The suddenly increased urgency of insulating the facade of an apartment and, in particular, is associated with the rapid rise in the cost of energy and utility tariffs, which necessitates saving finances, and more efficient consumption of heating resources.
The problem is that most of the apartment buildings currently in use were built almost half a century ago, and their thermal insulation is not as effective as their owners would like.
Statistics show that heat loss through the walls of a house reaches 50% of the total heat loss, which, you see, is more than significant. This indicator primarily depends on the design features of the house itself, for panel houses it is maximum, for brick houses it is slightly less.
Insulation of the facades of apartments is beneficial, which side is not to look at, if you have autonomous heating, then you can save about 20% of the previously spent amount on gas consumption, and if you are connected to central heating, then the average temperature in the room will increase by at least 3-4 degrees (and if you put it at 5-6).
1 Legal features
According to federal laws, unauthorized change of the facade of an apartment building is prohibited, therefore, in order to insulate the walls of an apartment, you will need to obtain permission from the relevant authorities (housing and communal services).
Usually, obtaining a permit is not accompanied by special difficulties, for this you just need to go to the housing and communal services and talk with the people responsible for this, sometimes you may need to write a petition with your own hand, which indicates that you will take all responsibility for the safety of the work on the insulation of walls on a multi-storey building ... However, there are situations in which you can get a refusal for insulation.
As a rule, it is difficult to obtain permission to insulate the facades of new buildings, geographically located in the city center. In case of refusal, the only thing that remains for you is to do the insulation of the walls from the inside of the house, which can also provide high efficiency of the apartment's thermal insulation.
Moreover, the joint insulation of facades is much better and in purely technical terms, since the dew point, which is formed due to the difference in freezing temperature of the insulated and non-insulated sections of the facades, is prevented, as a result of which the walls of the apartment expand and narrow in different ways, which can threaten them with accelerated destruction.
Also, with the wrong technology of wall insulation outside the apartment, moisture can get under the insulation, which expands when it freezes in the cold season, and peels off the insulation material from the wall of the house. As you understand, a monolithic insulation, mounted on several apartments, is immediately less afraid of such troubles.
1.1 Choice of performers
As a rule, all work on insulating the facades of multi-storey buildings is carried out by special firms or industrial climbers. Therefore, it is very important to choose the right contractor who has the necessary knowledge, experience and all the required permits.
Since the insulation of the walls of an apartment from the outside refers to high-rise work that is directly related to risk, do not be surprised that the cost of the contractor's wages will exceed the total cost of materials for the work - professional industrial climbers know the price of their work, and usually do not work cheaply.
Be sure to require the contractor to show you documents such as "License for construction work" and "Permit for high-rise work", it will also not be superfluous to find out feedback from previous clients of this company, or a team of workers - are they satisfied with the result, for how much the walls of the apartment were insulated, how the contractor relates to the performance of his duties, and so on.
It is also recommended to check with the contractor the addresses of the houses in which they have already performed similar work with, and go to see the quality of the facade insulation. Such precautions, although they take a lot of time, will help you avoid many problems associated with unscrupulous performers in the future.
After the contractor is selected, he must draw up project documentation related to the specifics of the work, namely:
- Drawings of the facades of apartments, with a detailed indication of the dimensions of window frames, cornices, and other architectural elements present outside the house;
- Data on the boundary loads that can be experienced by the walls of the house;
- The class of insulation of the walls of the house - this point is the starting point when choosing the material used to insulate the walls of the apartment, both outside and inside.
2 Selection of thermal insulation material
Insulation of apartment facades can be performed with the following materials:
- Styrofoam;
- Expanded polystyrene;
- Mineral wool (very effective);
- Foam glass.
Each of these heat insulators has its own advantages and disadvantages, which determine the relevance of their use in a particular situation.
Foam insulation is the most budgetary, and, therefore, the most common option. Foam is insulated anywhere, and anything, even when the effectiveness of this heat insulator is obviously not enough. The pursuit of cheapness is the main mistake of most people, since using low-quality heat insulators you will not get the expected effect of insulation.
In general, if the walls initially have a normal class of thermal insulation, then insulation of the building from the outside with foam plastic may be quite enough. If you decide to insulate the house with foam, then keep in mind that the higher the density of this material, the less heat-conducting properties it has, and, as a result, is better suited for insulation.
Expanded polystyrene is also a fairly inexpensive material, and, at the same time, its thermal insulation properties are an order of magnitude better than that of conventional foam.
The advantages of this material include minimal weight, ease of installation (it is excellent for facing a corner apartment), and hydrophobicity - expanded polystyrene does not actually absorb water, which has a positive effect on its service life.
The disadvantages of expanded polystyrene are as follows - instability to fire (requires the installation of special fire-prevention jumpers), and the lack of sound insulation. Expanded polystyrene, in general, is excellent both for thermal insulation of walls from the outside and from the inside of the house.
Mineral wool is one of the most effective insulation materials, however, the cost of this material significantly exceeds the cost of analogues, therefore, it is rarely used for thermal insulation of facades.
The advantages of mineral wool include fire safety (the material does not burn), hydrophobicity, and good sound insulation properties. Mineral wool has only one significant drawback - a relatively large weight, as a result of which its installation on the facade of a building is carried out with a large number of fasteners (dowels).
Foam glass is the most expensive material used to insulate apartment facades. If you are not limited in funds, then preference should be given to him, since this insulation has excellent thermal insulation properties, durability, and hydrophobicity. Foam glass does not burn, fungus, mold, and other microorganisms do not start in it.
In addition to the insulation itself, you will need to purchase a large number of related materials, such as:
- Construction glue, liquid foam, dowels - for fastening;
- Plaster mix - for leveling the surface;
- Primer - for additional waterproofing insulation, and for better adhesion of plaster with paint;
- Reinforcement mesh - to strengthen the plaster layer;
- Facade paints for - as a rule, housing and communal services require that the insulation be painted with paint that matches the main color of the building.
Payment to the contractor is made upon completion of all work, according to the act drawn up by the foreman, which indicates the entire range of work performed, and the separate cost of each element.
They are used to insulate pipelines.
