Facade insulation is relevant for both owners of new homes and old private houses. The walls outside should reliably protect the building from the cold. This will require a high-quality and effective heat insulator. The cost of heating and the comfort of living will depend on how good a good insulation layer has been chosen.
How to choose a material
Wall insulation from the outside can be carried out with different materials. A wide range is presented on the market. But what is better to insulate the facade of the house? The answer to a question depends on several factors. And it’s not always worth believing the manufacturer’s advertising.
Warming the facade of the house with modern materials will be useless without observing the technology. This is also worth considering when preparing for work. Before warming the house from the outside, you need to understand the nuances of the process.
Thermal insulation for walls can be divided into two large groups:
- inorganic;
- organic.
The second group has more representatives. This includes products of the chemical industry: polystyrene foam (polystyrene foam, polystyrene foam), natural ecowool. Choosing how to insulate the facade of a house from the outside, you first need to pay attention to physical properties.
Styrofoam
Such thermal insulation belongs to the class of foamed polymers. Polyfoam has a high efficiency, easy to install, fairly well isolates noise. Another advantage is the affordable price. But the disadvantages of such material are significantly greater. To choose the better to insulate the walls of the house outside, it is important to consider that polystyrene has such qualities as:
- flammability;
- fragility (service life is rarely more than 10-20 years);
- poor vapor permeability (additional ventilation is required);
- instability to the simultaneous effects of cold and moisture (the material crumbles into separate balls);
- low strength.
It is likely that the material will release toxic styrene during aging.. The concentration is small, and when insulated from the outside, the substance practically does not penetrate the room, but this property makes the manufacturer's statements about environmental friendliness doubt.
Extruded Styrofoam
To insulate the house with your own hands outside, you can use extruded polystyrene foam or, more simply, foam. This material is a close relative of the foam. It has all its advantages and some disadvantages. But compared with the previous version, it is devoid of such important disadvantages as:
- instability to moisture and cold;
- low strength;
- fragility.
Flammability and low vapor permeability remain. Although some manufacturers increase the fire resistance class by introducing special additives, it is not possible to obtain completely non-combustible material.
Do-it-yourself insulation of the facade of a wooden house is not recommended with the help of foam or polystyrene. Owners appreciate such buildings for the naturalness of the materials and the ability of the walls to “breathe”. External insulation with polystyrene completely blocks the movement of air. In this case, additional forced ventilation may even be required, since natural ventilation will not be enough.. Polystyrenes can easily turn a building into a greenhouse, this should be remembered when deciding how to insulate a house from the outside.
Ecowool
Such material deserves the title of eco-friendly insulation, since it is completely made from cellulose fibers.. External wall insulation with such a material is not subject to decay and is not attractive to rodents. This can be achieved by adding to the composition of minerals: boric acid and borax.
Warming the house outside with ecowool has a loose structure. The material has high soundproofing performance, good air permeability. This option is perfect if you need to perform the insulation of a wooden or frame building. The beneficial properties of wood are not lost.
When using material on timber or log walls, wet application is performed. Wet ecowool is sprayed onto the surface and then allowed to dry. The material adheres well enough to the wall and forms a warm shell. The final stage of work is the plastering of the facade or its decoration with various materials.
Warming of the facades of buildings constructed using frame technology is carried out by the dry method. Ecowool simply falls asleep in the cavity between the outer and inner skin.
Mineral wool
What is better to insulate the house from the outside inexpensively and efficiently? Here, the first place is confidently held by mineral wool. The material has good thermal insulation performance, is relatively inexpensive. In addition, it should be noted the clear installation technology and ease of processing. Mineral wool is safe for humans.
To choose a material, you need to consider three types of mineral wool:
- Stone (usually basalt) is produced in hard plates. It has all of these benefits. It will be the best option for doing the work yourself.
- Glass is available in roll mats.. The main disadvantage is the inconvenience during installation. Glass wool splits and causes irritation. Particles can enter the lungs, which also will not lead to good. When using such material, it is strongly recommended to wear protective clothing, gloves and a protective mask.
- Slag will be the cheapest option. But is it worth saving when building your home? Insulation for the walls of the house outside in this case is made from industrial waste.
Insulation of the walls of the house outside is recommended to be done with hard plates. Soft mats can settle over time. The best option is considered basalt material. It is he who is most often preferred by builders.
When using mineral wool, you need to know several important points. To properly insulate the surface, you need to use vapor barrier (fastened on the side of warm air) and waterproofing (on the cold side). These layers protect the material that can absorb water. In the wet state, cotton wool practically does not provide thermal insulation. To remove condensate from the outer surface of the material between the insulation and the exterior finish, provide a ventilation gap of 3-5 cm wide. This layer must necessarily communicate with the outside air.
Work Execution Technologies
How to insulate a house outside? Two methods are used for this. Both can be used for almost any insulation material. The type of heat insulator almost does not affect the technology. But you need to consider certain manufacturer's recommendations. For example, as in the case of mineral wool, when ventilation clearance is required.
Two technologies are distinguished:
- wet insulation of facades;
- dry method when applying a decorative coating fixed to the frame.
Wet facade
This method has a relatively low cost, less loads the foundations of the building. But it is important to note that a decorative coating cannot guarantee reliable protection against mechanical influences..
The insulation of the external walls in this case is covered with a layer of plaster. Its thickness is usually 40 mm. To ensure strength, use a reinforcing mesh (fiberglass or metal mesh netting).
Warming and decoration of the facade of the house are carried out in the following order:
- cleaning the wall from contamination, leveling defects, surface treatment with a primer;
- fixing vapor barrier material if necessary (for foam and mineral wool);
- installation of insulation boards on the adhesive (not relevant for ecowool, it is simply sprayed to the surface);
- additional fixation with plastic dowels;
- applying a glue solution to the surface of the insulation;
- mesh reinforcement;
- applying an adhesive primer after the glue has dried;
- plastering the surface.
How to insulate the facade of a wooden house with mineral wool? Only the wet method is suitable here. For other materials, you can choose one of two options.
Finishing and warming the facade of a house using this technology has one important drawback: over time, the plaster can begin to fall off. This is especially true if the external insulation of the facades was carried out using a metal mesh. It is recommended to choose a more expensive, but modern fiberglass.
Dry method
Insulation and decoration of facades in this case involves the presence of facing material. Most often they use siding, lining, composite panels, etc. Do-it-yourself insulation of houses outside will require the installation of a frame for attaching the cladding. A step-by-step instruction is as follows:
- Surface cleaning from contamination, alignment of large defects.
- Fixing vapor barrier material, if needed.
- Mounting the frame for insulation from wooden blocks or boards. When using a metal profile, the racks are installed after the material for wall insulation from the outside is fixed. At this stage, you only need to provide brackets for mounting the racks.
- The next step is attaching the heat insulator to the glue. Below you need to provide a starting profile, which will serve as a support for the first row. After the adhesive has dried, the insulation of the facade with your own hands is additionally fixed on plastic dowels, fungi.
- On top of mineral wool or polystyrene, waterproofing and wind protection should be fixed. For these purposes, it is recommended to choose a modern vapor diffusion hydro-windproof membrane. How to fix it? The membrane or film is fixed to the construction stapler. Joints are made with an overlap of at least 10 cm and glued with tape.
- After completing all the steps, you can proceed with the installation of the cladding. How to finish the facade in each case should be indicated in the manufacturer's instructions.
Dry walls can be insulated in almost any weather. This favorably distinguishes the option from the previous one. Deciding how best to insulate the house depends on the type of finish chosen.
Material Thickness Calculation
This item will be an important milestone. Before insulating the walls, you will need to determine the thickness of the insulation. It is important to know that the value for the wooden facade and for the brick will be different. This is because the wood retains heat better. Also, the indicator depends on the climatic region of construction and the purpose of the building.
Town | Recommended insulation thickness with external insulation, mm |
---|---|
St. Petersburg | 100 |
Moscow | 100 |
Yekaterinburg | 100 |
Novosibirsk | 150 |
Rostov | 50 |
Samara | 100 |
Kazan | 100 |
Permian | 100 |
Volgograd | 100 |
Krasnodar | 50 |
The calculation can be performed in three ways:
- according to the formulas from the joint venture “Thermal protection of buildings”;
- using the Teremok program;
- using various online calculators. The best option would be the Teremok program. It allows you to make an accurate calculation and is easy to use. There is both an online version and a PC application.