Thermal insulation of the floor with expanded clay

Most construction companies and private masters are used to using only one kind of screed - cement-sand, or concrete. However, a good alternative to a concrete screed is the insulation and floor screed using claydite.

Scope

Ceramsite insulation, which is also a floor leveling agent, is usually used in homes or premises where there are significant differences in base or overlap.

In addition, such insulation and leveling is very effective if any communications are running on the surface of your floor, for example, water pipes or sewage pipes.

Materials

The usual kit for performing a dry floor screed with expanded clay is:

1. Edge band.
   

   Edge band - photo

2. Dense polyethylene film.
   

   Polyethylene film

3. And actually the claydite itself.

Advantages of expanded clay and insulation of the floor

The main advantage of expanded clay stones used for leveling or warming the floor surface is its complete environmental safety for humans. With any temperature change and in interaction with any substances, claydite does not emit any harmful substances.

Secondly, expanded clay has excellent heat and sound insulation properties.

Thirdly - expanded clay basically consists of ordinary clay, which is fired in special rotating furnaces, and is a fairly strong substance. The term of continuous service of the layer of warming and leveling out of claydite will be at least ten years in your house.

Preparatory stage

At the preparatory stage you will have to dismantle the old floor and carry out a thorough cleaning. Remove all previous floor construction and reach a solid foundation. As a rule, the primary base is a reinforced concrete slab.

Clean the surface of accumulated debris and dirt. For this you can use metal brushes and metal scrapers.

After mechanical cleaning, sweep the floor, vacuum it with an industrial vacuum cleaner and rinse with water.

The existing surface defects - cracks and pits must be sealed with a special glue or the same concrete solution.

We cover all the defects.

We fix the communications

In order to prevent damage to the passing communications on the premises - they must be carefully fixed. This can be done in two ways.

You can wind all the pipes or wires with a plastic film, then the resulting bundles of communication can be attached to the floor with adhesive tape.

Special plastic or metal-plastic sleeves can also be used in which the harnesses of communications are placed.

Floor waterproofing

At the next stage of the insulation and floor leveling with expanded clay, you need to waterproof the floor surface. To do this, you can use a waterproofing mastic or dense polyethylene, which is overlapped with overlapping strips with tape.

Mastic can be applied with a wide paint brush or roller. The drying time is only three hours. To obtain a better insulating effect, the mastic should be applied in two or three layers.

On the walls, at a height of about ten centimeters you need to paste a special tape waterproofing. After the screed has dried, this insulation forms an even gap between the screed array and the wall, which will prevent thermal deformation.

Installing beacons for floor screed

Setting lighthouses for warming and leveling floors with expanded clay is similar to the installation process for a conventional concrete screed.

Please note that when using claydite as a backfill material, it is recommended to use exclusively T-shaped metal beacons.

The first is a beacon rack located at the hay opposite the front door.

The distance between the beams of metal beacons when forming a screed of expanded clay should not exceed one meter. Beacons are fixed on the floor surface with the help of self-tapping screws or with a cement-sand mortar. The alignment of the beacons horizontally is performed using a construction level using wedges. Please note that the wedges need to be pinned under both sides of the beacon.

Usually the thickness of the layer of insulation with expanded clay is at least 8 centimeters.

Filling or backfilling of screed

The first layer of expanded clay insulation can be covered both dry and combined, using a concrete screed.

If using a dry method, simply pour the expanded clay.

And then lay on its surface elements of dry floor.

However, it is possible to insulate the floor with expanded clay and using a concrete screed.

With this approach, the claydite screed is poured in two consecutive stages.

At the first stage, mix the expanded clay together with the concrete solution in a proportion of approximately "1 to 5".

The thickness of the first layer should be two centimeters lower than the upper edge of the beacons you have exposed.

As the expanded clay has a positive buoyancy, at each stage of pouring you need to use the trowel to carefully heat the expanded clay in the solution. After he absorbs moisture from the solution, he will plunge into his mass.

In the next stage, the usual concrete screed is poured. Its thickness should be at least two centimeters. This layer is poured on top of the claydite layer, along the top edge of the beacons exposed by you.

After pouring the top layer with a long rule, begin to pull off the remnants of the solution, protruding above the beacons from the walls towards you.

The drying time of the claydite screed is about four weeks. During its drying, it must also be cleaned and protected from direct sunlight.

Video - floor insulation with expanded clay