When constructing private houses, mistakes are often made, due to which winter time The rooms are very cold and you have to spend a lot of money on heating. This situation can be corrected proper insulation. In this article we will look at materials suitable for repair, as well as the procedure for their installation.

Characteristics of insulation - 5 points worth focusing on

In order to properly insulate the walls of a house from the inside, you need to understand what properties the materials used should have. The most important characteristics of thermal insulation materials are:

1. 1. The degree of thermal insulation. Different insulation materials are characterized by different degrees of thermal insulation; some materials prevent cooling of interior spaces better, others worse.
2. 2. Dimensions. Insulation materials with equal thermal insulation characteristics can have different thicknesses. It is best to use thin materials, the installation of which will not reduce the usable area of ​​the rooms too much.
3. 3. Vapor permeability. The products used should not interfere with the evaporation of moisture. If steam creates condensation, this can lead to the formation of fungus and mold on the walls.
4. 4. Density of joints. The tighter the joints, the less likely it is that so-called cold bridges will appear, which not only reduce the quality of insulation, but also increase the wear of internal cladding materials.
5. 5. Difficulty in installation. The easier it is to install thermal insulation materials, the easier it will be to carry out repair work yourself, without involving professionals in the installation.

We also recommend paying attention to the ability of the materials used to maintain their shape throughout their entire service life. The cheapest insulation materials quickly deform and lose their useful qualities, because of which the need for repeated repairs may soon arise, so it is better to insulate the walls with high-quality materials.

Mineral wool is one of the most popular thermal insulators

Mineral wool is a common and affordable thermal insulation material. It is popular with both professional builders and private owners who want to minimal investment insulate the house from the inside. Mineral wool has many advantages, but the main one is its low weight, that is, its use in repairs will not create additional load on the load-bearing structures structural elements residential property.

The lightness of mineral wool is especially important when it is necessary to insulate the walls from the inside in a private frame house, the partitions and foundation of which cannot withstand additional loads from thermal insulation. Despite its popularity and availability, mineral wool has many significant disadvantages that must be remembered. TO negative traits mineral wools include:

1. 1. Absorption of moisture, which over time leads to the material losing its original shape and technical characteristics.
2. 2. Relatively low level of thermal insulation.
3. 3. The likelihood of the formation of cold bridges due to the impossibility of insulating the joints between the slabs with wool.

You can also insulate a house from the inside using basalt wool; it is similar to mineral wool, but retains heat and its own shape much better under negative external influences. Its positive qualities are due to the presence of natural basalt in the fiber composition, which, among other things, can withstand even severe temperature changes. Main disadvantage basalt wool - high cost.

Foam plastic and penoplex - which is better?

Polystyrene foam is also very popular when insulating the walls of a residential building from the inside, especially if the work is done with your own hands. Its main difference from mineral wool is its ability to maintain its shape for a long time. It does not interact with moisture, but also does not allow it to pass through itself, which is a disadvantage. Polystyrene foam has very low vapor permeability characteristics; condensation remains on the insulation and does not evaporate. Low vapor permeability often leads to the formation of fungus and mold, therefore this insulation is not recommended for use in wet rooms.

You should not use polystyrene foam for insulation. wooden houses, due to accumulating moisture, the structural elements of a building made of natural wood may be damaged. Some owners refuse to use polystyrene foam, considering it too flammable. In fact modern production polystyrene foam involves the addition of special fire retardants to its composition, which prevent the material from igniting and create a kind of barrier to the spread of fire indoors, since under the influence of high temperature the foam simply breaks down into water and carbon dioxide, which do not burn.

Insulating the walls of a house from the inside can also be done using a more modern type of polystyrene foam - penoplex. It differs from polystyrene foam in its greater density, which has a positive effect on the required thickness of insulation, which means it is much better suited for thermal insulation of a house with inside. Penoplex is completely safe for humans; it is actively used in the construction of private houses, children's and public institutions.

Polyurethane – is it easy to use?

Polyurethane has a good degree of thermal insulation and is considered the best material for insulation of concrete walls. Even a thin layer of polyurethane foam (a few centimeters) is quite enough to significantly improve the microclimate in residential premises. Typically, polyurethane is used to insulate thin external walls, which require maximum insulation with the smallest possible thickness of the insulator. An important advantage of polyurethane foam is that it has no joints that could cause cold bridges to form.

In almost all characteristics, polyurethane is superior to its main competitors in the thermal insulation market - mineral wool and polystyrene foam. Main disadvantage of this material lies in the high complexity of installation work. Only professionals with special expensive equipment can properly insulate a wall from the inside with foam. There is no point in buying equipment for mixing and spraying polyurethane on walls for one-time use; it is much cheaper and more effective to turn to specialists who already have the necessary equipment and know how to use it correctly.

Installation of mineral wool and ecowool in a frame house

The most difficult task when thermal insulation with mineral wool is to create a sealed vapor barrier layer, which should protect the material from moisture and condensation. It is best to use mineral or basalt wool slabs for insulation, corresponding in size to the distance between the vertical posts of the frame house. If this distance is 60 cm, then the slabs should be the same size. The density of the boards used must be more than 30 kg/m3 with a sheet thickness of 5 cm.

The number of layers of insulation in each case must be selected individually, taking into account the climatic conditions in the region. For the southern regions of Russia, 2 layers of thermal insulation are usually sufficient, and in the northern regions, install at least 3 layers.

If a frame house has external insulation, then a vapor barrier layer is already installed in the walls, which does not necessarily need to be duplicated in order to insulate the walls of the house from the inside. Install mineral wool slabs between the vertical posts of the frame house, cover them on top with a vapor barrier membrane material. The vapor barrier is installed with an overlap, and the seams are additionally fixed with construction reinforced tape. On top of the membrane film you need to install a wooden sheathing on which you can hang internal lining walls To finish the rooms in a frame house, it is best to use plasterboard or wooden finishing materials.

Ecowool is a special material that is applied to walls by spraying. It is not necessary to buy a vacuum cleaner for such work; you can simply rent it. To apply ecowool use three different ways. “Dry” application involves spraying ecowool using a hose into previously prepared cavities inside the walls. "Wet" installation - mixing ecowool with water, which increases its adhesion to building materials, that is, when sprayed, such a mixture simply sticks to surfaces. The “glue” method involves adding glue to the insulation, which is necessary for adhesion of the composition to metal and concrete surfaces.

We insulate a brick building - how to proceed?

IN brick houses You can insulate walls from the inside using more materials. The most important thing is that the means used are different good characteristics thermal insulation and had a small thickness. In a frame house, the insulation can be quite thick, since it is located directly inside the walls and does not reduce the area of ​​the rooms; in a brick building, the size of the room directly depends on the thickness of the insulation.

Most often for insulation brick houses use plaster, polystyrene foam and mineral wool. The easiest way to improve the thermal insulation characteristics of a house with your own hands is to use plaster. This method is a preliminary leveling of the walls, after which a layer of liquid primer is applied to the surface. This consistency of the soil will allow it to fill gaps, cracks and other minor defects of the treated surface.

A fabric reinforcing mesh is laid on top of the primer, and plaster is placed on top. She has good thermal insulation characteristics, and it must be laid on the walls as evenly as possible. Not only the temperature inside the house, but also the visual appeal of the walls depends on the quality of the work performed. The composition must be applied with a spatula in two layers. The thickness of each layer should be no more than 2 cm. To increase the thermal insulation qualities of plastered walls, after the facing material has hardened, it is covered with finishing layer plaster. Fine-grained sand is added to the solution of liquid consistency and applied to the wall in a layer, the thickness of which should be about 5 mm.

Polystyrene foam also allows for high-quality insulation of walls brick house from the inside. To achieve maximum improvement temperature conditions In rooms, brick walls are pre-plastered, and then the surfaces are leveled to perfect condition with putty. Smooth walls are needed to ensure that the foam adheres as closely as possible to the surfaces being covered.

A layer of waterproofing in the form of a vapor barrier film or liquid primer is laid on top of the prepared wall, after which the installation of foam sheets begins. The easiest way is to attach the insulation to flat surface using special glue. The adhesive can be applied both to the walls and to the insulating material itself. Then the sheets are tightly applied to the wall and pressed until the glue sets. To prevent the formation of cold bridges during the operation of the rooms, individual sheets of foam plastic should be fitted as tightly as possible to each other. The foam is covered with a vapor barrier on top and finishing of the walls begins.

Mineral wool requires preliminary hydro- and vapor barrier. After installing the insulation, we install a vertical sheathing made of metal or wooden profiles. The distance between the profiles or slats should be equal to the width of the insulation boards used. We install mineral wool between the profiles. If the thickness of the mineral wool layers is greater than the thickness of the sheathing, the insulation must be immediately fixed with a vapor barrier film. We attach the sheathing to the profiles on top of the insulation to install the finishing facing layer.

Insulation of walls in residential buildings, especially multi-apartment buildings, is an important and responsible process, especially if major repairs are planned - insulation protects the walls from freezing in winter period and dampness in the off-season, but its main function is to provide thermal protection.

Thanks to high-quality insulation of walls from the inside, for example, you can significantly save on heating, this is especially true for corner apartments and private houses. The issue of insulation should be approached very seriously, since the result of the work is designed for a long period of operation, therefore below we will consider the types and technologies of insulation applied to various types walls

Types of wall insulation and features of internal insulation

Wall insulation can be external And internal. The first type is considered more effective and is the modern standard, but also internal insulation walls become the only way out if it is not possible to produce an external one for one of the following reasons:

• The house is part of the architectural heritage or the facade faces the main street.
• The presence of an expansion joint of buildings in the area that is planned to be insulated.
• Outside behind the wall there is an unheated room (for example, an elevator shaft).

Internal insulation requires the right choice material, since it must be vapor-tight, as well as careful installation - if the work is carried out incorrectly, the apartment will not only not become warmer, but will also be susceptible to the destructive effects of mold, fertile ground for which can be condensation that appears between the main wall and the insulation layer, or dew point.

What is dew point and what does it mean when planning wall insulation?

Dew point- this is a place on the wall where, at a certain temperature, the vapor contained in the air begins to condense, settling on the walls in the form of droplets resembling dew. It is of great importance primarily during the inter-heating seasons, when the indoor air temperature decreases and humidity rises. In fact, the higher the humidity, the closer the dew point is to the air temperature, and vice versa. Condensation appears in uninsulated or most weak points walls - at joints and seams.

Do-it-yourself choice of material for insulating walls from the inside, insulation technologies

The first requirements when choosing materials for internal wall insulation are their high density, low vapor permeability, minimal number of joints during installation. The most common insulation materials for internal use are materials based on foam plastic, polyethylene, warm plaster, ceramic compounds, mineral wool and many others, and we will consider the most acceptable types of materials and technologies for their installation when doing insulation with your own hands.

Internal insulation of walls with mineral wool- one of the common, but not ideal, types of insulation, since cotton wool over time can begin to absorb moisture and contribute to the appearance of dampness, however, with careful work, processing of joints and impregnation of the wall and insulation with antifungal compounds, its service life is quite long and can reach 10 years .

When insulating with mineral wool, the wall is equipped with a metal frame, the cells of which are filled with mineral wool slabs, carefully compacted and covered with sheets of plasterboard on top. The disadvantage of this method of insulation is the reduction in the area of ​​the room.

Striving for comfort, many apartment residents refuse central heating and install electric heated floors; reviews from those who have already used it warm floors, eloquently indicate increased comfort and warmth along with savings.

Instructions for installing heated floors are in this article. Features of installation and proper installation.

Insulation of walls from the inside with polystyrene foam is also popular, since expanded polystyrene sheets have a low specific gravity and high resistance to moisture, and their small thickness does not require prior placement of the frame on the wall. Fastening to the prepared wall can be done using construction adhesive, dowels, liquid nails, making sure to treat the joints with polyurethane foam.

Insulation of internal walls with penoplex, or foamed polystyrene foam, is considered one of the most reliable ways to protect a room from dampness. This material is absolutely environmentally friendly, has high strength and wear resistance, is fireproof, easy to install and relatively inexpensive.

Penoplex is glued or nailed to the prepared wall and requires the creation of a reinforcing layer to give the structure greater strength, as well as additional leveling of the surface - only after this can you begin finishing the walls.

Internal wall insulation with foam plastic It is also performed using the frameless method by gluing foam panels to the wall using ceramic tile adhesive.

The surface of the foam is covered with a layer of glue and a reinforced mesh with an overlap of 10-15 cm is placed on top of it with slight indentation, which is eventually covered with a layer of plaster for painting or wallpapering, or ceramic or tiles are mounted directly on the insulation.

Before insulating the walls of the apartment from the inside, it is necessary choose insulation material to the materials from which walls or ceilings are made:

• insulation brick wall from the inside it can be made using polystyrene foam, polystyrene foam and mineral wool;
• Internal insulation of walls made of foam blocks is best done with polystyrene foam, penoplex or expanded polystyrene;
• for insulation of internal walls wooden house it is better to use penoplex or expanded polystyrene;
• You can insulate concrete walls from the inside using any of the described insulation materials.

Many owners of their own country home are interested, especially if there is no basement or cellar. Find out the features and methods of floor insulation in a private cottage or country house.

If the house is cold or the climate is harsh, you should also think about how to insulate the walls of the apartment from the inside. Learn about the methods and features of insulating walls from inside a living space.

When choosing materials for internal insulation, it is important that they meet the following requirements:

• high temperature resistance, fire safety;
• low thermal conductivity - the selected material should not release heat from the room in winter and should not contribute to heating the apartment in summer;
• environmental friendliness or health safety;
• durability, strength and ability to retain shape and volume;
• high resistance to moisture.

Also, when planning your own wall insulation, it is advisable to consult with specialists who could recommend optimal thickness material.

Rules for internal insulation of apartment walls

Walls that are planned to be insulated must be properly prepared to this process, and the most important elements preparations are:

• drying the wall with construction hair dryer, spotlights or infrared lamps;
• checking the condition or installing insulating materials that will protect the surface from moisture and steam;
• processing of seams between floor slabs and in the heat insulation layer.

Insulation process step by step looks like this:

1. All finishes are completely removed, and the primer layer should also be completely removed, especially if traces of mold or mildew are noticed. The surface is completely cleaned using construction vacuum cleaner and a broom The walls are dried using a hair dryer, spotlights or infrared lamps and, if necessary, impregnated with antifungal mixtures.
2. After the wall has completely dried, all cracks and holes must be blocked. If they are shallow, you can use cement or any other primer mixture; for cracks up to 3 cm deep, it is recommended to use foam; deeper damage should be covered with tow and blown out with foam.
3. The next stage is surface treatment with antiseptics and primer. The break between actions should be sufficient for the wall to dry thoroughly.
4. The surface must be leveled for a tight further fit of the frame or frameless insulation.
5. Particular attention should be paid to the joints of the floors - blow out all the holes, and also glue them with construction fabric.
6. If necessary, you can additionally lay a layer of waterproofing, which should be placed between the base of the wall and the insulation layer.
7. After preparing the wall, you can begin installation, the methods of which for each of the materials were described above.
8. After the insulation layer has completely dried and additional elements(reinforced mesh, finishing primer layer) you can begin finishing the walls.

Cost of insulation per square meter of wall with your own hands will range from 450 rubles to a higher price based on the type of insulation chosen and a set of additional measures for preparing the surface.

Insulation of walls from the inside should be resorted to only in extreme cases, when external insulation, that is, accepted as the modern standard, is impossible. The constant development of technology over time will make it possible to improve the process of insulating an apartment from the inside without loss of space and the risk of condensation in the wall space, however, the methods listed above are among the most optimal in current conditions.

For those who are interested in the technology in a more visual format, watch the insulation of walls from the inside in the video instructions:

It’s bad when there is a cold blowing from the wall in an apartment or house. It is possible that the wall structure freezes through and is covered with mold. To eliminate it you need to insulate it. How and how to insulate the walls of an apartment or house from the freezing atmosphere that surrounds them?

This can be done either outside or inside. An option is to insulate the internal insulation, which at first glance seems cheaper. Let's consider what technologies are allowed for insulating walls from the inside, what can be used and is it really cheaper?

Sometimes you have to install insulation from the inside

Any specialist in insulating houses and apartments will tell you that walls need to be insulated from the outside. And laying insulation on the inner surface of the enclosing structure is a forced solution when you can’t reach the walls from the outside, or change them appearance not acceptable.

But for many, the inability to reach the walls from the street lies in the fact that they are located above the 1st floor. And the work of steeplejacks seems expensive... Thus, if there is an ironclad need to insulate the wall from the inside, then this can be done if you sacrifice something.

First you need to find out what risks arise and what will happen in the future from incorrect actions.

How dew falls indoors

The dew point is the temperature at which water vapor in the air begins to condense and turns into water.

This temperature (dew point) depends on the temperature of the air itself and its humidity.

For example, when humidity approaches 100%, condensation will begin at any temperature.

Without going into complex calculations, we note that at 50% humidity (the usual comfortable humidity in winter) and the air temperature inside the room is 22 degrees C (the usual recommended temperature for residential premises), the dew point will be about 12 degrees.

If there is an object in the room with this temperature or less, then dew will fall on it and it will become moist. For example, these could be cold water pipes; many have noticed that they are wet on the outside, so they rust if they are not insulated...

Or such an object could be a wall that was not properly insulated.... A lot of water can condense on a large wall before the air dries out...

Why are indoor structures wet?

When it’s warm outside, then the dew point in the room, except at water pipe and a bottle of milk (beer) taken out of the refrigerator is missing.

But in cold weather, a temperature difference occurs on the walls of the home (on the enclosing structures). And a dew point appears inside the structure.

12 degrees C will be approximately in the middle of a homogeneous (single-layer) wall if it is +24 degrees inside. It's 0 degrees outside. And when it’s -20 degrees outside. C, the dew point will move very close to the inner surface of the wall, or will be located directly on it if the thermal insulation qualities of the wall are not great. The wall can freeze through, i.e. on its inner surface there will be -1 degrees C and frost.

What will happen to the wall if it is additionally protected from internal warm air with insulation? - she will cool down even more.

Those walls that usually did not freeze through will now be permanently frozen. There will be a dew point on their surface and inside the insulation, where water vapor will constantly condense, if only the required amount is collected for this, if the material is not dense-monolithic but porous, if there are internal cavities...

Where does mold on walls come from?

For the development of fungus, water, positive temperature, and oxygen are needed. As soon as dew begins to fall on the wall, mold will soon appear. And no anti-fungal remedy will save you from its appearance. The temperature of the wall must be increased to such an extent that it dries out. Then the mold will disappear from any remedy.

What does insulating walls from the inside entail?

The main consequence of insulation from the inside was discussed above. The wall cools or freezes. Water will form on it. This will lead to two negative consequences:

• the wall will rapidly collapse under the influence of water and frost - the formation of ice inside micropores is a very harmful destructive phenomenon for any material;
• The growth of mold and other bacteria in a humid environment poses a serious threat to the health of everyone inside.

If insulation is used that can be moistened, it will lose its properties by half or completely, as it will very quickly fill with water. Those. insulation from the inside will, as it were, cease to exist by itself. The room will become cold again and will come into some kind of equilibrium in temperature and humidity with the frozen wall.

Other negative consequences

• Fencing off the wall will reduce the internal heat capacity. If all the walls are insulated from the inside, the room will lose its heat capacity by 80 - 90 percent. This will manifest itself in changes in temperature and humidity, with changes in weather, ventilation, and heating. It causes discomfort, and sometimes very significant discomfort.
• A big one will be “stolen” usable area premises - 5 - 10%. For example, from a room 16 sq.m. 14.5 sq.m. will remain.
• Even with better development events, the insulation efficiency will be 20 - 30 percent worse than with insulation from the outside. Because Cold bridges through structures adjacent to an insulated wall cannot be eliminated. Simply put, a frozen wall will cool the ceilings and side walls, and they, in turn, will carry some of the cold into the room.

But is there a way out of this situation? How to insulate walls from the inside to avoid serious consequences?

Wall principles that must not be violated

For any insulation, the following basic principles must be observed:

• The vapor-conducting layer is located outside.
• The heavy heat-intensive layer is located inside.

By installing insulation from the inside on a wall made of heavy vapor barrier materials, we completely violated these principles. Hence the problems - steam is not released, the heat capacity has been lost.

But is it possible to somehow comply with them? It is clear that the heavy heat-intensive material needs to be laid out anew. Those. essentially building another wall?

But the issue with vapor permeability and condensation can be resolved by selecting insulation. Its layer should have a vapor permeability less than that of the wall. Or the insulation should not have the ability to accumulate water (without water absorption).

Which insulation to choose

If you use vapor-transparent insulation to insulate the walls from the inside - some kind of wool, for example mineral wool, even waterproof, or ordinary foam, then the consequences will be the same as described above.

But if you use vapor barrier insulation and ensure its tight contact with the wall. those. by essentially turning it into an insulating layer that is not capable of accumulating water, the consequences of moisture accumulation can be avoided.

Troubles with loss of heat capacity and reduction of “living” space will remain, they cannot be avoided. But the main threat of internal insulation - the accumulation of water inside the room - will be eliminated.

Those. The insulation itself is not capable of containing water inside; water will not accumulate in it even if there is a slight discrepancy with the principle of vapor permeability of layers during insulation. For example, even a vapor-resistant reinforced concrete wall can be insulated from the inside with extruded expanded polystyrene. Let's look at an example with a little calculation.

Extruded polystyrene foam has a vapor permeability coefficient of 0.013 m2 h Pa/mg. For heavy concrete - 0.03 m2 h Pa/mg. If on a regular 30 centimeter concrete wall 10 cm of expanded polystyrene will be glued from the inside, then its layer will resist steam a little less (0.1/0.013 = 7.7 m2 h Pa/mg) than a concrete wall (0.3/0.003 = 10 m2 h Pa/mg). But this does not play a big role. On a 25 cm concrete wall, these values ​​will already be equal, which means the principle will begin to be observed.

And for brick (0.11 m2 h Pa/mg), the condition for vapor permeability of layers will begin to be fulfilled already at a thickness of polystyrene foam of 3 centimeters. But naturally, such a layer is not enough for thermal insulation - you need at least 10 centimeters of this insulation with a thermal conductivity coefficient of 0.03 W/m?C.

Then the thermal resistance of its layer will be 0.1/0.03=3.3 m2C/W, which already “almost” meets the requirements of the standards for the thermal resistance of walls of residential buildings for moderate climate zone(3.5 m2C/W for 6000 degree-day heating period).

Thus, by using 10 centimeters of extruded polystyrene foam for internal insulation, we can solve our problem. The insulated wall will be frozen, but dry, since the access of steam to it from the inside will be virtually blocked.

If we use mineral wool or polystyrene foam, we will collect water in it and a lot of troubles.

Will a vapor barrier film help?

An objection is possible - it is enough to cover the wall with film and you can use any insulation - the layers will be separated in pairs.

Alas, a vapor barrier made from some kind of membrane cannot be reliable. It itself allows a little steam to pass through, and there is no guarantee that it will not be sufficient so that the moisture does not gradually condense into the mineral wool at the dew point.

Secondly, there is a high risk of counterfeiting the material or simply installing it with holes.

The risk that steam will penetrate into the wool and condense at the dew point is very high. And this will damage the insulation, etc…. Because of this risk, the use of mineral wool is not allowed, even with any “tricky” designs with the construction of a separate false wall….

In general, there are more problems and questions than productive solutions. Why take the risk, lose more space (a thicker layer is needed), and introduce simply dangerous micro-dust from mineral wool into the house?

How should walls be insulated from the inside using polystyrene foam?

Expanded polystyrene releases poison when melting (temperatures above 70 degrees) and when burning. Therefore, there should be no electrical wiring or hot heating pipes inside it. A barrier of 5 cm thick cotton wool is made around the pipes.

Expanded polystyrene must be covered with a solid partition, which must resist fire for at least 30 minutes. This is 3 centimeters of sand-cement plaster or gypsum.

• We have already figured out the thickness of the insulation layer - at least 10 cm, and for particularly cold (northern) conditions - 15 cm.
• Only sheets of extruded polystyrene foam with a tongue-and-groove connection are used. When installing insulation between sheets, a sealant is introduced into the joint.
• The wall is peeling off the plaster, side surfaces over 14 cm from the wall - the same. If necessary, the wall is leveled with a durable compound until it is “almost flat.”
• Gluing sheets is carried out only if their entire area sits on an even layer of glue.
• The use of dowels and anchors for fastening insulation is unacceptable. Those. penetration of the vapor barrier layer is not permissible.
• All cracks, especially along the contour of contact with adjacent surfaces (floor, ceiling, walls) are filled with insulation on a sealant.
• After gluing all the sheets, a double layer of drywall using the same glue is glued onto the polystyrene foam.
• Or the surface of the insulation is covered with glue, and then a steel reinforcing mesh is applied to this surface, which is attached between the floor and ceiling and cement-sand plaster 3 cm thick is applied to it.

Was it cheaper?

Now let's see - is it cheaper to insulate from the inside?

Most of the funds will be spent on a thin layer of not cheap insulation. On the outside, it would be possible to successfully use inexpensive polystyrene foam or even glass wool.

High consumption of glue and sealant.

And at the same time, there are still increased heat losses due to irremovable cold bridges... This means you need to heat more and pay more. And "stolen" interior space doesn't lift my spirits...

In general, if you add everything up and think carefully, then internal wall insulation does not seem cheaper. In any case, it is not more expedient. Having decided how and with what the walls are insulated from the inside, it remains to think whether these experiments will be too expensive? Is it worth doing?

Insulation for walls from the inside is available in large quantities in retail chains. It is different in its composition and characteristics and you need to make the right choice.

Today we will tell you how to insulate walls from the inside of a room, you will also get acquainted with the types of insulation materials and you will be able to choose exactly the one that is suitable in your case. Also, the video in this article and photo will provide the necessary information on this issue.

When the wall is insulated inside

Insulation of walls inside is carried out in cases where there is no alternative solution and you have to take risks by insulating the inside.

For example, the city administration prohibits making changes to the façade of a building (cultural property, facade part, facing the main street, etc.):

1. Behind the wall, which is planned to be insulated, there is a construction joint connecting the two buildings;
2. An insulated wall hides an elevator or other unheated room where it is not possible to install insulation.

In addition to these situations, installation of insulation inside a room can only be carried out in a situation where this was originally planned by the design of the future building. This is practiced during the construction frame houses(see How to insulate the walls of a frame house).

The insulation of a wall from the inside with gypsum board will depend on the material of the wall itself. After all, it can have different heat capacity. In the photo you can see this indicator for common wall materials.

• In this case, the same insulating material is used as was used during construction. The lack of insulation is compensated for by another layer. You can also insulate a wooden house by using an additional layer of wood;
• Other reasons that entail this method of wall insulation are not justified. The best option the work is finishing from the street, even if it is moved finishing material on an updated layer of finishing;
• However, if decision made such work was accepted categorically; it is necessary to approach each stage of this type of finishing extremely scrupulously. In particular, you need to be extremely careful when choosing material, carefully consider preparatory stage, and then correctly fasten the purchased insulation using known technologies.

Specifics of the process and basic rules

Insulating walls from the inside with your own hands in this way does not provide heat, but, on the contrary, is susceptible to freezing. This will lead to condensation of warm air from the room with cold air from the street. The condensation process will move closer to the walls inside the room and their finishing, as well as directly on its surface.

Accumulated moisture will lead to constant dampness and destruction of the finish, and then the finished surface itself. In addition, the thermal insulation properties will deteriorate significantly, which means the heat loss of the room will be very high. Brick walls are most susceptible to destruction in such conditions.

• To avoid such problems, you should choose finishing material, characterized by vapor tightness, increased moisture resistance and a fastening method that eliminates the presence of joints through which high humidity and vapors penetrate into the room and spoil the appearance of the walls;
• It is categorically unacceptable to choose varieties of mineral wool, ceramic materials in liquid form, plasterboard sheets, heat-insulating plaster composition and others. GKL sheets and plaster mixtures can only be used as a finishing layer for surface design.

Attention: All materials that have a loose fibrous structure, are not moisture resistant and are vapor permeable are absolutely not suitable for such insulation.

Modern penoplex material is also very doubtful for such use. With this type of finishing it is difficult to achieve ideal joints with the wall surface without the use of special solutions. In addition, joining sheets of expanded polystyrene to each other is also not easy, and if the technology is broken, the thermal insulation properties will be poor.

Preparation for internal insulation

Based on the above, we can put together a picture of the necessary preparatory manipulations that should be carried out:

• It is extremely important to ensure that the wall being finished is as dry as possible;
• It is necessary to install a vapor barrier and waterproofing layer to block the wall directly from the room;
• The insulation film must be characterized by increased moisture resistance and be vapor-tight;
• The heat insulating layer must be built tightly, without gaps or joints. The resulting cracks are carefully sealed with sealant.

Attention: The ideal solution could be the construction of another wall in the space of the future room. The newly erected wall can be tightly joined with the outer wall, and also ensure air cushion with a layer of thermal insulation.

But such work will quickly “eat up” the volume of the entire room, reducing the space. There is an option to use thin insulation for the walls inside, but this may not provide sufficient heat in the room.

Methods of finishing from the inside

Methods for insulating walls from the inside are divided not just by materials, but also by the method of installation work. Let's look at the most common options.

Foamed polyurethane

Using such a finish will allow you to achieve good thermal insulation properties and create a reliable barrier to moisture.

Attention: Installation of such material can be a great inconvenience, because initially it is a liquid foam substance that very quickly becomes solid.

• In order for the surface to remain smooth and the layer thickness to be reliable, you will have to build formwork into which foam will be poured in small parts. It is important to remember that wooden or metal frame will become the same bridge of cold. Which will let frost in from the street;
• After applying a layer of insulation to a plane, it is extremely important to provide protective layers from moisture and steam. The insulation is securely fixed to the remaining walls and ceiling slab using lathing, gluing with adhesives or special resin;
• The low density of the finishing does not allow applying the finishing decorative layer directly to the insulation. For the final design, you will have to construct a frame from gypsum plasterboard sheets, the fastenings of which will be on the touching walls and the ceiling slab;
• In this design, condensation will fall at the boundary of the wall and the foam or will come inside the insulation. As a result of the inaccessibility of the external climate and good vapor permeability, moisture does not form.

Construction of an additional wall

The procedure for insulating walls from the inside will depend on the structure you choose. Sometimes an additional wall is selected for work. It will serve as a barrier to cold air.

• With this method, heating components are mounted on the plane of the outer wall. However, it is recommended to turn on such elements only during severe frosts; this will heat the plane of the wall inside the room and move the place of condensation;
• To carry out finishing craftsmen build additional walls from gypsum board sheets or half a brick thick. Insulating material is installed within the opening connecting the false wall and the plane of the street wall;
• This option will significantly reduce heat loss and will save you in case of severe frosts, but it will cost a pretty penny. Electricity consumption will be high, since the thermal elements will actually heat the street.

Penoplex

If you decide to use expanded polystyrene, which is not very suitable for this type of insulation, it is important to pay close attention to the features of its installation.

So:

• Smooth, rigid sheets, quite strong, are offered in sizes 1000x1000 or 1000x500 mm, which inevitably form joints during installation. This can lead to poor-quality sealing, which means you will have to join the sheets as tightly as possible to each other, and fill the voids with sealant;
• The solution is usually used as separate patches. When choosing of this type finishing, this method will not work. With this finishing, the wall is filled with air voids, where moisture accumulates, which will soon find a gap to escape and disrupt the external gloss of the wall plane. This also leads to the growth of dangerous fungus and mold;
• Categorically the right way can be the application of an adhesive composition in an even and smooth layer on the surface of the penoplex and reliable gluing of them to the wall surface. Professionals usually use a special roller with needles immediately before applying glue. It makes the plane of the sheet looser, providing better adhesion;
• This fastening process also requires a well-prepared wall plane, leveled and primed. For leveling and finishing, professional moisture-resistant compounds are used, which are used in finishing rooms with a humid climate;
• The use of staples to secure trim is not recommended. When using them, the attachment points will form leaky transitions, spoiling the entire plane of the finishing layer. When using reinforcement or plastering (see Penoplex plaster: which one to choose), the best solution is to use special “T”-shaped fasteners. By inserting them between sheets of polystyrene foam, they are secured to the floorboard and ceiling plane.

Scheme of work on insulating an internal wall

Having chosen in advance the method of insulating the wall, the material with which this work will be carried out, having calculated the upcoming costs and purchased everything necessary, we proceed to the most important stage - installation.

How to properly insulate walls from the inside, there are a number of rules that have a huge impact on the time factor and the situation when repair work. When buying insulation, the main rule to follow is – no savings! Instructions for performing the work are outlined below.

Attention: You should also not neglect important points of the installation diagram. Experiments with reducing the cost of finishing may result in unpleasant consequences and additional costs.

Insulation from the inside of walls is carried out exclusively on warm days, when high humidity and wet precipitation are not expected. Before starting work, it is extremely important to dry the surface of the wall being finished.

For these purposes, you can use special guns, heating elements and other devices. With their help, it will be possible to greatly reduce the humidity in the room being finished.

	The initial stage of work is preparing the wall surface. You need to remove the old finish, decorative components, and plaster mixtures from it (see How to remove old plaster from walls without problems). It would be more correct to clean the wall straight to the base material, to concrete or brickwork. Use a vacuum cleaner to remove dirt from the wall. Wall damage caused by fungus or mold is thoroughly cleaned with abrasives and brushes;
	Then we proceed to apply antiseptic compounds that will protect the wall from fungus and mold in the future. We also carry out priming. After applying each layer, the wall must dry completely, and only then is it possible to lay the next layer. The primer mixture for these works is used for deep penetration; When choosing the insulation material, heating components or foam sheets, the walls are pre-plastered with special mixtures with the addition of water repellents, used for repairs in buildings with high humidity. The plaster must be allowed to dry completely and then primed;
	If you choose matte insulation or foam, you will need to apply sheathing to the wall. After all, the insulation must be positioned correctly. The step width is selected depending on the width of the mat material.
	After the preparation stage, you can begin attaching the insulation. All materials have their own installation technology, as has already been described. After installation, the insulation layer is also allowed to dry completely and only then proceed to finishing decorative materials(wallpaper, tiles, paint, etc.).
	After installing the insulation, the cladding material is applied

• The best way would still be to fasten gypsum board sheets into a pre-prepared frame, attached to the planes of adjacent walls, the ceiling space and the floorboard. This will allow you to leave a gap between the wall and the insulating material 2–5 cm thick.
• If polystyrene foam is chosen as the material, then it is possible to use reinforcement of the material and then apply plaster. But the durability of such a coating will depend entirely on the quality of the work performed. Do not forget to carefully coat the gaps separating the sheets with sealant, and attach the insulation to an even and dense layer of glue.

Insulation technology metal walls the inside will be slightly different in terms of insulation mounting options. In this case, it is better to choose foaming materials. Then the price of the work will be lower. After all, in this case there will be no need to attach the mats to the surface and this will reduce the cost of the work.

This article will focus on the internal insulation of a house. I will try to talk in detail about the materials that can be used for these purposes and the technology for their installation.

Is it possible to insulate a house internally?

First of all, let's figure it out - is it possible to insulate a house from the inside? I’ll say right away that resorting to this operation is highly undesirable. If you have the opportunity to insulate the outside, be sure to take advantage of it.

The fact is that internal insulation has quite a few disadvantages:

• the usable space of the room decreases, which can be critical for small country houses and small apartments;
• Insulating the walls from the inside does not allow the ceiling to be insulated. As a result, the ceiling comes into contact with the cold walls and cools itself. True, this drawback is critical for houses with concrete floors;

• the walls completely stop heating, which can lead to the formation of cracks;
• The dew point moves into the room, causing moisture to form between the insulation and the walls. This leads to mold and reduced durability of the walls.

However, sometimes thermal insulation can only be done from the inside, for example, if it turns out that external insulation is not enough or the facade has already been finished . In this case, it is necessary to insulate the home from the inside with minimal negative consequences for walls. I will tell you how to do this below.

Choice of insulation

First of all, you need to decide what material is best to insulate the house.

There are quite a few options, however, the most popular are the following heat insulators:

• mineral wool;
• expanded polystyrene;
• extruded polystyrene foam;
• ecowool.

Mineral wool

Mineral wool is the most popular thermal insulation material for internal insulation, which is associated with the following advantages:

• is environmentally friendly material. True, this quality applies only to basalt wool. Therefore, for internal insulation it is necessary to use it;
• has vapor permeability, which allows the walls to breathe;
• low thermal conductivity 0.035 – 0.042 W/(m*K);
• is a fireproof material;
• Sold in mat form, making mineral wool easy to work with.

Mineral wool also has disadvantages - it strongly absorbs moisture, and therefore requires high-quality water vapor barrier. In addition, the cost of mineral wool (basalt) is higher than some thermal insulation materials, such as polystyrene foam.

Keep in mind that mineral wool fibers can cause irritation when they come into contact with the skin. Of course, it cannot be compared with glass wool, but, all the same, when working, it is necessary to protect the respiratory organs with a respirator and your hands with gloves.

Cost per basalt wool from some manufacturers is given below:

In general, we can say that mineral wool is the best choice.

Expanded polystyrene

Expanded polystyrene is the cheapest thermal insulation material - the price starts from 1200-1500 rubles per cubic meter.

In addition, it has other advantages:

• thermal conductivity is only 0.037-0.043 W/mK;
• light weight, which simplifies transportation and installation;
• does not cause irritation to the skin, so working with polystyrene foam is much more comfortable than with mineral wool.

As for the disadvantages, polystyrene foam has quite a lot of them:

• fire hazard, and during a fire the material releases toxic substances that cause serious poisoning that can be fatal;
• low strength;
• zero vapor permeability.

Therefore, foam plastic is used much less frequently for internal insulation than, for example, mineral mats.

Extruded polystyrene foam

Penoplex or extruded polystyrene foam is a modern version of conventional polystyrene foam.

As a result of special manufacturing technology, it has more high performance than polystyrene foam:

• is a more durable material than regular foam;
• thermal conductivity coefficient is even lower - 0.028-0.034 W/mK;
• practically does not absorb moisture, so if it is used there is no need to use hydro- and vapor barrier;
• vapor permeability is slightly higher than that of polystyrene foam - 0.007-0.008 mg/m·h·Pa, however, these indicators do not allow us to fully call the material vapor-permeable.

It must be said that expensive brands of extruded polystyrene foam from well-known manufacturers contain fire retardants, making the insulation fireproof.

One of the main disadvantages of penoplex is its high price:

For this reason, extruded polystyrene foam is also not often used for insulating walls from the inside.

Ecowool

Ecowool is a relatively new construction thermal insulation material, which is made from wood fibers. Thanks to this, it is environmentally friendly, and also has good thermal insulation qualities - 0.032-0.041 W/m*K.

Among other advantages of ecowool, the following points can be highlighted:

• Thanks to special additives that are used in the production of ecowool, the material is flame-retardant and also resistant to biological influences;
• has good vapor permeability;
• is light in weight;
• low cost - about 1200 rubles per cubic meter.

It cannot be said that ecowool is a popular material, however, in lately It is increasingly being used to insulate homes from the inside.

These are, perhaps, all the most common thermal insulation materials today. As for the choice, you can make it yourself, taking into account the information presented above.

Insulation of floors and attic floors

You can start insulating your home with floor insulation. To do this, we need one of the insulation materials described above and a vapor barrier film.

Insulation is quite simple:

1. if it contains flooring, it must be removed;
2. if there is no subfloor between the joists, you should install cranial bars and lay flooring on them, which will serve as a subfloor;
3. then a vapor barrier membrane is laid on the joists and subfloor;
4. now you need to lay any thermal insulation material on the subfloor with your own hands;

1. another layer of vapor barrier is laid on top of the logs and thermal insulation;
2. At the end of the work, the flooring is laid.

The insulation of the floor from the attic side is carried out in the same way.

If the floor in the house is concrete, then you can install joists and insulate it using the method described above, or pour a screed.

In the second case, the work is carried out in the following sequence:

1. the floor is cleared of debris and covered with an anti-mold compound;
2. then the base is covered with a waterproofing film with a fold over the walls;

1. insulation (extruded polystyrene foam, mineral wool or polystyrene foam) is laid on top of the film;
2. then the insulation is covered with a layer of waterproofing;
3. After this, the screed will be performed according to the standard scheme.

You can also insulate concrete floor in the attic.

Frame wall insulation technology

There are two ways to insulate a house from the inside: framed and frameless. First of all, let's look at how thermal insulation is performed using the frame method, since it is the most common.

So, the process of insulation from the inside of walls using a frame method can be divided into five steps:

Preparation of materials

In addition to the heat insulator, to insulate the walls from the inside you will need the following materials:

• wooden slats;
• wooden beams (you can also use drywall profiles);
• vapor barrier membrane;

• finishing material for covering the frame;
• anti-mold agent of the “anti-mold” type.

If the house is wooden, you will also need:

• wood antiseptic;
• interventional insulation.

Preparing the walls

Before insulating the house from the inside, you must perform the following preparatory steps:

1. if the walls contain old crumbling plaster, it must be removed;

1. then the surface of the walls must be treated with an anti-mold compound. If the walls are wooden, you need to use an antiseptic impregnation for wood.
   Instructions for use of these compositions are usually available on the packaging;

1. If the house is made of timber or logs, it is necessary to insulate the inter-crown cracks. To do this, you can use tow, linen tape, or others.

Now the walls are prepared for further work.

Frame installation

Now you can begin installing the frame and insulating the walls.

This work is carried out like this:

1. The surfaces of the wall and insulation should not be in contact. Moreover, it is highly desirable to make a ventilation gap between the insulation and the wall. To do this, horizontal slats are attached to the walls.

The vertical distance between the slats should be half a meter, and the horizontal distance - several centimeters. Keep in mind that the slats must form a smooth vertical plane.

Therefore, if the walls are uneven, the position of the slats must be adjusted by placing blocks, plywood scraps, etc. under them. It is not necessary to perfectly align, since the plane of the frame can be adjusted at the stage of installing the racks;

1. now to between inner surface a ventilation gap has formed between the walls and the insulation, you need to tighten the vapor barrier membrane onto the slats. Joints that must overlap should be taped;
2. Next, the racks are installed. If the thickness of the beams corresponds to the thickness of the insulation, then they can be secured to the slats using metal corners and screws. If the racks are thinner, you can use hangers that are used for drywall and secure the beams in them.

As I said above, you can make a standard metal frame, like for drywall. In this case, guides should be installed on the floor and ceiling; a distance equal to the thickness of the insulation will be removed from the wall (slats).

Then the rack profiles are inserted into the guides and fixed in the hangers. In other words, the work is performed in the same sequence as when assembling a conventional frame for gypsum plasterboard.

If mineral mats will be used as a thermal insulation material, the distance between the racks should be a couple of centimeters less than their width. If polystyrene foam or penoplex is used, the distance should correspond to the width of the slabs;

1. the next step is to insulate the walls of the house. Mats or insulation boards are inserted into the space between the posts. Try to place the insulation as closely as possible to each other to avoid the formation of cold bridges;

1. then another layer of vapor barrier is installed according to the principle described above;
2. The sheathing is attached to the posts on top of the film. As a rule, wooden slats are used for these purposes;
3. To complete the work, holes are made on the outside of the walls below and under the canopy to provide ventilation. These holes can be filled with mineral wool.

This completes the insulation of the walls. It must be said that thermal insulation with ecowool is carried out somewhat differently. If it is used, the frame is first covered with a vapor barrier film, after which ecowool is fed into the frame space through a hose using special equipment, as shown in the photo above.

There is also a wet method of insulation. In this case, ecowool is supplied under pressure in a wet form, as a result of which it sticks to the wall surface. The disadvantage of this technology is that it will not be possible to create a ventilation gap between the wall and the insulation.

After insulating the walls, the frame should be sheathed with plasterboard, clapboard, plastic panels or other material. Since this procedure does not have any special features, we will not consider it.

Frameless insulation technology

Now let's look at how to insulate a house inside using a frameless method. I’ll say right away that for such insulation you can only use polystyrene foam or extruded polystyrene foam.

In addition to insulation, you need to prepare the following materials:

• foam glue;

• waterproofing primer;
• dowels for foam plastic;
• fiberglass mesh;
• putty for walls.

The insulation process in this case looks like this:

1. To prevent the insulation from coming into contact with the wet surface of the wall, the wall must be treated with a waterproofing primer. The composition can be applied using a paint roller like a regular primer;

1. then you need to dilute the foam glue in water, following the instructions on the package;
2. further adhesive composition it must be applied to the back side of the insulation using a notched trowel;

1. The insulation must be applied to the wall, pressed down lightly and leveled. Work is carried out from the corner from the bottom up;
2. then the second insulation board is glued in exactly the same way, which is located close to the first;

1. After pasting the entire first row, you can begin installing the second. Place it offset relative to the first row, i.e. according to the principle of brickwork. In addition, ensure that the slabs are bandaged at the corners.
   All walls in the room are covered in this way;

The photo shows an example of installing dowels

1. After the glue has dried, the insulation must be additionally secured with dowels. The dowels should be placed at the corners of the insulation. Install them so that the caps are slightly recessed;
2. if insulation is carried out with extruded polystyrene foam, the surface of the insulation must be treated with sandpaper or a wire brush to give the surface roughness.
   After this, the penoplex must be coated with an adhesive primer;
3. the existing gaps between the plates must be filled with scraps of insulation or even polyurethane foam;

1. Now you need to glue the mesh to the insulation with the same glue that was used to glue the slabs. The adhesive should be applied to the insulation with a notched trowel, then a fiberglass mesh should be applied to the surface and passed over it with a regular spatula or trowel.
   Keep in mind that the edges must overlap each other by at least 10 cm.
2. after drying, the walls need to be covered with another thin layer of adhesive;

1. At the end of the work, the surface must be primed and puttied.

After insulating the walls using this method, it is necessary to ensure high-quality ventilation in the room, otherwise the humidity in the home will constantly increase.

This completes the insulation. It must be said that when insulating walls in this way, they will become more damp than when insulating using the method described above. Therefore, this technology is better used for thermal insulation of the ceiling or if it is necessary to additionally insulate the walls.

Conclusion

From the article you learned that it is quite simple to carry out internal insulation in a private house. However, this procedure is very demanding in terms of technology, on which the durability of the walls depends. I recommend watching the video in this article to reinforce the material received. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments and I will be happy to answer you.