Expanded clay insulation in a wooden house: advantages and disadvantages, technology and advice from masters

The procedure of floor insulation in a wooden house is the most important stage of construction. And quite often they prefer the simplest and most common material - expanded clay. The installation technology is quite simple, for this reason expanded clay is appreciated. The fact is that all work can be performed without the use of special equipment and specialists. And the cost of work today is quite high.

Despite the fact that the technology of conducting work on floor insulation with expanded clay in a wooden house is very simple, insulation with this material is effective and lasts a long time. Therefore, it is not necessary to be surprised that to this day expanded clay is popular. Even despite the fact that there are a large number of modern and highly effective materials on sale, expanded clay is still in demand among builders. And there are many reasons for this, among which the ease of installation and the cost of the material. The pros and cons of floor insulation with expanded clay we will consider in our material. Agree, prices in the building materials market bite. Therefore, if there is a desire to save money, pay attention to expanded clay - an excellent insulation, not much inferior to modern artificial materials.

Why carry out floor insulation

And now let's look at the pros and cons of expanded clay insulation, we will analyze some of the nuances. The purpose of the work is to achieve the highest possible quality of the result. Therefore, pay attention to the insulation of all components of the structure. It is necessary to carefully isolate not only the walls, but also the ceiling and floor. Otherwise, you will not be able to create the perfect indoor microclimate.

An equally important stage is the laying of a vapor barrier layer. The work procedure is not very complicated. Its essence is that warm air does not leave the room. As a rule, no one forgets about vapor barrier. But many people consider warming as an unnecessary procedure, but in vain. Because it will be quite difficult to walk on the floor - it’s cold. It may even be that the room itself will be warm and comfortable, but walking barefoot on the floor will be difficult due to the cold.

Causes of cold in the rooms

Very often, the reason for the cold floor is the uninsulated basement. The problem is that it is usually damp and cold. Therefore, the rooms of the first floor located above it absorb a particle of this coolness. And if this is good in summer, then in winter it is unlikely to be pleasant. And as you yourself understand, it is unlikely that they can affect the microclimate of warming only walls and ceilings. It is necessary to warm and floors.

Expanded clay and its properties

Bulk materials have been used in construction for many decades. And they are used much longer than various artificial materials, such as mineral wool or polystyrene. If you went into the history of building materials, then you know that before warming was carried out by sand, sawdust, clay, straw. In other words, exactly what was in abundance. To recall at least the adobe known to everyone - a product from clay and straw. Walls of houses were erected from it. And the dwellings in the winter kept warm, and in the summer, on the contrary, were cool.

Expanded clay can also be attributed to bulk materials. It appeared a few decades ago, gained popularity among builders quickly enough. And to this day, it holds its position in the ranking of the best heat insulators. It is worth noting that mineral wool and polystyrene, for example, are inferior to their more modern counterparts.

How to make expanded clay?

What is expanded clay? These are small stones of a rounded shape. In the production of the material, shale-containing rocks processed at a temperature of more than 1000 degrees and clay are used. And most importantly, it is centrifugal force, which allows you to make such pebbles. Raw materials must be rotated quickly in a hot oven. In this case, small granules of different diameters begin to form. They bake and harden. Such material is often used for insulation of ceilings and floors. But sometimes it is used in order to fill voids between the partitions.

Expanded clay advantages

And now let's look at the pros and cons of expanded clay. Insulation of the floor is simple enough for them, but this is only one advantage. Let's look at the rest:

1. Sound insulation in rooms is significantly improved.
2. The material has a fairly low thermal conductivity.
3. The material is very light. And this means that the load on the floors will be minimal. And this is very important when working in a wooden house.
4. Expanded clay is environmentally friendly (especially in comparison with modern artificial materials).
5. It is completely safe for human health - no matter what the ambient temperature. Expanded clay does not emit harmful substances even during combustion.
6. It does not burn, it is durable.
7. Very low cost.
8. Biologically neutral - even if saturated, mold or fungus does not appear.
9. And most importantly - no insects or rodents will not destroy expanded clay. You can not say about the foam, which is very fond of mice.

A bit about thermal conductivity

It is worth mentioning the thermal conductivity. A small layer of expanded clay (about 10 cm) has the same efficiency as 25 cm of wood or 1 meter of brickwork. But inferior expanded clay mineral wool and polystyrene.

Among the disadvantages, only low moisture resistance can be mentioned. If a large amount of water gets on the stones, they will absorb them instantly. But the material will dry out for a very long time. As a result, the mass of the thermal insulation layer increases significantly, and the characteristics deteriorate. Therefore, when insulating with expanded clay, you need to carefully follow the technology. We will talk about it later.

Advantages of expanded clay insulation

Having dealt with the features of the material, you can move on to the advantage of its use when carrying out insulation works:

1. There is no need to make a complex multilayer system, as in the case of laying roll materials.
2. There is no need to adjust the material to the size of the treatment area.
3. Installation is simple and its speed is high.
4. No special tools and equipment will be required for the work.
5. Can be used even on uneven surfaces.

But you can highlight one feature - you have to apply a large layer of backfill. Suppose the effectiveness of a foam layer 5-10 cm thick is the same as that of expanded clay 20-30 cm.

But this problem is not very significant, since the heat-insulating layer even with the use of polystyrene is large. But this drawback will be felt when insulation is made in rooms of standard height (about 2.3 m). If the height decreases by 10-20 cm, it will be very noticeable. As a result, the room will become uncomfortable and uncomfortable.

Varieties of material

The material can be any, differences in the size of the balls. Three types can be distinguished:

1. Crushed stone - made by crushing large pieces of material. Usually used when backfilling the base layer.
2. Gravel - the technology is the same as described above. They are obtained by rotating and firing granules of 5-40 mm in diameter.
3. Sand - very small (up to 5 mm) particles. They are good because with their help you can fill everything, even small ones, cracks, cracks.

You can also classify the material by density. You can divide as many as 10 categories by this parameter! As you can understand, the higher the density, the more efficient the insulation. But its cost is also higher.

Features of insulation technology

Ease of work is the main "trump card" of the material. The floor is insulated with expanded clay in a wooden house from the bottom in the same way as the ceiling from above. It is worth noting that laying mineral wool or polystyrene is much more difficult. But all the same, the technology of the work must be observed, otherwise the insulation can absorb moisture. And this is the main problem that can result in sloppy installation.

Warming the floor with expanded clay in a wooden house with your own hands, you can follow any technology. Just pour material into the cavity under the floor. Or add granules to the mortar that creates the floor screed. We will consider both of these options in more detail. First you need to prepare the foundation, and for this you do the following manipulations:

1. Remove the old coating completely, if any.
2. Get rid of dust, dirt, debris. If there is mold or fungus, then they need to be treated with chemicals.

And after that, you can go directly to filling materials under the floors of a wooden house.

Easy way to backfill

It is this technology of floor insulation with expanded clay in a wooden house that is the most common and simple. Material is poured directly onto the ground between the logs of the floor. The technology can be applied both in the construction of suburban country houses and cottages.

The work procedure is as follows:

1. If necessary, they compact the soil layer.
2. Stack lags.
3. They cover a layer of waterproofing material (roofing material is ideal). It is recommended to lay several layers of insulator for reliability. Overlap at least 10 cm, it is also necessary that he went on the walls.
4. Fall asleep expanded clay. Reviews on the floor insulation in a wooden house (the technology of these works is the simplest) are only positive, but provided that the material of various fractions was used - gravel, sand, gravel.
5. Lay a layer of vapor barrier material. You can use ordinary plastic film. As in the case of roofing material, you need to do overlaps of at least 10 cm.
6. Lay the floor boards and finish.

In the same way, it is possible to perform the insulation of the ceiling from the attic.

Screed over concrete slab

Expanded clay floor insulation in a wooden house on screw piles is carried out according to a similar technology, only you have to make a kind of "underground". It is in it that the insulation will be located. The option that we will now consider, with equal success, can be used both for warming private houses made of wood, and apartments in high-rise buildings. The algorithm of the work is as follows:

1. Lay several layers of waterproofing material. Be sure to overlap from 10 cm and enter the walls.
2. Fill the entire surface as densely as possible with expanded clay of various fractions.
3. Level the layer of insulation material.
4. Install the reinforcing mesh on top of expanded clay.
5. Perform a small rough floor screed.

Approximately the same technology is used for floor insulation with expanded clay in a wooden house on screw piles. Installation of insulation and other insulating materials is quite simple, there are no subtleties when performing work.

How to make a “dry” screed?

Today this technology is the most popular. The usual “wet” screed implies the preparation of the mortar, its leveling, etc. The “dry” screed does not need to be poured, cooked, leveled, wait several days (or even weeks) until solidification occurs. The simplicity of the technology is over the top, it can be used for floor insulation with expanded clay in a wooden house. The thickness of the insulation layer should be about 20-30 cm. Only in this case it will be possible to achieve maximum efficiency.

The technology is about the same as laying boards on the logs. But not boards are mounted, but special gypsum-based boards. The advantage of this kind of technology is that it is simple. But you also get a perfectly flat floor, smooth, ready for a fine finish. And if necessary, then this coating is very easy to dismantle. And if you make a “wet” screed, you will have to break it to dismantle it. This technology can be used both for floor insulation with expanded clay in a wooden house, and in an apartment.