How to insulate brick. How to insulate a brick house from the outside and what is better. Insulation with extruded polystyrene foam

In private construction, brick is still especially popular for building the walls of a house. Houses built of brick can be found almost everywhere. But, despite its excellent performance qualities, such a house requires insulation. The issue of insulation brick house This is especially acute today, when the cost of energy is quite high and every kilowatt of energy has to be saved. The solution in this situation is to create reliable thermal insulation of the house, which can reduce heat loss to a minimum. All work on arranging thermal insulation can be done on your own, especially since how to insulate brick house, there is nothing complicated.

Specifics of insulation of a brick house

When planning to insulate a brick house, you must remember that insulating a house is a whole range of work aimed at reducing heat loss through the roof, walls, floor and foundation. And in order to answer the question of how to properly insulate a brick house, you will first have to find out what kind of brick and what kind of masonry the house is built from, consider the types of insulation of a brick house and decide on the materials for its insulation.

Features of brick walls

Unlike concrete or wooden walls, the brick walls have a row characteristic features. Firstly, the walls can be made of solid or hollow brick. Thermal conductivity depends on this brick wall, the indicator of which is in the middle between wood 0.2 W/(m K) and concrete 1.5 W/(m K) and is 0.4 W/(m K). Secondly, the masonry can be continuous and with an air pocket (well masonry). Depending on what type of brick is used and what kind of masonry is made, the thickness of the walls changes, and at the same time the operational characteristics and the required thickness of the thermal insulation layer.

Important! The average thermal conductivity values ​​are shown above. Depending on the type of wood and the materials used for the production of brick and concrete, thermal conductivity indicators may fluctuate in one direction or another. Thus, concrete with the addition of expanded clay has a thermal conductivity of 0.66 W/(m K), solid sand-lime brick 0.7 W/(m K), and pine 0.09 W/(m K). Therefore, before you start insulating the walls of your house, it is important to know what they are made of and how thick they are.

Regarding the masonry method, it should be noted that with continuous masonry, insulation is placed over the entire area of ​​the wall on one or both sides. In this case, the thickness of the layer directly depends on the thickness of the wall: the thicker the wall, the smaller the layer required. In the case of well masonry, the insulation is placed inside the wall, between the bricks. This approach is also called in-wall insulation. It can provide additional thermal insulation by air gap between the outer and inner walls, and when using heat-insulating material it can reduce heat loss by half.

Types of insulation

There are three types of insulation: external, internal, and internal. External insulation is the most popular and involves placing the insulation on the outside of the building. This approach will provide additional protection for the walls from various types of natural phenomena. Unfortunately, external insulation of a brick house has its drawbacks - the seasonality of the work and the fairly high cost of materials. Internal insulation of a house, in addition to wall insulation, includes insulation interfloor ceilings, floor, attic and roof. Internal insulation can be carried out almost at any time of the year. The third type is intra-wall insulation; it can only be performed at the stage of wall construction. Therefore, those who purchased an already built house will not be able to perform this type of insulation.

Characteristics thermal insulation materials

It is necessary to select materials for insulating a brick house with special care, paying attention to their characteristics. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, some thermal insulation materials can only be used for interior decoration, some - only for exterior decoration. Secondly, the density of the material and its thermal conductivity coefficient will depend total weight and the thickness of the insulating layer. Thirdly, from the resistance of the material to various types negative impacts depends on its durability and ability to maintain its performance qualities. Fourthly, than more natural material, the better. Below are the main characteristics with their brief description, to which special attention should be paid.

  • Thermal conductivity coefficient. The lower this indicator, the smaller the thickness of the thermal insulation layer will be.
  • Water absorption coefficient. Just as in the case of thermal conductivity, the lower this indicator, the better. The water absorption of a material indicates its resistance to moisture absorption.
  • Density. Essentially, this indicator reflects the mass of thermal insulation. The higher it is, the heavier the material.
  • Flammability class. There are four flammability classes in total. Materials of class G1 stop burning without a fire source, so their use is more preferable in construction.
  • Durability of the material. With this indicator everything is simple. It indicates how long a given material will last without losing its performance characteristics.
  • Vapor capacity. The ability of the material to “breathe”, allowing moist air to pass through it, will be very useful for internal insulation of premises, which will only increase comfortable living in the house.
  • Soundproofing abilities. Some heat-insulating materials also have excellent sound-proofing properties, which allows you to significantly save on special sound-proofing materials.
  • Environmental friendliness. This indicator only indicates the naturalness of the materials and will be useful for those who strive to make their home as safe as possible for living in it.
  • Difficulty of installation. This indicator only affects the speed and ease of installation, which will be especially useful for beginners in the construction business.

IN modern construction Do-it-yourself insulation of a brick house is carried out using various materials. Below are the usual artificial materials and natural ones that are gaining popularity again:

  • Mineral wool. Perhaps the most commonly used thermal insulation. Its thermal conductivity coefficient is 0.041-0.044 W/(m.K) and its density is from 20 kg/m3 to 200 kg/m3. Among the disadvantages, high moisture absorption should be noted. More suitable for internal insulation.
  • Expanded polystyrene (foam). The second most popular insulation material. Thermal conductivity coefficient 0.033 - 0.037 W/(m.K), density 11 to 35 kg/m3. This material practically does not absorb moisture, but at the same time its vapor permeability is practically zero. In addition, it is fragile, flammable and emits toxic substances. Can be used both inside and outside the building.
  • Extruded polystyrene foam. Thermal conductivity coefficient is 0.028 - 0.032 W/(m.K), density is from 25 to 38 kg/m3. Unlike regular foam, extruded polystyrene foam is stronger, but otherwise they are almost identical. Suitable for external and internal work.
  • Expanded clay. The thermal conductivity coefficient ranges from 0.10 to 0.18 W/(m.K), density 200 - 800 kg/m3. Quite a narrow range of applications. Mainly added to concrete for foundation or construction monolithic frame Houses. It can also be used for in-wall insulation.
  • "Warm" plaster. The thermal conductivity coefficient is 0.065 W/(m.K), density 200 - 340 kg/m3. This material has quite a lot of advantages - sound insulation, vapor permeability, low water permeability, non-flammability, etc. But there are two significant drawbacks. The first is that the maximum layer of such plaster should not exceed 50 mm, the second is that it is heavy, which entails the need for a reinforced foundation. But in general, it is an excellent insulation material for both external and internal work.
  • Cork insulation. The thermal conductivity coefficient is 0.045 - 0.06 W/(m.K), density 240 - 250 kg/m3. This natural material Ideal for internal insulation due to its performance properties. The only serious disadvantage is the high degree of flammability. Best used for internal insulation.
  • Ecowool or cellulose wool. The thermal conductivity coefficient is 0.032 - 0.038 W/(m.K), density 30 - 75 kg/m3. Ecowool obtained as a result of processing cellulose perfectly absorbs moisture and does not tolerate mechanical loads. Used only for internal insulation. It is usually used to insulate attics.

When starting to insulate an already built brick house, first of all you need to do small project, indicating in it all areas requiring insulation with the materials used and their quantity. It should be remembered that for internal and external work they use various materials. If the house is under construction, then everything necessary calculations indicated in project documentation All that remains is to purchase everything you need and start working.

As noted earlier, this type of insulation can only be carried out at the stage of wall construction. To do this you need to do the following:

  1. First we lay the outer wall, where every 5 rows of brick we insert a metal pin made of wire with a diameter of 5 mm into the seam. We select the length of the pin in such a way as to recess it by 2 - 3 cm and the remaining part of the wire should be 2 - 3 cm greater than the thickness of the heat-insulating material used;
  2. as soon as an external wall 1 - 1.5 m high has been erected, we begin installing the thermal insulation in place, resting the materials on the pins;
  3. Finally, we lay the inner wall, after which we raise the outer wall again. And so on to the very top.

The method described above is suitable for materials produced in mats or slabs, such as polystyrene foam, mineral wool or extruded polystyrene foam. You can also use expanded clay. To do this, you will have to erect both walls at once to a height of 1 - 1.5 m, leaving a gap of 10 - 15 cm between them and tying them together with metal pins at the seams of the masonry. Then we pour expanded clay inside and continue building the walls. For this method of insulation, you should choose expanded clay of a large fraction. Since it has less density and hence its overall weight will be less.

Important! You don’t have to limit yourself to just in-wall insulation of a brick house. The walls of such a house can be additionally insulated from the outside.

Insulation of a brick house from the outside

External insulation of a brick house consists of insulating the walls, basement and outer walls of the foundation. The technology for insulating a brick house from the outside consists in cleaning the walls of the building from construction debris and dirt for further fixing a multi-layer thermal insulation cake on them or arranging it on top of bare walls hanging structure with thermal insulation placed inside. Materials you can use include polystyrene foam, extruded polystyrene foam, and “warm” plaster. In this case, one simple rule must be observed - the sequence of arrangement of materials for insulating the walls of a brick house from the outside should be such that the vapor permeability of each subsequent layer increases towards the outer edge.

To insulate the walls of a brick house from the outside with polystyrene foam or extruded polystyrene foam, you need to do the following. Perform basic plastering of the walls to smooth out the main unevenness, then clean the surface of dirt and treat it with a primer. Then, in one of two ways, either with glue or with the help of facade dowels “umbrellas”, we fix the sheets of thermal insulation to the wall.

If you choose the first method, then you need to apply glue to the surface of the sheet and press it tightly against the wall. We carry out the work from the bottom up, placing the sheets gradually row by row. In this case, we shift each next row relative to the previous one, arranging the sheets in a checkerboard pattern. In this simple way, the stability of the entire structure is achieved. When fastening using facade dowels, we perform the same operations, with the difference that the glue is applied pointwise to the surface of the sheet in small portions. Then, after gluing, we drill a hole in the wall through the sheet into which we insert the dowel. We reinforce the resulting surface with a special mesh, plaster it and perform finishing paint or decorative plaster.

Video: insulating a brick house from the outside with polystyrene foam

Another popular way of external wall insulation is to create ventilated facade. The creation work is as follows. The first thing you need to do is place a layer of vapor barrier on the surface of the wall, then create and anchor a metal or wooden frame. After this, we place a heat-insulating material between the frame slats, on top of which we lay a layer of waterproofing. For a ventilated façade, basalt or mineral wool is most often used. We fix the heat- and waterproofing materials to the wall using the already familiar façade dowels with a wide head. At the end we install external cladding from siding, porcelain stoneware or other material.

The simplest and most accessible option for external insulation is to use "warm" plasters. The work consists of cleaning the walls from dirt, after which their surface is impregnated with a primer. Next it is fixed on the wall plaster mesh and beacons on which “warm” plaster will be applied. After the plastered walls have dried, they can be finished with decorative “bark beetle” plaster, clinker tiles, decorative facade bricks or simply paint.

Insulation of the foundation and basement of a brick house is carried out by analogy with walls, with the only difference that it is not customary to create a ventilated façade for the foundation or basement. Most often, insulation is performed with polystyrene foam, extruded polystyrene foam, clinker tiles or “warm” plaster.

Insulation of a brick house from the inside

Heat loss through external walls constitutes only a portion of the total heat loss. Most of the heat is lost through the roof and floor of a brick house. Of course, to more reliably retain heat, you can insulate the walls from the inside, and this will require very little effort. Let's consider the internal insulation of a brick house as it is being built, starting from the floor and ending with the roof.

Floor insulation in a brick house

It is best to insulate floors in a brick house during its construction. It is also possible to insulate an already built house, but this is associated with increased labor costs. This is due to the need to dismantle and repair an existing wooden or concrete floor. Floor insulation is carried out using polystyrene foam, extruded polystyrene foam, mineral and basalt wool or expanded clay. Separately, we should highlight the “warm floor” system, which, in combination with conventional insulation, will retain heat and provide additional heating to the house.

During the construction of a new house, insulation of wooden floors is carried out as follows:

  • Having created a structure of joists and a subfloor made of waterproof plywood, we lay a layer of waterproofing on top of them. Edges between each other waterproofing material let it overlap, and bring the edges along the perimeter up with an overlap of 10 - 15 cm;
  • Next, we place insulation in the space between the joists. If desired, a layer of vapor barrier can be laid on top of the insulation;
  • the next will be a rough floor made of boards, on top of which the finishing floor and floor covering will be laid.

If the house has two or more floors, then the insulation of the floors of the upper floors will also be insulation of the ceiling in a brick house. In fact, you will have to create a wooden floor on joists with insulation inside on the second floor.

Creating thermal insulation in an already built brick house begins with dismantling and repairing the wooden floor. After which, if necessary, excess soil is excavated, a new substrate of sand and crushed stone is backfilled and compacted. Finally, the structure is assembled from logs and insulation according to the scheme described above.

If a wooden floor can still be disassembled with minimal labor costs, then a concrete floor will require enormous effort and a lot of time to remove old screed. Therefore, it is extremely important to insulate concrete floors during the construction stage of a house. The work itself is as follows:

  • After creating and compacting a cushion of sand and crushed stone on the ground, we perform rough screed, lay a layer of waterproofing on top;

Important! To reduce the thermal conductivity of concrete, expanded clay should be added to it. Such concrete will have a thermal conductivity of 0.66 W/(m K), and not the usual 1.5 W/(m K).

  • Next we lay the thermal insulation. For concrete floors, polystyrene foam and extruded polystyrene foam are used. In addition to these materials, others can be laid. The main thing is to choose a material with the greatest strength and density of more than 160 kg/m3;
  • on top of this multi-layer cake a layer of vapor barrier is laid and a finishing screed is poured, after which the finishing floor covering is laid.

Insulation of walls from inside a brick house

In most cases, insulation of walls inside a brick house is not carried out due to the presence of external thermal insulation. But sometimes internal insulation is still necessary. Especially when the thickness of the walls or the maximum layer of thermal insulation on the outside is not enough to retain heat. To insulate brick walls from the inside, mineral and stone wool, polystyrene foam, extruded polystyrene foam, cork or “warm” plaster.

Internal insulation of the walls of a brick house is as follows:

  • clean the walls from dirt and saturate them with primer;
  • using wooden beams or metal profile, arrange the frame and secure it to the wall. The frame posts are placed in increments of 40 cm or 60 cm;
  • if necessary, having trimmed the thermal insulation to fit the width of the opening between the posts, we lay it inside the resulting structure;
  • We cover the top with plasterboard, plaster and apply the final finish.

Important! Internal insulation of a brick house with polystyrene foam or extruded polystyrene foam is extremely undesirable due to the toxicity and flammability of these materials.

Insulation of the attic and roof of a brick house

When it comes to the question of how best to insulate a brick house, it is impossible to ignore such parts of the house as the roof and attic. After all, it is through them that up to 40% of the total heat loss can evaporate. This is due to the simple laws of physics, according to which warm air lighter than cold and therefore all the heat goes up. Therefore, in order to maintain heat in a brick house, it is so important to insulate the roof and attic.

To insulate the attic you need to do the following:

  • if you use floor beams as joists, you can build the already familiar structure of a wooden floor with insulation, but with minor changes;
  • We cover the beams themselves and the space between them with a vapor barrier;
  • then fill the space between the beams with ecowool, mineral wool or basalt wool;
  • On top, for ease of movement around the attic, we lay a subfloor made of rough boards.

Important! To save operational properties thermal insulation of the attic and roof must be equipped high-quality ventilation under-roof space.

Insulation of the roof of a house is carried out as follows:

  • We lay it across the entire area of ​​the structure between the rafters and secure a vapor barrier. We let the edges of the material overlap each other and glue them with tape;
  • We place thermal insulation material in the space between the rafters. It can be polystyrene foam, extruded polystyrene foam, mineral or basalt wool, as well as any other insulation with low thermal conductivity and low density;
  • We lay another layer of vapor barrier on top and, to maintain the insulation in place, we attach the sheathing in increments of 0.4 - 0.5 m.

Despite the large amount of work involved in creating thermal insulation for a brick house, everything is quite simple. Anyone who knows how to use a tool and has minimal experience can carry out insulation. construction work. In order for everything to be done correctly, it is necessary to adhere to SNiPs and recommendations of specialists.

A house built of brick, although it has the ability to retain heat, however, without additional insulation work, it will not be possible to save on heating.

Let's figure it out: how to insulate a brick house from the outside and inside, how to minimize heat loss, what materials and methods to choose for this. Let's look at everything in order.

How to insulate a brick house from the outside

Builders always recommend producing insulation work just outside. What causes this? It's simple - the possibility of condensation appearing on the walls. After all, if insulation material placed only inside, the wall will not warm up and dampness will appear under the layer. This will cause fungi, mold, and a damp smell, which will not have the best effect on your health.

It is preferable to insulate a house from the outside than from the inside

Excellent for external insulation following materials, which should be considered in more detail.

Cotton wool: eco, mineral, fiberglass

Enough cheap material, having a low thermal conductivity coefficient. It is highly environmentally friendly, as it is produced by mixing basalt rock with pre-molten slag remaining in the metallurgical industry.

Environmental friendliness, low price, does not light

The most valuable properties of cotton wool:

  • Little exposed to diffusion;
  • Steam conductivity;
  • Low thermal conductivity;
  • Soundproofing qualities are quite high;
  • Able to last a long time;
  • Incombustibility.

Outer layer of facing bricks

What significantly reduces the value of any type of wool is its ability to get wet and lose its heat-insulating properties. Therefore, it is additionally important to sheathe it with a material that has more hygroscopic properties.

Expanded polystyrene

This material is highly resistant to moisture due to its cellular structure.

Insulation of a brick house with polystyrene foam

Of course, it is more flammable than mineral wool, but it has the following properties at a price that is an order of magnitude lower:

  1. Excellent heat and sound insulation;
  2. Does not create a favorable environment for the growth of bacteria;
  3. Tolerates temperature changes well;
  4. Vapor permeability is quite low;
  5. Self-extinguishing. When in contact with a fire source, polystyrene foam melts, but then quickly extinguishes.

The material is attached between the main wall and the facing layer

When using polystyrene foam, it is very important to know that in winter the rooms will retain heat, and in warm time they will be cool.

Insulation of a brick house from the inside

It must be remembered that when carrying out work, there is a high chance that the footage of the room will decrease. Before installation, you should initially attach a wooden or metal frame. It is between them that layers of heat-insulating material should be laid.

We build a frame for laying insulation

It is very important to determine the dew point correctly, otherwise no material will be able to protect the walls from freezing.

Drywall

With the help of plasterboard sheets you can not only achieve high thermal insulation properties, but also to create a perfectly flat surface.

Plasterboard wall covering

Disadvantages of use of this material are quite obvious. Firstly, it has a wide volume, because interior decoration It is better not to use it at all, otherwise there is a high chance of greatly reducing the area of ​​the room. Secondly, it has a fairly small bearing capacity. There is no need to hang anything additional on it.

Mineral wool is covered with sheets of plasterboard

In external works You can use drywall alone or together with cotton wool. This will significantly improve sound insulation.

Liquid wallpaper

This material is decorative, but can be used as additional insulation. It is recommended to use them independently only if the walls are not too susceptible to freezing.

Liquid wallpaper - beautiful and functional

Thermal insulation is increased due to the structure that liquid wallpaper has. It contains a finely porous dispenser material that helps create a dense structure.

The process of applying liquid wallpaper

In addition to the walls, you should also carry out.

Carpet

Not used as often as other types of materials. It is quite easy to attach it, and besides, the carpet has high decorative properties and a huge number of shades, which allows you to choose it for every taste.

Insulation of the facade of a brick house

Insulation country house, the walls of which are made of brick, is a mandatory construction and finishing work. Indeed, to achieve the structural strength of a brick wall, it is enough to lay masonry 25 centimeters deep, and to maintain a comfortable thermal regime in a brick house, the thickness of the wall masonry should be 1.6 meters.

Moreover, solid masonry with a thickness of 1.5 bricks (37 centimeters) is considered economically justified. As a result, only home insulation can balance the balance between efficiency, strength and heat resistance of masonry.

In most cases, the process of insulating brick houses is carried out using traditional external insulation or a combination of internal and external insulation. The use of only internal insulation in brick houses is unacceptable, since almost any masonry will certainly freeze in winter period and condensation will certainly accumulate between the insulation layer and the wall, which can destroy both the integrity of the masonry and the beauty of the interior decoration.


However, installation of facade, heat-insulating systems is not always acceptable. Such insulation of a brick house is quite effective, however, hinged thermal insulating panels will destroy all the beauty of expensive brickwork. Therefore, the use of facade thermal insulators is considered justified only if the owner of the house has no other way to solve the problem of thermal insulation of masonry.

In practice, the installation of heat insulators on the facade of a brick house is carried out by gluing or mechanically fastening heat-resistant panels made of polystyrene foam, extruded polystyrene foam or other materials. And such work is carried out only in the summer, on absolutely dry and relatively clean masonry. Moreover, when installing insulating panels, the brick wall should be treated with an antifungal solution.

Common additions to the insulation layer are vapor barrier, wind barrier, air gap– are not used in the process of insulating brickwork. The thickness of the insulation layer, in most cases, does not exceed 5-7 centimeters.

At the final stage external insulation brick houses are completed with a finishing layer, which can be used as siding systems, facing brickwork, and various finishing slabs and tiles. This is the only way to preserve at least something of the former perfection of the exterior of a brick house.

If such intervention in the exterior of the building is considered unjustified, then the owner of the house should take care of insulating his home during the construction stage. The point of this method of increasing the thermal inertness of a house is to use “warm masonry” technology in the process of building walls.

Of course, this method of insulation is absolutely unacceptable for owners of already rebuilt houses, however, for future owners of brick buildings, the most acceptable option is just this kind of house insulation.

In practice, warm masonry is implemented in several ways. Moreover, the most popular options for arranging heat-resistant walls are well and hollow-core masonry technologies. Besides, " warm wall"can also be built from special types of hollow building ceramics.

Insulating a house using well masonry involves the construction of a hollow wall formed by the external and inner layers, separated by empty space (well). The strength of the structure is ensured by horizontal and vertical dressings.

The thickness of such a wall is 50-60 centimeters - the depth of the masonry is 2.5 bricks. However, due to the well-shaped voids, the total weight load-bearing structure will be much less than the weight of solid masonry of similar depth. As a result, the use of well masonry not only contributes to the construction of a heat-resistant wall, but also relieves the load on the foundation of the building. In addition, only 50-60 percent of the building materials required for the construction of a solid wall will be spent on well masonry.

The heat resistance of well masonry is ensured either by sealing the “wells” or by installing insulating material into the “wells”. Moreover, not only foam plastic or mineral wool, but also more fire-resistant expanded clay and even foam concrete. As a result of such actions, the acquisition of heat resistance will not be accompanied by a loss of fire resistance of the structure.

Another way to increase the thermal resistance of a wall is the hollow-core masonry technology, the use of which leads to the formation of closed voids inside the wall. The use of this technology eases both the load on the foundation and the construction costs of the home owner load-bearing walls by 30-40 percent.

The heat resistance of hollow-core masonry is ensured by placing materials with increased thermal inertness in the voids. In most cases, foam or mineral wool is placed in the voids.

While heating leaves much to be desired, making the microclimate inside the house uncomfortable, external factors constantly negatively affect the condition of its structures. Therefore, it is important to insulate the walls of a brick house from the inside or outside.

To insulate a brick house from the inside to be effective, you need to know about important factor, which we will talk about before we consider the main materials and technologies for insulating a brick house from the inside.

It is very important that it increases from layer to layer from the inner wall to the outer one. This factor is very important because during cool seasons the humidity in residential premises is significantly higher than outside. Everyone living in the house breathes, which means the air is filled with moisture. Household processes from cleaning to cooking also play a role; as a result, the air is humidified, but does not escape outside.

The warmer the air, the more moisture it can hold. To prevent the walls from sweating, condensation and dampness in the corners, it is important to correctly resolve the issue of vapor permeability of the materials used in insulation. If the insulation of brick walls does not include a vapor-permeable outer layer, the wall is guaranteed to become damp.

The location of the insulation of the walls of a brick house from the inside is not the best efficient look insulation, since the ideal situation is when the house is insulated from the outside. If everything is not done correctly, the dew point will fall on the brick wall itself, which will accelerate the destruction of the structure, especially buildings made of sand-lime solid brick, which is most susceptible to moisture. If your house is built of exactly this, in addition to insulating the brick wall from the inside or outside, protect the walls with roof canopies, but do not forget about the outflow of steam, which in this case becomes even more important!

Insulating brick walls from the inside leads to the fact that the dew point is located directly behind the insulation; violation of the technology is fraught with dampness and mold. External insulation, of course, will ensure that the entire wall is warmed up, steam escapes out, and there is no excess moisture.

But all of the above does not mean that it is impossible to insulate inside. There are many reasons why external insulation may not be possible. For example:

  1. We cannot insulate the outside of architectural monuments.
  2. The high-rise building is insulated, the upper floors are insulated, but the tower is not.
  3. The neighbors' walls are so close that there is no room to external thermal insulation was done correctly.

These and other reasons force us to accept the fact that external insulation is impossible. And if you choose internal option In order to insulate your home, you just need to understand well how to properly insulate a brick wall from the inside in order to be sure to follow the technology. Most main principle which is as follows: we should separate the wall and its insulation from the room and make them airtight.

And here there are two solutions:

  1. Internal insulation with a material whose vapor permeability will be extremely low. These can be considered penofol, which is an insulation with a layer of foil applied to polyethylene foam. Extruded polystyrene foam also has low vapor permeability if its surface on one side is denser. Required condition: Both the foil side of the foam foam and the denser side of the extruded polystyrene foam should be laid towards the inside.
  1. The following solution to the problem is also possible: insulation of walls from the inside should involve the presence of a vapor-proof film, which will be located with inside housing and hermetically cut off the insulation from the inner wall. If you go this route, you shouldn't leave even a tiny gap for moisture, be sure to overlap the vapor barrier film and carefully tape the seams


What does this look like in practice?

Now let's look at how to insulate a brick house from the inside, in practice.

If you chose expanded polystyrene, then your insulation is quite dense, 20-40 mm, and you can glue it directly to the wall. The denser part faces the inside of the house, as you remember, and then it can be finished off: wallpapering, plastering. By the way, if you are not insulating a house, but, for example, a bathhouse, but also made of brick, extruded polystyrene foam, as well as others polymer materials are not suitable here, since when heated significantly they will release toxic substances into the air.

When insulating walls from the inside, start by treating the walls: they need to be leveled and primed with an antiseptic compound, which will guarantee the absence of fungi on the wall. Armed with regular tile adhesive or a special one for polystyrene foam, apply notched trowel adhesive composition for pre-rolled boards needle roller, which will significantly improve traction. Glue the slabs tightly to each other, make a vertical spread between the seams of the rows. Wait until the glue dries, then fill all the resulting seams with silicone-based sealant. You must achieve maximum vapor tightness. You can cover the resulting surface with wallpaper, for which an aqueous solution of PVA glue will be sufficient. But if you want the inside of the house to have structural plaster, then you also need to reinforce the surface with fiberglass mesh, for which the same glue is suitable, and after the mesh has dried, proceed to decorative finishing.

You may have chosen foam. This is a more affordable option, so you shouldn’t discount it; many owners of brick houses prefer it. The disadvantages of these materials for a brick house are high vapor permeability and low density. Therefore, proper installation is also very important here. And it is produced by lathing.

Therefore, before insulating a brick wall from the inside, we first take bars the same thickness as the slab of your insulation. With a step not much narrower than the slab of insulating material, we erect the sheathing on the wall. We fill the resulting windows with insulation; it must be laid apart. If you decide to insulate the brick walls of your house from the inside with polystyrene foam, then take this additional measure protection, such as foaming seams.

When the insulation is laid, a vapor-proof insulating film is placed on top. However, the most ideal protection for interior walls would be if you instead use 2-3 mm thick penofol, fastening it with an overlapping stapler. Be sure to cover the seam with construction tape.

To complete the process of insulating a brick house from the inside, you need to attach a false plasterboard wall to the bars with your own hands; you can also use lining or wall panels.

Briefly about materials

Foam plastic – good choice, however, during installation you will end up with many seams, and each of them can become a cold bridge. Safe and effective insulation will be possible only with absolute sealing of each of them, which in practice is not always possible for novice craftsmen to achieve.

Polyurethane foam is well suited for brick houses, but is difficult to install, which is a significant drawback for many buyers. Mechanical instability can also be added to them, that is, the insulation requires additional protection. Extruded polystyrene foam is also great; you can do all the work yourself; the positive properties of the material outweigh its disadvantages.

As you can see, it is effectively possible to insulate the walls of a brick house from the inside, but if there is such an opportunity, it is still better to carry out external insulation.

The video below shows in detail the entire process of insulating a wall from the inside:

At any stage of construction or operation. Special components for filling allow you to completely fill existing air cavities with polyurethane foam insulation, as well as eliminate all the smallest cracks and gaps in brick or other masonry.

Currently, lightweight (well) masonry is a common type of economical construction of brick walls in the construction of low-rise buildings. In central Russia, brickwork with a thickness of 1.5 and 2 bricks (380 and 510 mm) is most often found. This wall thickness was obtained according to thermal engineering calculation, based on current regulatory data and thermal resistance to heat transfer of brickwork, taking into account the calculated outside air temperature in cold period years in the region of residence. Therefore, based only on considerations to ensure the necessary heat transfer resistance, and not on the load-bearing capacity of the wall structure, the generally accepted thickness of brick walls is determined to be one and a half and two bricks. In order to low-rise house It was strong and held the roof and snow on itself; it was enough to make the walls only one brick thick. In most cases, when constructing the walls of a house, for additional thermal insulation, an air gap was left between them, the width of which can reach from 5 to 12 cm. The outer wall is built half a brick thick, the inner wall one or one and a half bricks thick.

But now, with the introduction of updated SNiPs and sets of Rules in 2013, the traditional wall thickness of 1.5 or 2 bricks is insufficient to meet the conditions for thermal protection and energy saving.

Rice. Double masonry with air gap

Therefore, in order to meet the stricter SNiP standards and at the same time reduce the cost of constructing walls, insulation began to be laid in the well masonry. Calculations show that well masonry with insulation inside is much more effective compared to solid masonry, since it can reduce brick consumption by 40% and reduce the weight of the wall by 28% while simultaneously increasing the thermal resistance of the enclosing structure. Well masonry with insulation is widely used in private housing construction, as well as in the construction of multi-storey buildings with a monolithic reinforced concrete frame.

Advantages of brickwork with insulation:

  • Possibility of meeting SNiP standards for heat loss.
  • Reducing the load on the foundation means reducing foundation costs.
  • The final cost-effectiveness of building a house with walls built using the well masonry method.

Disadvantages of lightweight brickwork:

  • Heterogeneity of design.
  • Reducing the wall capital.

Foam plastic and extruded polystyrene foam in slabs are used as traditional insulation materials for well masonry. These insulation materials are installed during the construction of a house at the stage of wall construction. The main disadvantages of these slab insulation materials are the presence of interpanel joints, which subsequently act as “bridges” of cold.

But what to do if during the construction of the walls of your house no insulation was installed and only an air gap was left? Don't worry, there is a way out!

Despite the fact that most traditional thermal insulation materials must be installed during construction, pouring polyurethane foam (PPU) into well masonry with an air gap can be done at any stage of construction, including in already closed cavities, as well as when the house is already ready and exploited. Where the use of traditional roll or slab insulation is simply impossible, and the use of backfill materials (ecowool, expanded clay) can be associated with additional work and the costs of dismantling the roof or part of the wall, filling interwall voids by pouring polyurethane foam (PPU) is done without expensive dismantling and dismantling of enclosing structures and is the most optimal and in an efficient way insulation of the house.

In order to carry out high-quality insulation of a building by pouring polyurethane foam (PUF) into the wall cavities, special PU foam components are used, which have a slow start time (time of the start of active foaming). These are separate brands of polyurethane foam that have very low thermal conductivity and their foaming begins only after a certain time after thorough mixing under high pressure, usually after 20-40 seconds. This allows the PPU components to sink in liquid form to the very bottom of the wall cavity, distribute evenly there and then foam, filling everything free space, both in the horizontal and vertical plane.

Currently, there are two main methods of pouring polyurethane foam into the interwall space (well masonry). This is pouring polyurethane foam into an open cavity at the construction stage and filling the air void of an already built house through filling holes in the masonry.

Pouring polyurethane foam into the open space between the walls.

It is produced during the construction stage when building the walls of the house. Polyurethane foam is poured from above into the open cavity, but only after the brickwork has gained the required strength, the degree of filling is determined visually.

Rice. Pouring polyurethane foam into open cavities

Pouring polyurethane foam into a closed space between walls made through special holes with a diameter of 12-14 mm, drilled in the outer or interior wall Houses.

Rice. Gun for pouring polyurethane foam

Filling holes are evenly distributed over the entire wall area in a checkerboard pattern with a step of 50-100 cm from each other.

Rice. Location of holes in the wall for pouring polyurethane foam

First, the polyurethane foam is poured through the holes located in the lower level, then they sequentially begin to fill the upper levels, and so on until the very top. The filling of the cavity is monitored with a special probe, as well as visually by squeezing foam out of the filling holes.

Rice. Pouring polyurethane foam into closed cavities

Pouring polyurethane foam (PPU) into the wall cavity is carried out using professional high-pressure equipment. The filling composition in liquid form under high pressure is fed into the wall using a gun with a special nozzle for pouring. The start time for polyurethane foam for pouring has been increased to 20-40 seconds. This time is enough for the material in liquid form to be evenly distributed along the bottom of the cavity. Then foaming occurs, the material increases many times in volume and fills all the free space in the wall. Moreover, the rise and growth of the foam occurs in the direction least resistance, that is, polyurethane foam fills the free air space in the existing cavity and does not squeeze out the brickwork. After 60-140 seconds, the polyurethane foam “hardens”, forming a dense, seamless and airtight layer that reliably protects the walls of your home from heat loss. In the well masonry, as a rule, there are no unfilled parts that could serve as conductors of cold. In addition, pouring polyurethane foam allows you to eliminate all possible gaps, cracks and defects in the masonry left as a result of construction work.

It is also worth paying special attention to one of the most popular misconceptions about pouring polyurethane foam into cavities, which often exists among users on the network, and is also often asked in the form of questions to our specialists. This is supposedly what Polyurethane foam, when expanding and increasing in volume, squeezes bricks out of the masonry. We answer, provided that the brickwork reaches 70% strength, extrusion and any deformation or destruction of the masonry does not occur. Filling the void when pouring polyurethane foam follows the path of least resistance, namely replacing the existing air gap with polyurethane foam. Agree that it is easier for polyurethane foam to fill the existing air cavity than to squeeze out the “set” bricks from the masonry! Below is a photograph of a brick wall, where it is clear that the polyurethane foam came out of the wall from existing holes and defects in the brickwork and thereby sealed all the gaps and cracks.