How to insulate a concrete floor: a description of all possible ways. Floor insulation in a private house

Concrete has excellent strength characteristics and durability, which makes it a very popular building material. But as a floor structure, it is uncomfortable in itself due to its high thermal conductivity. In this article, we will look at how to insulate a concrete floor in a private house in order to eliminate this drawback.

Photo of the floor on which to sleep warmly

Warming materials

Insulation of a concrete floor in a private house involves the use of special materials that increase its thermal insulation qualities. What are the requirements for them?

Tip: If you have sufficient funds, it is recommended to install a water or electric underfloor heating system. Its price is quite high, but the effect is appropriate: you will get perfectly warm floors and an economical heating system for the whole house.

Underfloor heating system in concrete

Required Qualities

• Density. The lower this indicator for a heater, the more pores are located in it, and, therefore, it is able to retain more heat.
• Strength. The floor experiences the greatest load of all the elements of the house, and the material used for its insulation must also endure it.
• Thermal conductivity. Its high level means rapid transfer of thermal energy, that is, cooling, which is unacceptable.
• moisture resistance. It is especially important if the insulation is placed between the soil and concrete.
• Durability. Remember that only cutting reinforced concrete diamond circles will allow you to get further to the insulating material. Therefore, it is desirable that it be able to survive the top coat.

Diamond drilling of holes in concrete in the event of a major breakdown of the underfloor heating system

Suitable materials

Taking into account the above requirements, let's now figure out how to insulate a concrete floor in a private house:

• Mineral wool. It perfectly retains heat, has a low density and creates in addition high-quality sound insulation. But the high rate of moisture absorption and the lack of rigidity limits its use to installation in the raised floor structure.

Roll of basalt wool

• Styrofoam. Low price, high moisture resistance and low thermal conductivity make this material very popular, but during its operation it is also necessary to remember its fragility.

Insulation of a concrete floor with foam plastic requires utmost care

• Extruded polystyrene foam. It is, in fact, an improved foam. Its cost is slightly higher, but higher strength indicators make working with it with your own hands much easier. Thermal insulation and water resistance are also higher.

Extruded polystyrene boards

• polyurethane foam. Another wonderful synthetic insulation, endowed with increased resistance to temperature extremes and capable of withstanding extreme mechanical loads without losing its technical characteristics.

White polyurethane foam mattresses

• Expanded clay. Possessing low thermal conductivity, such a material tends to be added to the concrete solution instead of gravel or fall asleep under it with a kind of pillow, but you should remember about its high porosity and think over reliable moisture insulation for it. Also inconvenient are its large volumes, due to which the floor level rises significantly.

Warming the concrete floor with expanded clay in the garage

• Foam glass. Here, high thermal insulation and moisture-resistant properties are observed, combined with absolute environmental friendliness. But the weak resistance to mechanical stress makes it more rational to insulate the walls with such material, and not the floor.

Foam glass does an excellent job of reducing the thermal insulation of vertical surfaces

Warming technology

The insulation of the concrete floor of the first floor is a kind of multi-layered pie. In this case, the insulation can be located as in any of the layers or even several.

Locations of thermal insulation material

• Under concrete. An ideal option, but possible only in the case of work from scratch. Here we lay all the materials on the ground, after which we fill.

Pouring the solution onto the insulation laid in the baths

• Added to concrete. This is the case with expanded clay replacing gravel.
• Above concrete by installing a raised floor. Logs are laid on the frozen surface, and between them there is already a warming substance. From above, everything is closed with a finishing coating. Requires additional costs, but makes it possible to use any insulating material.

On top of the cement logs, mineral wool and grooved board

• On top of the final layer. Carpet covering, cork or soft floors can also improve the comfort of your home.

The carpet not only makes the room warmer, but also decorates it.

Tip: it is recommended, if possible, not to be limited to only one layer of insulation. Combination different ways leads to a stronger effect, which positively affects the creation of favorable living conditions.

Carrying out the necessary work

To better understand the method of installing heat-insulating material, consider the option in which all of the listed layers of the floor structure are insulated.

Instruction:

We fill the “bare” base with a pillow of gravel, after which we carefully ram it.

Pour a thin layer of liquid cement mortar on top.

Next, lay a plastic film to create a waterproofing. We overlap each canvas with each other and with entry to the walls. We glue the joining seams with mounting tape.

Creating waterproofing with plastic film

We glue the damper tape around the perimeter of the room.

We lay sheets of extruded polystyrene foam or other material of your choice in a checkerboard pattern for greater reliability.

Installation of improved polystyrene boards

Now again we cover with a layer of waterproofing. At the same time, with construction tape, we glue the edges of the upper film with the protruding ends of the lower one, creating a kind of bag for insulation.

We mount a reinforcing grid, which will increase the strength of the heat-insulating layer, and beacons.

Steel grating with guide beacons

We knead the concrete solution, using expanded clay instead of crushed stone.

We fill the floor with the resulting concrete, leveling it with the rule along the guides.

Concreting prepared and insulated base

After the screed has completely hardened, you can also install logs by laying sheets of mineral wool between them, or you can limit yourself to installing carpet or cork.

Concrete itself is cold due to its high thermal conductivity, so it needs to be additional insulation. It can be done both before pouring the solution, and after it, or even combine several methods. Using the above recommendations, you can easily cope with this task on your own (find out here what are the drill bits for drilling concrete).

High-quality insulated concrete base can be covered with any finish

The video in this article will provide Additional information. Now you know how to insulate the concrete floor on the first floor.

Underfloor heating is no longer a novelty. This technology is used for underfloor heating in apartments, private houses, offices and various other premises. Their principle of operation is simple - they heat the base under your feet, as well as the air in the room, which allows you to warm up any room well enough. They are usually installed in addition to the main heating system. Installing them is not as difficult as it seems, but this is a rather troublesome business. How to make a warm floor? This process will largely depend on what type of system was chosen for installation.

Now there are three main types of underfloor heating, which differ in the type of coolant, and also have different arrangement technology. However, in general, they are united by one main advantage - the heating element is installed directly into the floor cake, due to which it is heated. At the same time, the air masses in the room also warm up, but the air will be warmer near the floor, but above this boundary, at the level of a person’s head, the air remains a little cool, which allows you to create optimal microclimate in the room.

On a note! In certain cases, underfloor heating can completely replace the central heating system. But this is not always possible, and you still shouldn’t refuse the main radiators.

Water based heating

In this case, the heat carrier is ordinary heated water, which flows inside pipes laid according to a certain pattern and filled with concrete screed. The service life of such a system is approximately 20 years. A fairly reliable and safe option, but it is used either in private homes or in new buildings where it is possible to connect such a floor. In old high-rise buildings without permission management company it will not work to connect the water floor, since the installation will involve its connection to central system heating, not designed for additional loads - it can become very cold in other apartments.

The disadvantages of this design may be the likelihood of leaks and the risk of flooding of the premises located below, as well as the tendency of some types of pipeline to corrode. Installation, of course, is laborious, but it is one of the most economical options gender. You can install such heating under any finish coating. However, if you want to use the possibilities of a water-heated floor as efficiently as possible, study the features of different coatings. Find perfect option will help .

Heating with cable

Such floors can be mounted in absolutely any room - even in old or new apartments, houses, offices, etc. This option has become a real salvation for those who cannot, for some reason, make a water heated floor. The system is quite simple to install and is a special scheme laid electrical cable located inside the screed. It converts electricity into heat.

For the arrangement of heating can be used self-regulating and resistive cables . In the latter case, a two-core is usually used (single-core often become sources of radiation harmful to the body, which is why they are not preferred to be used). Self-regulating wires do not have the disadvantages that resistive wires have. Typically, a cable floor is used if the top coat is made of tiles or linoleum.

IR floor

This is perhaps the most popular floor heating system, as it does not require pouring a new screed, it is easy to install, but it is not inferior in quality to other heating options. It is represented by thin mats with carbon strips connected to each other by wires. Such floors heat up quickly, but also cool down quickly (sometimes this function is needed), they are very thin, allow you to quickly adjust the heating temperature, are economical in terms of energy costs, easy to repair and completely safe for humans. Such a system also works thanks to electricity. There is a drawback - a small static and because of this - the attraction of dust to the base. More about infrared floor heating, depending on finish coat read in separate articles of the portal: under the laminate, and under the tile.

Table. Comparison of characteristics of different systems.

Characteristic	water floor	electric floor
Presence of EMP	Not	Possibly, depending on cable type
Possibility of arrangement in apartment buildings	Only in new buildings with a separate connection	Yes
Quick settings management	Not	Yes
Dependence on the heating season	Yes - in apartments and no - in private houses	Not
Installation time	Long due to the need to fill the screed	Short
Possibility of laying any finishing coating	Yes	Certain types of flooring should not be placed on top of an electric floor
Ease of repair	Complicated repair	In the case of IR floors - quick repair

If you have not yet decided on the type of underfloor heating, read. We have discussed in detail the advantages and disadvantages. different materials and made a list of recommendations.

We make a warm water floor with our own hands

Let us consider in more detail the process of work in the arrangement of water floor heating. It includes a number of stages - this is the preparation draft foundation, installation of the system itself, as well as pouring the screed and laying the finish coat. In this case, it will be considered a budget option building a heating system.

Heated floors are a serious cost item during repairs, so it is important to accurately calculate how much and what materials will be needed. To facilitate your labor costs, we have prepared a guide that tells how to calculate a warm floor - water or electric. Online calculators are included. And in the article "" you will find full list everything you need for installation.

Foundation preparation

Consider how to make a subfloor for the arrangement of a water system based on expanded clay.

Step 1. First of all, the old wooden floor is completely dismantled. Boards and logs are removed. Remains of bricks and oversized construction garbage may be left on the ground.

Step 2 A laser level is used to determine the height of the final floor. The main target of the required level is Entrance door. The marking should be 1.5-2 cm below the threshold.

Step 3 Markings are applied to the walls. The first mark indicates the boundary of the screed with the laid heating pipes (the thickness of the screed should not be less than 6 cm thick). The second indicates the thickness of the expanded clay insulation (in this case, the thickness of this layer will be 10 cm).

Step 4 Along the line laser level marks are applied to the walls around the entire perimeter according to the level of the finished floor.

Step 5 Markings are also applied to the walls of two other levels - expanded clay bedding and screed. The reference point in this case is the mark of the finished floor.

Step 6 The rough concrete floor is covered with sand, which is evenly distributed over it. You can focus on the bottom mark.

Step 8

Step 9 The holes in the walls left from the log are sealed with pieces of brick and cement mortar.

Step 10 Waterproofing is laid on a layer of sand. In this case, it is dense polyethylene film, which fits with the plant on the walls. For convenience, the film is fixed with adhesive tape.

Step 11 Beacons are being installed. For this, high-density foam block cubes are used, on which metal beacons will then be installed. Cubes are installed on polyethylene at a distance of about 1 m from each other. The height of one cube is 9 cm.

Step 12 Metal beacon profiles 1 cm high are installed on the cubes.

Step 13 At the junctions of the lighthouses, a cube must be installed. For proper docking, the beacons are cut. With proper docking, the beacons overlap each other in the direction of the future movement of the rule.

Step 14 Lighthouses are set by level. Landmark - a line on the wall indicating the height of the screed. To level them, you can use plywood linings.

Step 15 When the beacons are level, they are fixed on the cubes with self-tapping screws.

Step 16 The draft floor should have a slight slope (the difference is up to 5 mm for each meter of the base length). If necessary, the cubes can be pressed into the sand to achieve the desired result. The operation is performed along the entire length of the lighthouses.

Step 17 Additional cubes are installed between the main cubes.

Step 18 Expanded clay is mixed with a small amount cement mixture. This will give you a stronger floor. A bucket of sand, 2 kg of cement and about 3 liters of water are used for a bag of expanded clay.

Step 19 The prepared expanded clay is laid out on the base and leveled. Backfilling is done starting from the far corner of the room. There should be about 1.5 cm of free space left to the top level of the beacons.

Step 20 The expanded clay layer is covered with cement mortar. The solution is leveled with a trowel over the entire surface.

Step 21 The screed is aligned with the rule according to the beacons. Perfect evenness can not be achieved. To make it easy to remove the beacons from the screed, their surface is not smeared.

Step 22 Two days later, when the screed dries, the beacons are removed. To do this, the screws fixing them are unscrewed. Together with the beacons, wooden linings are removed.

Step 23 After that, the resulting cracks are cleaned of debris and sealed with cement mortar.

Pipe laying and connection

After preparation, the installation of the heating system itself begins.

Step 1. In this case, the existing heating system will be kept on the basis gas boiler. The battery is powered by a supply circuit located on the second floor. The water leaving the radiator is sent to the return circuit, which is located in the basement. The warm floor will be connected to the second output of the battery and to the return circuit. Taps will be installed to turn off the radiator and underfloor heating. At the entrance to the return circuit will be installed circulation pump.

Step 2 The radiator is equipped with the necessary fittings. These are connectors and pipes. To seal the connection, plumbing linen and sealant are used.

Step 3 This is how the finished outputs from the battery will look like. One of them will be used to connect a warm floor.

Step 4 Before further installation of pipes around the perimeter of the room, a damper tape is glued (we have already discussed its choice). She sits on the walls with glue.

Step 5 On the rough screed multifoil is laid - a special insulation. Separate strips of material are fixed to each other with adhesive tape.

Step 6 A reinforcing mesh with 10x10 cm cells is laid on top of the foil. Individual pieces are overlapped by 1-2 cells. The grid is connected to each other with a wire.

Step 7 A pipe leading to the return is installed and connected.

Step 8 A water floor pipe with a cross section of 20 mm is mounted to the other outlet from the battery. A piece of protective corrugation can be put on the initial section of the pipe.

Step 9 The pipe is laid on the floor and fixed to the reinforcing mesh with plastic clamps. When laying, it is important to ensure that there are no kinks on the pipe. To form knees, you can use a hair dryer that heats the pipe. The distance in the circuit between adjacent pipes should be about 20 cm in this case.

Step 10 The underfloor heating pipe is laid with a snake.

Step 11 The ends of the return pipe and the underfloor heating are sent to metal pipes leading to the basement. Voids can be sealed with mounting foam.

Step 12 The sections of the metal mesh rising above the floor level are fixed on the floor base with the help of dowels and metal plates.

Step 13 Further work will be carried out in the basement. A circulation pump is being installed. It connects to the return pipe. Two cranes are also installed in the system. One of them will block the natural circulation. The lower valve completely blocks the entrance to the return pipe.

Step 14 The control unit is assembled and all pipes are connected. In mode natural circulation Water flows through the underfloor heating pipe into the return line with both taps open. If you turn off the top tap, then the water from the warm floor will move through an additional pipe towards the pump - this is the mode of rapid heating of the floor. If the bottom tap is closed when the pump is off, then the warm floor will be completely turned off.

Connected pipes

Filling the screed

The final stage of the installation of the water floor is the pouring of the screed and laying the floor covering.

Step 1. To make the screed even, metal beacons are installed. They are located on pieces of concrete.

Step 2 Pieces of concrete are fixed to the base with cement mortar.

Step 3 Beacons are fixed on concrete with self-tapping screws in pre-made holes. All of them must be aligned strictly according to the level.

Advice! It is better to start installing the first beacons from the side of the door. This will allow you to correctly select their height relative to the doorway.

Step 4 A concrete solution is prepared in exact proportions.

Step 5 The concrete is evenly distributed over the prepared floor.

Important! At the time of laying the screed, the floor pipes must be filled with water.

Step 6 concrete mortar aligned with beacons using a rule.

Step 7 The screed is dried for 28 days. The floor is covered with a top coat.

Video - Installation of a water floor

Video - Installation of a warm infrared floor

The complexity and the entire process of manufacturing a warm floor will depend on which heating option is chosen. The water floor is perhaps the most best option for arranging base heating in a private house or new building. Those who do not want to mess with the screed can be recommended to use infrared floors.

Wooden floor is always stylish and beautiful

Why do many today find it difficult to choose the floor for a wooden house? After all, such a house is, first of all, a choice in favor of environmentally friendly building materials. It will give not only warmth and comfort to the residents, but will also contribute to the creation of natural air exchange and just an excellent microclimate in the premises. But here doubts begin: how to equip your floors so that they are both smooth and durable - and also have an attractive appearance?

To do this, you will first have to figure out what the floors are, then consider the options and technology for their installation.

All floors in wooden house can be classified into two groups:

1. from boards
2. concrete

So, let's consider them in order, how to make a warm floor in a private house on a wooden floor.

wooden floors

The floor is like a pie of several layers, the components of which are the subfloor, heat-insulating and waterproofing layers, finishing (base), flooring(finish). And between them, you can even lay heating elements (cables or pipes) to create a floor heating system.

As a rule, the floors in a wooden house are built either on logs or on poles - in case the house itself does not have concrete foundation. Of course with monolithic foundation everything is quite easy, and no troubles are needed, but if there is no time to pour a concrete base, then you will have to apply one of the methods for building a foundation on beams:

By design, single-layer and two-layer wooden floors are distinguished. The first can be both on logs and without them - this will depend on the thickness of the boards and the inter-beam step. When a house is being built with floors on logs, the boards can be laid directly on the beams themselves, provided that the distance between the beams is no more than 0.6 m.

When installing a two-layer floor, a subfloor (base) layer is added when draft boards are attached to the underside of the beams. An insulating layer is laid on them - either some kind of sheet insulation or an expanded clay layer (layer height up to 80 mm). And for complete insulation, you can use the filler, which is laid between the finishing and subfloor. However, in this case, it is necessary to provide a small gap (approximately 2-5 cm) in order to create air circulation and prevent the destruction of the boards.

The need for insulation

Undoubtedly, it is necessary - any, both wooden and concrete. Some owners seek to insulate the wooden floor as much as possible - and do this with a thick thermal insulation layer that fills inner space between the layers of the double floor.

By the way, along with modern thermal insulation materials (mineral wool, mineral mats, polyurethane, etc.), some owners also use "grandfather" options: sawdust and wood shavings, dry foliage. However, even with the use thermal insulation materials, and using the “old-fashioned” warming methods, a gap should be left above the heat-insulating layer - from 15 to 50 mm, so that the air circulates freely.

The need for a subfloor device

As a rule, floors in wooden houses should be well ventilated and durable. For these purposes, the so-called "rough" floors are constructed, which meet the following requirements:

• they are a kind of rigidity frame, and also serve as the basis for laying layers of insulation, waterproofing and finishing floor
• create the necessary air gap, thanks to which heat is retained in the house, the entire structure does not rot and there are no distortions of the structure

All this contributes to the excellent preservation of the floor finish. Used for subfloors unedged boards from 15 to 50 cm wide, which are pre-impregnated with an antiseptic composition.

Floor device on logs

How to make a subfloor

Some amateur builders often mistake sub-floors for sub-floors intended for laying flooring. And they are wrong. As a rule, bases (or, in other words, substrates) are constructed using some kind of sheet material– Chipboard, etc. - or with the help of boards laid on logs. Such substrates are needed precisely for leveling the surface of the base and the subsequent even laying of the floor covering, as well as for evenly distributing the load on the floor, and are used both in monolithic and wooden houses.

Another definition explaining the concept of a black floor is the lowest layer of a two-layer plank base - this layer is used when laying on logs or floor beams, when there is a sufficiently wide step between the logs and beams. It is in this case that the subfloor layer - the boards - are shifted diagonally relative to the finishing boards. In this case, additional strength of the overlap is achieved, which is formed due to different directions wood fibers.

And the rough wooden floor in a private house is also called the lowest layer of the floor - double insulated. In this case, the flooring of the boards simply acts as a retainer for the heat-insulating and waterproofing layers.

Insulated subfloor

First of all, it is necessary to consider the ventilation of the subfloor so that the subfloor boards do not rot and are not in constant moisture. Ventilation is very easy to arrange by drilling several holes in the butt corners of the house - round holes 50-60 mm in size, which will then close decorative grilles. Lattices and openings should be raised 5-6 cm above the floor level to avoid water ingress. True, in some cases, ventilation holes can also be made in baseboards.

Secondly, the foundation itself must be well waterproofed. This can be done either by constructing a very good blind area, or with the help of roofing material, or with coating waterproofing materials, of which today is also full of construction market.

Next, you will have to thoroughly treat the lower crowns, logs and boards of the subfloor itself with various antiseptic compounds in order to protect the wood from fungal infections and destruction (such preparations are suitable that will protect the tree from insect attacks, as well as ordinary used engine oil).

Laying can be done in three ways: on beam shoulders (in shape they resemble an inverted large letter “T”), on cranial bars nailed to the edges of beams, and also acting as beam shoulders, or in pre-prepared grooves in beams (their shape is similar to lying on the side with the letter "H").

In order for the floor to be warm, it must be insulated

The lightest and in a simple way is laying on cranial bars, on which is then laid waterproofing material, insulation (the best is mineral wool), vapor barrier material. After laying the vapor barrier, a finishing floor is laid, which is used as either a tongue-and-groove board or chipboard. Then the floor covering (linoleum, laminate, etc.) is laid on the finishing floor.

Since, according to the norms, the internal temperature of the premises should not differ from the temperature from the floor surface by more than 2 degrees, then it will have to be insulated very carefully. Yes, and closing your eyes to these norms - will it really be pleasant for you to walk on cold boards?

So, which heaters should you choose? Of course, such that the weight is small, and the thermal insulation qualities are high, and incombustibility with hypoallergenicity is present. And the insulation should be very easy to install, durable and strong. Mineral wool is well suited for these purposes - it does not burn, practically does not absorb moisture, and is hygroscopic. But polystyrene and polystyrene foam burns, although it has a small weight.

Roofing material, isoplast, plastic film, PVC membranes are suitable as waterproofing.

After choosing a heater and waterproofing, you can proceed with the installation of a wooden floor on the logs. First, a draft floor is constructed, on which a waterproofing layer is laid, thermal insulation and vapor barrier are laid on top, and then a finishing one can be laid.

Finished flooring

From above we lay the finishing floor

For laying the finishing floor, a milled board is used (today there are those that are connected with spikes in the grooves), with dimensions (28-44) x (98-145) mm, with air back side 20 mm in size. The air is designed to provide natural air circulation.

However, if there is no milled board, other options can be used: tongue-and-groove seam boards, with tongue-and-groove slats, with straight, segmental and trapezoidal spikes. True, there is no air in such boards, and you have to carefully monitor their fit on the logs. And you should also remember that the boards are laid, focusing on the growth rings of wood - so that the rings look in different directions. After laying the final floor, you can finish.

concrete floors

FROM concrete floors everything is a little simpler: you just need to correctly perform the cement screed, reinforcing it. But first, let's consider, are concrete floors really that good in wooden houses?

Undoubtedly, concrete in general has a lot of advantages: it is durable, strong, reliable, and with the use of modern "chips" in the form of self-leveling mixtures, it will generally become for you that perfectly even floor, on the basis of which not only linoleum, but also laminate will lie well, and ceramic tile.

However, the installation of a concrete floor also has its own nuances, which include pouring concrete as well. How to pour a concrete floor in a wooden house?

There are two ways of the device: laying concrete on logs and on the ground. In the first case, only high-quality, undamaged lags will be required, while the second method is easier than the first. But we will consider both methods.

Laying concrete on the ground

Having decided on the level of the floor, you need to make marks with a cord tied on pegs - the cord will be a kind of measure that the concrete base will reach (about 10 cm). Next, the soil is sprinkled with a layer of gravel, so that the gravel is flush with the pegs, which are then removed. Sand is sprinkled over the gravel layer, the layer is compacted.

Now you need to make a waterproofing layer - an ordinary plastic film is taken (the thickest possible), and it is laid on the sand so that its edges are above the level of the future concrete floor. After waterproofing, it is necessary to pour the already prepared base with concrete, level it, and cover the solution with a film - for faster maturation, however, not forgetting to periodically moisten. concrete structure do not touch for about a month - this time is necessary for the concrete to gain required level strength. After a month of “exposure”, liquid cement is applied to the concrete surface for a screed device.

During the winter months, due to the cold indoors, there may be low temperature. Therefore, you should immediately think about underfloor heating - electric or water. In any case, during the construction of the structure, the thickness of the floor covering should not be more than 25 mm - therefore, ceramic, laminate, and linoleum are excellent as finishes.

If we talk about in a wooden house, then it can be mounted in a cement screed or a floor heating system. In the first case, the design of the water floor heating system will be as follows:

• base (concrete on the ground);
• thermal insulation layer (20-100 mm);
• reinforcing layer (reinforcing mesh);
• a pipe of a water heating system, fixed with clamps to the cells of a reinforcing mesh (pipes are laid in increments of 100-300 mm);
• underlayment for flooring;
• flooring: parquet, laminate, linoleum, ceramic tiles, etc.

Hot water heating system concrete base will not only be appropriate, but necessary in such premises as, for example, a bathroom or children's room.

As for the flooring system of a water-heated floor, in addition to the reinforcing mesh, a layer of chipboard or polystyrene is added to the structure.

And if you want to arrange an electric underfloor heating - it's even easier to do. It can also be mounted on the logs and on the screed. The electric screed is mounted in the same way as the water screed, and along the logs - with an air gap device. In this case, the cable must also be laid out along a reinforcing mesh, the mesh size of which does not exceed 50 x 50 mm, fixed on the logs. In the same logs, gaps should be cut (the height of the gaps is approximately 50 mm) in increments of 50 mm, which will be insulated with foil. And the heating cable itself is laid in these gaps, crossing the logs, just like a metal reinforcing mesh.

Nowadays, a significant proportion of almost any family budget is made up of payments for utilities. In this regard, a wide variety of heating methods have become widespread, among them the technology of underfloor heating, which will be discussed later. A number of positive properties are typical for such systems. How to make a warm floor with your own hands, and will be discussed in this article.

Warm floor is comfortable

The very idea of ​​\u200b\u200bheating a house with the help, it must be stated, is not new, probably due to the benefits that the result gives. When the room is heated traditional way- batteries warm air rises to the ceiling. As a result, warm air is obtained at the top, cooler at the bottom, although a person is physically more comfortable when it is vice versa. The effect when warm air at the bottom, and cooler at the top, gives heating warm floors. Even if the overall outlet temperature is lower than when heated with batteries, the person will still be more comfortable. Another plus is that it will take much less energy to maintain such a temperature, unlike conventional way heating.

Benefits of underfloor heating

Of course, it is difficult to immediately install any of the systems everywhere in an apartment or house. However, if you make a warm floor, say, when renovating a bedroom, bathroom, nursery, it will immediately be noticeable, the microclimate in the rooms will significantly improve. People suffering from allergies should especially pay attention to the fact that during the use of underfloor heating, convective air currents are not formed, which make it possible for dust to spread.

For the owners of private houses, it will be especially important that the problem of mold and fungi will be solved to a greater extent, since warm floors make the humidity level much lower. different types warm floors have high ergonomic and hygienic qualities. In addition, they are environmentally friendly because electromagnetic radiation during their operation is not created.

Existing Options

There are three main ways to heat a house with underfloor heating: electric, water and infrared. Everyone has characteristics. Let's talk more about each of them.

Water heated floors

Operation of water floors will be cheaper. In about five years of operation and maintenance, water systems will not only pay off, but the cost of them will be half as much. A significant part of the utility costs is saved due to the fact that 25-30% of regular costs with underfloor heating technology are less than with traditional heating. For water floors, a major installation is needed.

Water heated floor

People familiar with the principle of operation of a heated towel rail will not need to look for an answer to the question: how to make a warm floor from heating? It is fed into the pipe hot water, exactly the same as that circulates in pipes and central heating radiators.

Electric cable underfloor heating

Electrical systems are easy to install and easy to install under the floor. This process is cheaper than installing water floors.

In addition, electric underfloor heating is the most popular type of heating of this kind.
The high cost of electricity makes the operation of such a floor not the cheapest.

Infrared heated floors

Infrared floor heating is a product that appeared on the construction market not so long ago, but has already become very popular with buyers. After all, it is easy to install without the help of specialists and does not require special care.

Warm floor

This floor has simple design. In fact, these are thin metal wires located at a close distance from each other and hermetically sealed with a moisture-resistant film. The heating elements are connected to the mains, then a thermostat is installed, with which the desired floor temperature is set.

There are two types of infrared floors: rod and film. In the first case, thin carbon rods are inserted into the film and connected with wires, and in the second case, thin metal strips.

The main advantage is that before installation it is not necessary to specially prepare the floor: level, pour the screed - they will work on any surface.

With the help of a thermostat, you can easily control the temperature in the room - turn off the floor during a thaw and quickly heat the room in case of a sharp cold snap.

Unlike radiators and heaters, infrared floors do not dry the air, so you do not have to install an additional humidifier in the room.

Such a floor even has some therapeutic effect. After all, it emits negatively charged ions that help treat certain chronic diseases.

But such floors also have disadvantages. They consume a lot of electricity, and in the cold season, their operation can hit the family budget. The film is also a very fragile material, it can be easily damaged with a slight mechanical impact. A serious disadvantage of such floors, experts call a high fire hazard. If the floor is not properly installed, it may catch fire.

Mounting Features

Rules for the device cable version

In electrical systems, special heating elements transfer heat due to the fact that they have a high heat dissipation. The system includes: a heating cable, a temperature sensor and a thermostat, which is usually sold separately from the system. The heating cable is installed under the cement screed, the floor covering is mounted on top. An electric underfloor heating also necessarily requires a project that will be drawn up and executed in a professional manner, taking into account calculations for all indicators.

Floor level needs to be raised

Heating cable (flat or round) - the most important element the whole structure. Flat ones are used as elements of underfloor heating, called film ones. This floor is more efficient as the flat configuration increases the surface area of ​​the heating element. The temperature on the floor surface, thanks to this configuration, is distributed more evenly, which makes it possible to lay the laminate directly on the film. Film floors are the most economical.

There is one feature that must be considered when installing these structures - they require raising the floor level. In principle, if the dimensions of the room allow, this is not important. However, if the ceilings are not particularly high, the best option is a film underfloor heating, which has almost no effect on the level of the floor.

Installation of infrared film floor

Before you go to the store, correctly calculate the floor area. Please note that the contour of the warm floor is not placed throughout the room, but only on open areas where there is no large furniture. This floor fits under any coating - carpet, laminate or linoleum.

When you have decided exactly where the floor will lie, you can proceed to its installation. To do this, put a heat-reflecting screen on the screed. It will direct the spread of UV rays upwards and prevent the ceiling from heating the neighbors below. The screen is fixed with adhesive tape, and then a film is laid on it with metal elements down.

Underfloor heating should not be placed under furniture

The film is placed in sections, so all its parts must be connected together with clips and wires to complete the circuit. When the wires are connected and insulated, the thermostat is connected to a separate outlet.

Usually to infrared floor a diagram is attached, strictly according to which the connection must be made. But if you do not understand electricity, it is better to invite a specialist. After connecting, you need to check the operation of the system and only then put the cover.

Infrared floors are considered an excellent alternative to central heating batteries and electric heaters. After all, such a floor "works" on the entire area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe room, which means that the room heats up faster and more evenly. But with improper installation and operation, such a floor can become a serious source of danger. Therefore, if you are not sure that you can install it correctly, it is better to seek help from specialists.

Floor water heating system

When installing water heated floors, it is advisable to resort to the services of a specialist. It's quite difficult engineering system, which requires a special project for each room with attention to its features. Professionals will install the system taking into account all requirements, which will ensure its reliable functioning for many years. It involves the dismantling of the flooring, but water-heated floors can be installed under tiles or laminate.

Water heating

However, if you have some knowledge and skills, installing the system yourself will not be difficult.

A water heated floor is also called a warm floor from heating, because it works exactly on the same principle as central heating in city apartments.

In order for water to circulate in the underfloor heating circuit, a slope of its level should be provided, and in order to avoid the inconvenience associated with this, a circulation pump can be installed: this is a device that “helps” water move in pipes.

Before you install the system, you need to prepare the surface. To do this, the entire coating is dismantled, a concrete screed is created and leveled at the building level.

Before forming the screed on the walls (like a plinth), a damper tape is mounted, the essence of which is to protect the concrete from temperature fluctuations during heating and cooling of the structure. The height of the tape must be higher than the concrete screed. Currently, you can buy a tape with an adhesive layer, and if there is no way to stick it, you can fix it on nails.

The next layer, on top of the concrete screed, is a heater (thermal insulation), because we make a warm floor not to heat the ceiling of our neighbors, but for the comfort of our loved ones. Insulation (metallized layer) can be both thick and thin, if the height of the ceilings does not allow, but it must be laid in a joint, without irregularities.

In order to avoid fixing the heating cable with a wire, it is mounted on special plates with "windows" where the cable itself is placed. You should have an idea in advance how the heating element will be laid: it can be laying in a spiral from the center to the periphery or laying in a snake. During the laying process, it is important to provide for the absence of unheated areas so that being in the repaired room is comfortable.

A layer of concrete screed is mounted on top 6 cm above the pipes.

So, what to choose a warm floor and how to be guided by this is the business of each owner, the main thing is that three main principles are taken into account: comfort, safety and compliance with the financial capabilities of the family.

One of the most important tasks of any homeowner is floor insulation in a private house, and it should not be neglected, especially if the housing is located in a region with harsh climatic conditions. You need to know what is blown through uninsulated floors a large number of heat. It is the poet, the first thing you need to start warming the house with is the floors.

Since they can be arranged from various materials and have a different design, they can also be insulated in several ways.

Today, there are many technologies for floor insulation in a private house, and plus, some owners themselves create their own methods or supplement existing ones with their inventions.

To find out in more detail which of the insulation methods and the type of thermal insulator to choose, you need to consider several common methods.

First you need to figure out what material the floor can be made of, since the method and material of insulation will depend on this. So, the floors can be made of wood, concrete or with a dry screed.

wooden floors

This type of flooring includes floors made of floorboards or plywood.

Also, according to their design, they are divided into two types - these are single-layer and two-layer, i.e. having a draft floor.

All types of wood floors are arranged on logs raised to a certain height above a concrete screed or above compacted soil. And it should be noted that wood itself is a warm material when compared with others used for flooring.

Warming a wooden floor can be done in several ways:

• pour a thick layer of expanded clay on the ground, and above it arrange a wooden flooring from boards on logs;
• if a draft floor is arranged, then the issue is solved more simply - one of the heaters is placed in its cells, or they are filled with a liquid expanding material;
• possibly from above wooden flooring arrange infrared floor and then lay decorative coating;
• if there is no subfloor, then it can be replaced vapor barrierfilm, which is spread and fixed on a crate of bars, and a heater is laid on it, which has a small weight, sold in the form of plates or rolls. On top of such insulation, it is first laid vapor barrierfilm, and then the flooring is also made from the floorboard.

concrete floors

Floors made of such material are very durable, but they have a big drawback - this is that the concrete is very cold and requires mandatory insulation. such a floor is most often used as the basis for insulating material and decorative coating. Concrete floors can also be insulated in different ways:

1. The screed is arranged on expanded clay backfill.
2. The solution is mixed with insulating materials - expanded clay of fine fraction or crushed foam.
3. Bars are fixed on the finished screed, and between them it is laid or filled different kind insulation. This is followed by vapor barrier, and then the crate is closed with plywood or floorboard.
4. The device of the "heat-insulated floor" system - electric, infrared or water.

Dry screed floors

Today, more and more often dry screed is used for flooring. Although this technology has been known for a long time, it has not been as popular as it has recently been.

This floor will require a special backfill mixture, which may consist of fine expanded clay, expanded perlite sand, pumice and slag. Dry backfill, after leveling it, is covered with materials that will serve as the basis for the floor decorative coating, and will also take on the main load - these can be chipboard sheets, OSB, moisture resistant plywood or special composite boards.

A dry screed in itself is a good sound and heat insulator, it is easy to install, and allows you to arrange various communications in it without any problems. But if it is required to strengthen the insulation of such floors, then this can be done using one of the methods of installing a “warm floor” - electric or infrared.

Floor insulation

Floor insulation in a private house, depending on the coating material, is carried out according to various technologies, and to achieve a positive result, you need to do everything in order.

Wooden floor insulation

You can start the insulation of a wooden floor with the insulation of the soil. To do this, expanded clay is laid on it with a layer of 20 to 40 centimeters thick. This material will not let cold air from the ground to go up but for the floor to be warm, this will not be enough.

Floorboards are laid on a crate of thick bars.

In Russian huts, the draft floor was mandatory, as it served for laying on it insulation materials, which served as dry leaves, slag, chopped straw. Today, numerous mineral or synthetic heaters are used, from which you can choose the right one.

• To start in draft semi close up all holes and crevices - this can be done with ordinary clay, soaking it and diluting it to the consistency of thick sour cream. Clay is a natural, breathable material that adheres well to wooden surface and will serve as a material for sealing joints between boards for a long time.

• After the clay dries, the cells of the subfloor are filled with insulation - it can be expanded clay, polystyrene, mineral wool, ecowool or liquid insulation - penoizol, which works on the principle of mounting foam.

• Next, the insulation is covered with a vapor barrier film, which must be fixed on the logs of the crate.
• After that, the floorboard is laid, and the skirting boards are fixed.

If the subfloor is not made for some reason, it can be replaced with a thin insulation or vapor barrier film. These materials are attached to the logs so that slabs or mineral wool rolls can be laid on them.

• Then the whole structure is covered with a vapor barrier film, which is fixed to the logs with a stapler and staples.
• The final steps are laying the floorboard or thick plywood. Linoleum or laminate can be laid on plywood. Then the floor is made around the entire perimeter with a plinth.

Another way to insulate a wooden floor can be an option when you don’t want to lift an existing flooring from a board. In this case, the logs are fixed perpendicular to the floor boards. If there are gaps between the boards, they must be sealed, for example, with a special sealant

Next, the insulation is laid or filled up, then it is covered vapor barrier membrane, and plywood is laid on top. It can be primed and painted or varnished. You can also lay a decorative floor covering on the plywood floor. To enhance the insulation, an infrared film system is sometimes laid under linoleum or laminate.

Video - How to insulate the floor on the logs

Concrete floor insulation

The concrete floor, arranged in a residential area, must be insulated and this process is carried out in several ways.

• To make concrete floors less cold, when installing a screed on the ground, a waterproofing film is first spread, then expanded clay is poured, the thickness of which should be from 10 to 15 centimeters. To remove the evenness of the backfill, beacons are installed, along which the insulation is leveled and covered with a reinforcing metal mesh.
• When such a base is prepared, it is watered with a liquid cement mortar - this process is necessary to create a kind of film on expanded clay, which will retain the moisture content of the solution and help it dry naturally.
• After the initial processing of expanded clay has dried, a screed is laid on top of the reinforcement. cement mortar you can make it from sand and cement, or you can add foam chips to it - this will also help make the floors warmer.
• After the screed has hardened, it must be covered with a coating.
• If the housing is located in a region with a cold climate, then the above described insulation will not be enough. Therefore, in order to finally make the floors warm, several methods are used, and for each of them waterproofing of the junction of walls and floor is necessarily arranged.
• When the waterproofing is arranged, wooden logs from bars are laid and fixed to the floor at a distance from each other by the width of the plates or a roll of insulation. The height of the log should be related to the thickness of the insulation, and the width should be 7-9 centimeters.
• If a wide insulation is purchased, it is cut to the required size.
• It must be remembered that the logs begin to be laid, stepping back from the wall about five centimeters, where pieces of insulation are also laid.
• After laying the material, a vapor barrier film is fixed on top of it.
• Next, a thick plywood or floorboard is laid. On the plywood floor, if desired, you can put a laminate or linoleum. Finishing includes the installation of skirting boards.

Floor insulation in a private house wooden, and concrete, is also very successfully implemented according to the "warm floor" system, which will be given special attention a little lower.

Floor insulation on a dry screed

Dry screed is used both for the device of the floor itself, and as a heater for concrete. But if the owner of the house considers this situation insufficient, you can insulate it additionally. This is done using the "warm floor" system.

The dry screed is covered with slabs, which are covered with waterproofing and only an electric warm floor is laid on it. In this case, it is impossible to do without waterproofing, since the underfloor heating system must be covered from above with a thin layer of mortar (construction mixture), which, after hardening, is covered with a floor covering.

Decorative coating can be anything - ceramic tiles, linoleum or laminate.

The water version of this system is not suitable for a dry screed floor, as it has a greater weight, requires deepening into the coating, and in the thermally insulating expanded clay thickness, heating will lose any meaning - heat cannot be achieved.

If you do not want to use self-leveling floors on top of a dry screed, you can use the installation of an infrared floor, which is a thin film and can even be laid under linoleum.

Underfloor heating system

As mentioned above, the "warm floor" can be infrared, electric and water.

electric floor

• Electric floor can be purchased at assembled version, i.e. laid and fixed on a special grid, in the form of heating mats, which simply need to be laid out on a prepared even base. The mesh is glued to the floor with ceramic tile adhesive.

Such a set of electric floor is available up to 25 meters long and 50 to 150 centimeters wide. Therefore, before purchasing it, you need to carefully measure the room or all the rooms separately, where it will be arranged.

This version of the electric floor is well suited for a dry screed floor.

• Another, more complicated way in the device to make an electric field is when you need to select a certain electric cable and lay it in the holders intended for it, which are fixed to the prepared base. Like option is suitable as a cement floor insulation.

When the floor is laid and fixed, a thermostat is installed on the wall at a height of 50-70 centimeters, which will control the temperature of the heating elements. The temperature controller is connected to the floor cable. The sleeve that will connect the cable to the thermostat must be positioned so that it is closed with a tie.

When the entire system is laid, you can proceed to the screed device - it must have a thickness of at least five cm.

It is possible to connect such a floor to the power supply only after the final hardening of the concrete - after 3-4 weeks.

« Warm floor "water

If the electric floor consists of heating cable or mats, then the water floor is a piping system. Metal-plastic or polyethylene pipes are well suited for it, which can be laid on special mats or attached to a metal mesh laid under them.

The pipeline is laid in two ways - with a snake or a snail, in increments of 30-35 centimeters. After laying the pipes and bringing their ends to the collector cabinet, the entire floor system is closed with a concrete screed, its total thickness, including the thickness of the pipeline, should be 10-12 centimeters.

The manifold cabinet is where the connection to common system heating. A mixer and a pump can also be installed there, if necessary.

On top of the screed above the warm floor, you can lay any decorative coating - this is linoleum, carpet, tile or laminate.

It should be noted that the electrical water system"warm floor" is best laid on a foil insulation - then the heat will not go towards the ground, but will be reflected into the room.

Infrared warm floor

If it will be laid on a concrete surface, it is necessary to arrange waterproofing, and then a thin foil insulation based on polyethylene foam is laid on it, the strips of which are fastened with special adhesive tape.

Then, film heating elements are prepared and laid on the floor with copper elements down according to a pre-compiled drawing. The stripes should usually be five centimeters apart. If you plan to put a laminate or linoleum on top of the infrared floor, then to achieve the maximum heating effect, you can put the film as close as possible.

When the film elements are mounted, contact clamps are installed on them - one side of the contact must be placed in the layers of the film, and the second on the copper side, after which the contacts are crimped.

To control the heating of the film floor, a thermostat is installed on the wall, which is also connected to the cable coming from the floor.

On top of the film, the selected floor decorative coating is laid.

Floor insulation in a private house will depend on various criteria related to its design, as well as the desire and capabilities of the owner of the home. Before dwelling on a particular option, it is necessary to find out the prices for all components and for their installation, in the event that it is decided to invite a master to perform this work.