Backfill between walls. Polyurethane foam is an effective insulation material. Spraying and filling of polyurethane foam in Rostov-on-Don and the Southern Federal District. Method for preparing moistened fillings

Installation and dismantling of traditional wall insulation with mineral wool, foam plastic and other boards is a rather labor-intensive process. In some cases it is appropriate to use bulk insulation. It is much cheaper and more convenient with the same efficiency. There is a very diverse selection of such materials on the market.

Characteristic

Bulk heat insulator is used not only for internal surfaces– they can insulate the room and outside. Walls, floor, roof - you can insulate all elements that structurally allow the filling of material.

Loose fill insulation is cheap. Some of its types are simply production waste (sawdust) or ready-made natural materials(sand).

The only drawback is hygroscopicity. When wet, it loses its properties.

Need to Special attention pay attention to hydro- and vapor barrier of its layers. However, the fear of moisture is characteristic to the same extent for all types of thermal insulation.

Features of the material

There are several types of bulk material for insulation. Each of them has its own properties. List of bulk insulation materials:

• expanded clay;
• polystyrene foam in granules;
• foam concrete crumbs;
• ecowool;
• sawdust and sand;
• boiler slag;
• vermiculite

The usual form of this material is round or oval granules. Granules or other shaped material are porous and very light (some types can float on the surface of the water). Expanded clay is formed by firing light alloy clay. It is absolutely non-flammable, safe, and environmentally friendly in its composition.

The material can be in three forms:

• sand with grain size from 0.14 to 5 mm. It is used as a filler for lightweight concrete and for floor insulation;
• Expanded expanded clay crushed stone is granules with a fraction of 5–40 mm. The best option for thermal insulation of foundations and floors of residential premises;
• expanded clay gravel. Round granules 5–40 mm with a fused surface, absolutely resistant to fire. They have closed pores inside, which gives them excellent frost resistance. This type of gravel is recommended for insulation attic floors: light material, has low thermal conductivity.

The labeling of a material must include the size of its fraction:

• 5–10 mm – floors and roofs;
• 10–20 mm – baths and saunas, able to maintain temperature and humidity in the room for some time;
• more than 20 mm - for foundations and basements.

This is the most controversial bulk material. Contains very light, airy granules white. It is used as backfill for insulating roofs and walls; it is also used as an additive in mixtures for insulating concrete.

The disadvantages are toxicity and flammability, but its properties have not yet been fully studied. Instead, it is recommended to use granulated foam glass. Expanded polystyrene is cheap and convenient for insulation using the well-laying method.

This laminate based on mica. No chemical additives or impurities are used in the manufacturing process. Is excellent option for insulation of loggias and rooms. Used as an energy-saving cladding for housing inside and outside. For floors and walls, a layer of at least 10 cm is recommended, for the roof - at least 5 cm. Backfilling with this material 5 cm thick reduces heat loss by 75%, 10 cm - 92%.

Material Features:

• high breathability of insulation - the material is porous - which allows the walls to “breathe”, ideal for natural circulation, air renewal and ensuring a microclimate in the room;
• environmentally friendly, without toxic substances;
• non-flammable, fire-resistant, belongs to the G1 flammability group;
• fungi, mold, rodents, insects are not afraid of such isolation;
• special skills or experience, special tools are not needed to fill it. The layer of material is simply poured back and compacted. No additional fasteners are needed;
• service life - more than 50 years.

For walls, a vermiculite backfill thickness of 10 cm is sufficient, for attics, roofs, interfloor ceilings– 5 cm. When laying it is advisable to use vapor barrier film– this will additionally protect the insulation from moisture.

Sawdust and sand

These are traditional heat preservation materials that are used in attics and basements and have been used for centuries. Disadvantages: they are poorly insulated from moisture, pests can grow in them. Sawdust is flammable and susceptible to mold and mildew. It is still recommended to use more modern materials.

For insulation they are not used regular sand, and perlite. He has a light weight, less hygroscopic, its characteristics resemble mineral wool. Due to its low bulk density, it does not create a load on the walls and does not burst them.

Ecowool or cellulose

The components of this insulation are ecowool (7%), shredded paper (81%), antiseptics (12%) and fire retardants (7%). The material is non-flammable and does not rot thanks to special impregnations. It has been used in the world for more than 80 years; it has been known in the CIS for the last decade.

How is this material used as an antiseptic? boric acid, in the role of a fire retardant - borax. These substances are environmentally friendly.

The material is quite practical: the fibers fill small voids well, so it is recommended for complex structures.

For backfilling there are the following recommendations. Firstly, bulk material settles over time, so it needs to be compacted well. It is advisable to use boiler slag and expanded clay in regions where winter temperatures do not drop below -20°C. Insulation pitched roofs expanded clay and similar compounds are carried out from the outside, after laying the vapor barrier. Transverse stops are installed along the slope between the rafters - they evenly distribute the insulation.

After laying it on the floor or in the basement, it is well compacted to prevent shrinkage and deformation of the finish. The only problem is moisture ingress; bulk insulation materials are quite hygroscopic. In baths and saunas and, indeed, everywhere, the insulation layer must have high-quality hydro- and vapor barrier. It is necessary to ensure that there are no cracks in the finishing and that bulk material does not spill through them. It is also worth remembering that expanded clay is quite heavy. It is necessary to ensure that its mass does not push apart too weak partitions or walls.

Backfilling methods

The process of filling any insulation is the same: the material is poured into the cavity and compacted. It is recommended that the issue of insulation be addressed immediately when designing a house. If there are no internal cavities for filling in insulation, layers are made using PVC panels or plasterboard.

A good option is when the insulation is poured between facing and ordinary bricks, between internal and external masonry. There may be ribs inside so that it is well distributed. Thanks to loose thermal insulation, the walls do not need to be made thick, which saves costs. There are ready-made concrete products on sale - slabs, inside of which there are already cavities filled with expanded clay; they retain heat 50% better than ordinary ones.

Options

For floors, these methods of insulation with bulk components are used. The first option is fill-in (or loose) insulation on the joists. Joists are made on the floor on posts, skull blocks are nailed, then flooring is made of boards. A vapor barrier is placed on the flooring and expanded clay is poured. Next, if necessary, next layer thermal insulation, on it - screed, rough wood flooring.

The second option is a mound on top concrete slab. An option for low-quality housing - Khrushchev, for example - when it is possible to raise the floor level. The floor covering is removed, waterproofing is laid, expanded clay is poured onto it in a layer of 5 - 10 cm. Then you can put a mesh for reinforcement, and a rough screed is made on it - the basis for the finishing flooring. A vapor barrier is laid on top of the expanded clay cushion, and another layer of insulation is placed on top of it.

Finally, the third option is a dry expanded clay screed. A layer of expanded clay is poured, a layer of gravel is placed on it, then another layer of expanded clay. The surface is leveled, gypsum fiber boards are laid on it, and any finishing coating is placed on them.

The popularity of insulation in the form of mats or slabs is understandable - they are easy to transport, convenient to work with, while saving time. But often builders use another type of thermal insulation - backfill. It is different from foam or mineral wool slabs its structure. It is possible that for some applications, backfill insulation will be more preferable.

The insulation is a low-density porous material, the granules of which are produced by firing foamed raw materials at high temperatures. The ease of manufacture is reflected in the low cost of thermal insulation, and the structure also allows saving on labor costs.

The disadvantages of fill-in insulation are:

• their shrinkage by 10-15% of the initial volume;
• a loss thermal insulation properties when wet.

Loose fill insulation is usually used for horizontal surfaces. The work seems simple, but requires careful preparation. For example, when insulating floors in buildings without basements, the soil is first compacted and covered with screed. Next, it is laid on the last waterproofing material, and insulation is poured onto it. It looks like the situation is the same with roof insulation, but no screed is required. Instead, a layer of vapor barrier is laid on top of the backfill material.

When covering walls, a frame consisting of durable sheet elements is constructed in advance. After this, insulation is poured inside the resulting structure.

Types of backfill thermal insulation

Hundreds of years ago during construction wooden houses The very first fill-in insulation was used from timber or logs - sawdust. Like modern analogues, they were quite good in terms of thermal conductivity, but they shrink or lose their properties when wet. Today's materials are more advanced in many ways. The most popular of them are discussed in detail below.

Insulation based on clay. It is used as an independent heat insulator for residential or industrial buildings, or in combination with concrete (expanded clay concrete is obtained). Today it is obtained by burning clay shale.

Production technology varies depending on the required size of the final granules.

By studying the labeling of the fill-in insulation, you can understand what size granules of the material are and for what areas of the house it is suitable. For example, expanded clay sand is used as a heat insulator for floors or acts as a component of concrete cladding. Granules with a diameter of 5-10 mm are suitable for pitched and flat roofs, floor, attic; larger than 15 mm - for insulation basement or foundation.

Expanded clay inevitably settles as it is used, so during initial installation it must be compacted strongly to minimize shrinkage. It is recommended to insulate walls with this material only in regions where the temperature in winter does not drop below −20 degrees.

The insulation is made from silicate volcanic rocks using the same technology as expanded clay. When heated to 1000-1200 degrees, moisture evaporates from the surface of the stones, leaving air inside them. The result is white or gray granules with a diameter of 1 to 10 mm. The density of perlite ranges from 75 to 150 kg/m3, and because of its color it is also called “glass insulation.”

Minimum size granules (1-2 mm) form perlite sand, used in the following areas:

1. insulation of premises of residential buildings;
2. production of acoustic materials;
3. production of insulating plaster;
4. creation of fire-resistant concrete.

Granules filled with air weigh less than expanded clay, so they are suitable for thermal insulation of walls. In addition, the material will resemble mineral wool, since in addition to preserving heat, it will prevent the penetration of extraneous noise into the room.

Expanded material from hydrated mica, through heat treatment increased in volume by 15-20 times. It has increased fire-resistant properties, due to which it is used when installing chimneys. Ideal for floors and walls.

A thin layer of vermiculite 5 cm thick will retain up to 70% of the heat of the room. This is enough to insulate the roof. For walls, floors and foundations, it is recommended to make twice as much material.

The density of vermiculite is lower than that of expanded clay or perlite - the highest volumetric mass is 100 kg/m3. This fill-in insulation is supplied in bags of a certain volume, and is used in almost all rooms of a residential building.

The advantages of vermiculite include:

1. low thermal conductivity coefficient (0.04-0.06), comparable to foam plastic and mineral wool;
2. no possibility of voids and seams;
3. high melting point (1400 degrees);
4. absence of toxic materials;
5. biological resistance (prevents mold, mildew, is not of interest to rodents);
6. good sound insulation;
7. lightness of the material, allowing it to be used in frame houses, on supporting systems or foundations;
8. ease insulation works and saving time.

Relatively new material, which appeared on the market only 10 years ago. Made from recycled paper, fire retardants (substances that prevent fire), and antiseptics. Safe for humans, resistant to rotting, and does not spread fire. It is most often used for thermal insulation of walls, attics or roofs of complex construction.

Scope of application of fill-in insulation

Since the material in question is light and hardly weighs down the structure, it is usually used when covering a sloping roof. It is also used for insulating the following areas of houses:

• attic floors;
• attics;
• frame structures (walls);
• floor, foundation;
• horizontal partitions between floors;
• brick walls.

The optimal combination of price, quality, as well as the combination of lightness with reliable thermal insulation contributed to the growth in demand for the considered fill-in insulation. If the house needs good protection from the cold, and there is little time to work, expanded clay, perlite, vermiculite and ecowool will come out excellent helpers in the implementation of planned plans.

Expanded clay is produced by firing a mixture consisting of intumescent clay, sawdust, diesel oil, sulfate-alcohol stillage and peat. The pre-low-melting raw material is foamed and then rolled into special drums, giving its particles shape. The result of their subsequent heat treatment are light and durable granules that have fractions of 2-40 mm.

Based on this feature, expanded clay is divided into three types: sand, gravel and crushed stone. Sand has the finest fraction of 2-5 mm, gravel - 5-40 mm, and crushed stone is obtained by crushing gravel, its most used fraction is 10 mm. Slight deviations in size within 5% are possible. In structure finished granules contains a large volume of air, which serves as an excellent barrier to heat transfer from the walls.

In addition to differences in fraction, granular material is divided into 10 grades, the calculation of which begins with 250 and ends with 800. The grade indicates specific gravity 1 m 3 of bulk insulation and its density. For example, expanded clay M400 has a density of 400 kg/m3. As it decreases, its thermal insulation qualities increase.

The heaviest bulk insulation must be stronger in order not to collapse under own weight. In terms of strength, expanded clay has grades P15 - P400. The minimum strength of M400 granules should be P50, for expanded clay M450 - P75, etc.

A ten-centimeter layer of expanded clay in a wall is equivalent in insulating properties to 1000 mm thick brickwork or wooden cladding having a corresponding size of 250 mm. Therefore, at fairly low outside air temperatures, the material is an excellent frost-resistant insulation, and in the summer heat it keeps the house cool due to its low thermal conductivity.

Compared to other types of insulation, thermal insulation of walls with expanded clay is much cheaper and more effective. She's three times more effective than protection wood, and its cost is an order of magnitude lower than the price brickwork. The use of this material allows to reduce heat losses in the house up to 75%.

Advantages and disadvantages of insulating walls with expanded clay

In addition, thermal insulation of walls with expanded clay has many more advantages:

• Loose insulation using granules small sizes can easily fill a cavity of any size.
• Expanded clay is quite affordable.
• Thermal insulation and sound absorption of this material has best performance due to its porous structure, which allows the successful use of granular backfill for insulating walls, floors, roofs and foundations.
• Due to the low weight of expanded clay, wall insulation gives high-quality results with little effort.
• Thermal insulation of walls with this material can be done in any climatic zone, since it perfectly withstands temperature changes and air humidity.
• The insulation is durable and fire safe.
• Expanded clay does not rot, insects and rodents are indifferent to it, the material is resistant to chemical compounds.
• Installation of bulk thermal insulation does not require the use of construction equipment and can be done independently with simple tools.

Technology of wall insulation with expanded clay

To get the maximum benefit from using expanded clay as insulation, you need to know how to lay it. Most often, granular ceramic heat insulator is used in a three-layer rigid wall structure or in the form of an insulating backfill made in the cavity of a brick masonry. To work with any of these methods of insulating the walls of a house with expanded clay, you will need the following materials and tools: cement, brick or blocks, expanded clay, concrete mixer, containers and shovels, trowel, plumb line and tamper, jointing, tape measure and square, building level, cord.

Three-layer wall insulation system with expanded clay

The second layer of thermal insulation is made from a mixture of cement and expanded clay in a ratio of 1:10. The hardened mixture forms a rigid structure that transfers its load to the foundation of the house. The third layer serves as protection for heat-insulating material and is made of wood or decorative brick.

Methods for installing insulating expanded clay layer

1. Well masonry. In order to make lightweight well masonry, you need to lay out two longitudinal walls of brick at a distance of 15-35 cm from each other, and then, along their height through a row, tie the brick longitudinal rows using transverse jumpers with a pitch of 70-110 cm. Obtained in this way using this method, cavities need to be filled with expanded clay. Every 200-400 mm of wall height, the backfill should be compacted and filled with cement “milk” for impregnation.
2. Masonry with horizontal three-row diaphragms. Using the masonry method with horizontal diaphragms, it is also necessary to make two longitudinal walls, of which the inner one should be as thick as a brick, and the outer one - ? bricks The distance between them should be 15-25 cm. Expanded clay is filled after laying every fifth row, then you need to tamp the insulation and fill it with cement laitance. After this, three three-row ceilings (diaphragms) should be laid out with bricks. The corners of the walls in the process of bricklaying should be done without cavities. This will increase the surface strength. For the outer layer of masonry, you can use facing, sand-lime brick or concrete blocks, which should then be plastered.
3. Masonry with embedded parts. This method for insulation brick wall expanded clay involves filling granules between two longitudinal walls, and the entire structure is connected with embedded parts - brackets made of reinforcement, or fiberglass ties.

Some limitations exist when insulating frame walls with expanded clay. The main problem here is that over time, bulk materials cake and can settle, leaving the area of ​​the previously insulated surface unprotected. This circumstance reduces the quality of insulation of the entire structure. Therefore, when laying expanded clay in a frame wall, it must be carefully compacted, which exposes the cladding to significant loads.

As for wooden walls, insulating them with expanded clay causes certain difficulties. For comparison: the thickness of the outer coating using mineral wool is 10-15 cm, and to fill expanded clay you will need to prepare cavities 20-40 cm wide, since its thermal insulation properties are noticeably worse than those of mineral wool. To support the weight of expanded clay, the load-bearing wall must have sufficient strength. It is problematic to hang such a mass on a log house; moreover, a backfill thickness of more than 40 cm will not allow this to be done. Therefore, for insulation wooden wall Expanded clay will have to be used to make an additional foundation from the outside. If you take into account its cost and the amount of insulation, which will be needed 4 times more than mineral wool, you can understand that thermal insulation wooden house Expanded clay will be much more expensive. Therefore, it would be better to choose another insulation option that does not require strengthening the structures and widening the foundation.

How to insulate walls with expanded clay - watch the video:

Choosing insulation for the walls of a house is not easy: manufacturers offer a wide range of materials of different origins and costs. The most environmentally friendly and cheapest is expanded clay - granules of foamed clay with a porous structure. They retain heat well and do not require complicated installation. Insulating the walls of a house with this material is not as popular nowadays as using slab materials(foam plastic, mineral wool), however, this option cannot be ruled out; some developers of private houses still use this method of thermal insulation of structures with loose balls.

Types and quality of expanded clay: which one to choose

Granules from foamed low-melting clay are produced by firing finished raw materials. The solution is placed in an oven with high temperatures, where at +13000 clay foams, and as a result of the heating-cooling process, expanded clay balls are formed. They can be different sizes, depending on this they are sorted into fractions:

• “Sand” - grain size up to 10 mm;
• “Crushed stone” - 10…20 mm;
• “Gravel” - large, acute-angled granules up to 40 mm.

High-quality material is obtained only if the technology is followed correctly, from preparing the solution to firing it. At the slightest deviation, the granules either do not form a sufficient number of voids to provide thermal insulation, or their shapes, sizes, and structure deviate from the norm, which is also unacceptable.

For wall insulation, preference should be given to the expanded clay fraction 10...40 mm, i.e. crushed stone or gravel. They are easier to work with and shrink less than sand. The same type is chosen for organizing dry floor screed.

When purchasing a batch of bulk material for wall insulation, you should request a copy of the test report for samples of this batch or a product quality certificate in order to be confident in the product you are purchasing and not run into unexpected troubles due to low quality or defects.

Advantages of using expanded clay for thermal insulation of walls

Filling the wall with loose clay insulation has a number of advantages:

• Absolute environmental and biological safety in terms of application natural materials for production;
• High rates of heat and noise insulation. For comparison: a layer of 10 cm of expanded clay is equivalent in characteristics to a brick wall 1 meter thick;
• The low weight of the insulation does not require a powerful foundation;
• Fire resistance due to production firing of granules will prevent the spread of fire between floors;
• Fired clay is not susceptible to rotting, the spread of fungi and rodent attacks;
• IN favorable conditions insulation is durable;
• The material is resistant to temperature changes due to the retention of warm air in the pores;
• Minimum thickness expanded clay layer for effective thermal protection - 200 mm; more accurate calculations must be made with the help of specialists or online programs.

Disadvantages of wall insulation with expanded clay

An extensive list of pros will not be complete without cons:

1. Moisture - main enemy granules Despite the fired shell, expanded clay easily absorbs moisture, losing its properties until drying, which occurs very slowly depending on conditions.
2. Like all bulk materials, clay granules require compaction during installation. Otherwise, over time, the insulation will shrink, exposing the upper sections of the wall or covered section.
3. The granules are very fragile. If tamped carelessly, they can easily be damaged, which will lead to a slight decrease in the thermal insulation properties of the layer.

Technology for insulating a brick wall with expanded clay

Since expanded clay is a bulk material, to use it it is necessary to organize a frame into which it will be poured. Therefore, this method of insulation is usually used in three-layer wall structures.

It is necessary to understand: the introduction of expanded clay must be carried out gradually as the masonry grows, and not filled in from the attic when the wall has already been erected.

Method 1: lightweight well masonry

The essence of the method is to lay out 2 layers wall structure made of brick or brick with blocks in a row, the distance between them should be 15...30 cm. colder region, the wider the gap between the rows. After every 1-2 rows, the masonry is tied with brick lintels across the entire thickness of the wall in increments of 50-70 cm. As the structure grows, insulation is poured into the formed wells every 30-50 cm, carefully compacting it. To bind the granules, they are watered with a liquid cement solution (milk). This will prevent the expanded clay from settling in the closed wall.

Method 2: well masonry with rigidity diaphragms

This method is optimal for brickwork. Ribbons of the inner and outer walls are laid out with a thickness of 1 and ½ bricks, respectively. Outer row can be posted from facing bricks, ceramic blocks (it is necessary to ensure that when strengthening the masonry, the levels of opposite rows coincide), concrete blocks for plaster, sand-lime brick. The distance between the tapes remains the same 10...30 cm. The corners are made solid to create structural rigidity.

Expanded clay is poured after every fifth row of masonry, compacted and filled with cement laitance. After this, a brick rigidity diaphragm is laid out over the entire thickness of the wall. This avoids the use of dressing anchors and creates structural rigidity in height. The only drawback of the method that may arise is that if the expanded clay is insufficiently compacted, after it settles slightly, it will be impossible to get inside the wall to fill the empty space.

Method 3: masonry with embedded parts

This method is similar to the construction of lightweight masonry, only instead of brick lintels, metal or fiberglass anchors are laid in the structure in increments of 40-60 cm. This results in less brick consumption, there is no need to calculate the steps for masonry construction, and the strength remains the same high level. Expanded clay is also poured onto every 30-50 cm of the wall; in such a volume it is easier to compact it and soak it in milk of cement.

Insulation of walls made of different materials

Expanded clay can protect not only a brick wall, but also a block or monolith wall from heat loss. In all cases, one condition must be met - the structure must be three-layered so that clay balls can be poured between the inner and front rows.

• For aerated concrete blocks, you should choose a distance to the facing layer of at least 10 cm. The principle of laying the material is the same - the balls are filled in as the masonry grows, carefully compacted and watered with cement milk;
• Expanded clay can be used for insulation frame wall. True, in this case you should choose the thickness of the side surfaces of the sandwich correctly, since with careful compaction the load on them increases noticeably.

Not suitable for insulation bulk material wooden house. To ensure a sufficient layer of thermal insulation (from 20 to 40 cm), you will have to make special canopies for backfilling, which is very problematic, because it is easier to use other insulation materials.

To choose or not to choose

The low popularity of expanded clay is due to people’s lack of awareness about this material; some choose other thermal insulators due to their easier use. In any case, insulating the walls of a house with expanded clay gives results no worse than modern insulation materials. The main thing to consider when choosing is quality material and good compaction.

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 middle lane In Russia, the most common brickwork is 1.5 and 2 bricks thick (380 and 510 mm). This wall thickness was obtained according to thermal engineering calculations, based on current regulatory data and thermal resistance 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 bearing capacity The design of the walls is determined by the generally accepted thickness of brick walls of one and a half and two bricks. In order for a low-rise building to be strong and support the roof and snow, it is enough to make the walls just 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. Exterior wall in this case, the thickness of the building is half a brick, the inner one is 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 construction 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 the data slab insulation is the presence 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 should be installed during construction, pouring polyurethane foam (PPU) into the well masonry with an air gap can be done at any stage of construction, including into already closed cavities, as well as when the house is already ready and in use. 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 inter-wall voids by pouring polyurethane foam (PPU) is done without expensive dismantling and dismantling of enclosing structures and is the most optimal and effective way insulation of the house.

In order to carry out high-quality insulation buildings by pouring polyurethane foam (PUF) into the wall cavities, using special PU foam components that 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 space between walls (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. PU 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 equipment high pressure. 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 in volume many times over and fills all the free space in the wall. Moreover, the rise and growth of the foam occurs in the direction of 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.