The microclimate in wooden houses is usually very good. In most cases, such buildings do not need insulation. However, cracks and gaps often appear in the walls of old chopped and cobbled structures. It is then that the need arises for the isolation of enclosing structures. Of course, this procedure should be performed strictly adhering to certain technologies. In addition, of course, you need to know how best to insulate wooden houses from the outside.
What materials will be needed
In order to perform high-quality insulation of wooden walls, you will need to prepare:
- Beam with a section of 50 x 150 mm under the crate. You can use another option. In this case, it all depends on how thick the insulation is chosen. Its plates must be completely recessed into the crate.
- Mineral wool is an excellent answer to the question of how to insulate wooden houses from the outside. Plates must be sufficiently rigid. This will negate the risk of slipping in the future.
- Vapor barrier and waterproofing films. These materials are necessary to protect the heat insulator from getting wet from the outside and from the inside.
- Bars 40 x 40 cm. They will be attached to the waterproofing film.
- Siding, block house or lining. These materials are just perfect for upholstery of a wooden house.
- Anti-fungal treatment for walls. It is also desirable to purchase a composition that increases the fire resistance of wood.
What tools will be needed
You will also need to prepare:
- Hammer for driving nails.
- Drill for siding installation.
- Knife for cutting waterproofing film.
Insulation of windows and doors
The question of how to insulate a private house comes down, among other things, to the insulation of openings. Of course, there should be no gaps between the window frames and the walls. Otherwise, the effect of rather expensive work on the insulation of the building itself will be reduced to zero. If there are gaps, they should first be sealed with concrete mortar. The same applies to the door frame. The canvas itself will also be good to insulate. You can buy a finished door with a built-in insulator. By the way, the same applies to windows. There are always microcracks in old dried-up wooden frames, through which precious heat leaves the house. Therefore, if funds allow, it is worth buying and installing new eurowindows. In this case, you can use a wooden or cheaper PVC “under the tree” profile.
Foundation expansion
How to insulate the walls of a wooden house, we will consider a little lower. First, let's figure out what needs to be done before that. Of course, first of all, you will have to expand the base of the house. The pie of the walls should rest against something from below. Otherwise, the heat insulator will begin to slip. For expansion, reinforcing bars are drilled into the main foundation. Further, formwork is installed around the perimeter of the house. At the bottom of the resulting "trough" sand is poured. Next, a footing 5 cm thick is poured. Reinforcement is installed on it and connected to the rods drilled into the main foundation. Then the filling is done. After the concrete has hardened, the formwork is removed. From above, the new part of the foundation should be waterproofed with two layers of roofing material.
Foundation insulation
In order to make the house as warm as possible, the foundation should be insulated before the walls are insulated. A very good solution would be to use polyurethane foam for this purpose. The material is quite expensive, however, since it retains heat much better than other insulators, it will need much less. For fairly effective insulation, a layer of 3 to 10 cm is needed.
Of course, you can use expanded polystyrene for this purpose. However, in this case, it is better to purchase products from trusted manufacturers. For example, the foamed insulation of the Penoplex brand, the price of which is not too high (100-300 rubles), tolerates the effects of aggressive substances dissolved in the soil very well. In addition, he is not at all afraid of moisture. Mineral wool is not recommended for foundation insulation. The fact is that this material absorbs water very easily and at the same time loses its insulating properties.
We isolate the walls: a preliminary stage
So, let's start to figure out how to insulate a private house, or rather, its facades. First of all, all surfaces must be cleaned of dirt. Next, the timber or log is treated with an agent that prevents the appearance of fungus. It is also worth smearing them with compounds that increase fire resistance and destroy insects. Further, all existing slots and grooves are sealed with tow. Caulking should be done in dry weather. Instead of tow, you can use jute or hemp. These materials are pushed into the cracks using a special tool - caulking. After that, you can proceed to the actual work on assembling the wall cake.
What you need to know about thermal insulation
How to insulate wooden houses from the outside, you already know. Why exactly basalt wool? This material is considered the best choice because the foam or polystyrene foam is practically impervious to moisture. Even with ventilation gaps under these materials, it accumulates a lot. As a result, the cake loses some of its thermal insulation properties, and the log or timber begins to rot.
Even high-quality foam insulation is not suitable for cladding wooden walls. For example, the same "Penoplex". The price of mineral wool is lower than for it. And therefore, the owners of the house in any case do not lose anything. Glass wool can be used instead of basalt.
Vapor barrier device
Previously, the walls are covered with a material that prevents the penetration of moisture from the inside of the house into the insulation. As a vapor barrier, you can use a plastic film or some other more modern analogue. In the event that the walls are thick and assembled from logs, the material can be fixed directly on them. Between the crowns in this case there will be enough free space for effective ventilation. If they are knocked down from boards or made of timber, it will be necessary to arrange an additional gap for ventilation. In this case, the film is stretched onto thin slats previously fixed to the wall.
Lathing installation
So, now you know the answer to the question of what is the best way to insulate a wooden house. Mineral wool slabs are attached to the walls in it is often fixed horizontally. Lining and block house are usually mounted on a vertical frame. The bars are attached to screws or nails. The step between them should be equal to the width of the mineral wool boards. Sometimes the distance between the purlins is made a little smaller. In this case, the plates can be installed by surprise. The beam must be treated with anti-rotten and fire-resistant agents.
Plate installation
So, how to insulate wooden houses from the outside, we found out. How to properly install the plates? The insulation is mounted on top of the vapor barrier film between the beams of the assembled crate. Unfortunately, wooden walls are often a bit uneven. Therefore, gaps may form between the plates and the crate in some places. It is allowed to seal them with materials such as basaltin, jute or lnovatin. In order to prevent the plates from falling out and sliding, it is worth additionally fixing them with special plastic dowels with wide caps. If the crate is mounted vertically, sheathe the walls with cotton wool starting from any corner. If the bars are horizontal, the installation is carried out from the bottom up.
Usually, insulation is carried out using a material 5 cm thick. In this case, the installation is carried out in two layers. In this case, the joints of the second are placed above the center of the plates of the first. From below, the cake will need to be covered with a metal mesh so that mice and insects do not penetrate into it.
Installation of waterproofing film
So, the best insulation for a wooden house is mineral wool. What material should be chosen for the waterproofing device? In this case, it is worth using a special superdiffusion membrane. This material will protect the walls not only from rain, but also from wind. For wooden houses it is allowed to use with a vapor permeability of at least 1400 g per m 3.
The film is attached directly to the crate using 40 x 40 mm blocks. This will allow you to arrange a ventilation layer between it and the fine finish. Lay the film perpendicular to the location of the purlins. The overlap between the individual strips should be about 10 cm. Sometimes the joints are additionally glued with construction tape.
Installation of lining
The finishing material is attached to the counter-lattice obtained after the installation of the waterproofing agent. There are only two main ways to fix the lining: with nails and special clamps. The first method can be considered the simplest. However, in terms of aesthetics, such a skin that is made in two other ways loses a lot. After all, the caps of carnations in any case will be clearly visible.
Therefore, the lining is often fixed to the crate with clamps. These fasteners are first put on the lamella groove shelf, and then on the beam. In this way, you can make a very beautiful coating. In the same way, a block house is attached to the crate.
Insulation of the roof of a wooden house from the outside
In this case, a wire is first attached to the rafters on the reverse side, and behind it from the inside, further insulation boards are installed from the outside. It is mounted above it. It is attached to the bars. Next, the crate is mounted. The step between its elements depends on the type of roofing material. A continuous crate is arranged under the roofing material and soft tiles. Under the profile, a sparse one is mounted with a distance between the elements of 30-50 cm.
Thus, we have figured out how to insulate an old wooden house. As you can see, the procedure is not particularly complicated. The most important thing is to follow the order of work and not violate the technology. In this case, the wooden building will turn out to be warm and cozy, and the ventilated facade and roof will last a long time.