Is your house feeling cold during the winter because of your foam block walls? These walls can be made much more comfortable and energy-efficient by adding insulation. Even though foam blocks are excellent at insulating, there are still ways to prevent heat loss. Here’s how to properly insulate your foam block house’s exterior walls so that it remains warm all year round.
With the appropriate tools and supplies, insulating foam block walls is a simple process that can be completed. You can prevent cold spots inside your home and lessen heat transfer by adding insulation to the exterior of your building. Over time, this procedure not only increases comfort but also reduces heating expenses.
Using an exterior insulation finish system (EIFS) is one of the best ways to insulate foam block walls. Insulating boards, a base coat, reinforcement mesh, and a finishing coat make up EIFS. This system increases the walls’ durability and resistance to heat while shielding them from moisture.
It’s important to evaluate the state of your foam block walls before beginning and take care of any problems that may already be there, such as gaps or cracks. Making the necessary preparations guarantees that the insulation is applied successfully and offers long-term advantages. Achieving optimal thermal performance also requires selecting the proper insulation material and thickness.
This is a succinct summary of your article’s main thesis: In this guide, we’ll look at practical ways to insulate the outer walls of homes constructed with foam blocks, covering topics like energy efficiency and heat loss. To help you create a cozy and energy-efficient living space, we’ll go over practical steps like selecting the best insulation materials and installing them correctly. Whether you’re planning a new build or just looking to upgrade your insulation, knowing these techniques will help you better protect your home from the cold and increase its overall thermal performance.
- When to insulate?
- In what cases can you do without it?
- What is the best way to insulate?
- What other tools will you need??
- How to make external thermal insulation of foam concrete buildings?
- Difficulties and errors
- Their consequences
- Video on the topic
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When to insulate?
Construction engineers disagree about whether foam concrete walls can be thermally insulated; many feel that this material doesn’t require thermal insulation. Considering this material’s high heat-protective qualities, one cannot help but agree with them.
The owner of such a house will still need to use thermal protection, though, if the wall thickness was chosen incorrectly, construction technology was ignored, or cracks in the wall structures developed as a result of shrinkage processes, creating cold bridges.
Next Selecting a location for the insulation installation is crucial to achieving ideal thermal conditions:
- outside;
- inside;
- on both sides of the load-bearing wall.
The best thermal protection plan, according to experts, is external.
Benefits of a foam block building’s external thermal protection strategy include:
- saving useful space in living rooms;
- long service life of foam blocks;
- protection against freezing of load-bearing structures;
- the dew point moves to the outer street part of the blocks, from where it is removed by air flows;
- Easy to install, no need to take things out of the room.
Internal thermal protection’s drawbacks
- insulation placed in the room prevents the wall from receiving heat from the in-house heating system;
- the dew point moves to the inner edge of the wall, condensation forms on it, contributing to the development of biopollution in the form of mold and subsequent destruction of the walls;
- the heat-insulating building material absorbs domestic moisture vapors and increases the weight, which loads the supporting structures of the house.
You can insulate temporary structures from the outside as well as the inside in cases where it’s necessary to insulate them with a block thickness of up to 20 cm to maintain a suitable temperature in the rooms. Next, the dew point is moved closer to the street by choosing the outer and inner pie.
Because foam concrete might not hold ventilated heavy thermal protection systems together with the exterior finish, foam concrete house designers do not advise installing them on such walls.
In what cases can you do without it?
The low actual heat loss of a foam concrete house is the most significant indicator that verifies the absence of the need for external thermal protection.
Even though foam blocks are made to function without thermal insulation, an energy efficiency assessment of the building is still required if the house stays cold. It is obvious that during the winter months, experts should perform laboratory testing.
In order to avoid adding more stress to the walls, thermal protection does not need to be installed in a home if the actual heat loss is less than 10%, as determined by special devices. Furthermore, a survey of this kind can precisely identify the points of entry for cold air (such as wall cracks, uninsulated roofing, or flooring).
What is the best way to insulate?
Because foam block walls are a low strength wall building material, if the situation arises where insulation is required, the homeowner will need to exercise extreme caution in selecting the material and insulation plan. Generally speaking, slab material is thought to be the best choice for foam concrete’s thermal protection.
Other well-liked insulating materials that can be installed on foam concrete are:
- Mineral wool has better vapor permeability and therefore the walls can “breathe”. This is a universal inexpensive insulation with environmentally friendly components. A very important advantage of mineral wool is its fire resistance and durability. Disadvantages include low moisture resistance; cotton wool is saturated with water like a sponge. Therefore, if installation errors are made, it will quickly take on water, begin to settle under weight and lose its insulating qualities.
- Expanded polystyrene, very popular insulation among developers: with excellent heat-shielding characteristics, does not shrink, has moisture-repellent characteristics, so it does not freeze, and additionally has noise-proof properties. Its main disadvantage is its high flammability with the release of toxic components.
- Penoplex, a more modern building material that replaced polystyrene foam. The developers were able to neutralize its main shortcomings, as a result of which the new insulation turned out to be fire-resistant, flame retardant, and with high heat-shielding properties. An insulator with zero water absorption, no condensation forms in it, regardless of the dew point zone. Can be used for more than 50 years with high compressive strength characteristics. It is considered an environmentally friendly building material that does not contain formaldehyde.
It will be necessary to choose auxiliary materials that complement the insulation once the installation plan, insulation type, and insulation thickness have been determined.
What other tools will you need??
List of equipment and supplies needed to work on foam block walls’ thermal insulation:
- high quality adhesive mixture;
- hydroresistant primer, deep impact, creating high adhesion between the material;
- metal profile;
- fiberglass for reinforcement;
- exterior paint;
- plaster mixtures;
- hammer;
- measuring instruments for level control;
- drill;
- disc-type dowels for insulation;
- trowel and notched trowel;
- mixer;
- utensils for preparing and carrying the solution.
How to make external thermal insulation of foam concrete buildings?
The insulation installation process has unique features. The master needs to become familiar with the manufacturer’s instructions for applying insulation, making adhesive, and preparing other mixtures that are needed for thermal protection before they begin working.
This is essential to prevent surface destruction because it ensures that the primary and auxiliary materials are consistent with one another without clashing.
Using Penoplex as an example, the primary steps in external thermal insulation of walls are:
- Carefully prepare the surface, clean it from dust and dirt and excess cement mortar deposits.
- Treat the walls with a primer to ensure adhesion of the adhesive solution to the outside of the walls.
- Attach the starting metal profile to the bottom of the wall to secure the layers of insulation and protect it from rodents.
- According to the manufacturer"s instructions, prepare glue for fixing heat-insulating boards, mix the solution in a clean container, mix with a drill attachment.
- Using a spatula, apply the adhesive solution around the perimeter of the slab and in the center.
- Laying occurs from below, the seams are shifted in each subsequent row so that the sheets are arranged in a checkerboard pattern.
- According to the time specified by the manufacturer, wait until the glue on the slabs has dried and proceed to additionally secure the Penoplex with disc dowels, 5 pieces per sheet.
- Glue a fiberglass mesh onto the fixed insulation, first glue the corners, and then the walls.
- The mesh is fixed with a layer of glue, and after drying, the walls of the house are plastered and painted.
Difficulties and errors
Developers make basic, irreversible mistakes when selecting a system, type, and thickness of thermal insulation.
They result in the house remaining damp and cold and the thermal protection system being insufficient. Thus, you should consult experts before making significant financial commitments to install energy-efficient thermal protection for your house.
You shouldn’t add more layers to the heat-resistant cake because foam blocks have poor load resistance properties. For instance, you shouldn’t apply a waterproofing film on top of foam blocks that have a deep-penetrating primer coating on them.
However, a waterproofing device is required when using a vapor-permeable insulator, such as mineral wool. Also, a ventilated layer that can totally remove condensation moisture from the foam blocks’ exterior surface will be required when installing a vapor-tight insulator externally, like polystyrene foam.
Inexperienced builders frequently start installing thermal insulation as soon as the house is constructed. There is no way that this can be accomplished. To. The blocks absorb moisture during construction; if this moisture is immediately covered with insulation, it won’t be able to evaporate, reducing the vapor permeability of the foam concrete.
The humidity within the blocks will migrate to the areas with the lowest partial pressure, which are the living rooms, when the outside air temperature falls to 0 C and there is no efficient heating. Once it reaches the final layer, it will condense on it, causing the insulation to rot and collapse and the foam blocks to freeze.
The foam blocks are covered with a film and given at least three months to dry naturally in order to eliminate any remaining moisture. Consequently, building a foam block house should ideally begin in the spring, allow the blocks to dry in the summer, and finish the insulation closer to fall.
When constructing a warm house system out of foam blocks, a common error is to install the material incorrectly—that is, with cement instead of specialized glue. In this instance, all of the cement joints—which have a 30% greater heat-conducting capacity than heat-protective glue—will turn into cold bridges, and combined, their area will be large enough to cause the house to freeze.
Their consequences
Let’s highlight the most frequent issues brought on by improper action:
- Some inexperienced craftsmen use ordinary self-tapping screws rather than special dowels to attach the thermal insulation system, which destroys the fragile block and can lead to significant damage to the walls.
- It is better to install the slabs using specialized glue for external use.
- In some cases, if the fixing starting metal strip is not installed, the insulation may move and may be damaged by rodents.
- The absence of a reinforcing mesh will not allow the finishing layer to be fixed; it may crack, and in addition to disturbing the aesthetics, water and rain moisture will penetrate important structures of the house, destroying them.
To insulate the outside walls of a house made of foam blocks: | 1. Clean the surface thoroughly. |
2. Apply a suitable primer. | 3. Install insulation boards with adhesive. |
4. Seal joints with tape or sealant. | 5. Apply a base coat and mesh for reinforcement. |
6. Finish with a top coat for weather protection. | 7. Regular maintenance to ensure longevity. |
Maintaining warmth and energy efficiency in a foam-block house requires insulation of the exterior walls. Even though foam blocks provide good insulation, there are still cold spots and heat loss that need to be addressed.
First, make sure the foam blocks are tightly sealed at all joints and crevices. This stops air leaks, which can drastically lower the effectiveness of insulation. To close up gaps around windows, doors, and the points where foam blocks meet other materials, use caulking or foam sealant.
Next, think about covering the exterior walls of the foam blocks with an additional layer of insulation, like rigid foam boards. These boards are easy to install using mechanical fasteners or adhesive, and they offer extra thermal resistance.
Choose materials that provide insulation benefits in addition to aesthetic appeal when choosing exterior finishes. For instance, stucco adds a layer of insulation to the house while also improving its appearance. Additional choices such as cladding systems or insulated siding can enhance thermal performance even more.
Maintaining long-term insulation effectiveness requires regular maintenance. Regularly check the outside for any wear or damage that might affect the insulation. To stop heat loss and keep energy efficiency throughout the seasons, quickly seal any gaps or cracks.