Do-it-yourself frame house. Wall cladding and insulation of a frame house

The technology of building a frame house, which came to us from across the ocean, is gradually replacing all other types of buildings. Many advantages and a minimum of disadvantages brought her to the peak of popularity. More and more of our compatriots, who are faced with the choice of the type of construction of their new house or cottage, give preference to her. Unfortunately, the construction of the box, covering the facade with facing materials, finishing the inside of the room does not make the new house habitable, because the climate in our country is very harsh. And in order for the dwelling to be full-fledged, and in its inhabitants there was no desire to quickly move somewhere, it must be insulated. In this regard, a logical question arises - how to insulate a frame house from the outside so that it becomes cozy and serves its owners faithfully for many years?

It is possible not to insulate the frame house, but in this case, the owner must be prepared for exorbitant amounts that will need to be paid for electricity and heating. And, of course, you should not expect that the dwelling will be quite cozy and comfortable.

External insulation of the house

There are several ways to install a heat-insulating layer during the construction of a frame building. In some cases, the gaps between the components of the frame building are filled with insulation during the construction of the walls. This method of arranging thermal insulation saves usable space both inside the building and outside. In this case, the insulation is staggered between the racks of the frame. A checkerboard pattern is needed to prevent the appearance of cold bridges in the heat-insulating layer.

In the event that it was not possible to perform insulation at the construction stage, or the issue of thermal insulation arose after the completion of construction work, then additional insulation is performed outside the newly erected building by installing the necessary materials on the surface of the facade.

It is best to choose material for insulation in plates 5 cm thick. The total thickness of the layer, depending on the climate, should be from 10 to 25 cm. To protect the room from moisture and wind, a vapor barrier film is used, to prevent the appearance of moisture in the insulation - superdiffusion membrane.
The vapor barrier film must be glued to the walls with an overlap of 15-20 cm. The seams are glued with moisture-resistant tape.

The choice of insulation

If the question of how to insulate a building had arisen in the last century, then there would have been no problems with the choice of material. At that time, everything was done very simply. For this, clay, straw or sawdust were used. Mixtures were made from them, with which the walls were treated. Now this type of insulation is not relevant and from the outside it looks, to put it mildly, comical.

Today, the market is full of various materials, and the search for a suitable insulation can be confusing for an inexperienced and ignorant person in this matter. Therefore, it is important to know the characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of one or another material in order to find the most suitable one.
Such heaters are popular:

• mineral and ecowool;
• Styrofoam;
• polyurethane foam.

Mineral wool and ecowool insulation

Mineral wool is often chosen for insulation. The material shows itself well in conditions of high temperatures and combustion, it is lightweight and vapor permeable. Installation does not require much effort and special skills.

Quite often, ecowool is used in insulation. You can buy it in briquettes. The weight of one is 15 kg. Before use, it is loosened, and then it is poured between the racks of the frame and compacted.
Over time, shrinkage of the material can occur, leading to heat loss. This is a disadvantage of ecowool.

The use of foam for insulation

The main advantage of polystyrene is its low weight, due to which it is very easy to work with it. Sheets are mounted without great difficulty, and in the future they do not affect the environment or people in any way.
A huge advantage of polystyrene is that it does not rot, rot, bacteria or fungus. After installation on the surface of the walls, there will be no need to cover it with a film.
Also among the advantages of this material is its low price, which allows you to save a lot on the insulation of a frame house.
On the other side of the scale, there is such a significant drawback as susceptibility to combustion, during which many harmful chemicals are released into the environment.

You can replace the foam with a non-combustible variety called extruded polystyrene foam.

Application of polyurethane foam

Insulation with polyurethane foam is carried out by spraying onto the surface of the walls of a frame building. This option provides the highest quality thermal insulation among all the others.
The application of a layer of this insulation is carried out using special equipment. All the necessary components are mixed inside the device, after which the mixture is applied with a jet to the surface of the walls of the house. There, the polyurethane foam foams and turns into a solid state, forming a strong crust.

useful at work

The advantage of this insulation is the ability to apply it to almost any surface.

The disadvantage is that polyurethane foam is easily exposed to ultraviolet radiation, which means that if it is exposed to direct sunlight, it will lose its performance. Therefore, so that this does not happen, and the life of the insulation does not decrease, it is not necessary to delay the coating of the facade with a facing material.

Preparing walls for insulation

Before any construction process, proper preparation must be made. The insulation of a frame house is no exception.

If the building has already been in operation, then it is necessary to check the condition of all walls from the outside. All unnecessary elements must be removed from the facade, such as nails, screws, other construction elements, damage, bulges, etc. All such defects must be removed from the facade so that it is as clean and even as possible. All cracks that are visible outside the walls must be sealed with mounting foam.

You also need to carefully inspect the surface for damp areas. If there are any, they must be dried with a building hair dryer, and measures should be taken to find and eliminate the problems that caused such consequences.

For a frame house that is under construction, preparatory work also needs to be carried out. The frame of the walls is upholstered from the inside with chipboard. Then the process of removing defects takes place, as well as sealing the cracks with mounting foam. A vapor barrier film is applied to the inner surface of the walls to protect the insulation from air vapor coming from inside the room. It is then closed during interior decoration with clapboard or drywall.

Facade insulation

Further, outside, on the surface of the walls, insulation is laid in layers. The climate of the region depends on how many layers will be installed. During the installation of the material, each subsequent layer must overlap the joints of the previous one.

After the installation is completed, the wall is covered with a windproof membrane, which is fastened with a construction stapler. Then a crate is constructed, which serves to provide a ventilation opening between the membrane and the facing material. The gap should be approximately 20-40 mm.

Chipboards are attached to the crate, after which it is possible to perform facade cladding. To do this, use siding, lining, etc.
In the event that this insulation turned out to be insufficient, then another one can be arranged outside by applying an additional layer to the surface of the facade.

Reliable thermal insulation of the house provides comfortable living conditions and allows you to save on its heating. To perform the insulation of a frame house on your own, you must have the following set of tools:

• nail puller;
• chisel;
• a hammer;
• electric jigsaw with blades for transverse and longitudinal cuts;
• hacksaw with large teeth for wood;
• construction knife for cutting insulating materials.

Accuracy is important in the workflow, so you should also prepare several tape measures.

Warming tools. Click on the photo to enlarge.

Since the house is wooden, you will need a woodworking machine, through which you can cut the boards along. However, in the process of warming a frame house, the use of a jigsaw is permissible.

In addition to tools, additional materials will be required in the work:

• self-tapping screws 4 cm long for mounting chipboard sheets;
• nails 2.5 cm long for installing fiberboard sheets;
• to fix the sheathing - nails 6 cm;
• polyurethane foam for sealing the joints of the material and blocking the cracks.

Preparatory work

Before starting the insulation of the walls, it is necessary to carry out preparatory work in the frame house. It may seem to some that this stage can be excluded, but experts, on the contrary, recommend paying special attention to it. If construction debris remains inside the frame structure, you should get rid of it. When insulating the walls of an old building, it is necessary to carefully examine the frame for protruding nails and damage to the outer skin. The discovered nails can be bent with a hammer or removed with a nail puller. And the cracks and gaps, in turn, are filled with mounting foam.

When insulating frame houses that have been in operation for a certain time, it is important to inspect their walls for the presence of damp places. If any are found, it is necessary to get rid of dampness. To do this, use a building hair dryer, which does an excellent job with the task. In order to prevent the re-formation of dampness, it is necessary to find a defect in the skin and close up the place through which moisture penetrates into the structure.

In most cases, the insulation of the walls of a frame house consists in laying insulating material in the cavities that form the frame racks. This technology allows the use of various heaters, but the most common are:

• glass wool;
• mineral wool;
• Styrofoam;
• extruded polystyrene foam.

The above materials allow you to perform proper insulation. Of course, you can use cheaper materials, such as sawdust to insulate a frame house, but they will not do their job to the fullest.

Waterproofing material device

Scheme of waterproofing a frame house. Click on the photo to enlarge.

The process of warming a private house consists not only in the installation of heat-insulating material, because in addition to it, the walls must be protected with a layer of waterproofing. Glassine is often used as a waterproofing material, since it is able to remove accumulated steam from the insulation. If condensate and steam accumulate in the heat-insulating layer, then it will lose its properties, and its thermal conductivity will increase. Consequently, the house will become cold, which will entail additional heating costs.

Before installation, the waterproofing material is cut into strips of the required dimensions. Using a construction stapler, they are attached to the skin and frame racks. In order for the insulation of a frame house to be effective with your own hands, the outer side of the skin should not be finished with hydro and vapor barrier. Otherwise, the moisture that wood gives off will accumulate in the structure, and not go into the atmosphere.

When sheathing a frame house with siding, a small space should be left between the outer and facade wall sheathing. 3 cm will be enough, but no less. The gap left is necessary for ventilation, because only in this way the wood will not accumulate moisture and can dry well. The waterproofing material is fixed with an overlap of about 10 cm. The correct waterproofing device will protect the insulation from condensation and moisture.

House wall insulation

Consider the process of warming with mineral wool. The first thing that the technology of wall insulation requires is the presence of the required number of mats, which should be enough for the entire area of ​​the frame house. The material is laid on a layer of waterproofing between the racks of the frame. With the help of a construction knife, mineral wool is cut so that its dimensions coincide with the openings. When cutting the material, you can make a mistake, so it is recommended to do the following: measure the distance between the racks of the frame and add about 10-14 cm to the resulting figure. This will allow you to make the insulation more tightly and install mineral wool mats between the racks of the frame walls.

The remaining scraps of material, the thickness of which is approximately 3 cm, can eliminate the gaps at the joints of the insulation. In addition, the joints must be sealed with bundles, which are created from scraps of mineral wool after the mats are installed in all walls.

In the work it is necessary to show quick wits and dexterity, because there is not so much theoretical knowledge on how to properly insulate a frame house. Sealing joints should be done carefully with a knife. A strip of insulation with one side is inserted into the racks and the joint of the mat, then it is folded in half and a similar procedure is carried out with the other side. Proper sealing prevents the penetration of cold into the building frame.

Vapor barrier installation

Installation of vapor barrier. Click on the photo to enlarge.

When constructing an insulation pie, one should not forget about the need for vapor barrier of the walls of a frame house. For this purpose, penofol is used, the thickness of which is 3 mm. Strips of material are fixed in a vertical position to the frame racks using a construction stapler. This technology is not only easy to perform, but also saves penofol.

The strips of vapor barrier material are overlapped by about 5-6 cm. After the entire insulated surface of the walls is covered with penofol, you can proceed to sheathing them with an edged board 2.5 cm thick.

The correct insulation technology involves fixing the foam with foil to the outside, then the thermal radiation will be reflected from the frame walls. Due to this, condensation will not form in the walls, and the insulating cake will significantly reduce the thermal conductivity of the structure. Knowing how to insulate frame walls with your own hands, you can save not only on heating, but also on the services of a master.

Thermal insulation of the ceiling and floor

Floor insulation with sawdust. Click on the photo to enlarge.

To ensure comfortable living in a private house, it is necessary, in addition to walls, to insulate the ceiling and floor. The technology of warming the surface of the ceiling of a frame house consists in laying an insulating cake from the side of the attic. First of all, the vapor barrier layer is attached to the beams and the shield surface of the ceiling with a stapler. Next, mineral wool mats are laid. All joints are sealed in a manner similar to wall insulation technology. From above, the insulation material is covered with a layer of waterproofing, and a protective row of unedged boards 2.5 cm thick is laid on the sides. The thickness of the insulation will depend on the material chosen for the thermal insulation of the frame house.

Before laying the insulation cake, you need to take care of the ventilation of the room. Installation of the ventilation system is carried out after thermal insulation, but the holes for it are made in advance. Their size will depend on the diameter of the pipes, as a rule, it is 10 cm.

The next step is to insulate the floor. Before insulating its surface, you should choose the best option that will protect the frame-panel house. Most consumers prefer to use foam, because it has sufficient strength, durability and is easy to install. But it is worth remembering that the foam is laid on top of the vapor barrier material.

Ceiling insulation with sawdust. Click on the photo to enlarge.

The heat-insulating floor cake can be made of mineral wool. For this purpose, glass wool, slag and stone wool are used. The material will provide not only proper thermal insulation, but will reduce the noise level in the room.

Mineral wool can be produced in the form of a roll or solid mats and slabs. To insulate the floors of the panel structure of the house, it is recommended to use solid slabs. But before insulating the floor, it is necessary to equip air ducts for air circulation, otherwise the frame house may begin to rot.

Insulation material is laid under the floorboards between the joists, i.e. to complete the process, the floor will have to be opened. Skirting boards are also removed. After the work is completed, the floor covering is laid again and the skirting boards are nailed.

What do we expect first of all from a frame house? Safety, comfort and, above all, warmth. It was the thermal characteristics that confidently brought frame houses to the top of the most popular buildings, and have kept them there for several years. However, there are cases when the house should be additionally insulated from the inside, and you can do it yourself.

In what cases is it necessary

Not every house is subject to internal insulation, since already during the construction of the wall of the frame building, the insulation is laid inside. It can be any modern insulation that is certified and has all the documents. Do not purchase Chinese material, especially if it is significantly cheaper. Its quality and safety leave much to be desired, and the glue that may be included is completely dangerous.

However, sometimes the house needs insulation.

1. Warming of old houses. If your house has stood for 10-15 years, then the insulation that is in the walls may lose quality. Especially if the operating conditions of the frame building were difficult - perhaps moisture sometimes penetrated the wall, or the integrity of the protecting materials - waterproofing and vapor barrier - was violated. In this case, the house is insulated from the inside, using mineral wool. Styrofoam can also be used, but there must be high requirements for it so that there is no technical smell in the room for a long time.
2. Insulation of the house for winter living. If you had a country house in which you lived only in the summer season, with the help of insulation you can make the house habitable even in cold weather, but you will also have to think about heating. However, if there is light in the house, then this ceases to be a problem. In addition, you can fold the oven or use gas heaters.
3. If initially you made a mistake and chose a heater with an inappropriate density or thickness for your climate zone, as a result, the house turned out to be poorly retaining heat.
4. If mold has appeared on your walls, it means that the walls need to be insulated, because condensation appears on the walls due to freezing, cold bridges or dew points.

Thus, there are several reasons to insulate the house, but how to do it - we will consider below.

How is the process of installing insulation

So, before you start to warm the frame house, you should carry out a series of preparatory work. First of all, it is worth removing the interior trim, peel off the wallpaper or siding. The surface must be flat and clean. If mold spots are visible on the walls, they are removed and smeared with an antifungal solution. Otherwise, warming will bring one harm.

Next you should choose materialwith which the house will be insulated. Usually it is mineral wool or foam. For internal insulation of the house, foam plastic can be chosen thinner, it should not be too soft, foam plastic of average density will do. For floor insulation - more dense.

If you have chosen mineral wool for warming a frame house, then please note that it is sold in the form of mats or rolls.

So, a step-by-step instruction for working with foam plastic with your own hands:

1. Treating the wall of the house with an antifungal agent to protect the house from fungus. To do this, we use a container for liquid and a roller. We work through the entire wall, allowing the product to soak in. Very often, these products have a pungent odor and are poisonous, so applying them to the wall should occur during ventilation so that fresh air is available. Hands must be protected with gloves. You should also make sure that the product does not get into the eyes. Warming without processing cannot be of high quality.
2. If you are insulating with polystyrene foam, we fix the insulation from the corner, so that later we can cut off the excess. For fixing, we use foam and plugs-fungi. On one sheet there are 5 fungi - 1 from the corners and one in the center. To the wall of the frame building, we first fix the foam with a fungus in the middle, and then install the plugs in the corners.
3. After the first level, we also lay the second level of foam with our own hands.
4. To make the foam more durable, we apply expanded clay, tile glue on top of it. After hardening, it makes the wall almost concrete. For application, use a large spatula. Spread the glue evenly over the wall with a thin layer, and let it dry.
5. When the wall is dry, we need to clean it. To do this, we take sandpaper and a holder. Work is best done in a mask, as it is very dusty. Fine dust from glue is quite harmful, and it is undesirable to breathe it.
6. The next stage: work with a primer and a roller. After everything is cleaned with sandpaper, it is necessary to prime the wall. After that, the wall is ready in plaster.

Thus, the wall is insulated from the inside, and all the work is done by hand. In a similar way, you can insulate a wooden house with mineral wool, such as basalt. It is quite dense, well cut with a knife.

At the same time, the foam still has some disadvantages when insulating a frame building from the inside.

Styrofoam does not breathe and contributes to the obstruction of the outflow of steam. But mineral wool is considered a breathable material, so indoors it is better to use it.

Risks and consequences

The insulation of a frame house from the inside also has opponents. In fact, there is an opinion that it is better not to insulate the house from the inside with your own hands, and if you decide to take such a step, then you need to use only breathable materials. Why is there such an opinion?

In order to answer this question, you need to learn more about the structure of the frame wall. It consists of the following layers: vapor barrier membrane, insulation, waterproofing film and boards on both sides.

The biggest evil for a frame wall is moisture, which, getting inside, settles with condensate on the insulation, rendering it unusable, and also causes wood rotting, mold and the spread of fungus.

Where does moisture get into the wall? It is generally accepted that from the street if the waterproofing is not done correctly. After all, there is snow, and rain, and fog on the street. However, experience and practice suggest that moisture gets inside the wall most often from inside the house, therefore, in order for vapors and moisture to freely exit the wall, it is necessary to use breathable materials. Styrofoam does not belong to such materials, but mineral wool - yes.

Therefore, polystyrene foam can do great harm if you insulate the house from the inside with it, and great benefit if you use it outside. And from the inside the house is better to insulate

Frame houses are especially popular today: they are easily and quickly assembled, do not require the arrangement of a reinforced and expensive foundation, are inexpensive, and therefore accessible to all segments of the population.

Nevertheless, many do not dare to build houses using frame technology, as they consider them not warm enough, intended exclusively for summer living. However, this opinion is erroneous, because if you approach the insulation of a panel house wisely, you can feel comfortable in it at any time of the year. "But how to insulate a frame house for winter living?" - you ask. The answer to all questions related to the process of insulating such buildings will be our today's article.

Insulation options

First of all, you need to decide where you will install thermal insulation - outside the building or from the inside. To make the right decision, you should consider the features of each method of insulation.

The following facts speak in favor of the external location of thermal insulation:

In the process, the interior of the house does not suffer at all.

Wooden walls accumulate inside the heat that is in the room, and when the temperature drops, they give it back to the room, allowing you to save on heating.

It should also be noted that the insulation material installed outside the house, in addition to its main function, reliably protects the facade from the harmful effects of moisture, ultraviolet radiation and temperature fluctuations. As a result, the service life of the building is noticeably increased.

If you are thinking about how to insulate the walls in a frame house from the inside, pay attention to several disadvantages of this method:

For the interior, it will be necessary to dismantle all the decorative trim of the room, which, after the installation of thermal insulation, will have to be restored again. This leads to an increase in the timing of the work and to additional costs.

With internal insulation, flows of warm and cold air meet inside the wall, which leads to the accumulation of moisture in the room, as a result, the service life of wooden piers is significantly reduced.

The insulation layer located inside the building does not protect the facade from external factors. The wall goes through many cycles of freezing and thawing, as a result of which its structure is destroyed.

The choice of insulation material

When wondering how to insulate a frame house for winter living, it should be understood that when it comes to walls made of wood-shaving materials, the insulation must have the following qualities:

1. Environmental friendliness. The heat insulator must not release substances hazardous to humans into the air (even when heated).

2. Fire safety. Materials should be chosen that prevent the spread of fire along the walls of the building and do not emit much smoke in the event of a fire.

3. Low thermal conductivity.

4. Strength. must fit tightly between the walls and retain its original shape over time.

5. Low cost. The price of insulation should not exceed the cost of the building itself.

Expanded polystyrene and mineral wool are considered closest to the above requirements.

Styrofoam

The main advantages of polystyrene include its low weight, which is very important when it comes to frame structures. The material perfectly tolerates sudden changes in temperature, is not afraid of moisture and does not freeze.

The durability and low cost of foam plastic attract many homeowners, but along with the positive qualities, this insulation also has disadvantages.

These include:

Rapid flammability;

Susceptibility to mechanical and chemical damage;

Poor breathability (due to which the effect of a thermos is created in the house).

As an alternative, many use an improved type of foam plastic - foam plastic, which is resistant to various kinds of damage, but has a higher price tag.

Most often, this insulation is installed on the outside of the house.

Mineral wool

The most popular material used as thermal insulation in frame houses is Isover mineral wool (insulation, the price of which, in comparison with similar materials, is quite low). On sale it is found in the form of rolls, mats and durable plates.

It is characterized by environmental friendliness, light weight, excellent heat and sound insulation performance, the ability to go around any irregularities, as well as a long service life.

The fire safety of a material depends entirely on its density. Products in the form of plates do not burn at all.

When choosing this insulation for frame walls, it should be borne in mind that after a while the wool can cake and sag, which leads to a violation of the integrity of the heat-insulating layer. Also, due attention must be paid to waterproofing, because, when wet, glass wool loses its original properties and becomes a favorable environment for mold.

Facade insulation

Let's take a closer look at how to insulate a frame house for winter living from the outside.

For these purposes, you can use the technology. It involves the installation of insulation between the outer wall and decorative cladding. In this case, the thickness of the heat-insulating layer directly depends on the climatic conditions in the region of residence (20 cm or more).

This method can also be used for internal wall insulation, and lining or drywall can be used as a finish.

Styrofoam insulation technology for external walls

1. The wall is cleaned of dirt and dust, all protrusions are smoothed out. The base is completely treated with a primer, and if cracks are found, they are covered with special adhesives.

2. Next, install vertical hangers. Nylon twine with loads is placed at a distance of 0.5 m from each other in order to identify and eliminate all irregularities (if the walls of the panel house are as smooth as possible, this stage can be skipped).

3. With the help of special glue, the foam boards are fixed on the walls. It is very important that the material fits as tightly as possible to the base.

4. A finishing material is installed over the heat-insulating layer.

Insulation of internal walls

Now let's figure out how to insulate a frame house with mineral wool.

The installation of insulation should be started only after the wall has been treated with antiseptic compounds.

Installation of thermal insulation includes the following works:

1. On the walls, a vapor-permeable one is placed so that its smooth side “looks” into the room.

2. Guide rails made of wood or metal are installed on top of the membrane using self-tapping screws. The distance between the rails must correspond to the width of the insulation material.

3. Installation of mineral wool can start both from above and from below the wall. If you use a rolled "Isover" (insulation, the price of which varies between 1500-2000 rubles per pack), installation should start from the ceiling. Mineral wool in mats is mounted starting from the floor. Fastening is carried out using dowels with a wide cap.

4. On top of the insulation is located For these purposes, you should choose vapor-permeable products that will contribute to the natural ventilation of the room. The film is fixed with wooden slats so that it is not strongly stretched and does not sag. Next, the cladding is installed.

Conclusion

Now you know how to insulate a frame house for winter living. At the end of the topic, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that thermal insulation will not make the building suitable for living in the cold season - it is designed to keep warm air inside the room. Therefore, if you want your home to be warm and comfortable even in severe frosts, take care of its heating.