The issue of internal insulation causes a lot of controversy and has its ardent opponents. But there are those who believe that this option will help make the building more comfortable for living. Both sides are right. In every situation, there is reason to take one or another position. But before choosing this method for the interior decoration of a private house, you should carefully weigh the pros and cons, study the features, and choose a safe insulation.
In what cases is it relevant
Warming the walls from the inside certainly allows you to increase the thermal performance of the house. But this is an unconventional technology, because they usually try to do external insulation. However, there are situations when there is no other way.
Also, the option is relevant for apartment buildings. It helps to not only increase the comfort of housing, but also to prevent the occurrence of such troubles as mold or fungus.
Problems
This method has a number of disadvantages. For this reason, the method has many opponents. Insulating walls “from the inside” can cause the following problems:
- The walls are not protected from the cold. The supporting structure of the building continues to be in contact with the outside air. This can lead to its gradual destruction. Cracks will begin to appear on the surface. This event not only does not protect the outer wall from the cold, but also takes away some of the heat from it, because before warming, part of the heat from the room heated the wall, and now this flow is blocked.
- Condensation It forms on a cold surface in contact with warm air. Heat engineers call the place of condensation the dew point. The main task of thermal insulation is to move the dew point outside the wall. Insulation "from the inside" provides a dew point shift to the boundary between the wall and the insulation. This process is hidden, so the owners of the house do not notice it. But humidity will be an excellent condition for the reproduction of various microorganisms.
- Reducing the area of premises. Modern types of insulation have good efficiency. But science has not yet come up with such good material that its thickness is minimal. To insulate the house from the side of the room, it will take 5 to 10 cm of insulation. This pretty much eats up the area. This is not so noticeable to the eye, but if you calculate the loss for the entire building, the figure is significant.
Therefore, before deciding on the internal insulation of the walls of the house, we recommend that you carefully think about these problems. In this case, ignorance does not exempt from liability, since the result of inattention will make itself felt in the first years of operation.
Material selection
The technology allows the use of different types of insulation. Each of them has its own characteristics, advantages and disadvantages. Most often, the following options for insulating walls from the inside are used:
- Styrofoam;
- extruded polystyrene foam (Penoplex type);
- mineral wool;
- wood fiber boards.
Styrofoam
Polyfoam is inexpensive and has good efficiency. In most cases, 5 cm will be enough to provide a comfortable microclimate. It allows you to perform work quickly, without complex processing and additional tools.
But this material has significant disadvantages:
- low strength;
- flammability;
- poor vapor permeability - polystyrene is able to turn a house into a real greenhouse.
To avoid the last prediction, a forced ventilation device is required. Such events will require additional financial and labor costs. Read a detailed article on polystyrene insulation from the inside.
Extruded Styrofoam
The closest relative of the foam was extruded polystyrene foam (such as Penoplex). It is very similar in appearance, but has an orange color instead of white. It is also worth noting that it has greater strength and durability. But such flaws as flammability and poor vapor permeability have not disappeared. Such wall insulation will not allow it to breathe and will require additional ventilation.
Read the information on wall insulation “Penoplex” from the inside.
Is it possible to carry out internal insulation with polystyrene foam? Yes you can. But you need to prepare for the negative consequences and eliminate them in time. This option is more suitable for bricks or lightweight concrete. Wood for walls is usually chosen for its ability to breathe. Polyfoam or polystyrene easily block the air flow and negate all the advantages of wood.
Mineral wool
Such a heater is widespread. It costs relatively little more, but it has high vapor permeability. It is recommended to choose basalt mineral wool, which is available in hard plates. It is easy to install, does not burn, has a sufficiently high strength.
But to place a warming layer inside the room should be careful. This material has low moisture resistance. Vata absorbs water perfectly, after which it practically ceases to fulfill its direct functions. For reliable protection against moisture, vapor barrier from the warm air side and waterproof from the cold side should be provided.
Vapor barrier and waterproofing materials are traditionally available in two forms: films and membranes. The former have low vapor permeability. The cheapest example is ordinary plastic wrap. In order not to block the movement of air inside the walls, it is recommended to choose modern membranes. Read step-by-step instructions for insulating walls with mineral wool from the inside.
Fiberboard
The walls of the house can be insulated from the inside with soft fiberboard boards. The option does not guarantee that in the future the difficulties listed above will not appear, but it has the following advantages:
- good thermal insulation and sound absorption;
- unattractive to insects and rodents;
- good resistance to moisture and temperature extremes;
- ease of processing, you can use any tools;
- simple installation;
- convenience for wiring.
Material Selection Criteria
Insulation of the walls of the house from the inside should satisfy the following criteria:
- environmental friendliness;
- safety;
- fire resistance (for materials that are unstable to high temperatures, select the appropriate finish);
- durability;
- efficiency, low thermal conductivity;
- good resistance to moisture (or the presence of additional protection against it).
It is also worth checking the vapor permeability. How to insulate a house for many years? Good ventilation needs to be considered. Without this, the building will suffer from high humidity and microclimate disturbance. The problem can be solved, but you need to think about it at the initial stage.
Technology
For a private house, two methods of fixing the material are used. Both of them are relevant:
- on glue;
- on the frame.
The second option allows you to not align the carefully insulated surface. In addition, it allows you to easily fix the finishing materials. For example, for facing with drywall in any case, you need to build a frame. You can insulate the wall under plywood or under plaster. Then the need for using the frame disappears. The choice of method of installation of insulation largely depends on the method of further finishing. Be sure to consider what basis is required.
Adhesive mount
The surface must be thoroughly cleaned of dirt, grease and dust, otherwise it can significantly reduce the quality of adhesion of the insulating material to the base. Further work is performed in the following order:
- level the surface, knock over the protrusions, cover cracks and depressions;
- treat the surface with an antiseptic composition;
- apply a primer layer;
- glue the sheet, the adhesive composition is applied with a roller on the wall and material;
- allow the glue to dry;
- fix the material to the wall with dowels.
Styrofoam sheets and mineral wool slabs are staggered. After fixing the insulation, you can begin to finish.
Frame mount
This option can be called more time-consuming, but also more reliable. It allows you to protect the insulation from mechanical stress. This is especially true when using fragile polystyrene.
Before starting work, the wall is cleaned of impurities and treated with an antiseptic. After that, you need to build a good frame from wooden blocks or a metal aluminum profile. Fastening racks to the wall is performed on self-tapping screws. The pitch of the elements is selected depending on the width of the insulation. For mineral wool, such a step will be required so that 58 cm remains in the light. For foam and foam, the distance in the light should be exactly 60 cm.
After installing the frame, the insulation is laid between the racks. The joints between the polystyrene foam and the frame are filled with polyurethane foam. After that, you can begin to finish.
When performing work on any of these technologies using mineral wool, it is important not to forget about insulation from moisture. The waterproofing is attached directly to the wall before installing the cotton wool, and the vapor barrier covers the material and protects it from internal steam. The fastening of the layers is usually done with a construction stapler. The overlap of the material should be at least 10 cm in length.