Warming of a country house is an important process to ensure a favorable indoor microclimate. Most often, external facade decoration is used, which saves usable space from the inside. The technology of facade insulation with foam is very popular, because the process itself is simple, and the material is cheap. However, before starting work, you should nevertheless take into account possible nuances in order to properly insulate the room.
We warm the house with modern methods
Specialists who constantly improve such technologies strive to minimize the number of heat losses during the construction of buildings, which will minimize economic costs. The method of bonded thermal insulation, on which the technology of facade insulation with foam is based, has been used for a long time. At the same time, the processes themselves are constantly updated and improved. With this method, materials with high thermal performance, in particular polystyrene, are used. Its distinctive features will be discussed below.
Polyfoam: the pros and cons
The positive properties of this material include the following:
- affordability;
- low thermal conductivity;
- lack of need for vapor barrier;
- resistance to moisture absorption;
- durability;
- resistance to microorganisms;
- ease of installation.
However, insulating the walls with polystyrene foam on the outside with your own hands has a number of disadvantages that are caused by the easily flammable material, the release of corrosive toxic smoke. In addition, polystyrene is loved by rodents. However, with a competent approach to warming, disadvantages can be minimized.
Work stages
First you need to calculate the amount of foam that will be needed for the exterior. For this, the external area of the object is measured. To insulate a residential building, experts advise choosing a foam material up to 45 mm thick, and for industrial facilities the material should be even thicker. Insulation of the facade of the house with polystyrene is a technology that is carried out in several stages:
- A wall is being prepared.
- The adhesive composition is selected.
- The base profile is made.
- Styrofoam plates are laid .
- Mounted mesh based on dowels.
- The primer is applied.
- Decorative decoration in progress.
Starting from the walls
On how responsibly you approach the performance of work at this stage depends on how high-quality and durable the insulation will be. These works are laborious, but they should be given close attention. The technology of facade insulation with foam involves the preparation of a high-quality wall surface. To do this, all protruding objects in the form of window tides, air conditioning units, ventilation grilles, rain gutters, lighting devices are removed from it. Then, the durability of the exterior finish, which was performed earlier, is checked. All vertical deviations should be cleaned and aligned.
If the surface of the wall was covered with oil paint, then you will have to clean it, since the peculiarity of this coating is in low adhesion. And this means that it will not be easy to attach the insulation. All cracks on the wall must be primed and puttied.
Base profile fastening
Do-it-yourself insulation of the walls with polystyrene from the outside is the work that will be performed for a long time. When installing the base, the lower point of the plane is marked, which will be insulated. At a water level, the mark is transferred to the corners of the structure, after which they are connected by a thread or cord. In accordance with the marking, a base profile is installed - it will become the basis for the first row of foam plates. The starting bar must be selected the same size as the width of the material. It is attached to the wall with dowels, and the corners are joined by the method of oblique slices or by an angular connector. Between the parts of the base profiles can be laid plastic elements that will compensate for thermal expansion.
We begin installation
The technology of external wall insulation with foam is based on the use of well-prepared adhesive. It must be used immediately after preparation, as it quickly hardens. It is important to remember that it is impossible to thin the glue with water! After preparing the walls and glue, we proceed to installation. The glue is applied in different ways depending on what the plane is. If there are irregularities up to 15 mm, glue is applied around the perimeter of the plate indented from the edge. Glue up to 20 mm wide is applied, with adhesive beacons to be placed on the plate itself. Do not overdo it with the volume of the applied composition. Since when you press the surface, the glue will be distributed between the foam plates and the wall itself. Stripes must be applied intermittently - this will avoid the appearance of closed air jams.
Foam bonding: process features
Insulation of the facade with polystyrene is a technology of thermal insulation of the walls of the house, in which you can make the process of finishing a residential facility cheaper. True, it is important to be able to correctly calculate the number of plates and correctly lay them. So, after the mixture is applied to the plate, it must be glued for 20 minutes. You need to control the level of the location of the plates with the help of a thread. The installation of polystyrene should be carried out from the bottom up, with the first sheets resting against the basement profile. That is why it is so important to correctly arrange the base. Experts advise stacking the foam sheets in a checkerboard pattern, which will ensure the reliability of the structure.
The technology of external wall insulation with foam is simple, but much attention needs to be paid to the area of window and door openings. Ideally, the slabs should be connected above or below the openings, thereby avoiding the formation of gaps and cracks. For this, it is best to use an adjacent profile or sealing tape based on polyurethane foam. It is glued to the box, compressed with insulation. Boxes should also be glued with tape.
We fix the plates with dowels
About three days you need to wait until the slabs clutch with the surface of the wall. Now the foam is attached with dowels by means of special fasteners based on elastic plastic. The length of the fasteners depends on the thickness of the sheet. The technology of facade insulation with foam involves the use of dowels that do not have a metal rod. This can lead to the formation of a cold bridge.
Thermal insulation reinforcement
Reliability of the construction should be supplemented by auxiliary mesh layers. As a rule, reinforcing patches based on a reinforcing mesh are used for finishing corners of windows and doors. These elements prevent cracks that may occur at the internal corners of the openings. The technology of external wall insulation with foam is an opportunity to strengthen the first floor with a reinforcing layer by about 2 meters, which will protect the facade from various mechanical damage.
All exterior corners of the building must also be reinforced. For this, experts recommend the use of perforated corners made of aluminum or plastic. Glue is applied to both sides of the corner, which is pressed against the foam sheet with a spatula. Using the level, the same angle is set over the entire surface of the wall.
Main reinforcing layer
To make the insulation of the facades with polystyrene correctly, it is important not to forget about installing the main reinforcing mesh. It is carried out after drying of additional layers and fixing of all reinforcement elements. The mesh is glued with an overlap, and for the decoration of the facade material is selected from fiberglass, which is resistant to stretching and cracks. The grid is cut into strips of the same height. Then, a glue solution up to 2 mm thick is applied to the wall. The prepared mesh is unwound to the full length. It is applied to the solution, leveled with a spatula. A second layer of glue is applied to the reinforced mesh. However, it will not be noticeable.
After the reinforced cloth is laid, it must dry. Then it can be sanded with sandpaper. Three days later, the walls completely dry, they can be treated with a primer with quartz sand in the composition. This will achieve high adhesion to the surface. In addition, any finishing material is easy to apply on such a wall.
Foam insulation technology for facades: tips
Wall insulation should be at a temperature of +5 to +25 degrees with air humidity not more than 80%. At the same time, the working surface must be protected from the effects of natural factors. When working, you need to put scaffolding at least 30 cm from the wall to provide convenient access to them. Remember that after you have covered the wall with foam, you should not put the reinforcement into a long box, since the insulation may turn yellow under the influence of the environment. Start with a less visible wall when insulating facades with foam. Installation technology will allow in case of defects to fix them and at the same time not to harm the decorative component of the building.
Performing insulation by bonded insulation, choose high-quality consumables designed for the decoration of facades. This is because this heat-insulating material meets the requirements of vapor permeability and fire resistance. Solutions should also be selected specialized - for external work.
All of these steps involves the technology of facade insulation with foam. DIY installation from scratch is quite possible. The main thing is to choose the right material and follow the stages of the work.