As you know, warm air tends to rise up, as a result, the floor remains the coldest place in an apartment or house. This is especially true for the ground floor, under which there is often a basement or a subfloor. In our article we will talk about how to insulate the floor on the first floor and not only.
The most reliable way to protect against cold is the use of insulation, which can be in the form of blocks, rolls or bulk materials. When deciding what is better to insulate the floor, you need to choose between cost, heat-insulating properties and durability of the material.
Basement insulation
Builders do not really care about tightness when laying the floor. In the basement space, cracks most often remain. They can even be seen from the basement. The first thing to do is to close the gaps in the ceiling. Small holes can be plastered from below. In a private house, insulation boards can be glued to the ceiling on the underside.
Foam mounting adhesive is suitable here. How to make an insulated floor from the bottom so that the plates do not lag behind? To do this, they are additionally seized with dowels, parachutes, and the joints are foamed.
A clear advantage of the method is that there is no need to break anything. Everything will remain as it was, but the house will become warm.
Warming of a wooden floor
The old floorboard can be replaced with a new one. If it is in good condition, then the floor is carefully disassembled. At the same time, it is necessary to mark the boards so that then you do not waste time and effort on fitting. This is especially true for the half floor. Disassembly is done in order to also assemble back. The nails are removed carefully so as not to damage the boards. When assembling the floor, it is advisable to use self-tapping screws, which create more durable joints and are easily removed.
Before you insulate the floor on the first floor, the cracks from above must be carefully sealed with mounting foam, putty and cement-sand mortar. Logs should be checked by level and further strengthened. Otherwise, the floorboards will creak as they did before. In construction stores, there are racks on sale that screw into the logs and abut against the ceiling. They can also be made of steel studs.
Floor slabs are tightly laid with mineral wool, which should go onto the walls. A budget solution is the use of straw mats or sawdust, but they decompose over time. Expanded clay, polystyrene chips or slag can also be used. In principle, any insulation is suitable if it performs its functions. From below, a vapor barrier layer is laid on the floor so that moisture does not accumulate, from which the properties of the insulation deteriorate significantly.
How to insulate the floor with polystyrene foam or expanded polystyrene
If the floor is covered with ceramic tiles or cement screed, it can be insulated with thin sheets of polystyrene foam or polystyrene.
Fiberboard and gypsum plasterboard GVL are also used. But their heat-insulating properties are much lower.
A vapor barrier is placed on the concrete floor, and a layer of insulation and a plastic film are placed on it. Then a cement screed or a special mixture is laid on top. It should be reinforced with a mesh. To compensate for temperature fluctuations, an edge tape is laid along the perimeter of the wall. A new floor covering is installed on top: tiles, parquet, laminate or linoleum.
Insulating linoleum substrate
The problem of how to insulate the floor on the first floor can be solved in the simplest way due to linoleum with a substrate. It is the most common, cheap, easy to install and maintain coating. It is enough to properly cut it and insert it under the baseboard.
The material consists of layers of PVC with a pattern, fiberglass and substrate, which is often used foamed PVC. The same material on both sides does not allow the coating to deform when the temperature changes.
There is also insulation for the floor under linoleum. It is the bottom layer, which can be made of jute or fabric.
Additional linoleum backing
If the coating does not have the necessary protection from the cold from below, then additional substrates are used for the main coating: cork, linen and polystyrene foam. Cork is a good insulation, but it can be used as an independent coating. Ordinary plywood or fiberboard also have heat-insulating properties, but the effect will be much greater if an additional layer of expanded polystyrene is laid under them. Insulation for the floor under linoleum is best laid under plywood or fiberboard.
This is done as follows:
- a warming substrate is laid on a dry and even floor;
- plywood is laid and fastened with screws to the floor;
- they cover linoleum from above and hide the edges under the baseboard that protects the substrate from water penetration.
This method is used in rooms with high ceilings.
How to connect a warm floor
Underfloor heating makes it possible to create uniform heat in the room. It is a heating system located under the cover, which gives the most favorable temperature distribution in the room in height.
The problem of how to insulate the floor on the first floor using electric heating can be solved in one of the following ways:
- The infrared film coated with polymer is placed under any floor covering. It does not require filling the screed.
- Resistive cable whose power varies with temperature. He heats the cold areas more, and the warmer ones less. It requires filling the screed.
- Carbon rods mounted on a fiberglass mesh can be filled with ordinary tile glue.
After installation, you need to know how to connect a warm floor. For this, a thermostat is required, to which a heating cable is connected. All connections should be made according to the instructions, carefully performing all the steps.
Water heating is carried out using pipes with circulating hot water. They are laid under the floor or poured screed. Heating is carried out through copper, polypropylene or metal-plastic pipes that are connected to the room heating system.
Floor heating can be distributed so that individual sections are connected. For this, a collector with control valves is placed at the top.
Conclusion
Flooring can be insulated by installing heat-insulating materials used separately or as a substrate for flooring. Particularly effective are insulating panels at the bottom of the ceilings. When installing them, there is no need to disassemble the floor above. In addition, you can install a system of underfloor heating, which can be autonomous or included in the heating system at home.