How to insulate a wall in an apartment from the inside - competent work with different materials. How to insulate the walls from the inside of an apartment or house and how to do it correctly How can you insulate a wall in an apartment

Every year, utility bills are growing, especially for heating and electricity, and the rooms are still cold, even when the batteries are hot. The best and most effective solution to the problems of keeping warm is the insulation of the walls of the apartments outside or inside the premises.

It can be difficult to implement external insulation in practice if:

• the facade of the building has an expensive finish;
• the apartment is adjacent to unheated technical premises;
• the building in which you live is an architectural monument, and it is not possible to obtain a work permit;
• the building is multi-storey, the insulation of the wall of one apartment spoils the design of the facade of the entire building;
• insulation must be carried out with the entire riser, but this is not always realistic due to the financial capabilities of individual residents;
• attraction of construction companies requires significant cash injections.

For the preservation of heat, it is necessary to take care of the tightness of the doorway, etc. A simple way to create a comfortable microclimate in an apartment: in the summer heat, the desired coolness, and in the winter cold, warmth is to insulate the walls of the apartment rooms from the inside. We will find out how to choose the right insulation in a wide range of products offered.

The work of insulating apartments from the inside is difficult and time-consuming. Experts do not have a common opinion and recommendations on wall insulation, although there are many developments and proposals, but in one thing they are the same - for a good result it is necessary to purchase high-quality material and properly prepare the wall surface.

When choosing a heater, the following properties must be taken into account:

• low thermal conductivity;
• minimal hygroscopicity (moisture absorption);
• good sound insulation;
• mechanical strength and durability;
• does not support combustion and prevents the spread of fire;
• light weight and ease of installation.

Having come to the market or building materials store, it is difficult to choose the necessary insulation in a huge variety of products. Let's take a look at some of the most commonly used thermal insulation materials. Manufacturers: and others.

Inorganic insulation

The material for the production of this type of heat insulators are minerals: sand, glass, asbestos, various rocks.

• Wall surface preparation. The walls need to be leveled. If the new building and the wall is brick, it is necessary, if it is concrete, it is enough to level it with a putty. If we decide to insulate the walls of the apartment in which we live, we need to clean them of wallpaper, paint, remove nails and dowels from the surface, and cover the chips and grooves with alabaster, if there are protruding irregularities. In the presence of fungus or mold, we clean it with an emery cloth, and wash and dry the walls, putty the surface, if there are significant irregularities, we will plaster.
• Site preparation. When preparing the wall, we remove the plinth and floor covering, baguette so that nothing interferes with the installation of foam plates. Primer a dry wall with a brush or spray, you can use an anti-fungal primer. Experts recommend laying a waterproofing material between the PPS plates and the wall, then moisture will not get on the insulation.
• Styrofoam laying. After completely leveling and drying the wall surface, we begin to lay the foam, starting from the corner, from the floor. We press the insulation tightly to the surface and drill a hole exactly in the center with a 5 cm deepening into the wall, drive in fasteners - an umbrella, and then a dowel so that the cap does not protrude on the surface of the sheet. We carefully fix the foam plate in 5-6 places. And so we carefully press each sheet to the wall and to each other, we provide a tight and monolithic fastening. If gaps have formed, they can be removed with polyurethane foam.
  Nowadays, more and more often, glue is used to fix the foam, which is applied to the wall with a comb.
• We seal the seams between the foam sheets. We apply glue to all seams, and on top we apply a reinforced tape, so that it becomes a single whole with the foam surface and does not appear in the form of irregularities and folds. To obtain the desired effect, we tighten it and press it with a spatula against the foam and press it into the adhesive mixture. We also coat the caps of the fastening elements with glue. It is impossible for gaps to remain, they become "cold bridges" and nullify all the work.
• We lay the vapor barrier material. After the surface becomes dry at the seams, it is necessary to cover the insulation with a special material. To do this, we apply a mesh (film) over the foam, which protects it from moisture coming from inside the room. On top of the seams covered with a reinforced mesh, we apply glue along its width and apply a vapor barrier material, sink it into the glue with a spatula, and so on, each row with a slight overlap. After the wall is covered with a mesh, we smooth out irregularities with sandpaper or a special grinding tool.
• Bottom line. Before us is a flat wall, which can be decorated at your discretion.

Thermal insulation of apartment walls with underfloor heating mats

This method of insulation is used extremely rarely and can easily be called experimental. If the walls are very cold, this is a great option to preserve and increase the heat in the room, although the consumption of electricity increases.
The work is carried out in several stages:

• we attach the mat ready for use on the wall

  Modern construction is developing at lightning speed. It is difficult to follow new creative innovations in the technology of indoor insulation from the inside. What was progressive yesterday seems to be labor-intensive, complex and of less quality today. This applies to the insulation of apartments using the warm plaster method; relatively recently, this method was very popular. It is worth mentioning this option, maybe someone, due to certain circumstances, will be interested in it. The whole point is with a layer of 100 mm, so that it holds, we do the work in three stages:

  1. Liquid plaster is "sprayed" on the wall with a layer of 10 mm, filling all cracks, recesses, cracks in the surface.
  2. After the first layer has dried, apply the base layer 60 mm and dry thoroughly as well.
  3. Finishing layer - 5 mm trowel.

  The process is laborious, it takes a lot of time and effort to dry each layer, professional skills are required in order to complete the work.

  We provide effective ventilation of the room insulated from the inside

  Proper ventilation is essential for the health of both the home and the occupants. Thermal insulation of an apartment often leads to a violation of certain ventilation conditions in the apartment. That is, it is important to ensure the temperature, humidity, speed of air flow. If the balance is disturbed, then on the walls, and due to a lack of oxygen, residents will suffer from headaches and weakness.

  Natural ventilation has a number of disadvantages: heat loss in winter, in summer it is impossible to carry out normal air conditioning, noise, dust. To create an optimal microclimate, forced ventilation using duct fans is required. Their start can be blocked by turning on the lighting. All ventilation grilles must be opened for better air exchange.

  Daily airing of the rooms will not hurt either.

  Warming of apartments is carried out in a complex with insulation of the floor (especially the first floor), ceiling or roof (important if the room is located on the last floor), doors, windows.

Most of the constructed panel and brick houses did not provide for facade insulation. Concrete and bricks have high density and low thermal insulation properties. The consequence is cold walls and uncomfortable temperatures. There are several ways to insulate the inside, the main thing is to avoid the appearance of dampness.

Dew point - physics of the phenomenon

A cold wall is not the only drawback of panel or brick houses. Often dampness and accompanying fungus and mold appear on it. The best way to fight is to insulate the wall from the outside (this is also a requirement of SNiP), but this is not always possible. Therefore, you have to deal with the cold wall, insulating it from the inside. But there are pitfalls here.

Even if the cold wall was previously dry, dampness may appear when it is insulated from the inside. And the so-called dew point will be to blame.

The dew point is a conditional boundary at which the temperature of water vapor becomes equal to the temperature of condensation. It manifests itself, naturally, in the cold season. With the correct design of the house (taking into account the characteristics of the region), it is approximately in the middle of the thickness of the facade made of a material of uniform density.

If insulation is carried out from the outside, then the dew point shifts towards a decrease in density (that is, to the outer surface of the wall). When insulated from the inside, it moves inward, and condensation may appear on the surface of the main wall or inside the insulation.

And in order to assess the scale of possible damage, suffice it to say that as a result of the vital activity of one person, about 4 liters of water evaporate per day (cooking, wet cleaning, personal hygiene, laundry, etc.).

Features of cold wall insulation from the inside

There are several ways that can prevent condensation from forming on a wall insulated from the inside:

1. Creation of a layer of heat-insulating material with a vapor permeability less than that of the facade material.
2. Insulation using materials with minimal water absorption.
3. Application of ventilated facade technology (taking into account internal placement).

Liquid insulation

Polyurethane foam

PPU insulation meets all the requirements for vapor barrier, water absorption and absence of seams. Therefore, even if the dew point is inside the layer, it will remain “conditional”, since there is no condensation in vapor-impermeable materials. It turns out from the side of the room a completely sealed heat-insulating layer.

Environmental friendliness of PU foam after hardening meets the requirements for residential premises. Harmful fumes are present only when the components are mixed during the spraying process - after polymerization, the structure of the material remains stable.

Thermal insulation is applied between the crate and sewn up with moisture-resistant sheet materials (gypsum board, OSB or plywood). Basically, it's like a large prefabricated sandwich panel.

The disadvantage of this method is the use of special equipment.

Liquid ceramics

This is a relatively young heat-insulating material, the action of which is based on the use of two principles - the creation of a thin layer with a high resistance to heat transfer and the reflection of heat towards the radiation source.

Of course, a thin heat-insulating layer cannot provide good thermal insulation - this is an auxiliary, but indispensable factor. Although it gives a rather high effect - the wall becomes much "warmer" to the touch.

The main task of reducing heat loss is performed by microscopic ceramic spheres that reflect infrared radiation.

According to the manufacturers, the effect of a 1.5 mm layer can be compared to thermal insulation with 5 cm thick foam or 6.5 cm mineral wool.

Application method is the same as for acrylic paint (same base). After polymerization, a dense and durable film forms on the surface, and latex additives improve the waterproofing properties.

Roll insulation

Penofol

Penofol is a combination of polyethylene foam with aluminum foil. This is a whole series of materials (including one-sided, two-sided, laminated, with an adhesive layer). Moreover, it can be used both in combination with other thermal insulation materials, and independently. By the way, penofol is popular when insulating a bath from the inside, and even there is much more steam than in a regular living room.

For insulation of a cold wall, penofol is used with one layer of foil (one-sided) and up to 5 mm thick.

In the case, as with liquid ceramics, the effect is achieved due to the low thermal conductivity of foamed polyethylene, as well as its low vapor permeability and high reflective properties of the foil (up to 97%).

But unlike seamless coatings, complete sealing and preventing the appearance of cold bridges is impossible to achieve. Consequently, condensation can form on the surface of the foil. Even the obligatory sealing of the joints with adhesive aluminum foil will still leave gaps between adjacent sheets inside.

The method of combating the formation of condensation on the foil is traditional - a crate with a ventilated gap between the foam foil and the outer cladding.

Polyphom

Another version of foamed polyethylene, but already made in the form of a kind of wallpaper - a layer of paper is located on both sides. Polyfom and is intended for pasting wallpaper on it.

Of course, its thermal insulation properties are not as high as that of penofol, but they are quite enough to make a cold wall feel warmer to the touch.

In most cases, the insignificant thickness of the insulation does not lead to the movement of the dew point to the inner surface.

The disadvantage of this method is that only dry walls are insulated.

Warming with expanded polystyrene

Expanded polystyrene (or extruded polystyrene foam) is glued to the prepared and leveled wall. Both materials have very low water absorption (especially extruded polystyrene foam), so the formation of condensation in the insulation layer is excluded. The main danger is its appearance on the surface of the insulated wall.

Therefore, it is best to glue the sheets onto special hydrophobic adhesive mixtures applied over the entire surface of the sheets. And to prevent the penetration of water vapor from the side of the room, treat the seams with a sealant (you can also use foam with a step or a thorn-groove connection).

Finishing can be done in two ways:

• mesh reinforcement and plastering;
• paneling on a load-bearing frame fixed to the floor, ceiling and adjoining walls (plasterboard false wall).

Mineral wool insulation

Mineral wool does not meet the requirements for vapor permeability and water absorption for insulation from the inside. But it can be used.

The main thing is to provide maximum protection from humid air from the side of the room and the weathering of water vapor from the insulation layer. That is, to make a ventilated facade, but in the reverse order: wall, gap, vapor-permeable membrane, mineral wool, vapor barrier film, decorative cladding inside the room.

It is necessary to create a false wall at a distance of 2-3 cm from the main wall. And to weather the water vapor from the bottom and top, make ventilation holes.

Very often it is required to insulate apartments in buildings with panel walls, due to their insufficient thickness. At the same time, the room is quickly cooled, and the heating system does not always fully cope with its tasks, which leads to a drop in the temperature in the rooms. How to insulate a wall in an apartment from the inside, what materials and how to use, it is suggested to get acquainted from the article.

Insulating the walls outside is a more efficient way of keeping warm. But, this option is quite expensive due to the great complexity of its implementation, requiring the use of special equipment if the apartment is located above the first two floors.

In addition, the thermal insulation of the walls from the inside in the apartment is justified in the case when:

• There is a prohibition by the authorities, which does not allow changing the facade of the building: its cultural value, the front side, which faces the central streets.
• Behind the wall, there is an expansion joint between the two buildings.
• Placement behind the wall of an elevator shaft or other unheated room in which it is impossible to mount insulation.

In this case, the best option is to insulate the walls from the inside in the apartment, despite the decrease in the useful area of ​​the room: a warm apartment of a slightly smaller area is always better than a large one, with cold rooms. In addition, all work inside the rooms can be done by hand, without the involvement of specialists. The main thing is to prepare the necessary materials and tools.

When installing autonomous heating equipment in an apartment, insulated walls help to save energy.

The pros and cons of internal wall insulation are presented in the table:

Correct insulation from the inside

Thermal insulation of the walls of the apartment from the inside, preventing the formation of condensation due to temperature changes in winter, the appearance of mold spots on the walls, must be carried out with careful observance of all technological recommendations.

Of great importance in the design of the structure of the thermal insulation "pie" is the device of high-quality vapor barrier, which protects the insulation from moisture penetration into it.

Before insulating a wall in an apartment from the inside, you should get acquainted with some recommendations for carrying out the process:

• Purchase a high quality vapor barrier film, waterproof tape for sealing butt seams between sheets.
• Prepare a material with low vapor permeability, lower than the walls. This will ensure that moisture evaporates towards the street, and not into the apartment.
• The insulation should be glued very tightly to the plane of the wall.
• Inside the premises, it is necessary to equip natural or forced additional ventilation, which will avoid the appearance of excess moisture. For example, for this, valves are installed on the window frames through which air will enter the room, as in the photo.

• Before insulating the walls of the apartment from the inside, you should accurately calculate the required thickness of the insulation. This value depends on the average daily temperature in the region in winter.

Advice: If the thickness of the thermal insulation material is less than the design parameters, the steam-thermal balance will be disturbed.

• Installation of the wall insulation system is carried out after treatment with special primer solutions. This will prevent the appearance of mold, increase the adhesion when installing thermal insulation.
• Insulation can only be mounted on a well-dried wall.
• When installing insulation, "cold bridges" should not be allowed, especially in the areas of butt seams, which can ruin the whole process.

Insulation materials

How to insulate the wall in the apartment from the inside - everyone chooses for himself.

The table shows some types and features of materials:

These are the main materials than to insulate the walls in the apartment from the inside.

Advice: When insulating walls in an apartment, two basic rules must be observed: creating a strong vapor barrier that prevents condensation between the wall and the insulation; device for reliable ventilation to remove humid air from the room.

Before insulating the walls from the inside in the apartment, in order to avoid unnecessary expenses, it is recommended to get acquainted with the information on this issue, and it is better to watch the video in this article. All thermal insulation materials are divided into groups that correspond to the material used for the construction of the walls of the house.

For example:

• Insulation is used for a brick wall, which cannot be taken for a concrete wall. It is best in this case to purchase expanded polystyrene foam.
• It is better to insulate concrete walls with expanded polystyrene (see How to insulate walls with expanded polystyrene), but extruded.
• For concrete walls, any insulation is suitable, but provided that a vapor barrier material, such as foil, is placed on one of its surfaces.

Penophenol insulation

To achieve maximum effect, it is necessary to provide an air gap of up to two centimeters on both sides. In this case, rolled foam foam is attached to a wooden crate attached to the base.

For this:

• Wooden planks with a thickness of two centimeters are attached to the wall surface vertically or horizontally in increments of the width of the roll.
• Planks are attached to wooden walls with self-tapping screws, dowels are used for concrete and brick walls.
• Strips are cut from the roll of material to the required length and are aimed with staples using a construction stapler to the strips.
• Installation of penofol canvases is carried out end-to-end, with the foil side inside the room.
• All joints are carefully glued with aluminum tape.
• They are installed and fastened with self-tapping screws to the lathing of the strips, which provide the outer air gap.
• Outside, the walls are faced with plasterboard sheets, clapboard or other materials.

Use of mineral wool

This is a more complex process that requires the use of additional elements - wooden battens.

The installation procedure is as follows:

• Vertical slats are installed on walls using a building level to provide one plane for all elements.
• A waterproofing material is placed between the slats and fixed directly to the slats.
• The insulation itself is laid.

Advice: To avoid the formation of "cold bridges", the heat-insulating material must be laid very tightly in the space between the slats, cutting it to size slightly larger than the distance between the slats. There should be no gaps between the canvases.

• The vapor barrier material is laid and attached to the slats.
• In the absence of a plaster layer, it is better to lay the mineral wool in two layers.

Warming with expanded polystyrene

This is a fairly simple and cheapest option for insulating an apartment. If the masonry is made of bricks, it must first of all be plastered.

Then:

• After the coating has dried, the wall is leveled with a putty.
• A waterproofing material is laid, which gives a 100% guarantee that the wall will be protected from the formation of condensation at the junction between it and the insulation.
• Insulation sheets are laid on special glue. In this case, the composition is applied to the surface of the wall, and not to the foam.
• Foam panels are located end-to-end, without gaps (see How do-it-yourself foam wall insulation is done).
• Vapor barrier material is laid.

Insulation with polyurethane foam

For spraying polyurethane foam, special equipment is used.

Wherein:

• A wooden lathing is mounted on the wall, which will serve as guides when spraying the material and the basis for fixing the decorative finish.
• Polyurethane foam is being installed.
• Finishing panels are attached.

Using plaster

Before insulating the walls of an apartment with plaster from the inside, you need to get acquainted with a number of features and nuances of the work. You need to apply warm plaster to the walls in three layers:

• A spray is made from a liquid plaster solution to ensure its penetration into all cracks. The composition is thrown onto the wall evenly and with effort, with a layer thickness of up to 10 millimeters.
• A layer of primer is applied. For thermal insulation with plaster, it is the main one. Coating thickness 50-60 millimeters.

Advice: The primer should be applied in two to three layers, the thickness of each should be 20-30 millimeters. This will prevent the coating from separating from the wall by its own weight. Each layer should dry well after application.

• Covering in progress. This is the finishing layer, the thickness of which is up to 5 millimeters. For its manufacture, clean fine sand diluted with water is used. The composition is simply rubbed into the wall surface, forming a flat surface.

How to insulate a wall in an apartment from the inside with a cork, the video will tell you. The process begins with the preparation of the walls to a perfectly flat surface, which is controlled by the building level.

For this:

• Insufficiently flat surfaces of the wall are plastered, any protrusions, cracks, depressions and other flaws are removed.
• The room is left to dry.

Advice: It is impossible to insulate the walls inside the room with cork material on damp surfaces. This will provoke deformation of the panels and the appearance of fungus.

• When installing the insulation, the instructions for using the adhesive must be strictly observed.

• The durability of the coating during operation will ensure the exact observance of the work technology.
• The glue-coated cork sheet is applied to the wall and reinforced. At the same time, it is necessary to do everything carefully and accurately: many adhesive bases for cork set almost instantly, which will not allow changing the position of the panel after laying it on the wall.
• When installing the plug, it is necessary to ensure thorough ventilation of the room, the adhesive bases are toxic and have a strong unpleasant odor.

The article briefly describes how to insulate the walls in an apartment from the inside. But you should always adhere to simple rules: apply the necessary heaters in the right places, find the real reason for the cold penetration into the apartment and eliminate it.

If you have to pay big sums for heating or the apartment is cold and damp, then there is an obvious problem that the heat is not retained inside. The most logical thing would be to insulate the wall in the apartment from the inside, and the common man associates this with complex installation work. However, it is not always necessary to use any special tools.

Pros and cons of insulating an apartment from the inside

Professional builders do not get tired of arguing about how to insulate the walls in an apartment. Some of them argue that insulating the inside is a waste of money, while others claim that insulating material works well. However, both of them agree that wall insulation from the outside is much more effective than from the inside.

But how to insulate a wall in an apartment for those who live in high-rise buildings, where thin walls freeze through and through in winter? After all, it is often simply impossible to insulate such a house from the outside. In addition, it is impossible to insulate houses in the historical center, if the apartment is located close to the elevator shaft, and many more reasons serve as contraindications to this type of insulation. Therefore, there is only one option, the pros and cons of which have long been known.

The disadvantages of insulation inside most often include:

• on average, the area of ​​an apartment is reduced by 0.5–2 square meters;
• for the duration of the work, it is necessary to completely empty the room;
• it is necessary to provide for many additional measures: ventilation, protection of the heat insulator, etc.;
• the formation of mold or mildew.

The advantages of this type of insulation are:

• low cost;
• the ability to carry out work at any time of the year;
• availability (you can carry out the installation yourself).

The good news is that if the insulation is carried out in compliance with all the rules, then most of the stated disadvantages can be avoided.

How to avoid deterioration of the interior decoration?

Before you start to deal with the consequences of improper insulation, you should understand the causes of the problems.

At a certain temperature, water vapor condenses from the air. This temperature is called the "construction dew point", upon reaching which Condensation occurs on cooled surfaces, that is, water droplets.

According to the norms, the air temperature in residential premises should be at least 22 and not more than 27 degrees Celsius. In this case, the dew point is 10.7 degrees Celsius. Simply put, if you have insulated the walls and they have reached the dew point, condensation will surely appear. Where exactly it will be depends on many factors. For example, if it is cold outside, it will move further from the facade.

Condensation negates the effect of insulation, moreover, mold appears on the walls. So the number one task is dry walls. It is quite possible to achieve this, the main thing is to follow several rules:

• for insulation choose the highest quality materials, when connecting the film for vapor barrier, seal the joints;
• pay attention to the vapor permeability index of the insulation, the lower it is, the better. If the vapor permeability of the wall is higher than that of the heat insulator, then the steam will go outside;
• when gluing insulation, it should not lag behind the wall. For this, it is best to use a comb;
• place valves on windows to reduce humidity in the room;
• calculate the thickness of the insulating layer taking into account the characteristics of the climatic zone. The insulation should be no thinner than this value;
• before insulation treat the walls with a special compound which prevents the appearance of mold and mildew. Start insulating after the walls are dry.

It is worth considering that where the floors are connected to the load-bearing walls, it is impossible to carry out insulation. A heat insulator is applied to these places using a vapor barrier, then they are masked using false columns, etc.

How to choose a heater?

More and more new building materials are produced every year. Some of them are suitable for insulating apartments, but there are three proven heaters, the pros and cons of which are well studied:

• mineral wool;
• expanded polystyrene;
• polyurethane foam.

Many of us have heard that it is possible to insulate an apartment from the inside with the help of mineral wool. No wonder, after all it's pretty easy to work with this material: it is enough to lay it inside the plasterboard structure. Most often, the work is done quickly, the material is chosen the cheapest, vapor barrier is neglected. The result is appropriate: more harm than good. Ordinary rock wool rolls have a very low coefficient of thermal resistance.

The positive thing is that she seems to be "breathing". On the other hand, moisture penetrates through the cotton wool fibers to the dew point, and then it is absorbed into the material. Of course, there are more expensive and high-quality options, but if you insulate with ordinary cheap mineral wool, then it does not guarantee dryness.

To reduce the risk of moisture ingress, do not save on vapor barrier and glue with the highest quality glue. If smudges appear on the walls or, even more so, fungus, then all the work on insulation will have to be redone.

Expanded polystyrene

Expanded polystyrene is considered one of the best insulation for walls from the inside. It is increasingly used both in Russia and abroad. This material has all the necessary properties to supplant mineral wool and become the most popular insulation of all.

Expanded polystyrene does not conduct heat well and does not absorb moisture, while it has a low vapor permeability. It easily copes with loads, can withstand strong compression and tears, while being very light and pliable: you can even cut with a knife. Therefore, the installation of insulation will not be a problem.

Respectively, a thin layer of expanded polystyrene will solve the problem with insulation and will keep moisture out of the dew point. The only negative is that it does not protect against noise and breaks down at temperatures above 80 degrees Celsius. The latter is usually irrelevant for the weather conditions in Russia.

Polyurethane foam

Polyurethane foam is the latest material that is designed to quickly and efficiently solve the problem of wall insulation from the inside. Moisture cannot penetrate the material, so it does not get wet. Moreover, it does not need to be glued, it is enough to spray it on the wall. Thanks to this, seams and joints are not formed, even a room with curved corners will look perfect.

Of course, the material also has its drawbacks. Most often, the first thing consumers pay attention to is the price. Polyurethane foam - quite expensive insulation Moreover, the installation work is also expensive. In addition, if it catches fire, it will smoke heavily and release various toxic substances. When exposed to it, UV quickly decomposes into products that can cause enormous harm to health over several years.

Self-insulation of the wall from the inside

Since expanded polystyrene is an affordable and high-quality material, it will be used as an example. Before you start to insulate the walls, you need to prepare their surfaces. Depending on whether the walls are covered with something or not, you need to carry out a few simple steps.

If the walls are already pasted over, painted or covered with finishing materials, then you should:

• remove wallpaper or paint;
• prime;
• wait until the primer is dry;
• putty;
• let the putty dry.

If the walls are not covered with anything, then:

• prime;
• level the wall with plaster;
• putty;
• let the putty dry.

You can insulate the walls only after the putty is completely dry. It usually takes 2 to 6 hours, the exact time is indicated on the package. Then you should knead the glue, there is always an instruction on the mixture. Then take a notched trowel and apply glue to styrofoam, make sure the layer is even. Place the insulation in the desired position and check that there are no air pockets. The sealant is applied to the ends. Then, when all the sheets are ready, the glue should harden.

Now start applying the finishing coat:

• apply a thin layer of mortar about 2-5mm thick;
• until the mixture is solid attach reinforcing mesh; it should sink in the mixture, you can use a notched trowel. The mesh will protect the plastered walls from cracks;
• apply the solution and level the surface with a spatula;
• sand the wall every other day so that there are no irregularities. There will be a lot of dust, care should be taken to protect the respiratory system.

When installing, try to glue the sheets so as to avoid gaps. This will prevent moisture from entering the wall and prevent condensation from forming. If you still have gaps, use an installation tape to blow them out.

After completing the work, do not forget to ventilate the room regularly. Warming can lead to a violation of ventilation conditions that will harm your health. To maintain a healthy microclimate, ventilate rooms daily. Such care will definitely give results and the room will remain dry and warm.

Millions of people living in apartments know from their own experience how cold it can be in winter. The operation of central heating is far from ideal, and autonomous heating is not cheap (both installation and the increasing costs of utilities in this case).

In order to improve the microclimate in the room, as well as to avoid the appearance of mold (which is also a common problem), it is important to insulate the apartment.

Moreover, first of all, a person most often decides to make it from the inside, and insulating only the walls is both easier and cheaper, and you can do it yourself without resorting to the help of (paid, of course) specialists.

1 On the relevance and effectiveness of internal insulation

Initially, you should consider the overall effectiveness of the work from the inside. It should be noted right away that such (internal) insulation always and everywhere (at home, in an apartment, in a garage, in a bath, and so on) will be less effective than external insulation. The bottom line is that the cold will still penetrate into the room - since concrete (or brick) is not a significant obstacle for it.

If the insulation is located only inside the apartment, it can even become harmful to the house: the dew point will shift, and condensation will form on the surface of the walls. As a result, under the insulation, the walls will become overgrown with mold, which a person will not even see.

Thus, we can draw the following conclusion: if it is not possible to insulate the wall of the house from the outside, it is not always safe to carry out work from the inside for the structure itself. Moreover, outdoor decoration does not have to be extremely effective - even a small layer of heat and waterproofing will already be useful and can prevent the dew point from shifting.

The internal insulation of the walls will allow creating a kind of "thermos" inside the apartment: the heat will be "locked" in the room and will not be able to escape outside. By the way, this is relevant not only for the outer walls - if the apartment next door is cold - the adjacent partition can also be insulated. Understanding the need for work is easy: just put your hand on this wall. If you felt a tangible cold, it means that the insulation is relevant.

Especially worried about wall insulation is recommended for those who live in a corner apartment - the rooms located on the corner of the house are the coldest, and the humidity in them is often high. Moreover, they should be insulated from the inside only after they have been insulated from the outside - otherwise, mold and mildew on the surface will appear very, very quickly.

In addition to protecting apartments from cold and moisture, the installation of insulation is also good because the sound insulation of the room is significantly improved. This is very important for residents of large cities, especially for those who live near:

• industrial zone;
• construction sites;
• highways, railways;
• crowded places (markets, shopping centers, stadiums);
• garages;
• airports.

In such cases, sound insulation is no less pressing issue than insulation. Moreover, modern insulation usually combines these qualities - finishing the wall of the house at the same time insulates the structure, and reduces the noise level in the room as.

1.1 Why is it important to insulate walls?

Most often, only one "side" of the structure - the walls - is insulated in apartments. In most cases, this is quite enough to significantly improve the indoor climate.

Residents of the outermost (first and last) floors can think about the insulation of the floor and ceiling. If your floor and ceiling are adjacent to the neighboring apartment, their thermal insulation is not an obligatory issue, unless you want to achieve the maximum possible result.

It is not very important to insulate these surfaces inside apartments for the following reasons:

1. Thermal insulation “takes away” at least 5 (and more often more) cm of free space. With an apartment ceiling height of 2.30 (on average) m, the extra 5-15 cm will be noticeable.
2. The floor of the apartment is unlikely to be cold, since the heat will rise from the neighbors living below you.
3. Insulation of the floor will create a difference in the height of the surface, which is not always convenient.
4. Floor insulation is a much more complicated procedure than wall insulation, and not everyone can handle it with their own hands.

Ceiling insulation works inside apartments are of greater relevance than floor insulation - due to the fact that heated air always rises. In the absence of an effective "barrier" (which is the insulation), he will freely leave the room, "heating" the floor to your neighbors from above... So if your walls are already insulated, and the temperature of the house is still not comfortable enough, you can think about finishing the ceiling with.

1.2 About the pros and cons of internal insulation

Compared to outdoor work, work inside a panel house has a number of differences - both positive and negative. Consider the advantages of this method:

• you can insulate the wall with your own hands, without the use of climbing equipment;
• work can be carried out at any time of the year (while outside the surface can be insulated only in warm, dry and calm weather);
• if necessary, the insulation can be dismantled / repaired at any time.

The disadvantages of insulating apartments from the inside have already been mentioned above, but just in case, we will make a specific list of them:

• reduction of free space inside the room;
• low efficiency in the absence of external insulation;
• the need to completely redo the repairs in the room (while the insulation, mounted outside, does not require the dismantling of finishing materials in the house).

2 About the choice of material

Internal heat and sound insulation can be performed using several technologies. What distinguishes them from each other is the chosen insulation (or rather, its type). It can be:

1. Sheet materials: polystyrene, extruded polystyrene foam (EPS), mineral wool boards.
2. Roll materials: mineral wool, foamed polyethylene.
3. Sprayed (liquid) materials: expanded polyurethane foam (PPU),.

However, each insulation from the list above has a number of features - so we will consider them separately.

2.1 Application of foam and extruded polystyrene foam (EPS)

These materials can be combined into one category, since the differences between them are insignificant, and consist only in a number of characteristics that practically will not affect the efficiency of the work. Let's give a brief description of these insulators: light slabs of white (foam) or orange (EPS) granules, which contain air.

They are supplied in the form of slabs of various sizes (most often - in the range of about 1 x 2 m) and with different thicknesses - in fact, the efficiency depends on it: the thicker the layer, the warmer it will be in the room.

Among the disadvantages of insulation with Penoplex (EPPS brand) or foam, the following points can be distinguished:

• the presence of joints between the sheets (and each joint is an extra chance of penetration of cold and moisture);
• sound insulation when using the material is far from ideal (except when using a layer 10+ cm thick);
• the need to level the surface to a perfectly even level.

Separately, it should be said about such a minus as a significant reduction in space in the room. The insulation layer can be at least 5 cm (and this is only the insulation itself), the loss of which will be noticeable, especially when you consider that most apartments are not too large anyway.

Now let's consider what exactly needs to be done to insulate the surface with Penoplex (foam) with our own hands:

1. The surface is cleaned from finishing materials to the "bare" wall, even removed.
2. The evenness of the surface is checked - a level is used for this. In the presence of serious drops, bulges, depressions, they should be eliminated using plaster.
3. The surface is inspected for cracks and holes. If present, they should be removed using plaster.
4. Sheets of material are cut into more convenient parts (but not too small - the optimal size will be about 1 x 1.5 m).
5. The resulting segments are "fitted" to the wall.
6. Segment fitting in progress.
7. An adhesive mixture is being prepared.
8. The mixture is evenly distributed on the surface of the insulation.
9. The segment is pressed tightly against the wall, starting from the bottom corner.
10. To secure the material, you can additionally fix it with dowels (optimally - 5 pieces: 4 in the corners, 10-15 cm from the edge, and 1 in the center).

At the same time, be careful: the dowels should not damage the wiring and should not be too long - if the partition is too thin.

After that:

1. Installation of insulation continues, moving sideways.
2. Each next row is stacked with an offset relative to the previous one.
3. After installation of all segments and complete drying of the mixture, the joints are coated with plaster / polyurethane foam / sealed with construction tape.
4. A vapor barrier film is glued (optional, but desirable).

2.2 Stages of work when using foam (video)

2.3 Application of mineral wool (slabs and rolls)

This material is not well suited for this type of work. Now they choose it extremely rarely, mainly in pursuit of cheapness. According to its characteristics, it is close to polystyrene, however, the properties of mineral wool make it a less relevant option. The list of disadvantages is as follows:

• the material is prone to moisture accumulation;
• the material crumples and cakes like;
• falling cotton wool is harmful to human health (especially if children or allergy sufferers live in the house);
• sound insulation - no better than foam (or even worse);
• increased complexity during work (it is especially difficult to insulate the surface with a roll of mineral wool);
• the presence of joints between segments.

It is impossible to single out tangible advantages in comparison with other materials, except, perhaps, the cheapness and the absence of the need for a perfectly flat surface. And even then the difference in cost, compared to the same foam, will be minimal.

Consider the steps that will allow you to insulate the wall using this material with your own hands:

1. The surface is cleaned from finishing materials to the “bare” wall.
2. The surface is checked for holes and cracks. If available, they are covered with plaster.
3. The material is cut into segments of a size convenient for installation.
4. The lathing is being installed.
5. The material is laid between the slats.
6. Additionally, the material is attached with dowels.
7. The vapor barrier film is glued over the battens.
8. Further finishing works are in progress.

2.4 Application of polyethylene foam

Of the existing heaters, this option is perfect for insulating apartments in a panel house from the inside. It is a rigid roll of material, on one side of which there is a foil layer, on the other - foamed polyethylene.

With its help, sound insulation is also performed - in this regard, the material surpasses the above options. Its essential advantage is its thickness: a few millimeters (4-5) of Penofol in terms of efficiency are equal to several centimeters (3-4) of foam. Thus, it will minimize the space in the room.

In addition, the foil side (facing inside the apartments) enhances the "thermos effect" by screening (reflecting) heat and not letting it out of the room. And in terms of carrying out work, it is ten times easier than both polystyrene and mineral wool - it is possible to insulate the wall of a corner (or any other) apartment with it both simply and quickly.

2.5

Moreover, its application does not require leveling the surface and creating a multi-layer "cake".

The stages are as follows:

1. Surface - cleaned from dirt, old finishing materials.
2. Cracks and holes (if any) - are repaired with plaster.
3. The material is glued to the surface with a special glue.

That's all - this is where the process of warming the apartments of the panel building ends, and you can proceed to further finishing.

2.6 Stages of work when using polyethylene foam (video)

2.7 Application of expanded polyurethane foam (PUF)

In terms of efficiency, this material ranks first in the list of modern insulators. It has the best quality characteristics and is practically devoid of disadvantages. The advantages of PPU spraying technology include:

• lack of joints;
• absolute moisture resistance;
• small layer thickness with high efficiency (where 5-10 cm of foam or mineral wool is required, you can use 2-3 cm of polyurethane foam, and the result will be better);
• high speed of coating (for 1 working shift - 8 hours - you can process about 100 "squares" of the surface, that is - all the outer walls in any of the average apartments).

Its use is especially important for a corner room - since the corners themselves very often create a problem with insulation, and it is not always possible to isolate them correctly and efficiently even with specialists. PPU is used to insulate apartments both inside and outside.

Among the disadvantages of such isolation of apartments, the following factors can be distinguished:

• relatively high cost;
• impossibility of doing it yourself (this requires a special installation).

The stages of work when using the technology are as follows:

1. Surface - cleaned from old materials.
2. Cracks and holes are covered with plaster (however, when using PPU, this item is not indispensable).
3. A polyurethane foam is prepared (from two components that are mixed right on the spot, in the tank of the installation).
4. The material is sprayed onto the wall.

The material, which is a liquid suspension, solidifies in a few seconds upon contact with air, and a dense monolithic crust is formed on the wall surface, tightly glued to the surface.