The technology of laying foam on the floor and roof of the attic, the advantages and disadvantages of warming the upper floor with this material, advice on choosing a quality product. Insulation of an attic with penoplex is the use of a highly efficient sheet heat insulator to prevent heat leaks through the roof and create an exploited room on the upper floor. Depending on the task at hand, it is laid on the floor or between the roof rafters. In our article we will consider the technology of coating various surfaces with this material.
Features of thermal insulation of the attic with penoplex
Heat losses through the roof are very high, so the insulation of the upper floor has always been taken seriously. Today, to solve the problem, penoplex is often used - a sheet of synthetic material that has the properties of plastic and foam. It differs from other heaters in good heat-insulating and moisture-repellent characteristics.
It is produced using an extruder - an apparatus through which a liquid workpiece is squeezed out under high pressure. Foreign products produced in a similar way are called extruded polystyrene foam. "Penoplex" is a Russian analogue of imported extruded polystyrene foam produced by the company of the same name. The characteristics of competitive heaters are almost the same.
The product goes on sale in the form of panels 0, 6x1, 2 m with a thickness of 3-10 cm. There are usually 10 pieces in a package.
The material has a closed cell structure, which provides high thermal insulation characteristics. It is rigid enough to be used as a floor covering without a protective sheathing. Installation of panels is facilitated by the presence of grooves and recesses at the edges of the sheets, which allows them to be stacked very tightly together.
Warming can be done in several ways, the option is selected depending on the design of the room, temperature requirements, coating composition.
It is necessary to take into account the following points:
- In attics of residential buildings, it is recommended to use sheets of maximum thickness. Technical floors of summer cottages and other buildings can be insulated with thin products.
- If the roof is low, only the floor is insulated by placing panels inside timber structures or gluing on top of concrete slabs.
- To insulate the roof, the panels are laid between the rafters.
- The products are glued to the pediment, nailed with dowels or fixed with planks.
- Penoplex does not allow moisture to pass through, therefore, contact of heated air from living quarters with a cold ceiling should not be allowed. Otherwise, condensation will first appear on the wall, and then fungus and mold. Before starting work on insulating the attic with penoplex, it is necessary to fix a vapor barrier film and a hard coating on the ceiling of the lower room. There must be a guaranteed ventilation gap between them.
- The material burns well, therefore it should not touch the chimneys. Pull the electrical wires through the metal tubes.
Advantages and disadvantages of attic insulation with penoplex
The heat insulator has no competitors among products made on the basis of foam.
It is popular for its properties:
- The degree of moisture absorption is so insignificant that it allows you to insulate rooms with high humidity. Even after immersion in water, its mass increases by only 0.4%.
- You can modify the attic at any stage of the operation of the house.
- The composition of the material contains components that resist decay well. The service life of the insulation reaches 50 years, which is comparable to the operation of the entire building.
- The cells of the product are 0, 05-0, 12 mm, therefore the sheets have high mechanical strength. The attic floor does not need to be protected from damage by additional flooring.
- High density does not make machining difficult.
- The assembly work is facilitated by the high dimensional accuracy of the slabs.
- The material does not emit substances harmful to the body, which is valuable for a room closed on all sides.
There are few disadvantages of the insulator, but they must be remembered:
- He is afraid of sunlight, so when buying, check the storage conditions of the goods.
- Compared to other products for a similar purpose, it is expensive.
- The material does not burn, but under the influence of fire it melts and gives off corrosive smoke. It cannot be used in fire hazardous buildings.
Penoplex attic insulation technology
The upper floor of the house is thermally insulated in a cold or warm way. In the first case, the protective layer is formed on the floor, in the second - only under the roof; in this case, the flow of warm air from the residential part of the house will stop.
Attic insulation tools and materials
The most reliable compounds for fixing insulation are polyurethane adhesives. They go on sale in bags. To prepare the solution, mix the dry mass with water in the proportion indicated by the manufacturer. The most popular brands are Kliberit, Knauf, Ceresit. From inexpensive means, ordinary tile glue can be distinguished.
When choosing, pay attention to the following points:
- Do not use solutions containing gasoline, ethers or other substances that will dissolve the material.
- Buy mortars that have a long cure time, which allows you to adjust the position of the panels.
- Always purchase glue with a margin. The average consumption of the mixture for a flat surface is indicated in the instructions for the product, but in other cases it is higher.
- Penosil iFix Go Montage glue foam can be used to insulate the plastered gables. It is sold ready-made in cylinders. The contents of the container are squeezed out with a special device-pistol. It must be remembered that the foam cools down in just 12 minutes.
To insulate the attic, use only high-quality foam samples. It is very difficult to verify the declared characteristics, but it is still possible to identify a fake.
Simple procedures will allow you to assess the quality of the goods:
- Visually examine its structure. Penoplex consists of very small cells that are difficult to see. Well visible fragments indicate non-observance of the material manufacturing technology. These samples have large pores that allow heat to escape. Water-repellent properties are also lost.
- Break off a small piece from the sheet and press on the damaged area with your finger. The cracking of bursting cells indicates that the walls of the fragments are too thin, therefore the sample cannot be considered of high quality.
- Press down on the panel with your finger and release. There should be no traces from the application of the load.
- Penoplex with the required characteristics can be found in brand stores of well-known manufacturers.
- Buy insulation that is packed in a factory-made protective film without tears.
- Branded goods have a label with a barcode and a hologram of the manufacturing company. It contains information about the manufacturer of the product, the date of manufacture, provides the main characteristics and recommendations for use.
- The sheets have the correct geometric shape.
The following grades of material are suitable for use in the attic:
- Penoplex 31 is not a very rigid product that can be used to insulate roofs and other unloaded areas.
- Penoplex 31C also does not have high strength, it differs from the previous model in a high degree of flammability.
- Penoplex 35 is a versatile material that has a fairly high rigidity. Can be mounted on both rafters and floors.
- Penoplex 45 is a high-strength product that allows you to insulate floors that are subject to significant mechanical loads. It is economically unprofitable to insulate the roof with such samples.
There is another product labeling indicating performance properties:
- Penoplex "Wall" with a density of 25-32 kg / m3, fits on the rafters and on the pediment.
- Penoplex "Roof" with a density of 28-33 kg / m3, designed to cover the floor of the attic.
- Penoplex "Comfort" with a density of 25-35 kg / m3, used on upper floors in high humidity conditions.
The roof and floor of the attic are complex structures, therefore, sheets of different sizes and configurations are pre-cut for insulation according to templates.
To reduce the time for processing them, you will need the following tools:
- Well-sharpened kitchen knives or special ones - wallpaper or stationery. The sharper the tool, the better the cut. It is recommended to heat the knives before use. This is the most popular processing option due to the availability of the tool.
- An electric jigsaw will quickly cut panels of any thickness, but the ends become curved.
- Heated nichrome wire is used to obtain blanks of complex geometric shapes. There are no complaints about the lateral surfaces after cutting.
Insulation of the attic floor with penoplex
The main method of thermal insulation of the concrete floor of the attic is by gluing foam. The mounting sheets must correspond to the operating conditions of the upper floor. The greater the load on the panels, the denser they should be.
Perform the following operations:
- Remove all items from the attic, clean and wash the concrete slabs. Seal all cracks and depressions with cement-sand mortar. If there are protrusions, cut them off. Remove greasy stains with solvent.
- Prime the floor. Check its horizontality, eliminate slopes with a self-leveling mixture. Coat the floor again with a primer from the same manufacturer as the adhesive. Wait for everything to dry.
- Examine the foam blanks. If they are too smooth, sand them with coarse sandpaper to improve adhesion.
- Apply a layer of glue to the penoplex. The coverage depends on the condition of the concrete surface. If it is even, spread the mixture evenly with a notched trowel over the surface of the insulation. If there are concrete panels with differences in height, apply the composition to the heat insulator in fragments. Along the perimeter - a narrow strip of 3-4 cm, 20 mm high, dotted, providing free air outlet. Inside - in sections (4-5 pieces) with a diameter of 10-12 cm. Do not process the sides.
- Place the sample on the floor and press down lightly. Lay the following elements with an offset so that the joints do not line up, and press them against the adjacent ones. Remove any glue that has escaped immediately.
- After mounting several elements, check the levelness of the surface using a long straight edge and level. The position of the slabs on the floor can be adjusted within 20 minutes until the glue hardens.
- Place small pieces last. If there are empty areas, fill them with scraps of material.
- Cover the finished coating with a vapor-permeable membrane with an overlap of 15-20 cm on the walls and adjacent cuts.
Penoplex is quite tough and can withstand a heavy load, so it is not necessary to protect it from external influences. But in the case of intensive use, the surface for the insurance is plastered. To create a protective layer, use mixtures that are designed to cover this material.
The process is as follows:
- Prepare a solution from a dry mix according to the recommendations of the product manufacturer.
- Cover the insulation with 5x5 mm plaster mesh and fix with thick mortar.
- After drying, apply a layer of 5-10 mm mortar and smooth it out.
Wooden floors differ from concrete ones by the presence of power elements - lags. After insulation, it is possible to protect it with a wooden flooring supported by beams, therefore, in this case, cheaper low-density samples can be used.
They create an insulating "cake" in this way:
- If there is a finished floor, remove the top row of covering.
- Clean the inner cavity of the ceiling from dirt and dust.
- Bend any protruding nails and remove any other objects that could damage the membrane.
- Cover the floor with a waterproofing sheeting overlapping adjacent pieces and walls. Glue the joints with reinforced tape. Penoplex does not allow moisture to pass through, however, it can seep into the lower room through the gaps.
- Determine the distance between the lags and cut the necessary pieces from the blanks according to the size.
- Lay the material and press firmly against each other. Seal the gaps with waste.
- Cover the floor with steam wrap and overlap the walls and adjacent cuts. Cover the joints with adhesive tape.
- Install the top deck.
Attic roof protection with penoplex
When insulating the roof, penoplex is most often placed in the gaps between the rafters. This method does not require changing the roof structure and does not make it heavier.
For insulation to be effective, it must meet the following conditions:
- The drainage system is made taking into account the slope of the slope. In this case, moisture will not get under the roof.
- It is possible to fix a vapor-proof film from the inside.
- A ventilated space will remain under the roofing material and heat insulator.
Perform the following operations:
- Treat all wooden elements with antiseptics.
- Cover the roof from the outside with a waterproofing film so that after installation of the roofing there is a gap of 20-50 mm between it and the canvas. If the roof is completely assembled, install the film from inside the room. Lay the canvas with an overlap on adjacent elements and walls, and seal the joints in any way. Do not stretch it, leave it sagging 1 cm in the middle of the openings, fix it with a construction stapler.
- Cut the pieces of foam so that they fit snugly between the rafters.
- Install them between the beams and secure with special corners, which can be purchased at the store. Fixing with thin slats from the attic side is allowed. Check that there is a gap of 20-30 mm between the sheets and the waterproofing film. You can stack products in two rows, but the lower one should overlap the joints of the upper one.
- Fill the gaps in hard-to-reach places with scraps.
- Cover the panels from the inside of the room with a vapor barrier film with an overlap on adjacent parts and on the wall. Glue the joints with adhesive tape. Attach the canvas with a stapler without tension.
- Penoplex does not require the installation of a hard slab covering to protect it.
Warming of the attic gable with foam
The gable insulation technology depends on the material from which it is made. The sheets are fixed to wooden structures in the same way as to the rafters, and they are glued to the brick ones. It is convenient to fix Penoplex to vertical surfaces using foam glue. For work, you need a special pistol device that allows you to dispense the substance.
Operations are performed in this way:
- Install the foam foam cylinder into a special fixture and secure.
- Apply foam around the perimeter of the product and diagonally.
- Place the panel against the surface and press down.
- Repeat the procedure for the rest of the plates. Press the newly laid elements against the already glued ones.
- After hardening, the sheets can be additionally fixed with special dowels, but this is at the request of the owner of the house.
How to insulate an attic with penoplex - watch the video:
The procedure for insulating an attic with penoplex is not difficult, one person can perform the work. The product minimizes the heat loss through the roof and ensures the comfort of living for a long time. The main condition for obtaining the desired effect is compliance with the material installation technology.
