Advantages and disadvantages of wall insulation with penoplex, the technology of installing heat-insulating plates, the choice of auxiliary materials. Wall insulation with penoplex is the use of a new generation of heat insulator, which will not only save heat in the room, but also save money. Plates can be fixed to a base made of any material, and then decorated with a topcoat of your choice. We will talk about the features of installing insulation in this article.
Features of work on the insulation of facades with penoplex
Penoplex appeared on the construction market recently. It has the properties of foam and plastic, hence its name. Manufacturing technology makes it possible to obtain a material with a closed-type cellular structure with good insulating properties. Unlike foam, there are no chemically hazardous elements in its composition.
Penoplex is produced in the form of plates of 0, 6x1, 2 m with a thickness of 2 to 10 cm. Sheets are made with high precision and high-quality surface, which reduces the time of installation work. The choice of thickness and density of the material depends on the climatic zones. The minimum thickness of the sample, which allows to ensure the permissible norms of thermal insulation, is only 1, 24 cm, which is the lowest value among other products. Sheets are sold packed in plastic wrap in 7 or 10 pieces.
Penoplex 31 or Penoplex 35 are used for insulating facades. The first type should preferably be mounted on the lower floors. The second is distinguished by its refractory properties.
The heat insulator is fixed with an adhesive solution. Correctly selected mixture allows you to attach products to the wall from any material. For insurance, the sheets are additionally supported by special dowels with wide heads. To get a good effect on keeping warm in the house, together with the insulation of the facade with foam, it is necessary to insulate the foundation and the roof.
Advantages and disadvantages of wall insulation with penoplex
The material surpasses most modern heaters in terms of performance, as it has the following advantages:
- The insulator hardly absorbs moisture. In the first days after the start of operation, it can absorb a small volume of water - up to 0.5% of the total weight of the coating. The value is so small that it is not taken into account in strength calculations.
- The insulation has unique properties due to the closed cells in its structure. The product will also protect the building from wind, rain and freezing.
- The special structure of the material does not allow moist air to penetrate to the walls and form condensation on a warm surface, prevents the appearance of mold and mildew.
- Penoplex has a low coefficient of thermal conductivity, so the thickness of the insulation layer is much thinner than that of other samples.
- Manufacturers claim that renovations to replace the insulator will be required in 50 years. The product possesses such qualities due to the chemical inertness of the components and non-susceptibility to decay. Immunity to moisture allows installation of insulation panels in any weather.
- Penoplex cells are very small (0.05-0.12 mm) and create a high density of 35 kg / m3… A material with such characteristics can withstand high mechanical strength well, so builders are not afraid to insulate the walls from the outside with penoplex.
Of the negative properties, the following can be distinguished:
- The insulation melts at high temperatures, although no open fire appears.
- Mice and other small rodents like to settle in the panels, which spoil the material from the inside.
- The product is afraid of ultraviolet radiation, so after installation it should be covered with plaster.
- It is recommended to store it in a dark place, it crumbles in the sun.
- The sound and heat insulation of foam is weak, if it is necessary to achieve the desired effect, another material with better insulating properties is used together with it.
The technology of insulation of the facade of the house with penoplex
Installation work is carried out in several stages. After leveling the surface, the sheets are tried on by installing them in their regular places, followed by gluing. The last stage is the application of protective and decorative coatings. More details about the preliminary and basic work for the insulation of the facade are written below.
Surface preparation for gluing foam
The sheets are fixed to the walls with an adhesive solution, therefore, the base must be carefully prepared before work.
We adhere to the following instructions:
- Clean the area to be insulated from dirt, dust, oil and other greasy stains.
- Remove loose plaster and other loose items.
- Dispose of paintwork mechanically or with a solvent.
- Examine the surface for mold and mildew. If necessary, treat it with antiseptic, fungicidal and bactericidal agents.
- Remove salt deposits mechanically.
- If the walls are monolithic and cast in formwork structures, clean them from oil contamination and cover with a primer with the addition of quartz sand to increase adhesion to the insulator.
- Paint all metal parts on the partition with anti-corrosion paint.
- Using a plumb line, check the deviation of the walls from the vertical. Apply a long rule to it and check for defects. Irregularities of more than 2 cm on an area of 3 m are not allowed2.
- Cover walls that absorb moisture well with primer fixing agents. Compositions must match the base material.
If alignment is necessary, outline the defective areas and select a reworking method. There are several options for solving this problem: leveling with plaster, changing the thickness of the plates, using compensating spacers.
Plastering the walls is considered the best finishing option. An additional layer of mortar does not affect the durability of the insulator and does not reduce its performance. The solution hardens for almost a month, and during this time, no insulation work is carried out.
The change in the thickness of the slab is made if the thermal performance of the material does not deteriorate. Before work, it is necessary to create a map of wall defects and, based on the results, order samples of the appropriate thickness. The method does not affect the quality of the insulation, but the installation time increases due to the fit of the elements.
Removing defects with leveling shims is considered a complex process and is designed for experienced craftsmen.
Installing auxiliary profiles
For the ease of installation of insulating boards, it is recommended to use metal profiles, which are fixed before the installation of the panels.
At the bottom of the wall, plinth profiles are installed to support the insulation in the vertical plane. With their help, the elements are easily aligned during gluing. Also, the products protect the material from rodents, moisture, mechanical stress.
When installing profiles, consider the following points:
- The fixtures are fastened with dowels every 30 cm. The hardware must enter a brick or concrete wall to a depth of at least 40 mm. If the base is made of slotted bricks, the hole should be at least 60 mm, if from foam concrete - 100 mm or more.
- The thickness of the profile should correspond to the size of the slabs; it is not recommended to use other options.
- It is forbidden to deform the plinth profile when attaching it.
- For a snug fit of the device to the wall, the use of washers is allowed.
- The installation of overlapping profiles is prohibited, they are connected to each other with special strips. You can do without them if you leave 2-3 mm gaps for thermal expansion between the products.
- Use a plinth profile with a drip edge that draws moisture away from the wall.
- Before gluing boards with a thickness of 80 mm, install additional supports under the products. After the glue dries, they are removed.
- Attach profiles with notches at an angle of 45 degrees at the corners.
- Fasten special abutment profiles to window and door frames. They should be located at the same distance from the window opening. During installation, fasten the sheets close to the inner side of the profile.
Before work, mark the location of the suspended structures on the wall and fix the elements to which they will be fixed in advance. If you plan to revet the facade with siding or clapboard, mount a crate on the surface for attaching the cladding panels.
Selection and cutting of foam sheets
For installation, choose only high-quality samples. If the actual characteristics of the material do not correspond to the declared values, the plates will swell, collapse and cease to perform their functions. It is very difficult to distinguish a quality product from a counterfeit product at home; you can only rely on circumstantial evidence.
Purchase the product only in its original packaging, which guarantees its preservation for a long time. When buying, carefully inspect the wrapper - the film should be free of gaps. The presence of a barcode, a security label and a hologram of the manufacturer is required.
It is advisable to buy goods from well-known manufacturers, because it is impossible to check the main characteristics of the penoplex at home. Control of thermal conductivity and water repulsion can be performed only on special equipment in the laboratory.
Examine the sheets of insulation and select plates with the correct geometric shapes, without bends, deformations and damage. Check the sheet for compression by pinching it between your fingers. There should be no dents on the surface.
Cutting of slabs is carried out for high-quality laying of material near window and door openings, balconies and other structures. Excess small parts are removed with a wide-blade knife. Separate large areas with a fine-toothed hacksaw. Immediately before applying the glue, it is necessary to lay the sheets in their regular places and check the quality of the cut.
It is forbidden to use pieces of material 200 mm wide at the corners of buildings and in the places where they are adjacent to openings in the wall. When determining the dimensions of the products, keep in mind that the sheets are connected at the corners by gearing.
At the tops of the corners of window and door openings, lay solid slabs, remove excess parts in place. Technological cutouts in the insulation should not coincide with the line of the corners of the opening, they are located at a distance of at least 200 mm from them.
The overlap of the insulation on the boxes of the openings must be at least 20 mm. If the openings of windows and doors are recessed into the wall, the slopes are also subject to insulation. Sheets must be cut with an overlap on the opening.
Preparation of adhesive solution
When choosing an adhesive, it is necessary to take into account that penoplex is a type of expanded polystyrene, therefore it will be destroyed by compositions with solvents based on aromatic compounds, with the addition of formalin and its derivatives, with fuel and lubricating components. It is better to buy products specifically designed to work with this material.
There are several types of adhesives for fixing insulator sheets, each has its own purpose. For example, mineral ones are used for gluing panels to any dry surface, waterproofing ones - for attaching insulation to walls covered with bitumen.
One of the popular solutions for fixing penoplex is "Teplokley". The specific type of product is indicated by the manufacturer of the insulation in the instructions for the product. Correctly selected composition provides good adhesion to the substrate and a long service life.
The glue is prepared just before the installation of the panels, because the properties of the mixture deteriorate after 2-4 hours. It is not recommended to dilute the frozen solution with water. It should also be borne in mind that low temperature and high humidity increase the curing time of the glue, and when the temperature drops to +5 degrees, it is prohibited to glue the panels.
To prepare the mixture, pour the calculated amount of cold water into the container and add the powder with constant stirring. Stir the solution thoroughly with a low speed drill for 5 minutes. Check for lumps in the solution. Leave the liquid for 10 minutes. to ripen and mix again for 5 minutes.
Installation of penoplex on the walls
For high-quality adhesion to the adhesive, the surface of the plates is milled at the manufacturing stage. If there is no such treatment on the purchased material, sand the surface of the insulation with a coarse sandpaper. The fundamental technology of facade insulation with penoplex looks like this:
- Apply a strip of glue 8-10 cm wide around the perimeter of the slab and in the middle in puddles (2-3 pcs.) With an area of up to 10 cm2… Make sure the adhesive covers at least 40% of the sheet area. The thickness of the layer is 1, 5-2, 5 cm, it depends on the unevenness of the wall.
- When installing in corner areas, do not apply glue to the parts to which adjacent elements will be attached. Areas with mortar should be located in places where dowels will be clogged. If the substrate is perfectly flat, the product can be applied with a 10 mm notched trowel over the entire surface.
- Lay the first row of insulation on the base profile and make sure that the boards fit snugly against the limiting edge of the product. Protrusion beyond the profile indicates insufficient thickness of the adhesive layer.
- If necessary, align the products by moving in the vertical and horizontal planes. Remove the remaining solution from the surface. It is not allowed to leave the adhesive solution in the gaps between the panels. Cured mortar leads to heat loss and can affect the quality of the wall finish.
- After leveling, tap the board to improve the adhesion. Check the flatness of the surface of the first row of insulation using a long ruler. Smooth it out with coarse sandpaper or a sander if necessary, then remove dust.
- All rows are mounted in a similar way, taking into account the rules for laying sheet insulation.
- When forming corners, glue panels with an overlap, the length of which should be greater than the thickness of the material. Attach another sheet to the protruding part, then cut off the excess flush.
- If there are cracks on the wall, vertical and horizontal lines of sheet joints should be located at a distance of at least 200 mm from them in any direction. In this case, buy sheets with a thickness of at least 60 mm.
- Insulate the slopes with sheets 50 mm thick, while taking into account that an ebb tide will be installed at the bottom of the window.
- Fill the gaps of more than 2 mm that remain between the sheets with wedges cut from the foam waste. Do not fill the cracks with polyurethane foam, sealant and other materials that can provoke cracks in these places.
- If, after gluing, for some reason, the sheets are not covered with a reinforcing layer or topcoat, they should be protected from exposure to the sun and precipitation.
- After installation, the abutment profile must not be dismantled or moved to a new location.
To increase the reliability of fastening, the plates are additionally fixed with disc dowels, which are screwed or driven into spacers. There are several types of dowels, which are designed for different materials from which the walls are made. For example, for concrete partitions, concrete dowels "D 6 mm" 60 mm long or "D 8 mm" 80 mm long are used. The fasteners are made of synthetic material with low thermal conductivity and a heat-insulating plastic head. Their number depends on their size and the properties of the wall. It is usually sufficient to fix the sheet at the corners and in the middle of the panel, but the supplier may make adjustments to increase the number of dowels.
The dowels are installed after the adhesive has completely dried. Make holes in the partition, the depth of which should be 15 mm longer than the dowels. They are drilled in the corners and in the middle of the sheet. To fix the panels to the concrete wall, it is necessary that the fasteners enter the hole to a depth of 45 mm, and into the brick - by 60-70 mm. Narrow slabs are fixed 200 mm from the edge of the opening or corner.
For fastening, insert the expansion element of the dowel into the hole and sink the head flush with the surface of the sheet. Install the core inside the dowel and hammer in completely.
Protective and decorative coating
Insulation needs protection from external influences. To this end, after insulating the facade of the house with penoplex, apply a layer of plaster on its surface, usually of the Ceresit or Econmix brands. For reliable fixation of the mixture, a reinforcing fiberglass mesh is used. The work is carried out in the following sequence:
- Prepare the plaster solution thinner than required by the manufacturer's instructions.
- Cut a piece of mesh 1 m wide and height of your choice.
- Apply the mixture to the wall, place the mesh on top and submerge it in the solution, leaving the edges free.
- Glue the next piece next to it with an overlap on the first.
- Wait for the plaster to dry a little and grout the surface.
- Apply an equalizing layer of the same compound, 3 mm thick.
- After complete drying, repeat the grout for painting.
- Any paint can be used, there are no restrictions. The main condition is that it should hold well and maintain its original appearance for a long time.
How to insulate a facade with penoplex - watch the video:
[media = https://www.youtube.com/watch? v = hAW59AMw-sM] The technology of insulating walls outside with penoplex with your own hands is quite simple, for this you need to perform the work in stages according to the recommendations given. Due to the ease of installation and good insulating qualities, this method of thermal insulation is very popular.
