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The closed veranda is an extension of the house. If it is well insulated, it will become a full-fledged living space that can be used in winter. Thermal insulation must be installed on the walls, roof and floors. This is the only way to achieve a positive effect. Today we will look at how to insulate a veranda in a wooden house, and also find out which thermal insulation material is suitable for this matter.
Which side to lay the insulation on?
Before you begin the renovation, you need to decide on the type of construction. It should be noted right away that open terraces are not insulated. This option is only available for closed verandas. The process begins with choosing thermal insulation, as well as determining where it will be installed. There are no issues with the floor and roof, but insulation of the walls of the veranda can be done from the inside and outside. The following negative and positive aspects of each method will help you make a final decision.
The positive side of the internal insulation of the veranda is the ability to carry out work in any weather, even in winter. From the inside there is free access to all structural elements of the room.That is, you can immediately insulate the floor, walls and ceiling. The disadvantage is the dismantling of the cladding. Although with external insulation, only the walls remain untouched inside the veranda. The floor and ceiling will still have to be removed.
The advantages of external insulation of the veranda immediately include the shift of the freezing point and dew point into the thermal insulation. The wall becomes protected from the influence of aggressive factors, and can independently accumulate heat from heaters. When working outdoors, all debris and dirt remain outside the room. Any thermal insulation, depending on its thickness, takes up a certain percentage of free space. With the external method of insulation, the internal space of the veranda will not decrease.
Choosing thermal insulation for the veranda
The most common materials for insulating verandas are polystyrene foam and mineral wool. However, there are also other types of thermal insulation that have proven themselves well for such work. Let's look at the materials that are best suited for insulating all structural elements of a room:
- Penofol refers to flexible materials with foil coating.The insulation is used independently or together with other types of thermal insulation. The disadvantage of the material is that it is very thin.
- Styrofoam – very light insulation. It is produced in slabs of different thicknesses. Almost zero hygroscopicity allows the material to be installed without installing hydro- and vapor barriers. But in the case of wooden structural elements, experts recommend adhering to the rules for laying the heat-insulating cake, since if the technology is violated, moisture will form between the slabs and the wood. The disadvantage of polystyrene foam is the fire hazard, as well as the material being eaten by rodents.
- Expanded polystyrene - this is almost the same foam, only it has improved performance. Sound insulation from this material is poor. Expanded polystyrene is more expensive than polystyrene foam.
- Mineral wool not afraid of deformation, chemical influences and fire. Has high sound insulation rates. To install it, you need a frame, as well as a protective barrier made of vapor and waterproofing. Over time, mineral wool cakes. As the thickness decreases, the thermal insulation properties decrease.
- Basalt wool Available in slabs and is a type of mineral wool. The material has similar properties. Among the many insulation materials for wooden walls, experts recommend using basalt wool rather than polystyrene foam.
- Polyurethane foam Available in the form of hard and soft slabs, as well as liquid used in the sprayed insulation method. The chemical-resistant material is resistant to ultraviolet rays. The spraying method is considered the best, but it is very expensive. When using slabs, as in the case of foam plastic, moisture accumulates on the wall surface.
- Tow is a natural material. It is usually used during the construction of a log house. In the finished building it is used as insulation to caulk the walls made of timber.
You can insulate the veranda from the inside with your own hands using any of the materials considered. It all depends on how much the owner expects.
Thermal insulation of the veranda floor
Internal work involves insulating the floor on the veranda, and this must be done first. Typically, in wooden, and in many stone houses, the flooring is boards or sheets of chipboard laid on logs. Before starting work they will have to be dismantled.
Further work occurs in the following order:
- After removing the floor covering, the logs are exposed to public view. Between them, jumpers are placed from 50 mm thick boards, secured with metal overhead corners and self-tapping screws. The floor with logs turned out to be divided into cells. So they need to be tightly filled with insulation.
- Polystyrene foam or mineral wool are suitable for thermal insulation of the veranda floor. Any material can be cut well, which allows you to accurately adjust it to the size of the cells. It is important that there are no gaps at the joints of pieces of any insulation.
- When using mineral wool, waterproofing must be laid underneath so that the loose material does not draw moisture from the soil. The thermal insulation is covered with a vapor barrier on top. It acts in one direction, so it will not let dampness out of the room, and will allow moisture vapor to escape from the mineral wool.
- Soft mineral wool can be used to fill all soft voids. But if you insulate the veranda with foam plastic, then small gaps may remain between the slabs. They need to be blown out with foam.
- Regardless of the insulation chosen, its thickness should be less than the height of the logs. After laying the flooring, a gap is formed - a ventilation space. Free access of air will prevent the accumulation of dampness under the floor of the veranda, which will extend the life of the wooden elements.
Once the vapor barrier has been laid, you can nail the floor covering to the joists. In our case, these are boards or chipboards.
Installation of thermal insulation from the inside on the walls and ceiling of the veranda
After the floors are insulated, the verandas move to the walls. The same mineral wool or polystyrene foam is used as insulation.
It should be noted right away that only walls in contact with the street from the outside are subject to insulation. There is no need to insulate the internal partitions of the house. The photo shows a diagram of a wall with insulation. On it you can see the order of all layers.
Adhering to this scheme, we begin to insulate the walls internally. First, the entire surface is covered with waterproofing. The material at the joints is securely glued with tape to avoid the formation of gaps. The sheathing is knocked down to fit the size of the insulation from the bars. Thermal insulation is tightly laid inside each cell, the whole thing is covered with a vapor barrier film, after which the entire pie is sheathed with clapboard or plywood.
The use of polyurethane foam for insulating veranda walls
For wooden walls, polyurethane foam applied by spraying is the best insulation. Using special equipment, high-pressure foam is applied to the wall surface. Its particles fill all the small cracks in the wood.This eliminates any possibility of moisture formation between the thermal insulation and the wall.
A wooden frame will have to be built, since the sheathing material will be attached to it. With the spraying method, the owner of the veranda will not have to do anything else. The rest will be handled by hired specialists. The only drawback of liquid thermal insulation is its high cost. The work requires special equipment, which is unprofitable to buy for just insulating a veranda, so you have to resort to hiring specialists.
Laying thermal insulation on the veranda ceiling
Warm air is constantly at the top. This is a law of physics. Without an insulated ceiling, the labor expended on thermal insulation of walls and floors will be useless. The insulation will prevent warm air from leaking through the cracks in the veranda ceiling cladding.
Insulation of the ceiling occurs exactly according to the same principle as it was done on the walls. If the sheathing is already lined on top, it will have to be removed. Next comes the process of attaching waterproofing, making a frame, laying insulation and stretching a vapor barrier film. Finally, we return the casing to its place, but before attaching it, you need to make sure that there is a ventilation gap.
How can you heat the veranda?
If a lot of money has been spent on insulating the veranda, the room needs to be heated in winter, otherwise, why are all these efforts necessary? Extracting heating from your home costs a lot of money.In addition, the veranda does not always need to be heated. Why do you need extra expenses? The easiest way is to attach an infrared heater under the ceiling, powered by electricity. The device can be turned on as needed. Thermal insulation will maintain positive temperatures inside the veranda in winter. You don't have to turn on the heating at night, but only during the day.
The video talks about insulating the veranda:
To summarize, we need to briefly touch on windows. After all, it is through double-glazed windows that large heat losses occur. If you decide to make a thoroughly insulated veranda, do not spare money on plastic windows with three glasses. Only comprehensive measures will keep the room warm in any frost.
