Insulation of walls from the inside in a corner apartment. Insulating a house from the inside or how to make life more comfortable and have lower heating bills How to insulate walls in a private house

Master of Architecture, graduated from Samara State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering. 11 years of experience in design and construction.

The issue of internal insulation causes a lot of controversy and has its ardent opponents. But there are those who believe that this option will help make the building more comfortable for living. Both sides are right. In every situation there are reasons for taking one position or another. But before choosing this method for interior decoration of a private house, you should carefully weigh the pros and cons, study the features, and choose safe insulation.

In what cases is this relevant?

Insulating walls from the inside certainly improves the thermal performance of a house. But this is an unconventional technology, because they usually try to do . However, there are situations when there is no other choice.

This option is also relevant for apartment buildings. It helps not only to increase the comfort of your home, but also to prevent the occurrence of troubles such as mold or mildew.

Problems

This method has a number of disadvantages. It is for this reason that the method has many opponents. Insulating walls from the inside can cause the following problems:

• The walls are not protected from the cold. The supporting structure of the building continues to be in contact with the outside air. This can lead to its gradual destruction. Cracks will begin to appear on the surface. This measure not only does not protect the outer wall from the cold, but also takes away some of the heat from it, because before insulation, part of the heat from the room heated the wall, but now this flow is blocked.
• Condensation. It forms on a cold surface upon contact with warm air. Heating engineers call the place where condensation forms the dew point. The main task of thermal insulation is to move the dew point outside the wall. Insulation “from the inside” ensures that the dew point shifts to the boundary between the wall and the insulation. This process is hidden, so home owners do not notice it. But humidity will be an excellent condition for the proliferation of various microorganisms.
• Reducing the area of ​​premises. Modern types of insulation have good efficiency. But science has not yet come up with such a good material that its thickness is minimal. To insulate a house from the room side, you will need 5 to 10 cm of insulation. This eats up the area quite a lot. This is not so noticeable to the eye, but if you calculate the losses for the entire building, the figure turns out to be significant.

Therefore, before deciding on internal insulation of the walls of the house, we recommend that you carefully think about the listed problems. In this case, ignorance does not exempt from responsibility, since the result of inattention will make itself felt in the first years of operation.

Material selection

The technology allows the use of different types of insulation. Each of them has its own characteristics, advantages and disadvantages. The most commonly used options for insulating walls from the inside are:

• Styrofoam;
• extruded polystyrene foam (Penoplex type);
• mineral wool;

Styrofoam

Polystyrene foam is inexpensive and has good performance. In most cases, 5 cm will be enough to ensure a comfortable microclimate. It allows you to complete work quickly, without complex processing and additional tools.

But this material has significant disadvantages:

• low strength;
• flammability;
• poor vapor permeability - polystyrene foam can turn a house into a real greenhouse.

Extruded polystyrene foam

The closest relative of polystyrene foam is extruded polystyrene foam (Penoplex type). It is very similar in appearance, but is orange in color instead of white. It is also worth noting that it has greater strength and durability. But such disadvantages as flammability and poor vapor permeability have not gone away. Such insulation of the wall will not allow it to breathe and will require additional ventilation.

Is it possible to carry out internal insulation using polystyrene foam? Yes, you can. But you need to prepare for negative consequences and eliminate them in time. This option is more suitable for brick or lightweight concrete. Wood for walls is usually chosen precisely for its ability to breathe. Polystyrene foam or polystyrene foam will easily block air flow and negate all the benefits of wood.

Mineral wool

This type of insulation has become widespread. It costs a little more, but has high vapor permeability. It is recommended to choose basalt mineral wool, which is produced in rigid slabs. It is easy to install, does not burn, and has fairly high strength.

But you should be careful when placing the insulating layer inside the room. This material has low moisture resistance. Vata absorbs water perfectly, after which it practically ceases to perform its direct functions. For reliable protection from moisture, a vapor barrier should be provided on the warm air side and waterproofing on the cold air side.

Fiberboard

The walls of the house can be insulated from the inside. The option does not guarantee that the difficulties listed earlier will not appear in the future, but it has the following advantages:

• good thermal insulation and noise absorption;
• unattractive to insects and rodents;
• good resistance to moisture and temperature changes;
• ease of processing, you can use any tools;
• easy installation;
• Convenient for wiring.

Material selection criteria

Insulation of the walls of a house from the inside must meet the following criteria:

• environmental friendliness;
• safety;
• fire resistance (for materials that are not resistant to high temperatures, select the appropriate finish);
• durability;
• efficiency, low thermal conductivity;
• good resistance to moisture (or the presence of additional protection against it).

It is also worth checking the vapor permeability. How to insulate a house for many years? Good ventilation needs to be considered. Without this, the building will suffer from high humidity and microclimate disturbances. The problem can be solved, but you need to think about it at the initial stage.

Technology

For a private home, two methods of securing the material are used. Both of them are relevant:

• on glue;
• according to the frame.

The second option allows you not to carefully level the insulated surface. In addition, it allows you to attach finishing materials without any problems. For example, for plasterboard cladding, you will in any case need to build a frame. You can insulate the wall under plywood or under plaster. Then there is no need to use a frame. The choice of installation method for insulation largely depends on the method of further finishing. It is definitely worth considering what kind of foundation is required.

Glue mount

The surface must be thoroughly cleaned of dirt, grease and dust, otherwise this can significantly reduce the quality of adhesion of the heat-insulating material to the base. Further work is performed in the following order:

• level the surface, knock down protrusions, cover up cracks and depressions;
• treat the surface with an antiseptic composition;
• apply a layer of primer;
• glue the sheet, apply the adhesive composition with a roller to the wall and material;
• allow the glue to dry;
• fix the material to the wall with dowels.

Expanded polystyrene sheets and mineral wool slabs are fixed in a checkerboard pattern. After fixing the insulation, you can begin finishing.

Frame mounting

This option can be called more labor-intensive, but also more reliable. It allows you to protect the insulation from mechanical influences. This is especially true when using fragile foam.

Before starting work, the wall is cleaned of dirt and treated with an antiseptic. After this, you need to build a good frame from wooden blocks or aluminum metal profiles. The racks are fastened to the wall using self-tapping screws. The pitch of the elements is selected depending on the width of the insulation. For mineral wool, you will need such a step that there is 58 cm in the light. For foam plastic and penoplex, the distance in the light should be exactly 60 cm.

After installing the frame, the insulation is laid between the racks. The joints between polystyrene foam and the frame are filled with polyurethane foam. After this, you can begin finishing.

When performing work using any of these technologies using mineral wool, it is important not to forget about insulation from moisture. The waterproofing is attached directly to the wall before installing the wool, and the vapor barrier covers the material and protects it from internal steam. Fastening the layers is usually done with a construction stapler. The length of the material overlap must be at least 10 cm.

Each owner has his own individual requirements for what his house or apartment should be like. The exception to the rule is heat. Especially in the cold season, when the air temperature outside goes below zero.

With the fact that housing should not only be beautiful, but also able to maintain a comfortable temperature even with a big minus, everyone without exception agrees.

The reason for this unanimity lies not only in the desire to avoid the need to be at home in warm clothes that hinder movement.

The main troubles that follow freezing of walls are condensation, mold and fungi, which affect the health of residents.

In addition, the walls themselves suffer. If mold and mildew can be eliminated, then restored quality of the damaged wall It doesn't always work out.

The way out of the situation is internal wall insulation, protects against cold during frosts, and from condensation during thaw periods.

Advantages and disadvantages of thermal insulation

As a rule, the culprits reducing the comfortable temperature level indoors are heating systems, poorly insulated windows, or the roof of the house. If the heating, windows and roofing are normal, then the problem is really in the freezing walls, which require additional thermal insulation.

The indisputable advantages of internal wall protection against freezing include:

• the ability to insulate any room;
• performing work at any time of the year;
• the ability to carry out all the work yourself (significant savings);
• increasing the sound insulation of the home.

The disadvantages include:

• mandatory requirements for providing vapor barrier;
• the need to use insulation with excess thickness;
• consequences in the form of internal drafts;
• the need to create additional ventilation due to increased humidity;

Is it possible to insulate the walls inside an apartment?

Despite the fact that the option of internal insulation seems, at first glance, to be the most effective and profitable, experts recommend resorting to it only in the most extreme cases, if there is no other way out.

If the operating organization has been promising to carry out external insulation for years, but the residents do not have their own funds, then everything that is not recommended can be carried out, since is not strictly prohibited.

A significant disadvantage of mineral wool is ability to absorb moisture. The resulting dampness is an excellent breeding ground for pathogenic bacteria. In addition, excess water reduces thermal engineering priorities.

For a panel house, for example, the choice in favor of mineral wool will not be the most successful. However, if you need to insulate the walls of a wooden building, you won’t find better mineral wool.

This natural organic material is capable of spontaneously release the generated steam beyond the outline of the structure, protecting the wood used for the construction.

Expanded polystyrene

Some of the most important characteristics of insulating materials are moisture resistance and low specific gravity.

If mineral wool cannot boast of the ability to withstand moisture, then expanded polystyrene, both foamed and extruded (EPS), is quite satisfies the requirement.

The advantages of the material also include the low specific weight of the sheets and the absence of the need to install a metal frame.

All it takes is insulation of sheet joints polystyrene foam and walls through the use of polyurethane wool.

Attach the polystyrene sheets themselves to the wall using glue or dowels.

Styrofoam

Obtained by foaming a suspension polymer.

It is distinguished by a specific structural structure, which determines high strength and service life, exceeding the similar characteristics of popular mineral wool.

Polystyrene foam, despite its high popularity, has both significant advantages and disadvantages.

Pros:

• high resistance to moisture;
• excellent thermal insulation properties;
• resistant to mold and fungal attack;
• easy to process and install;
• easy;
• no additional waterproofing required;
• has high resistance to temperature changes, heat, frost;
• provides good sound insulation;
• cheap.

Minuses:

• needs protection from mechanical damage due to limited mechanical strength;
• does not allow air to pass through;
• fire hazard;
• interaction with nitro paints and nitro varnishes should not be allowed;

Polyurethane foam

This material is considered a leader among modern insulation materials due to its reliability. Among the disadvantages of polyurethane foam are: the need to install frames.

Taking Additional Security Measures in connection with the application of a liquid two-component substance by spraying, as well as plastering with the additional use of nylon mesh.

Among the advantages of polyurethane foam: high moisture resistance, minimal hardening time, no need to use fasteners.

Glass wool

The characteristics are similar to mineral wool. The advantages include lower cost than mineral wool. The main disadvantage is shrinkage over time. In addition, glass wool is characterized by high fiber fragility. This complicates installation and requires careful adherence to safety regulations.

Environmentally friendly materials

We are talking about such unusual materials as straw, reeds, gypsum panels. Despite difficulties with acquisition and searching for a contractor, this option of insulation is becoming increasingly popular.

But if there is no particular desire to search for material and artist, then you can use at least environmentally friendly materials– cork insulation or fiberboard, which is made from wood chips.

In this article you can learn how to soundproof walls in an apartment.

Criterias of choice

In order to select the most successful option of insulation intended for internal insulation of walls, it is necessary first of all pay attention to the following characteristics:

1. Resistance to high temperatures and exposure to open fire (fire safety).
2. Low thermal conductivity, preventing the outflow of heat from the room.
3. Safety (absence of toxic substances and toxic impurities).
4. Durability and the ability to retain its original shape for a long time.
5. Resistant to moisture and aggressive substances.

The material from which the walls are made and its characteristics also play an important role.

If the walls are planned to be plastered, then it is best to insulate them with extruded polystyrene foam. Peculiarity - EPPS flammability group should not exceed G1.

The choice in favor of expanded polystyrene is also justified minimal capture of usable space.

If the walls are sheathed with plasterboard, then they can be insulated with mineral wool and other soft insulation materials, with the obligatory installation of a vapor barrier layer.

It is not recommended to insulate walls in panel houses with polystyrene foam, due to its high flammability and ability to accumulate moisture.

The main task of internal insulation of a house made of foam blocks is to ensure vapor barrier of the thermal insulation material on both sides. Also casing must be done(second wall). For this purpose, plasterboard or lining is used.

Accordingly, soft cotton insulation or polystyrene foam will not work. It is best to use polyurethane foam, penoplex and polystyrene foam.

Wooden house made of environmentally friendly material, and the choice of insulation is guided precisely by this characteristic. The best option for insulating wooden walls of a private house is laying ecowool. It is also possible to use polystyrene foam and penoplex, which cannot be said about polystyrene foam.

Expanded polystyrene during operation begins to release carcinogenic substances harmful to humans and animals.

Mineral wool is well suited for insulating an apartment. if the footage allows. You can also use polystyrene foam, provided you first apply a layer of liquid waterproofing to the prepared wall surface.

However, polystyrene foam, like penoplex or foil penofol, is a waterproof material, increasing the risk of mold and mildew formation.

Cork material, warm plaster or fiberboard are excellent for insulating apartment walls. This is only a small part of the insulation materials available on the market, so the choice must be made based on the characteristics of the apartment’s external wall, as well as room finishing options.

How to insulate walls with your own hands?

The algorithm for insulating walls in an apartment from the inside depends on the type of house and the selected insulation. However the main stages of work remain unchanged in any case:

Insulating walls from the inside with polystyrene foam: video instructions.

Plaster on insulation

Protective leveling layer on the surface of polystyrene insulation created using reinforcing mesh and a special mass designed for this type of material.

The mesh, which prevents the decorative coating from deforming in the future, is glued with a thin layer of plaster. Then a thin leveling layer is applied universal mass. The treated surface is left to dry for at least a day.

After drying, the surface can be rubbed. After mashing, the treated surface is primed. The last stage of work is decorative design.

According to all building laws, insulating walls from the inside in a private house is not entirely correct, or rather, nonsense. The dew point shifts, the surface begins to get wet, and fungus develops. It is correct to insulate the outside, but what to do if this is impossible?

Disadvantages of internal thermal insulation

Insulating the walls of a private house from the inside can lead to many problems, and the appearance of common fungus is one of them. In addition, condensation vapor will at some point find its way out, soaking through the drywall, causing the wooden paneling and other finishing wall coverings to rot.

When deciding on internal wall insulation, it is important to understand what dew point is. This is the contact of warm and cold air. At this moment condensation appears. When a wall is not insulated from the inside, the dew point is located in its thickness (and this is correct according to building codes). External insulation moves it closer to the street (even better), and insulation from the inside, on the contrary, drives it into the living space. Often it appears from the inside, at the border of the wall and the insulation, or in the insulation itself. And this is fraught with the consequences described above.

According to building codes, the vapor permeability of the materials that make up the walls of a private house must be distributed in such a way that there is vapor-tight insulation inside the living space, and vapor-permeable insulation on the street side. In the middle, the vapor permeability of the material should be greater than the internal one and less than the external one.

Now let’s imagine the vapor permeability of mineral wool - a popular “breathable” insulation for interior work in a private house. Mineral wool allows steam to pass through well, while brick or concrete walls do allow it to pass through, but poorly. The result is an accumulation of moisture at the border with the insulation, a wall that is constantly getting wet and picking up moisture, and is also not insulated from the outside. Ultimately, the service life of a house insulated in this way is significantly reduced due to numerous freeze/thaw cycles.

The point of insulation is to insulate freezing walls from exposure to cold air, and this cannot be achieved by insulating from the inside. But when it’s cold in a private house, all methods are good. Let's consider popular insulation options.

Important. Be sure to correctly calculate the insulation for internal thermal insulation of walls. It is quite possible that the thickness of the walls themselves is sufficient to prevent cold air from entering the room. If this is the case, check whether the ceiling in the house is well insulated, as up to 40% of the heat can escape through it.

Insulation of walls from the inside: materials

If the insulation of the walls in the house from the inside is done correctly, but the temperature in the room is still uncomfortable, you should think about where the precious heat goes. The most likely option is the ceiling. Another thing that can speak in its favor is that the attic very often turns out to be uninsulated, not to mention the roof.

As insulation for the ceiling of a private house, it is worth considering:

• penoplex;
• mineral wool;
• expanded clay;
• ecowool;
• polyurethane foam.

In all cases, except for insulation with polyurethane foam, waterproofing is laid over attic joists cleared of dust and dirt. Insulation is placed or poured into the niches between them. Mineral wool, expanded clay and ecowool necessarily require a second layer of high-quality waterproofing. Penoplex does not need it due to its extremely low vapor permeability. You can lay a subfloor on top and arrange a room for storing necessary household equipment.

For polyurethane foam, you just need to clear the attic of debris and dust and call the experts. Once the insulation has hardened, the finished floor can be laid on top. To insulate the ceiling of a private house with ecowool, you will also need to call in the experts and pre-clean the attic. When all the niches between the joists are filled with insulation, you can begin laying the subfloor from boards or plywood.

Aerated concrete slabs and/or rolled foil insulation are suitable for insulating the ceiling from the inside. Aerated concrete slabs are glued to the prepared (leveled) ceiling using foam glue. The joints between them are sealed with sealant. After the glue has dried, the insulated surface must be plastered and whitewashed, or another finishing option must be chosen.

Rolled foil insulation can be used as additional insulation on aerated concrete slabs or as independent insulation of a ceiling that is already thermally insulated on the attic side. This material does not require a perfectly even ceiling. It is better to purchase insulation on a self-adhesive basis. It will need to be glued to the ceiling. Then install a sheathing with a beam thickness of at least 3 centimeters. And then install the finishing coating on it, for example, a suspended ceiling made of plasterboard. Other options are also possible.

Internal insulation of a house is an undesirable process. It is not recommended to carry out the work yourself without consulting with specialists. They will help you calculate the required thickness of insulation for internal walls, tell you how to install it correctly and what measures to take so that the insulation from the inside does not have to be redone.

Wooden buildings retain heat well. But if in warm climates the natural properties of wood are sufficient to maintain comfortable conditions in the house, then in regions with low winter temperatures the house must be additionally insulated. The heat insulator is installed on the walls, floor, ceiling - if any surface is left uncoated, the insulation of a wooden house from the inside will be less effective. It would be best to do the insulation during construction - it is much more difficult to carry out work in a habitable room

When installing insulation, a gap must be left between it and the finish for air circulation. This helps prevent the accumulation of moisture in the rooms, the appearance of mold and mildew.

How are wooden houses insulated inside?

Most often, houses made of timber are insulated inside with various types of construction wool - basalt (mineral), fiberglass and others. These are lightweight and affordable materials, environmentally friendly. The industry produces rolled and block types of wool.

Basalt wool retains heat well, but allows air to pass through. Thanks to this quality, fungus and mold do not appear in the rooms.

Glass wool absorbs a lot of moisture, so in order to avoid condensation, an additional layer of waterproofing is made for it. The big disadvantage of glass wool is its complex structure. The material is saturated with a large number of glass microparticles (hence the name). When working with cotton wool, they get into the respiratory organs and onto clothing. To work safely with glass wool, you need special clothing and a respirator.

All types of wool are easy to install. To install a heat insulator made of such material, high qualifications are not required. Rolled types of wool have high plasticity, but they are less dense compared to block ones. When working with rolled materials, you can cut off the required amount of insulator. The tiles are made of the same size, so when installing the sheathing, the sizes of the pieces are taken into account.

Insulation of wooden walls is also carried out with polystyrene foam or polystyrene foam.

Expanded polystyrene popular because of its low cost. In addition, it is easy to work with and retains heat well. It is a good sound insulator. The disadvantage is the release of toxic substances by the material during combustion.

Video description

We will dwell in more detail on insulating a house with polystyrene foam. Find out how safe polystyrene foam is in our video:

Preparatory work

How to properly insulate the walls of a wooden house from the inside largely depends on the correctly selected materials. If this issue is resolved, then you can move on to preparatory work, which consists of preparing the surface and making the sheathing.

For reference! When preparing the surface, it is necessary to seal the gaps that may have appeared between the beams or logs. To do this, you will need additional materials: tow, felt or polyurethane foam.

Wooden bars are most often used as lathing. Metal sheathing is rarely installed. The metal for the sheathing must be coated with an anti-corrosion compound.

Preparation of wooden surfaces

To ensure high-quality application of the insulator, prepare the surface for coating with insulation. Tow/felt/foam is placed in the cracks. After the gap is completely closed, the foam has dried and its excess has been removed, putty is applied to the wall. The putty layer is carefully leveled. The wood is coated with a special compound that protects against mold and mildew. All wooden surfaces are treated with a fire-retardant compound before installing insulation.

On our website you can get acquainted with the most popular projects of wooden houses from construction companies presented at the exhibition of houses “Low-Rise Country”.

Basalt wool insulation technology

After the walls (ceiling) have dried after treatment, begin installing the insulation.

Stages of work when insulating walls with basalt wool:

Define extreme elements battens. They are carefully checked using a level and plumb line, since further installation work depends on their position.

Fixed the first vertical block with screws and dowels.

The following are fixed at a distance of 1 m vertical slats and so on until the entire surface is covered with lathing. For the installation of rolled wool, the installation of the sheathing ends at this stage.

If there is one on the wall windows or doorways, separate bars are installed along their perimeter.

For installation piece heat insulator make a sheathing grid with horizontal elements. Horizontal strips are placed on the resulting vertical mesh at equal distances. The distances between the bars must correspond to the dimensions of the insulation. The result was a mesh for installing thermal insulation.

Place in the cavity between the fixed slats cotton wool. When installing the heat insulator on the walls, do not use glue or other means for fastening. If the lathing is done correctly, the wool will fit tightly to the surface, but you must remember about the ventilation gap. If the ceiling is insulated, the insulation will have to be secured.

Any cotton wool has a porous structure, so it accumulates moisture. Therefore, when insulating a wooden house with cotton wool, you should definitely cover it with a vapor barrier. When installing the roll material, cut off the required length and attach it to the wall. Before starting work, you should calculate how much material is needed to insulate a wooden house. Add 10% to the resulting number.

On our website you can find contacts of construction companies that offer house insulation services. You can communicate directly with representatives by visiting the “Low-Rise Country” exhibition of houses.

Installation of foam plastic

Polystyrene foam is rarely used as insulation. Despite the fact that the material has low thermal conductivity and retains heat well despite its small thickness, it is considered an economical option.

Video description

For some thoughts on the use of polystyrene foam and expanded polystyrene, watch the video:

In particular, there are many complaints about the release of toxins during combustion, plus it is believed that foam plastic evaporates harmful substances into the air even at normal temperatures.

The material does not allow steam to pass through well, and in a room without good ventilation, moisture will constantly accumulate.

The advantages of the material include relatively easy installation, which means that workers will not be required to have high qualifications, and the cost of the work will be lower.

Polystyrene foam is available in slabs of various sizes and thicknesses Source on-woman.com

Stages of foam installation work:

On a previously prepared surface install the sheathing with a plank pitch equal to the size of the foam boards. Installation begins with load-bearing walls.

Between the bars lay foam plastic while maintaining the ventilation gap.

Fixed on top of the insulation membrane film. If it is possible to use other materials for other insulators, a special film with membranes is chosen for foam plastic. It will allow you to maintain a normal microclimate in the room.

Completing the installation of insulation finishing works.

Floor insulation

Concrete floors must be insulated. Wooden ones are covered with a heat insulator if desired, but after insulation, the room will be much warmer.

In wooden houses, the insulation is laid on a subfloor and the finished floor is installed on top.

A film with a membrane, polyethylene, is used as a vapor barrier. Insulation using roofing felt is popular among people. This material has been known for a long time, it is cheap, protects well from moisture, and is durable.

Mineral wool is used as floor insulation. It is cheap, easy to install, durable, and has good heat and sound insulation properties. In addition, a relatively new material is increasingly being used - expanded polystyrene, which is gradually displacing cotton wool from the building materials market.

The sequence of actions when installing insulation on the floor of a wooden house.

Levels out surface for insulation.

Laying waterproofing agent/vapor barrier, the task of which is to prevent moisture coming from outside from reaching the insulation. In regions with wet soil, special attention should be paid to this stage.

Install lags. The thickness of the logs must be at least 5 cm. The distance from the wall is 30 cm. The distance between the beams is 50 cm.

Placed between the joists insulation. The presence of voids between individual pieces of heat insulation is not allowed.

Lay the insulation on top vapor barrier film.

After all layers are formed, they are laid finished floor.

Video description

How to install insulation on the walls of a wooden house from the inside, watch the video:

Vapor barrier

If there is a need to install a vapor barrier, it is better to use a special film with a membrane.

It will allow the walls to pass air normally, and after installation, condensation will not accumulate inside the “pie”. To install a vapor barrier, film or polyethylene is applied to the insulation. An allowance is made along the edges.

Elimination of heat loss

The weakest points from the point of view of cold penetration are the joints. There should be no gaps between individual pieces of insulation. The insulating material is laid tightly to the sheathing. For floor insulation, an important point is the connection to the walls. In these places, the insulation is laid with a slight overlap on the walls and is fixed.

When applying a vapor barrier, make sure that each layer of material overlaps the previous one with a slight overlap.

The insulating material is applied directly between the wooden beams before insulating the walls of a wooden house from the inside. For this, long-known materials are used - tow, linen rope, flax wool. You can fill the joints of the beams with modern sealants - latex, acrylic, rubber.

Also, to reduce heat loss in a wooden house, the “warm seam” method is used.

Conclusion

Despite the fact that it was previously believed that a wooden house should be insulated exclusively from the outside, modern materials make it possible to efficiently insulate the building from the inside. With such insulation, the external design is not disrupted and there is no need to carry out work at height if the house is two-story or has an attic. The main thing is to choose the right material for insulation and entrust the work to professionals who know all the additional nuances. For example, they can calculate where the dew point will be after insulation so that condensation does not form directly inside the wall.

There are many negative opinions expressed about whether it is possible to insulate walls from the inside. On the other hand, it is not always possible to sheathe the outside walls of a private house or apartment with insulation for various reasons. Therefore, the internal thermal insulation of premises also has the right to life, the main thing is to correctly carry out this insulation with your own hands, which will be discussed in the material presented below.

When you can and cannot insulate from the inside

All the problems that internal wall insulation can create are largely far-fetched and often exaggerated by supporters of external thermal insulation. The most common statement is that a dew point appears in the wall, which, after insulating the wall from the inside, moves to its inner surface, as a result of which condensation appears at the insulation/wall interface, followed by various fungi. Since the process is hidden from view by a heat-insulating layer, the problem is detected already at an advanced stage.

This is not entirely true. In fact, the dew point in the thickness of the wall is constantly moving, because the temperature outside and inside changes even during the day. Therefore, specialists in building thermal physics operate with such a concept as a zone of possible condensation, and not just one point. Within this zone, moisture necessarily condenses, regardless of the insulation method, the only question is its quantity.

If there is no significant supply of vapor from the outside, then moisture falls only from the air inside the wall, and this is a tiny amount. And since condensation is accompanied by the release of heat, this moisture can evaporate quite quickly. When a large amount of steam penetrates the walls from the street or from rooms, dampness can form, which often affects cold concrete walls.

Important. If concrete or walls made of other materials are wet, then insulating the house from the inside is not allowed until the causes of dampness are identified and eliminated. Often these reasons are high indoor humidity and lack of supply and exhaust ventilation.

To counter the negative judgments, we will give a couple of typical examples from practice. The first is the insulation of the pitched roof of a private house, because it is done only from the inside. If the thermal insulation “pie” is made correctly, then all the resulting moisture is safely removed from the insulation. The same applies to a frame house, where mineral wool, which is part of the outer wall, acts as thermal insulation.

The reasons why homeowners are forced to insulate the house from the inside are quite compelling:

• It is technically very difficult to cover a wall with insulation from the outside, and it is generally impossible to do it yourself. This includes the facades of houses in the city center and apartments of high-rise buildings;
• some enclosing structures border technical premises, for example, an elevator shaft;
• Since insulation from the inside is significantly cheaper than the outside, this is also an important argument for many. People do not always have the financial means, but want to save on heating.

The conclusion from all of the above is this: the internal insulation of a residential or country house has the right to life, but with some reservations. The wall to be insulated must be dry and free of fungus initially, and the surface must be prepared according to the technology.

Materials

The choice of materials used for insulating private houses and apartments from the inside is not very wide and consists of the following items:

• mineral wool in slabs with a density of at least 100 kg/m3;
• slab foam with a density of 25 kg/m3;
• extruded polystyrene foam in slabs, also known as penoplex;
• thin insulators with foil based on foamed polyethylene, used as additional insulation.

Note. There is an opinion that building structures can be insulated with plasterboard. The latter is indeed able to retain heat, but cannot serve as the main thermal insulation layer. GKL is a finishing material used in conjunction with insulation materials.

Non-combustible mineral wool is well suited for internal thermal insulation of any wooden house, both timber and log. Its only serious drawback is its ability to absorb moisture and allow water vapor to pass through it quite freely. Therefore, mineral wool should be carefully protected from the space of the rooms so that moisture from inside the house does not seep into the insulation. In this case, it is better to take cotton wool in slabs of high density; it does not settle from moisture and is capable of releasing moisture well.

Advice. You cannot purchase mineral wool based on fiberglass (glass wool) for internal thermal insulation; it is harmful to human health.

Whatever they say, foam plastic also allows a small amount of vapor to pass through, so it also needs a vapor barrier. In addition, the material is flammable, so it is better to hide it behind a plasterboard finish or plaster it. Polystyrene foam is very popular due to its low cost, therefore it is suitable for a budget option for insulating both wooden and brick walls from the inside.

An excellent insulation material in all respects is extruded polystyrene foam, which has the highest thermal insulation properties. Another thing is that it is the most expensive of all materials used for internal insulation, but it is also the thinnest. Penoplex also does not allow water vapor to pass through, which is why it does not require any vapor barrier. The only thing better than this is polyurethane foam, which is sprayed by machine.

Well, foamed foil polyethylene (penofol, isolon) can also be successfully used instead of a vapor barrier film and as additional insulation to the main layer of mineral wool. It just needs to be laid correctly with the joints glued, which will be discussed later.

Technology for insulating walls from the inside

The first step is to prepare the surface. If we are talking about a brick wall, then it must be plastered and leveled from the inside, after which the surface is treated with a deeply penetrating antifungal primer.

The point is that there is no air gap formed between the wall and the insulation layer, from which condensation can fall out at a certain temperature difference. It’s a different matter - a house made of timber or rounded logs, here you won’t be able to do without air pockets. If the walls made of timber have only small horizontal cracks, then it is impossible to make the internal surface of the log house smooth.

All that remains is to carefully caulk all the joints and cracks, and then saturate the wood with an antiseptic composition. The best option for insulating brick walls is still polystyrene foam or penoplex with a thickness of 20 to 50 mm, depending on the climate in the region of residence. An adhesive mixture or polyurethane glue is first applied to the foam board, in a continuous layer, and not just around the perimeter.

Remember what we said earlier about excess air. Then the slab is well glued to the wall, followed by the next one, and so on. It is necessary to ensure that the joints between the slabs are minimal, fitting them tightly to each other. After the glue has hardened, the insulation should be fixed with dowels in the form of mushrooms at the rate of 2-3 pieces. on a polystyrene foam board, no longer needed.

At this point, the insulation of the house or cottage from the inside, done by yourself, is completed, and you can begin finishing work. Plaster over a reinforcing mesh or glued tiles fits well onto penoplex.

To insulate a wooden house, you will need to install a frame made of timber, the width of which is equal to the thickness of the insulation. Thermal insulation technology looks like this:

• the surface of the wall is covered with a diffusion membrane that allows vapor to pass through. A ventilation gap is left under the membrane, as shown in the diagram below;
• the sheathing beams are installed and secured in such a way that the insulation slabs fit between them at odds;
• Mineral wool is placed between the racks without additional fastenings;
• a vapor barrier layer made of film is installed. Its canvases are laid with overlap and gluing, pressing the counter-lattice with slats;
• Sheets of plasterboard and other interior decoration are attached to the slats.

Note. Here the ventilation gap serves to remove vapors penetrating through a log or timber wall and forming in the insulation. For this purpose, special holes are made in the wall.

Particular attention should be paid to sealing the vapor barrier layer. The joints must be well taped so that moisture from the room cannot penetrate into the insulation. Here, instead of film, you can lay foil penofol, but without overlaps. Aluminum tape is used to seal the joints. How to properly install such insulation is shown in the video:

Conclusion

If the insulation of the walls of the house from the inside is done correctly, then no moisture or fungi or mold will appear under the insulation. When installing a “pie” in a wooden house, it is important to make as few holes as possible in the vapor barrier, for which purpose it is pressed against the ends of the beams with even slats. By the way, any of the listed materials is suitable for insulating houses made of timber, since the technology provides for ventilation to ventilate moisture.