Warming of the house is the primary task of the homeowner who wants to operate his housing as efficiently as possible. Warming both a wooden and a stone house outside will allow the developer to significantly reduce heating costs, save useful space inside the house and protect the house from the negative effects of atmospheric phenomena and precipitation.
One of the most popular and popular methods of thermal insulation of housing is the technology of insulation of the facade with mineral wool under the plaster. You can familiarize yourself with the features, rules, tools, and stages of installing minvata for plaster below.
What is mineral wool?
Unlike wool for interior work, facade mineral wool is more dense and hydrophobic (repels water). Mineral wool for insulation on the outside of a wooden, brick and other house is produced exclusively in the form of slabs with dimensions of types 0.6x1.2 m and 0.5x1 m. The thickness of the material can be 5, 10, 15 cm. The most popular type is 10-centimeter mineral wool boards .
Minvata is available in three varieties:
- basalt;
- fiberglass;
- slag.
At the same time, basalt glass wool, due to its record low thermal conductivity, is considered the best option for insulation outside a wooden house.
Pros and cons of using mineral wool for outdoor insulation at home
The popularity of insulation is due primarily to:
- low thermal conductivity of the material, and therefore, high thermal insulation characteristics;
- excellent soundproofing;
- a good level of fire safety (after all, mineral wool does not support combustion);
- vapor permeability (provides “breathing” at home, which is especially important if the house is not wooden, but stone);
- resistance to fungi and rodents;
- relative environmental friendliness and safety of the material (harmful substances are released only when heated above 300 ° C);
- simplicity of installation technology.
As disadvantages, it is worth noting:
- a change in the volume of the insulation and the appearance of cracks in it (occurs only when there is no reinforcing layer);
- if the mineral wool is not treated with a hydrophobic solution, all its thermal insulation characteristics will come to naught, because it absorbs moisture almost instantly.
Materials and tools for the performance of work
To install the insulation under the plaster you will need:
- guide profiles;
- building level;
- glue;
- mineral wool;
- mesh for reinforcement;
- putty knife and facade plaster;
- dowels.
Facade surface preparation
Before starting work with insulation and plaster, it is necessary to clean the surface of the walls from oil stains and dirt and level them. According to technology, all metal elements that can rust can be removed from the walls outside. If these are strategically important metal elements, then oxygen must be supplied under the plaster, i.e. this immediately precludes the use of acrylic based plasters.
The insulation material must have low thermal conductivity. Therefore, mineral wool, namely its variety with a density of 140 kg / m², fits perfectly.
If the walls have the remains of the old coating, whether it be paint, plaster or anything else, then the insulation under the plaster can not be put.
Before starting warming, it is worth using the sag to indicate the boundaries of the zones. Sag - strong nylon cords, pulled between the pins of the valve (these pins must then be removed, so do not drive them too tightly), fixed at the indicated point in a vertical, horizontal position and diagonally.
Once the sag is installed, it becomes much easier to evaluate wall geometry. The slack needs to be fixed so that they recede at least 1 cm from the mineral wool. After the wall is marked, you can proceed with the installation of guide profiles.
Technology and the main stages of warming
Insulation of mineral wool with its subsequent closure with plaster should be carried out in several stages.
There are three such basic stages:
- Insulation installation.
- Reinforcement.
- Carrying out decorative finishes.
First of all, it is worthwhile to mount a base profile or a bar in the wall, which will be the supporting guide for the first row of insulation material, in addition, it will control the gap between the bottom row of mineral wool and the wall, and also protect the mineral wool from penetration of rodents and pests. It is also important that the profiles protect the layer of plaster from mechanical deformation and tightly fit the plaster with expansion joints.
Facade insulation is carried out using mineral wool with a density of 140 kg / m². Fixation of mineral wool on the bearing walls of the facade is carried out using driven dowels or special glue.
After that, under the profile right on the mineral wool, it is worth attaching a strip of reinforcing mesh (width from 25 to 35 cm). After the reinforcement is glued to the mineral wool, the lower edge of this mesh can be wrapped on a profile, which completely insulates and makes the insulation monolithic. Reinforcing building mesh is attached to the mineral wool using adhesive reinforced plaster.
To decorate mineral wool plates, you can use decorative plaster on a silicate, mineral, acrylic or silicone base. After the plaster has dried, it can be applied to paint any suitable overall color scheme of the facade color.
It is imperative that all materials used in the work fit each other in all respects.. For example, thermal insulation and plaster should be combined with each other relative to the parameter of thermal expansion, have the same coefficient of thermal conductivity and approximately the same level of hygroscopicity. If you ignore the rules of compatibility of materials, then the plaster will crack and crumble extremely quickly, and insulation will reduce its effectiveness.
To insure against problems with the compatibility of materials, you can purchase a ready-made facade insulation system. The most popular manufacturers on the market are Roockwool, Knauf, Atlas, and Ceresit. Nevertheless, it is worth remembering that even the use of ready-made facade insulation does not exclude the need to follow safety rules and principles of system installation. Otherwise, you just throw money away.