Insulation of the attic with clay

2024 Author: Arianna Cook | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:23

Advantages and disadvantages of attic insulation with clay, preparation of coatings with various fillers, rules for choosing components. Thermal insulation of an attic with clay is the use of a widespread soil as an insulator for the floor of a technical floor of a building. Natural material is used as an independent or additional coating. The preparation of working compositions based on this raw material is a complex process that requires knowledge of construction technologies. The article provides the rules for insulating floors with clay solutions.

Features of thermal insulation of an attic with clay

To ensure that the house is always comfortable in the most severe frosts, it is very important to properly insulate the roof. For a long time, clay has been used for such purposes. With its help, the leakage of thermal energy is prevented in winter, and in the summer the room temperature remains low. The soil is diluted with water to a plastic state, and after drying, a very hard coating is formed.

Clay without fillers is very rarely used due to its high weight. For the same reason, only the floors of small rooms are being finalized. To reduce the load on walls and logs, sawdust, straw and other materials of natural origin are added to the solution. With the correct proportions of the components, the coating capabilities exceed those of modern synthetic insulators. For thermal insulation of the roof and gable, lighter products are used.

After adding water, the soil increases its weight several times, and great physical strength is required for mixing. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare a concrete mixer before work.

It is recommended to carry out the work in the summer, so that the thick layer of soil has time to dry out by winter. A wet coating is not able to maintain the temperature in the lower rooms.

Advantages and disadvantages of clay for warming an attic

Soil solutions form a highly effective insulating coating on the floor of the attic, which has the following advantages:

• The raw materials for the preparation of the working mixture are very cheap and have no competitors in terms of cost among the materials used for insulation. You can dig it up yourself and transport it to your place of work.
• Clay does not burn or melt. With its help, areas near the chimneys are isolated in the attic.
• After adding sawdust and straw to the solution, the thermal insulation properties are improved, and the load on the structure is reduced.
• The soil contains no components harmful to humans.
• The breed protects wooden structures from decay for a long time.
• The coating does not lose its quality throughout the entire life of the house.
• Clay with filler can be reused. To do this, you need to wet it and mix it again.
• The wet mass is very plate and fills all voids and difficult openings.
• Once dry, the layer is very strong and does not require walking decks.

Clay is currently not very popular as a heater for attics. Users should be aware of the reasons for replacing traditional material with modern products:

• The rock itself has low insulating properties, and for effective protection it is necessary to fill it with a thick layer. This requires the construction of a very strong floor and walls. Therefore, clay is laid on the floor of the attic in a low layer only to increase the effectiveness of the main insulation.
• Useful properties depend on maintaining the proportions of the components. Failure to comply with the requirement will lead to delamination of the protective shell and loss of useful properties.
• Only certain varieties of the breed can be used for mixing.

Clay attic floor insulation technology

The effectiveness of a heat-insulating coating depends on several factors: compliance with the rules for creating a flooring and preparing a batch, correctly selected components, etc. Heed the advice of experienced builders - remodeling a dry floor is very difficult.

Features of the choice of clay

It is possible to create a protective shell only from some types of clay. These include fatty rocks that absorb moisture well and have great plasticity. They densely fill the area.

Do not buy dry soil. It contains a large percentage of sand, and after getting wet, a low-plastic mass is obtained. Also a poor heat insulator from raw materials raised from the seabed. It contains a lot of silt, which reduces the stickiness.

You can recognize clay for insulation after simple operations:

• To determine the stickiness of the rock, wet it and mash it until it is pasty. Squeeze the mixture with your fingers and spread them apart. If the material is of high quality, you will have to make a little effort to do this. Blind the ball and flatten it in the palm of your hand. Turn your hand, clay down, and squeeze your fingers several times. The solution should fall off only after a few treatments, but some will remain in the palm of your hand.
• To test for ductility, prepare a rod from a damp material and wrap it around your finger. It must remain intact. A bursting mixture indicates insufficient plasticity of the raw material. The better the rock, the thicker the rod will be, which bends without destruction. You can also squeeze the wet mass in your fist. It should be squeezed out between the fingers with a thin tape. Discard it if a lot of moisture is released.
• The presence of silt is determined by sculpting a ball, then flattening it and tapping it with the palm of your hand. A change in color indicates the presence of a large percentage of silt.
• A suitable soil can be determined even when dry. Large pieces break down into small pieces that are difficult to grind.

Surface preparation

The quality of the insulating layer is affected by the state of the floor. Perform the following procedures before applying clay:

• Remove any sharp objects from the floor that could damage the waterproofing membrane.
• Check the condition of all timber structures. Replace damaged rails. Seal large gaps with construction mesh and filler.
• Remove mildew and mildew from surfaces. Treat lumber with protective agents - fire retardants, antiseptics.
• On a flat surface, mount the crate for the convenience of laying the mortar. The tops of the beams will be used as bases for leveling the surface. On wooden floors, the mixture is laid between the logs.
• It is more convenient to prepare the structure for insulation at an early stage of building a house. Nail 50x50 mm slats to the lags from below with a step of 20-30 mm. Fix wooden boards or boards to them so that the solution does not fall through the cracks. The slab material is often fixed temporarily. After drying one area, they are transferred to another.
• Cover the floor with thick cardboard and then a waterproofing sheeting to keep the slurry from flowing down. Lay the membrane with an overlap of 15-20 cm on adjacent cuts and on the wall. Seal the joints with a waterproofing film.
• Cover the chimney with a layer of no filler to insulate it from sawdust or straw that is in the insulation.
• Pull the electrical wires through the metal tube.

Warming the attic with a solution of clay and sawdust

A mixture of clay and wood waste is considered the most effective insulation coating for attics. To get a good result, you need high-quality sawdust, knowledge of the proportions of the components.

Tips for choosing sawdust:

1. For thermal insulation, select the middle pieces. Small ones increase the weight of an already heavy coating, and large particles are poorly impregnated with protective agents.
2. Bad sawdust is obtained from the bark, there are many bark beetles in it. They are capable of spoiling lumber.
3. Quality raw materials are available in carpentry workshops, where well-dried boards are used.
4. Pine and spruce sawdust contains resin that prevents the fragments from rotting.
5. Do not add chipboard, MDF, OSB waste to the solution, which are more like dust.
6. Saturate the bulk with insect repellents, antiseptics and fire retardants. The most common chemicals are copper sulfate and boric acid.

The batch is prepared like this:

• Pour soil and water into a large trough.
• After a day, manually stir the contents to a semi-liquid consistency.
• Fill half the mixer tank with mortar and start the machine.
• Add sawdust to a homogeneous mass in the proportion of a bucket of sawdust to a bucket of rock and mix it again.
• Pour the mixture into a bucket and check its quality by sticking in a stick. She shouldn't bend over.

Fill the prepared area in the attic with insulation 25-30 cm thick. Align and seal it. Lay the mortar very carefully in the corners formed by the walls and floor. Align the layer with a long ruler. Lean the tool on the power beams. After drying, inspect the floor. Fill in the gaps with the same compound.

If the house has been in use for a long time and you do not want to breed dirt, the floor of the attic can be insulated with dry clay bricks with the addition of sawdust.

Blocks can be made independently:

1. Knock down wooden molds to produce 50x50x20 cm bricks.
2. Place the template on a flat, hard surface and fill with the prepared solution.
3. After 15-20 minutes, lift the wire rack and make sure that the pieces keep their shape. Move it to an empty spot.
4. Repeat the procedure.
5. Wait for the blocks to dry, lift them up to the attic, apply the same mixture to the ends, lay them on the floor and press firmly against each other.
6. Check that there are no gaps between the elements and seal them after detection.

Clay and expanded clay insulation for the attic

The heat-insulating properties of the soil are inferior to expanded clay, therefore, clay only enhances the effect of using the main insulator.

The protective shell is created in this way:

• Prepare the floor for insulation, as in the previous cases. The presence of a waterproofing film is required.
• Toss the finely chopped straw (2 parts) with the clay (3 parts).
• Cover the vapor barrier film with a solution with a layer of 5-8 cm.
• After drying, dilute the primer with water to a semi-liquid state without filler and treat the surface from above. Smooth the cover with a trowel.
• Pour expanded clay on a dry base. A smooth surface improves the adhesion of granules to the surface, and the combination of clay with expanded clay increases the insulating effect.
• Instead of expanded clay, you can pour a layer of sand. Small elements will fill all cracks and prevent heat leakage.
• You can also lay sawdust on a dry clay loft, the effect will be the same as in the case of using expanded clay.

Insulation of the attic with light adobe

The overlap of the attic can be insulated with light adobe - straw covered with a thin layer of clay.

For high-quality insulation, you need to choose the right hay:

1. It is allowed to use mold-free material, preferably dried in special chambers.
2. Check the strength of the stems by bending several samples. Old and dry ones will break, they cannot be used.
3. Also discard heavily chopped stems.

Saman is prepared like this:

• Pour rock and water into a large trough.
• When the clay is wet, stir it.
• Add straw - 8 kg of raw material per 1 kg of rock, drown in the slurry.
• Wait for the stems to be securely covered with clay mortar and place on the tray to dry.
• After excess water has drained out of the straw, lay the adobe on the floor of the attic with a layer of 15-20 cm and lightly compact to avoid voids.
• After drying, protect the floor from leaks through the roof with a waterproofing film.
• For walking in the attic, install wood flooring.

Insulation of the attic with heavy adobe

A widespread option allows you to thermally insulate the floor of the attic with a coating that can withstand heavy loads. It is used if the building has very strong walls and floors. To prepare adobe, you need clay (3 parts) and straw (1 part).

The order of work is as follows:

1. Pour the rock into a concrete mixer, fill it with water and mix until a homogeneous composition is obtained.
2. Add stems to the hopper and start the mechanism.
3. It is easy to check the readiness of the mixture by filling a bucket and sticking in a stick. She shouldn't bend over.
4. Cover the attic with a layer of 10-15 cm.
5. It is not necessary to cover the floor with walking mat.

How to insulate the ceiling with clay - watch the video:

Thermal insulation of the attic floor does not require construction experience, the most difficult points are discussed above. Despite the mechanization of the solution preparation, there are many operations that require great physical strength. Therefore, it is very difficult to insulate the attic alone, the help of relatives is needed.