How to insulate a floor without using electric heating systems

Recommendation points

• Types of floor insulation systems
• Choice of tool and material
• Floor preparation
• Installation of extruded polypropylene plates
• Floor installation of OSB wood-based panels

Today we will introduce you to the existing types of floor insulation systems, tell you about their advantages and disadvantages. You will be able to insulate the floor yourself without using expensive materials, and you will also learn about some of the nuances inherent in this type of work.

Types of floor insulation systems

Nowadays, there are several types of floor heating systems: water heated floors, electric, infrared. Their main advantage is the even distribution of heat over the entire surface of the floor and room, the absence of external heating devices (batteries and radiators), as well as the ability to control the temperature in the room. Their main disadvantage is the high cost of installing the system itself, installation by qualified specialists and further maintenance by specialized workers..

But you can insulate the floor without using these expensive and time-consuming structures, as well as without professional help. To do this, you will need extruded polypropylene boards and OSB wood boards, with standard batteries in the room, such a floor will be no less warm.

Choice of tool and material

To insulate the floor, you will need the following tools:

1. Puncher.
2. Screwdriver.
3. Drill.
4. Mixer.
5. Aluminum trapezoidal rule 2-2.5 m.
6. Aluminum level 2-2.5 m.
7. Electric jigsaw.
8. Sealant gun.
9. Wood plane.
10. Roulette.
11. Knife.
12. Plastic bucket with a volume of 20-25 l.
13. Pencil.

When choosing a material, the manufacturer is not so important as its quality and characteristics. You will need:

1. Extruded polypropylene plates (at least 30 mm thick).
2. OSB boards (at least 10 mm thick).
3. Self-leveling starting and finishing floors.
4. Deep penetrating polymer waterproofing primer.
5. Polyethylene (not less than 100 microns).
6. Driven dowel (not less than 8×80 mm).
7. Liquid nails for styrofoam and wood floors.
8. Plastic wedges up to 10 mm.

Floor preparation

Before laying the insulation system on the floor, it must be prepared. Floor differences should not exceed 3 mm per 1 meter.

Subfloor quality check

If the room contains old floors (wood, laminate, linoleum), then they need to be dismantled. Weak and loose areas must be removed. Then prime the entire floor with a deep-penetrating primer according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Further, after the primer has dried, it is necessary to fill in a preparatory bulk cement mixture, which has a high leveling ability. If the differences in the floor exceed 5 mm, then it is necessary to fill in with a starting self-leveling leveling mixture, with differences of less than 5 mm, finish self-leveling self-leveling floors are poured. Such a surface is environmentally friendly, and in the future will have high wear and water resistance..

Self-leveling floor filling

To do this, you need to take a bucket with a volume of 20-25 liters, pour 10 liters of water into it. Gradually pour the dry mixture into the water, stirring with a mixer with a whisk until the mixture is homogeneous and without lumps, and the density has the consistency of liquid honey (the mixture should be poured out, but not spread like water). The finished mixture must be poured onto the prepared floor immediately after preparation, since it quickly settles in the bucket and you need to mix it again. After the solution is poured onto the floor, it is leveled over the floor surface as a rule, and then evenly rolled out with a spiked roller. Such a surface, as a rule, hardens after 6-10 hours, and after a day you can walk on it with confidence. After 2 days, further work can be carried out.

Installation of extruded polypropylene plates

After the floor is leveled with a bulk mixture, you can proceed directly to laying the system itself. To do this, first you need to spread polyethylene on the floor, this is done for complete waterproofing. Polyethylene must be at least 100 microns thick.

Laying polyethylene on the floor

When joining on the floor, polyethylene must be laid with an overlap of 10-12 cm and with a margin of 8-10 cm on each side of the wall. Further, extruded polypropylene plates are laid on the floor, the thickness of which in this case should not be less than 30 mm. Polypropylene boards are, first of all, a very good heat-insulating material with practically zero capillarity, very low water absorption and high compressive strength.

In addition to these characteristics, polypropylene is durable (does not rot) and is chemically resistant. Plates have standard dimensions 1250×600 mm and locks at the ends for better joining.

Extruded polypropylene plates

When laying the slabs, each subsequent row must be shifted from the previous one by 30-40 cm, so that the end seams in the end result are in a zigzag position. When installing polypropylene, liquid nails for expanded polystyrene are applied to the sheet lock using a sealant gun, the amount and method of application of which is performed according to the instructions. Polypropylene is easy to cut with a knife, so if you need a smaller sheet, it can be cut without much difficulty.

Laying polypropylene plates on the floor

Floor installation of OSB wood-based panels

After all the extruded polypropylene boards have been laid, proceed to the installation of OSB wood boards, the thickness of which must be at least 10 mm. It should be noted that OSB boards are specially designed for the construction industry. With this in mind, they can be used as a finishing material on roofs, walls and floors..

OSB wood boards

OSB boards are chips oriented oriented to each other using special resins by pressing. Thanks to the three-layer perpendicular stacking of the chips and the homogeneous composition, the boards have high strength. When laying the slabs on the floor, the gap between them and the wall should be at least 5 mm, therefore, in this case, it is better to insert wedges from the wall, with the help of which the distance will be observed. After installing all the plates, the wedges must be taken out. OSB boards are stacked close to each other and should be located perpendicular to the rows of extruded polypropylene.

Stacking OSB sheets

OSB sheets, as a rule, are cut with a jigsaw, it is better to direct the cut seam to the wall, since the factory ends will still be smoother than those cut off independently.

Cutting OSB sheets with a jigsaw

After all the slabs are laid, they proceed to fasten them to the floor. To do this, using a drill and a wood drill with a diameter of 12 mm, holes 3-4 mm deep are drilled on the sheet, at a distance of 25-30 cm from each other in 4 rows along the length of the sheet. Next, a perforator and a drill with a diameter of 8 mm to a depth of 10 cm make holes for a driven dowel 8×80 or 8×100 mm. The dowels are driven in with a hammer and then tightened with a screwdriver.

Fastening OSB with dowels

So that when drilling with a perforator the sheets do not walk and there is no further displacement, 2-3 holes are drilled at different ends of the sheet and dowels are immediately hammered into them, only after that the remaining holes are drilled. Before you start sealing all the ends of the dowels with a sealant, it is necessary to carefully walk over the OSB boards with a plane on the tree, since they may have factory “influxes” and small differences in their joints, which must also be removed with a plane.

Now you need to thoroughly vacuum the floor and only after that all the ends of the dowels and gaps are sealed with liquid nails for wooden floors, using a sealant gun and a metal spatula. The floor is insulated, in a day you can lay linoleum or laminate on it.