It is quite difficult today to find a balcony without minimal decoration. Modern materials and metal-plastic double-glazed windows allow you to turn this part of the home into an additional room or place to relax. In the summer, such a system performs its functions perfectly, while in the winter and in the off-season it becomes uncomfortable on the balcony. There the temperature drops, and the floor becomes especially cold.
Therefore, many property owners are wondering about how to provide maximum convenience and create conditions that will make them feel comfortable in this part of the apartment in any weather. Insulation of the floor on the balcony is impractical to carry out if work on the thermal insulation of the walls has not been carried out. The easiest way is to lay a layer of insulation between the surface of the ceiling plate and the floor. On the market today you can find many materials that are designed for such purposes.
Choice of insulation
The floor on the balcony without insulation will remain cold. Therefore, it is worth solving this issue by choosing the appropriate material. The most advanced and modern solution is penofol. It is a foamed polyethylene that is protected by an aluminum film. The insulation is flexible, which makes it easy to install and install.
Having familiarized yourself with the assortment of the market, you can find modern penofol options with one-sided and two-sided protection from metal foil. If you want to provide not only warm, but also waterproofing the floor, then you can prevent the formation of condensate. For this, it is better to purchase double-sided material. It is implemented in rolls, and for connecting strips and pieces, the joints are glued with an aluminum film. If you want to achieve a better level of heat conservation, it is better to use penofol in conjunction with other heaters like foam.
Should I use Styrofoam
Floor insulation on the balcony can be carried out with foam. This option of thermal insulation is today the most common and cheapest. To date, there are plates of different thicknesses on sale, which is very convenient when working on thermal insulation with raising the level.
The material is pre-cut into pieces and is located between the plate and the finish. All slots are filled with foam. Polyfoam has one drawback, which is expressed in brittleness and rigidity. In addition, when working with it, a lot of small debris is formed.
The use of expanded polystyrene foam
Floor insulation on the balcony can be carried out with expanded polystyrene foam. Its characteristics are selected in accordance with the requirements for thermal insulation, environmental, fire and biological safety. Penoplex is flexible, lightweight, does not rot, is chemically inert, does not burn and is ready to serve for a long time without creating comfortable conditions on its surface for the occurrence and development of mold or fungus.
If you decide to carry out the insulation of the balcony floor with expanded polystyrene, then you can use expanded polystyrene, which is sold in sheets. Their thickness varies from 20 to 50 mm. At a price, penoplex stands at the first together, however, it is the best thermal insulator with which it is comfortable to work.
Use of mineral wool
Floor insulation on the balcony is often carried out with mineral wool. This material has been tested by time. It is based on basalt threads or fiberglass. Mineral wool does not absorb water, is inert to chemical influences, does not burn, mold does not breed in it.
If we compare with other heaters, then mineral wool is different in that it can be placed in any slot. However, the material has one drawback, which is expressed in the fact that when working with it you need to use personal protective equipment, because its fibers are very sharp and brittle. When exposed to the skin, they give irritation, so cotton wool causes severe itching.
Preparation for work
At the first stage, preparation is necessary. To do this, the balcony slab is protected by a screed to prevent cracks and damage along the edges. But first, you need to consult with specialists from an organization that deals with the operation of the house. Sometimes, for safety reasons, weighting the plate is not recommended.
Solution preparation
If the building is new, and the balcony is strong enough, then you can start laying the screed. The coating should not be heavy and thick. Its mass should be less, and the design should be strong, so as not to crack with a minimum thickness.
Insulation of the floor on the balcony with expanded clay allows you to achieve the goal. In addition, you can use perlite, but it requires the use of a complex kneading technique, in the process you will have to use a concrete mixer. This leads to the fact that expanded clay is better suited for home conditions.
To work, you must mix a solution of three parts of building sand, part of cement and 0.1 part of lime. Quarry sand and one that is typed in nature will not work. You must purchase material for construction work that is cleaned and sieved.
Part of the cement is mixed with expanded clay. To reduce the mass, the volume of cement can be 25%. The dry composition mixes well until a uniform color. Then you can add water and knead. The solution should gain the consistency of thick sour cream.
Pouring screed
At the next stage, you can start laying the screed. In the case of a balcony, you can do without the use of beacons, since the layer will be thin, about 5 cm. The space must be waterproofed around the perimeter. This can be done using foam or self-adhesive tape. The amount of work is small, so bitumen is usually not used.
It is necessary to proceed from the farthest corners from the door. The layer in the course of work is stretched and aligned with the rule. The level is controlled by an appropriate tool. The screed is well dried, only after which it can be considered that it is suitable for walking. This will happen in 3 days. Experts advise to withstand the floor for about 12 days, periodically wetting it with water and covering it with a film. This will provide the screed the greatest strength.
Floor construction
The floor level on the balcony should be close to what is in the adjacent room. Usually this surface is slightly lower. If it is necessary to raise the balcony floor in relation to the general in the apartment, it is better to provide a recess in the form of a pocket at the door. This will prevent moisture from entering the room.
Preparation of materials and tools
For the installation of flooring you will need:
- roulette;
- wooden beam;
- electric jigsaw;
- insulation;
- sheet material;
- construction foam cylinder.
For lack of a jigsaw you can use a saw on a tree. Select the beam of the desired section. Logs will do. To cover the surface, you need sheet material by type:
- sheets of thick plywood;
- boards;
- Chipboard.
If the thickness of the latter is about 17 mm, then the material can be laid directly on the logs. Having previously created a grid of boards, you can stack 10 mm sheets on the surface. You can level the base with plywood or chipboard. The beam is cut in size and laid across the balcony. The distance to the walls should be 5 cm.
The cut parts are located at a distance of 0.5 m. They are attached to the surface of the plate. This can be done using self-tapping screws with a plastic stopper. It is inserted into concrete in order to prevent cracking. From the edge of the beam to the first self-tapping screw, it is necessary to maintain a distance of 10 cm. At this stage, you can hardly follow the floor level, because this task will be performed by subsequent work.
Insulation Technology
The floor insulation on the balcony with foam plastic provides for preliminary cutting of the material into separate pieces to fill the gaps between the timber. The level of thermal insulation should be level or lower than the surface of the timber. The gaps should be minimal. Gaps, where necessary, are filled with foam.
If you decide to use mineral wool, then it is laid in free space. With the installation of penofol, everything is simpler. The strips are cut to size, but their length should be 40 cm more than the length of the balcony. As a result, you should get about 200 mm of excess insulation. To connect the pieces, it is necessary to overlap and glue the seams with aluminum tape.
Floor level work
Final leveling of the surface is carried out by bars for longitudinal installation. They are cut according to the length of the balcony. The final value must be reduced by 5 cm. Workpieces are stacked with control of the final level. Next comes sheet material like plywood or chipboard. As a result, you should get a flat surface that will contain a layer of insulation and an air gap to prevent condensation.
Insulation of the floor on the balcony under the tile can be carried out according to a simplified method. For this, the timber is laid in one layer. In this case, you must form a grid and fill the gaps with thermal insulation. But this approach is not very convenient, because it will be necessary to control the level of each section of the beam as carefully as possible. General thermal insulation will be worse, but this approach will save height by lowering the floor level.
Reviews of foam insulation
Before you start insulating the floor on the balcony with polystyrene foam, reviews and tips should be read. Having become acquainted with them, you will be able to understand that this material is convenient to install and is cheap. It keeps its shape perfectly, therefore it is widespread in construction and repair. Consumers consider its flammability to be the main disadvantage of polyfoam.
During friction, the material begins to produce choking hazardous gas. Consumers also like the fact that the foam is affordable. It has a convenient design and comes in the form of sheets. Sometimes the material is used in the form of balls or chips.
Home craftsmen emphasize that this thermal insulation is versatile, because it can be used not only for the floor, but also for walls and the ceiling. Processing sheets is very simple, for this you can use an ordinary knife or hacksaw.
Holes of any size and depth can easily be made in plates. This is especially useful if you need to install paintings in hard to reach places. The foam is also good because it can be glued to almost any surface, and after the composition has dried, the base can be further processed for decoration.
In addition about the use of foam when warming the floor
If you decided to use polystyrene for thermal insulation, the technology will remain almost the same as described above. At the first stage, a plastic film is laid on the base to protect the material from moisture. It is fixed with construction tape. Next, a frame is mounted, between the elements of which thermal insulation will be laid.
After this, the foam is laid out on the floor, and its sheets are additionally fixed with glue. To do this, you can use liquid nails. Elements should be located as densely as possible to each other. If you plan to lay several layers, then their joints should not coincide. Seams are sealed with sealant. The flooring is laid on top. If the balcony floor under the tile is insulated, then it is better to use fiberboard as a rough surface. Some lay a thin screed on top, otherwise the foam may bend or crack.
Nuances of laying mineral wool
Before any insulation work, the foundation must be prepared. To do this, the surface is checked for cleanliness and the presence of foreign objects. The material must be dry. Cracks and chips are filled with cement-sand mixture or alabaster. If there are damages between the panels, they are filled with polyurethane foam or the same solution.
Before warming the balcony floor with mineral wool, it is necessary to lay waterproofing, for this, roofing material is usually used. It is rolled along the length of the room. An overlap of 200 mm should be provided between the sheets. The edges of the material should go into the walls. Joints are additionally glued with adhesive tape.
Next, lags are installed. For this, wooden slats are used, which are pre-impregnated with an antifungicidal composition. The material is additionally dried for 2 days. The size and thickness of the rails may vary depending on what level you need to raise the floor.
The timber can be fixed to a concrete base or using direct suspensions. In the first case, we are talking about technology that requires the use of pads, with them you can align the horizontal level. The bars can be fixed to the corners or suspensions that are mounted on the base of the floor.
Insulation
Insulation of the floor on the balcony with mineral wool is carried out on a crate. The insulation strips are cut, while the marking must be amended. About 70 mm is added to the parameter so that the edges of the canvases fit snugly to the lags. The material is inserted into the space between the rails. Sections of the frame are filled with insulation. The gaps are closed with foam.
When choosing stone or mineral wool, it is better to prefer paintings whose thickness is 50 mm. If you want to form a thicker layer, then one sheet should be applied to another. But the mineral wool should not be pressed down strongly, since the air in it acts as a heat insulator. If it is forced out of space, the insulating qualities of the material will decrease.
At the end of work, the structure is closed with plastic wrap or other material that does not allow moisture to pass through. Cloths are fixed to the wood, while a furniture stapler should be used. At the next stage, you can do the laying of a massive board, USB, sheets of chipboard or plywood.
Additional nuances of using foam
Warming the floor on the balcony with penoplex allows you to achieve good results. For work, the stove should be cleaned of old finishing materials, dust and dirt. The base is checked for integrity, which is especially true for those places where the material connects to the wall. If the base has cracks or chips, then they are covered with plaster. After the solution has solidified, the surface must be treated with a primer in several layers.
Next, the logs are laid, they are wooden supports, between them the insulation will be located. The distance between the lags should not be too small, because the thermal insulation will have to be cut into separate segments. The instructions for floor insulation on the balcony with foam plastic provide for the installation of insulation between the logs on the film. The surface is once again covered with a film in several layers. On top of the lag will be a rough coating, which is subsequently finished.
Thermal insulation under floor heating
Some make the balcony a full room in their apartment. If you also decided to follow the example of such property owners, then you should use the technology of laying the system of underfloor heating. To do this, first the surface is leveled, thermal insulation is laid on it, which acts as the basis for mounting the mounting tape. It is placed in its place, and a heating cable is pulled over it.
Insulation of the floor on the balcony under the warm floor allows you to make the area of the apartment even larger. The next step is to place the thermostat in the place where it will be convenient for you to use it. The floor area is poured with cement-sand mortar, and then ceramic tiles are laid. Warming a balcony with a warm floor can significantly increase the mass of the structure.
Glazing and wall insulation
When insulating the balcony, it is necessary to change the old frame, which acts as a glazing system. If this is not done, then even the highest quality materials will not allow you to achieve the desired result. Glazing of the balcony and floor insulation necessarily provides for the filling of gaps in the parapet area, as well as the walls. Cold air can enter through them.
Styrofoam plates can be strengthened against the walls for thermal insulation. For this, cement glue is usually used. For more reliable fastening, you can use a dowel-nails with wide hats. After installing the insulation, a heat insulator in the form of penofol is attached to it. It is better to install it in whole pieces. Warming of the walls and floor of the balcony is also accompanied by finishing work. To do this, you can use plastic panels that are installed on a pre-mounted crate. For her, the thickness of the rails should be 5 cm.