Do-it-yourself Wall Insulation Technology With Foam Plastic Outside With Step-by-step Instructions

2023 Author: Philip Bishop | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 07:54

• What is foam
• Material advantages
• Disadvantages of insulation
• Features of the use of foam
• Do-it-yourself wall insulation with foam plastic
• Preparation of the base for insulation
• Calculation and preparation of materials
• Installation of foam insulation on the wall
• We insulate the floor with foam
• Foundation preparation
• Self-warming of the floor with foam
• Ceiling insulation
• Conclusion

A fairly popular option for increasing the temperature in the room is do-it-yourself foam insulation. It should be noted that such material is used everywhere, both in individual construction and in mass construction. But before you undertake to equip insulation with foam, you should find out what kind of material it is, what characteristics it has, and most importantly, how to properly carry out insulation with its help.

What is foam

There are many types of foam made from different materials. In total, it is a foamed mass, which is additionally filled with air or a certain type of gas (depending on the purpose).

As already mentioned, foam is made from various constituents, which in turn affect its performance. By controlling the gas level inside the material, its strength and resistance to various loads change.

Material advantages

To begin with, it is worth considering all the advantages of foam as a heater, among them are noted:

1. Immunity to moisture. Along with the fact that moisture does not affect the structure of the material, and does not contribute to corrosion, the foam practically does not absorb it.
2. Possesses a high level of thermal insulation properties.
3. It is not subject to corrosion, mold or mildew.
4. It is lightweight.
5. It is easy to process and install, which allows you to easily do insulation with your own hands.
6. Quite a long operational period.
7. It is not affected by temperatures, in addition, it easily withstands large changes and changes in climatic conditions.
8. Along with thermal insulation, it provides good sound insulation of the room.
9. During installation, additional provision of waterproofing compounds is not required.
10. Using a high-density material, additional protection against mechanical stress can be provided without first creating a frame.

Note that these are not all the advantages of foam as a material, but the main ones that are most useful for thermal insulation.

Disadvantages of insulation

It is also worth considering the disadvantages, among which it is noted:

1. Low level of air permeability, which becomes a contraindication for use in combination with wooden structures. Accordingly, they cannot be insulated with wooden houses.
2. Since it has limited strength and resistance to mechanical stress, additional protection against damage is required, which is equipped after installation.
3. The material is easily destroyed when exposed to nitro paints or other compositions based on nitro lacquer.
4. The insulation is flammable, in addition, when burning, it emits harmful gases (phosgene, carbon monoxide).
5. It is not recommended to use it for internal wall insulation (it is allowed only with the right approach and numerous calculations).

It should be noted separately that the use of open foam in residential premises is not recommended. It is better to use mineral wool.

Features of the use of foam

As a heater, this material has found its application in the following areas:

1. External wall insulation.
2. Internal wall insulation.
3. Arrangement of thermal insulation for ceilings and attics.
4. Thermal insulation of basements and foundations.

It should be noted right away that the use of material for insulating walls from the inside can be considered incorrect. This is due to the fact that the wall must be warmed up by heating. As a result, the following occurs with internal insulation:

1. Complete thermal insulation of the wall from heating, resulting in a shift of the dew point.
2. The displacement will cause a change in the thermal insulation qualities of the wall itself. Moisture will accumulate in it, and gradually destroy the wall from the inside.
3. It also contributes to the appearance of mold and mildew and their further spread not only along the outer walls, but also on the inner ones.

Due to these factors, experts recommend using polystyrene only for external insulation.

It is also important to note the features of basement and foundation insulation. When arranging it, it will be necessary to create additional protection, since in winter the soil has the property of heaving during frost, which creates pressure on insulation. Therefore, you will have to additionally build the formwork or provide for brickwork.

Now it is worth considering the features of the insulation of vertical and horizontal surfaces using foam. Namely, the technology of fixing on walls and foundations, as well as on the floor, ceiling and attic.

Do-it-yourself wall insulation with foam plastic

As we have already said, it is not advisable to carry out internal insulation with this material, therefore we will consider the technology of external installation.

The work itself can be divided into the following stages:

1. Preparation of the base.
2. Calculation of materials and their purchase.
3. Installation of polystyrene.
4. Finish coating.

And now we will consider each of these stages separately in more detail.

Preparation of the base for insulation

The first step is to prepare the foundation. As part of it, the following actions are carried out:

1. Cleaning the surface from debris. If there is a decorative coating, it must be removed.
2. Verification of verticality (or horizontal when working with the floor). If there are irregularities, alignment is imperative.
3. After leveling the surface, a primer is applied.

At this stage, the preparation of the coating is completed.

Calculation and preparation of materials

Now you need to purchase materials for work, and the first step is to calculate them, then buy and prepare.

1. Before insulating walls, it is necessary to determine the square of the object, calculate the materials.
2. Styrofoam is better to choose 35 levels with a density of 5 cm thick.
3. Before pasting the foam, it is necessary to apply a primer to the surface of the substrate to improve adhesion. The consumption of the primer is approximately 200 g per 1 m ². Primers are used exclusively for outdoor use. For example, Ceresit CT-17, Siltek E-100, etc. are suitable for these purposes.
4. It is also recommended to make the surface rougher, for which a needle roller is used, which rolls the entire foam surface on both sides.

That's all, you can proceed directly to the installation of insulation.

Installation of foam insulation on the wall

Now let's move on directly to the technology of installing insulation on the wall with our own hands.

It is carried out as follows:

1. First of all, we mount the basement profiles at a level below the insulation itself. They are equipped with a dowel attachment.

   

2. Next, we start preparing the solution. Foam installation is carried out using dry adhesive mixtures. Their consumption is about 6 kg / m ². Recommended solutions for gluing foam plastic are Ceresit CT-83 and Siltek T-85. Mix the mixture strictly according to the instructions on the package.

   

3. Apply the adhesive composition in a continuous layer around the perimeter of the foam block, inside it we provide for a uniform distribution of the solution cakes.

   

4. We glue the block, pressing it tightly to the surface.

   

5. It is necessary to use dowels (umbrellas) for good fixing of the foam on the wall. We make holes for them using a puncher.

6. For reliable fastening, we provide dowels with a step of 20-30 centimeters. Find out how else you can fix sheets with polyurethane foam and other installation options.

   

7. After the foam is fixed to the base, the process of reinforcing the insulation begins. To do this, you can use the same adhesive, or purchase a special reinforcing mixture, as well as a fiberglass mesh. The recommended mixtures for reinforcement are Ceresit ST-85 and Siltek T-87.

8. The reinforcing mixture is applied with a spatula to the foam sheet. It is imperative to create an even layer.

   

9. After application, a fiberglass mesh is pressed onto it, which is rubbed with an ordinary spatula.

   

10. The next step is to apply another layer of the reinforcing compound, after which the surface is left to dry.

    

11. After the reinforcing layer has dried, a primer is applied to it.

    

12. The final stage of house insulation is the choice of facade design. Most often, plaster is carried out with its further color, but a large number of options are allowed.

    

For finishing the facade, you can use the decorative plaster "Bark beetle". Its arrangement is carried out in several stages:

1. The starting coat is treated with a primer for decorative work, for example Ceresit CT-16.
2. A decorative putty "Bark beetle" is applied to the primed starting layer, the grain of which is most often 2.5 mm.
3. Some time after application, when the plaster dries a little, the texture is formed.
4. The fraction is spread in a circular motion over the surface with a plastic spatula.
5. After drying, apply a primer again, eg Ceresit CT-17.
6. Then the facade is painted in the desired color. The result is a high-quality and aesthetic appearance of the facade of the house, which will last for many years.

More details on how to do decorative plaster with your own hands can be found in a separate article on the website.

In the same way, all vertical surfaces are insulated, namely walls, foundations, basements. The only difference in the technology of work is the arrangement of additional protection against mechanical stress on the material.

We insulate the floor with foam

Quite an important point when performing work on house insulation is the elimination of the possibility of heat leakage through the floor. Since the level of heat loss in this case can reach 30%, then when arranging the floor, it is necessary not only to carry out high-quality finishing, but also to take care of proper thermal insulation. An excellent option, in a similar situation, would be floor insulation with foam.

Thermal insulation of a floor using foam is often compared with the method of insulation with expanded clay concrete. Comparing these two methods, it becomes noticeable that when you touch the floor, insulated with foam, you feel warm, and in the case of expanded clay concrete, on the contrary, coolness, while the floor temperature, in both cases, will have the same indicators.

But let's move on directly to the arrangement of thermal insulation. It is carried out in several stages:

1. Surface preparation.
2. Thermal insulation device.
3. Finishing finish.

Each of the stages is very important, so it is worth considering them in more detail.

Foundation preparation

A clean and level mounting base becomes an important factor. Therefore, as part of the preparation, it is carried out:

1. Dismantling the cover.
2. Leveling the floor if necessary.
3. Cleaning the surface from debris and dust.

Next, it is worth considering the installation process itself.

Self-warming of the floor with foam

The installation process itself is quite simple and almost completely copies the device for external wall insulation, with some characteristic features:

1. After leveling the floor, we provide a layer of waterproofing material on the base.
2. Further, depending on the size of the expanded polystyrene sheets, we equip the cells using wooden beams. Thus, the thickness of the timber should be equal to the thickness of the insulation, and the step of the device should be equal to its length and width. Since the material does not change size over time, the cells are made strictly according to the size of the foam.
3. Next, we lay the sheets of insulation, fixing them with a special adhesive mixture, and later with dowels (as well as on the wall).
4. Upon completion of the installation, all seams are treated with a special adhesive, or blown out with construction foam.

5. Subsequently, a vapor barrier layer is provided on top of the insulation.

   

Next, plywood or OSBI sheets are attached to the logs.

In the future, you can arrange any floor covering, as well as provide for the device of the "warm floor" system, mainly of the film type.

Ceiling insulation

And the last thing worth considering is the insulation of the ceiling with foam plastic with your own hands, which is also quite simple. The surface preparation itself is carried out in the same way as in previous cases, therefore, we will only consider the features of the installation.

Fastening polystyrene foam to the ceiling can be done in two ways:

1. Wireframe.
2. Kleeva.

Considering the second method, fixing is carried out in the same way as for the floor surface. Therefore, we will consider in more detail the frame method of fixing.

Directly the frame itself can be made of wooden beams, or from metal profiles. We recommend using profiles. The installation itself is carried out as follows:

1. First we fix the transverse profiles, the step between them is taken in half a meter.
2. Further, with a similar step, we provide for longitudinal profiles.
3. After installing the frame, we cut out squares from expanded polystyrene, measuring 50 × 50 cm.
4. Glue is applied to the squares of the material, and they are pressed against the ceiling, after which the seams between the frame are additionally foamed.
5. Fastening is also carried out directly to the frame, using special fasteners.

6. The last step is to fix a layer of vapor barrier over the insulation, as well as drywall devices.

   

The choice of decorative coating option already depends directly on the owner's imagination.

Conclusion

Thus, looking at the instructions for carrying out the work, you may have noticed that foam insulation is quite easy, and requires only a little time and patience. In order to more clearly see how this type of work is performed, videos were provided in the article, and in addition, below you can watch a few more video instructions on arranging thermal insulation using foam.