Foam house is never left without decoration. This is due to the unpresentable appearance of the walls. Together with the facade cladding, thermal insulation is often performed, which should protect the building from heat loss in the winter and maintain normal temperature and humidity conditions in the premises. It would be more correct to warm the house from foam blocks, made outside.
Why is it better to insulate the outside
You can arrange insulation on both sides, but if possible, choose the right solution for insulation from the outside. This is justified by the following facts:
- With the location of the insulation from the inside, the free area of the room decreases, the insulation of the walls from the outside does not affect the internal dimensions.
- The external arrangement of thermal protection allows to increase the service life of the supporting structures. They are reliably protected from freezing and external adverse effects. Placing the material from the inside does not give such an effect, protection is provided only for the room, the surface of the walls remains cold.
- The following fact follows from the previous one. If thermal insulation is done from the inside, the outer wall remains cold. In this case, the dew point (condensation, moisture from the vapor) enters the supporting structure and can lead to its destruction. When the thermal insulation material is located outside, moisture does not form inside the wall.
Protecting the walls from the inside makes sense only in special circumstances:
- work is carried out at high altitude (this is practically not applicable for a house made of foam concrete, since the strength characteristics of the material do not allow the construction of high walls);
- the facade is finished (without insulation), the execution of work correctly (outside) will require serious financial and time costs.
If you decide to perform thermal insulation of the walls from the inside, you need to especially carefully monitor the quality and safety of materials and compliance with the technology (laying vapor barrier, waterproofing). It is better to give preference to more natural types of insulation, such as ecowool or insulated plaster.
You can perform thermal insulation of the walls from the inside with mineral wool. It is effective in terms of protection and will not block the passage of air through the building envelope.
Cold air insulation options
The protection of the walls of a foam block house is generally the same for all types of insulation. Before starting work, you need to make two decisions:
- choice of insulation;
- choice of finishing method.
When the house is located in climate-friendly regions, these two solutions can be combined by choosing “warm” plaster. The material simultaneously performs two functions. To increase the strength characteristics of the layer is laid on a reinforcing mesh made of fiberglass. The work is carried out in the following order:
- cleaning the surface is tough from dirt, dust and grease;
- primer coating;
- the first layer of plaster;
- fixing the reinforcing mesh;
- then you need to apply the required number of layers of plaster mortar;
- the finish can be paint on a silicone base.
Next, you need to consider more effective types of thermal insulation and more complex finishing options.
Choice of insulation
There are several options that are among the most common:
- mineral wool;
- Styrofoam;
- extruded polystyrene foam;
- ecowool;
- polyurethane foam.
It is best to choose the material that does not block the movement of air through the walls of a foam block house.
The most economical material satisfying this requirement is mineral wool. Mineral wool insulation is important to take into account the characteristics of the material.
The following activities are required:
- vapor barrier from the side of warm air (the cheapest option is a plastic film, but it will not allow the walls to “breathe”, it is better to stay on more technologically advanced vapor barrier membranes);
- waterproofing from the side of cold air (again, in this case, it is worth choosing a waterproofing or vapor diffusion membrane);
- an air-ventilated layer to remove moisture from the surface of the material is arranged between the insulation and casing and is adopted at least 50 mm thick.
Selection of cladding material
At this stage, you need to choose the appearance of the house. The following materials are suitable for facing a house from foam blocks:
- siding;
- lining;
- block house;
- brick.
Siding is the most economical and common option. If you have sufficient cash, consider the other options. The lining will allow finishing under the beam, and the block house under the log.
In general, the installation of insulation and cladding is carried out in the following order:
- surface cleaning;
- fixing vapor barrier;
- assembly of the frame from wooden bars (section depending on the thickness of the insulation) or metal profile;
- installation of insulation with fixing it on a plate-type dowels;
- fixing waterproofing (if the frame is made of wood, you can fix it with a construction stapler with obligatory gluing of joints with tape, this is also true for vapor barrier);
- installation of the casing, the mounting method is selected depending on the selected material.
Another option for exterior decoration of the house is the construction of a milestone from a brick. In this case, it is necessary to provide metal or plastic ties between the two parts of the wall. Thermal insulation is mounted before the erection of a brick wall and is protected by it from external influences.