be cut in advance in the planned dimensions, for example, on the outer and inner corners, on the window or door openings.
• The material sheets must be laid tightly together. It also happens that gaps of different sizes are formed between them. They, at the end of all work after the glue dries up, are carefully sealed with foam or construction foam.

• Do not forget the recommendation that the doors and window openings are framed 200 ÷ with 250 mm mats made of mineral wool with high density. They are also fixed to the glue. This material along with the foam should be able to withstand the sticker of the reinforcing mesh and apply layers of plaster mixture.
• After the sticking of foam on the surface of the walls, you need to wait a period of 2 ÷ 3 days - this time is necessary to dry the glue. The process is followed by the process of fixing the slabs to the wall using nails-"fungi".

• In each of the plates, 5 holes are drilled through the - 6 holes, which must be deepened into the supporting wall on 6 - 7 cm. In these holes, the - dowels are installed and clogged, andthen they slaughter a special nail, which will press the cap to the foam, and the material - to the wall. The hat of the fungus must be buried in the insulation, and be on a par with the general surface.

• It should be noted that on the mounts "fungi" can be saved by clogging them on the joints of plates, thus, pressing immediately two or even three plates.

• After fixing all the fungi, you can proceed to reinforcing the corners. They are attached with glue metal or plastic corners with a mesh serpian.
• As mentioned above, the foam can not be left under the sunlight for a long time, so after fixing and drying the corners, you must immediately proceed to reinforce the entire surface of the insulation.
• The adhesive spreads over the foam with a spatula, but apply it to a small area, as it dries quickly.
• It is better to start applying glue from the top of the structure so that you can immediately fix the sickle. It is recessed into the adhesive layer, pressed and smooth. The mesh should be completely immersed in the glue, and the excess solution is removed with a spatula.

• By gluing the first cloth of the serpent, the second is laid on it overlapping , approximately by 50 mm.
• Covering the surface with glue and serpyanka, the walls are left for 2 ÷ 4 days to dry.
• After the final drying of the walls, they should be gently wiped with sandpaper, if necessary.
• Next comes leveling layer of plaster.

• On top of the dried plaster leveling layer, , if desired, , decorative material can be applied. For example, well is suitable one of the types of relief plaster familiar to by all , as "bark beetle", which is able to hide small irregularities on the surface.

Video: wall insulation with foam blocks

Thermopanels with expanded polystyrene base

Another with one facing material based on foam plastic is thermopanels. Applying it to warm the house, you can solve three problems - at once - heat insulation, soundproofing and decorative finishing of the building. Variety in color and texture range allows you to select panels for every taste and color. Thermal panels allow you to transform a house, built from any material, even from a round timber, but in this case will have on the facade walls .

Thermal panels, thanks to their design, are easy to install. They create an excellent protection for the walls from moisture, since they are waterproof.

The basis for different models of thermal panels can be different thermal insulation materials, but one of the most common remains polystyrene foam. At the top of the insulation layer is laid clinker tile, which reliably fastened on the surface. The tile can imitate brick, wild stone or other facade decoration materials, and if properly installed, the thermopanels merge into a single plane without any prominent joints.

Installation of

• thermal panels Installation of this material, as well as sheet foam, begins with the preparation of the wall surface. The measures are carried out in the same way as described above, ie the surface must be leveled, cleaned and primed.
• Further, in the lower part of the wall a metal profile is installed, on which the lower row of finishing material will be based.
• Thermal panels are fixed to the wall surface using the same adhesive as conventional foam sheets. The glue is applied in the same way as described above.

• The panels are assembled together like puzzles , perfectly matching each other thanks to the precisely aligned locking part.
• Immediately after gluing the panels are fastened through the prescribed regular places. The perforator drills holes that go 60 to 70 mm into the wall.

• Further in the drilled holes are clogged with dowels, and one of the fastening elements( anchor or screw) is screwed into them. After fixing, the hole is closed with a piece of polystyrene foam. Each panel requires 4 - 5 fastening elements.
• The protruding block part of expanded polystyrene is often additionally fastened to the wall with a dowel " fungus".

• After all the walls are covered with panels, is produced one more important process - is seam sealing. The main task, in addition to giving decorative - completely eliminate the contact of the polystyrene base with the "outside world".

• For this purpose, a material specially designed for outdoor use( fugue) is used which, when hardened, becomes completely moisture resistant and easily tolerates temperature changes. To make the seams look neat and natural, they are made very carefully, "under-screed".

A great advantage of the material is that after building and sealing the joints the building receives a complete decorative finish, which does not require any additional work. Not knowing that the house is finished with thermopanels, the building can be fully recognized as a real brick one.

Video: installation of thermal insulation panels with clinker tiles

Wall warming by the method of fixed formwork

To some extent, the thermal insulation of foam plastic can be attributed to the technology of erecting with fixed formwork. Extruded polystyrene foam is produced with blocks with special grooves, with which they are attached to each other, creating integral planes.

The reinforcement is installed in the cavities of the blocks and is poured into the concrete solution with .In this case, polystyrene foam plays the role of not only a heater, but also a remarkable formwork for cement mortar.

After the walls are built in this way, they require mandatory glue processing and strengthening of the sickle, as well as subsequent finishing with decorative plaster or other materials. And decoration should be made not only from the street side, but also from inside the building, as it must be remembered that the foam can not be attributed to completely environmentally friendly materials.

Video: erection of insulated building walls using the fixed polystyrene formwork

The insulation of the facade of the building with expanded polystyrene, regardless of the material of the walls, can easily be carried out by hand. Having studied the instruction, you can see that this is an affordable job, even for an inexperienced builder. Main - adhere to the process technology and observe the accuracy.