Recently, balconies and loggias have been made to be part of a living room. However, if you want to make this room only a little warmer, then you should carry out the appropriate work. Warming the balcony with foam is a rather time-consuming process, so it is recommended that you first familiarize yourself with the technology of work. In the market of modern building materials, there are many solutions that could be suitable for this. However, one of the most popular and inexpensive is foam. Therefore, he received such wide distribution.
Why you should choose polystyrene
The popularity of polystyrene is also due to the ease of installation, as well as low weight. This material has excellent insulating characteristics and exhibits excellent resistance to aggressive environmental influences. The temperature of its operation varies over a fairly wide range and can range from -180 to +80 ° C. If you want to sheathe a balcony with polystyrene foam, you can be sure that it will be resistant to biological effects. On its surface during the entire period of operation, fungus and mold will not appear.
Preparation of tools and materials
Warming the balcony with foam allows eliminating the need to use an additional vapor barrier, because the described thermal insulation provides high vapor permeability. The material practically does not let water through, therefore it also has waterproofing properties.
Before starting insulation work, it is necessary to prepare the following materials and tools:
- wooden slats;
- dowels with hats;
- polyurethane foam;
- self-tapping screws;
- sheets of hydroisol or roofing material.
It is important before going to the store to determine how much material is needed for insulation. You should not purchase the cheapest thermal insulation, because in this case its quality will not be the highest.
Preparatory work
If you decide to sheathe a balcony, then first you need to prepare. It is important to clean all the old things, prepare the walls and floor, as well as dismantle the old balcony frames. If the house has a tile finish, then it is better to remove it within the balcony. Railings and partitions can be left - they will serve as additional thermal insulation. At the final stage, you can sheathe the surface with plastic or other decorative material.
Leveling and insulation of the floor
If you will conduct the insulation of the balcony with your own hands, step-by-step instructions will help with this. It is important to know before starting work that almost a quarter of the heat is lost through the floor. Therefore, it is best to start thermal insulation from this part. To do this, old coatings are removed, and the base plate should be checked. On it there may be gaps, voids and holes that are sealed with a solution.
Warming the balcony with foam implies the need to apply a primer to the floor surface, which will help to avoid the formation of mold and dampness. As a material for insulation, you can use polystyrene, on the surface of which a fine finish is laid, usually a ceramic tile.
Additional recommendations for floor insulation
Quite often, recently, home craftsmen have been warming the balcony with their own hands. The step-by-step instructions presented in the article will help you with this. For the floor, it is best to use 5-cm slabs of the PPT-25 brand. The number indicates the density of the material. If you choose a heater with a less impressive density, then it can not be used to carry out the described work.
Before laying the foam on the floor, a waterproofing layer is laid over, which can be a regular film. Foam plates should be cut to size and laid as tightly as possible on the surface of the oilcloth. From above everything can be poured with a cement-sand mixture, the thickness of which will be about 5 cm. Self-leveling compounds can also be used, but they are more expensive.
As soon as the screed is dry, work on warming the balcony can continue. On a concrete base, a wooden crate is fixed and leveled using a building level. For fasteners, it is recommended to use roofing screws with a bolt head. Slots around the perimeter are filled with mounting foam where the crate is adjacent to the walls.
Between the transverse bars, heat insulation should be placed. There should not be any gaps between the insulation and the structure. If this could not be avoided, the gaps should be filled with mounting foam. It is recommended to use a gun, and the stream of foam should be minimal.
Methodology
If you are thinking about how to make a warm balcony, then at the next stage with the help of a construction stapler and 10 mm staples, you need to fix the cotton wool on the crate, then there is a plastic film that will prevent the previous layer from getting wet. The final step will be the laying of a board or plywood, any material can be laid on top. As it can act:
- laminate;
- linoleum;
- euro board;
- carpet.
You can use this method of thermal insulation only in the area where winters are not very severe. The disadvantage of this technology is the fact that bars are laid on the surface of the plate, which have greater thermal conductivity compared to thermal insulation. As a result, islands of heat loss appear.
Wall insulation
If you will use styrofoam to insulate the balcony from the inside, then the next step is to proceed with the thermal insulation of the walls. For finishing in this case, PVC panels are usually used. The foam is attached to the walls with cement glue. It is applied to the thermal insulation with a thin layer, as well as on the ends of the sheet, where the sheets will be pressed against each other and against the wall.
In order to ensure a more reliable fastening, each sheet should be additionally fixed with dowel nails, which have wide caps called fungi. To do this, using a drill with a victorious tip, it is necessary to make holes, and then install the dowel and hammer the nail. The dowel head should be slightly recessed into the material.
As soon as the insulation is strengthened, penofol should be installed on it using liquid nails, it will act as an additional layer of thermal insulation. In order to achieve a better result, it is recommended to use whole pieces. The seams between the material must be sealed with foil tape.
The technology of warming the balcony with foam plastic in the wall area at the next stage requires the fixing of wooden battens with the subsequent fastening of the finishing material. The thickness of the rails can vary from 3 to 5 cm, this will save usable area.
Reiki should be strengthened with the help of metal corners, which are fixed with dowels, nails and screws. One end of the corner should be fixed to the bar using a self-tapping screw, while the other end should be fixed with a dowel-nail to the wall. The distance between the rails can vary from 35 to 40 cm.
Reviews of the insulation of the balcony with foam
After reading the reviews about the insulation of the balcony with polystyrene foam, you can find out what some home masters believe: the crate of the bars should be strengthened at first, and then insulation should be placed between its elements. This method is not suitable for the walls of the balcony, as experts believe. In this case, you run the risk of forming on the surface a lot of islands of heat loss, because wood has a higher heat transfer compared to insulation.
According to some home masters, you can use paint as a finish. In this case, it is possible to save space and money, because you do not have to install the crate. As soon as the foam is pasted, the dowel caps must be covered with putty or glue, with which the material was installed. After the layer dries, the foam base must be glued with a reinforced mesh. As soon as the surface dries, apply another layer of adhesive and smooth it with a spatula. At the final stage, putty is applied, and then - primers and paints.
Parapet insulation
Polyfoam - a heater that can be used to insulate any part of the balcony, including the parapet. However, the technology in this case will have some features. If there are gaps on the parapet between the concrete slabs, they should be filled with foam. Since the parapet is located between the balcony and the street, it is exposed to temperature stress. This indicates that the maximum thickness of the insulation should be used for thermal insulation.
Sometimes the parapet has a metal structure. In this case, foam blocks of small thickness can be used, on top of which foam boards are glued. If you decide to lay the insulation sheets to the metal parapet, then two layers should be used. At the same time, the balcony is insulated with polystyrene foam and requires the installation of a battens.
It is necessary to open the plates in such a way that there is a space within 1 cm between the bar and the foam sheet. Next, the sheet is put in place and filled with foam in a circle. After that you can proceed to the installation of the second crate. This must be done in such a way that the bars of the first are not connected to the bars of the second. The mounting foam is applied in a zigzag manner, and on the glued sheet of foam it is necessary to install another sheet, filling the slots with foam.
Conclusion
Polyfoam - insulation, which is also perfect for thermal insulation of the main wall. Quite often, these works are not carried out, because they are able to pick up a useful area of 50 mm or more. If you still decide to insulate the main wall, then you must act by analogy with the balcony walls.