Insulating windows To insulate windows, you need to glue special gaskets made of spongy or profile rubber or foam rubber to the edge of the windows and transoms. The so-called Finnish cord - a woolen cord in a cotton sheath - is also suitable for this purpose. More often than not, window slits

The disadvantage of such a foundation– cold floor due to the large open space under the house and soil. The only solution to this problem will be to insulate the pile foundation, which will not only provide a warmer house, but also additional space under the house for household needs.

How to insulate a pile-screw foundation?

Before insulating a foundation on screw piles, it is worth considering a number of features of the building, its location, the height of the pile pillars above the ground and the material from which they are made. Based on these conditions, insulation can be done in several ways:

1. External around the perimeter of the house.

It consists of erecting a base frame from the ground to the beginning of the walls of the house along the entire perimeter. Then, depending on the climate and financial capabilities of the owners, it is insulated and faced from the outside. This method is the only correct one if the floor is low from the ground.

2. External from the floor.

In some cases, when it is not possible to insulate the foundation using the first method (the floor is very high from ground level due to the location), only the outer side of the floor is insulated.

3. Complete.

This is an ideal method and involves insulating the foundation frame both outside and inside. This method of insulation can be divided into several stages:

• waterproofing work on the grillage and the metal piles themselves;
• construction of the base frame;
• installation of insulation inside the base;
• securing decorative panels to the base;
• insulation of the inside of the base with expanded clay or soil;
• insulation of the floor from the basement side.

Waterproofing works

Waterproofing works carried out in order to prevent moisture from entering the joints of the grillage and piles. If this is not done, then the metal elements of the structure will corrode over time, and the wooden elements will rot, which will lead to the destruction of the entire house. To do this, a waterproofing material, for example roofing felt, is placed at the junction of the ends of the piles with the grillage and on the upper edges of the grillage itself at the point of contact with the wall.

Then a special mastic is applied to the entire metal structure of the foundation, and the wood is treated with impregnation with antiseptics. After the mastic and impregnation have completely dried (about 6-7 days), you can proceed directly to insulating the pile foundation.

Insulation

Base of a pile-screw foundation

The base frame can be erected and insulated at the same time two ways:

1. Construction of a brick wall.

For such a base, a small shallow reinforced foundation made of cement mortar is poured into a pre-dug trench, which in itself will serve as additional insulation for the base. After the foundation has completely dried, a light wall of half a brick is laid out.

2. Installing metal guides for fastening decorative panels.

Metal guides are bolted or welded to the foundation piles, onto which decorative panels, siding or corrugated sheeting are then hung. The panels are also secured with special fasteners or tile adhesive, depending on the design and material of the panels. Elements and drips covering the panel joints are installed in the corners.

For any insulation method Don't forget about the ventilation holes, which will prevent the accumulation of moisture inside the foundation space. It is recommended to place the holes on opposite sides of the base.

Expanded polystyrene

Extruded polystyrene foam, due to its heat-insulating and noise-absorbing characteristics, is most preferable for insulating various foundations, especially pile foundations. And the small thickness of the sheet (3 cm) allows you to save the internal space of the basement.

Insulation of a pile foundation with polystyrene foam is carried out as follows:

• On the surface of the basement wall, if it is a brick wall or concrete, all cracks are eliminated. After this, the wall is treated with a primer to better secure the insulation sheets.
• The polystyrene foam sheets are glued from the inside of the basement wall using foam glue or an adhesive composition. When using adhesive foam, polystyrene foam is temporarily fixed with special umbrellas to prevent deformation of the sheet when the foam swells.
• The joints of the sheets are carefully foamed to eliminate cold “bridges.”
• For better insulation of the foundation, the sheets are glued in two layers.
• To protect polystyrene foam sheets from mice and rats, a special metal mesh is installed on them.
• To completely eliminate the possibility of blowing out the space under the house, it is advisable to add a little expanded clay or soil to the inside of the insulated base.

Paula

Insulation of the floor on a pile foundation directly under the house inside the basement space produced in several stages:

• a vapor barrier material is fixed to the floor on the outside of the house over the entire area;
• Insulation, for example, polystyrene foam, is installed on the vapor barrier;
• the insulation is covered with plank sheathing.

This floor can be used both as a finished basement ceiling and as the only option for insulating a pile-screw foundation if it is impossible to use other methods.

Thus, by thoroughly insulating the pile-grillage foundation, you will finally eliminate the problem of cold floors and significantly save on heating. Correct adherence to the stages of work and careful installation of insulation will help significantly increase the reliability and durability of your home.

When building a country house, laying the foundation has always been considered one of the most expensive and labor-intensive stages of construction. But now it is possible to install screw and bored piles for many types of houses that do not require pouring a concrete foundation at all. The piles are tied with a grillage, which becomes a reliable base for the walls.

Such a simple technology has become so popular that some developers completely forget about the wind-swept space under their house, as if floating in the air. Such ventilation in winter leads to temperature discomfort inside the house and excessive heating costs. The pile foundation must be insulated, and we will tell you how to do this in the best way in this article.

Why are piles popular?

This method turns out to be the most profitable if the house is being built on swampy and weak soils, with a high groundwater level. The load-bearing blades of screw piles rest on soils below the freezing level, and seasonal fluctuations in the surface no longer have a negative impact on the house. Sometimes such a foundation turns out to be the only possible solution when building houses on plots with sloping terrain. The construction of a pile-screw field is completely independent of the time of year and weather, and in terms of construction time such a foundation has no equal. This usually takes 1-2 days, and the construction of walls can begin.

Why insulate a pile foundation?

This question is asked by many private developers, realizing that the piles themselves do not need insulation - they are screwed below the freezing depth and are not threatened by winter heaving of the soil. But if a reinforced concrete grillage is poured on top of the pile field, then in winter it becomes a rather powerful cold accumulator and will endlessly absorb heat from the house standing on it. The problem turns out to be really serious, and the tasks of insulation in this case coincide with the need for a full cycle of thermal insulation work, as on a conventional monolithic foundation.

It’s cold in the house even without a concrete grillage. If the walls are mounted on a wooden or steel grillage frame, then a space remains under the house, blown by the winter wind, which also leads to the cooling of the floor and the lower part of the walls. Of course, it is possible to arrange multi-layer thermal insulation of the basement floor, but the best option remains to cover the underground space with an insulating structure. Imagine that the house is equipped with water supply and sewerage. Then these engineering communications will pass through the ventilated space. So insulating the pile foundation will also improve the protection of your communications from freezing and destruction.

Agree that even from an aesthetic point of view, your house will look much more attractive if its basement, in addition to insulation, is also beautifully decorated. And any debris will no longer be blown into the open space by the wind; rubbish and remnants of building materials that usually fill this space will not be visible.

We need an integrated approach

Builders know that insulating any foundation also means creating a blind area around the house that is thermally insulated from below. A blind area in the form of a narrow concrete strip around the house is designed to remove atmospheric moisture from the foundation. Until recently, its insulation from the bottom side seemed to be a difficult task. But with the advent of extruded polystyrene foam on the construction market, the problem disappeared completely - this material can easily withstand multi-ton loads.

Now you can safely decorate and insulate the perimeter of the pile field, without fear that seasonal soil movement will tear off the outer skin of the base. There will be no more movement, since under the layer of extruded polystyrene foam the ground does not freeze even in severe frosts. This means that in contact with stable soil, we can now install any protective canopy along the entire perimeter of the pile field, blocking access to cold air underground. We will reach the concrete slab of the grillage with insulation, depriving it of the ability to accumulate cold, which is so unnecessary in a permanent home. You have a good choice of technical solutions for thermal insulation of your own country house.

Let's look at a specific example

The optimal option for insulating a house on screw piles with a concrete grillage may be to create three planes of the insulating contour. On the outside of the base we install a layer of insulation of the required thickness. We use extruded polystyrene foam Penoplex - Foundation. This material will withstand static and dynamic loads without fear of atmospheric and ground moisture, and its thermal resistance indicators are simply amazing.

We will tightly connect this contour of the basement insulation with the horizontal insulation planes of the grillage and soil. For the grillage, there are options in choosing insulation materials, but we will insulate the ground with slabs of extruded polystyrene foam, at least 50 mm thick. Now, on a warm base, you can pour an inclined blind area around the entire perimeter of the house. However, you can simply lay out a strip 600-800 mm wide of paving slabs.

We can do without the underground

In some cases, the height of the pile field heads turns out to be so small that there is no point in creating an underground space. In this case, we can immediately combine the creation of a concrete grillage with lower insulation.

We make a compacted sand and gravel cushion, on top of which we lay a layer of extruded polystyrene foam. It will act as the lower surface of the formwork. Now you can pour the concrete grillage, not forgetting that it must also be thoroughly insulated along the entire perimeter. Thus, your foundation slab has received reliable insulation, and walls can be built on its basis.

Brick plinth possible

The construction of a brick basement wall on a shallow strip foundation immediately raises objections among many developers. Indeed, there is a certain danger in this option. If a pile foundation reliably ensures the immobility of a building, then a shallow strip foundation for brick cladding does not have such stability, and seasonal swelling of the soil will inevitably lead to its deformation. The solution is to connect the base for the brickwork with fixed piles. To do this, we weld a channel to them along the entire perimeter, aligning it exactly along the horizontal line.

We select the channel number taking into account the size of the brick. After anti-corrosion treatment and waterproofing lining, it will become a reliable basis for brickwork. But such a frame, connected to fixed piles, can also become the basis for any decorative canopy made of flat slate, chipboard, siding and other finishing materials, which you choose to your liking. Then your home will look solid and attractive.

The foundation and basement of a house play an important role in the thermal insulation and waterproofing of housing. In order for your home to be cozy and free from cold floors and drafts, it is necessary to carry out a whole range of work to insulate the foundation on screw piles and.

This article will present the technology of thermal insulation of a pile foundation - the arrangement of a basement fence - an element that covers the free space between the house and the soil.

1 Why insulate a pile-screw foundation?

A pile foundation is the optimal type of foundation for building houses in areas with problematic soil. In places where soils are prone to seasonal movements and the groundwater level is quite high, neither a strip nor a slab foundation can guarantee the reliability required of the foundation.

A pile foundation, unlike other types of foundation, is not afraid of dynamic loads even without the stress it experiences during soil heaving, and since the screw piles are made of corrosion-resistant steel, groundwater also does not have a destructive effect on the piles.

Moreover, a pile foundation is a relatively inexpensive and prefabricated structure, the installation of which by specialists can be completed within one working day.

However, in addition to many obvious advantages, a foundation on screw piles has a structural feature that negatively affects the thermal insulation characteristics of the house being built.

We are talking about the free space between the soil and the floor of the house, which is formed as a result of raising the grillage above the ground. During the cold season, cold air constantly circulates in the unfilled space, which greatly cools the floor, which contributes to significant heat loss in the house.

We are resolving this issue, however, to achieve the maximum effect, the insulation of the screw foundation must be done at the stage of building the house, since an important part of the thermal insulation of the foundation is working with the grillage, which, upon completion of the construction of the house, cannot be fully insulated.

An obligatory stage of comprehensive insulation is the installation of a false base with a fence that protects the free space under the house from the penetration of wind and precipitation.

The do-it-yourself thermal insulation technology described in this article allows you to get a warm, comfortable house for living even at extremely low temperatures with an optimal microclimate, in which thermal energy for heating is used as rationally as possible.

1.1 What thermal insulation materials are best to use?

The screw piles themselves, which are metal structures immersed in the ground, do not need to be insulated in any way. Thermal insulation is required only for the false base and grillage - elements in contact with the internal surface of the floor of the house, which can freeze and transfer low temperatures to it.

To insulate the above-described elements with your own hands, the best option is polystyrene board materials:

• extruded polystyrene foam (penoplex);
• regular foam.

Such materials are quite effective, and, what is not unimportant, they are convenient to work with.

It is recommended to insulate with penoplex - this material does not have low thermal conductivity (0.029 W/mk, for comparison, polystyrene foam has 0.038 W/mk), it is durable, has good strength characteristics and is not afraid of precipitation.

2 Technology of insulation of a pile-screw foundation

All work on insulating the foundation begins after the grillage of the house is covered with waterproofing material. As protection against moisture, special membrane films are used, or, if the budget is limited, ordinary roofing felt.

Waterproofing covers both the upper part of the grillage, on which the walls of the building will be placed, and the lower and side parts, and the heads of the piles adjacent to the grillage.

To create an insulated false base with your own hands, you will need the following tools:

• Welding machine;
• Concrete mixer;
• Screwdriver as on;
• Hammer, trowel, spatula, tape measure, stationery knife.

There are two options for arranging an insulated false base: the first is to create a thin brick wall under the grillage of the house, the thickness of which is half a brick, the second is to use decorative panels that are installed on the grillage.

2.1 Creating an insulated brick base

The first option is more labor-intensive, however, the result will be as reliable and durable as possible, while decorative panels are quite easy to damage.

To install a brick base under the grillage of the house along the entire perimeter of the building, it is necessary to dig a trench 20-25 centimeters deep and several centimeters wider than the size of the brick used.

The trench is filled with concrete, which, after hardening, will serve as the foundation for the brick plinth being created. Considering that the depth of concrete is minimal, it is necessary to reinforce the base with reinforcement with a diameter of 10-12 mm.

After the time required for the concrete to completely harden, we begin to build a brick plinth. The wall must be laid in sections of 1-2 meters, so that foam panels can be conveniently installed on the inner surface of the plinth.

2.2 Creating a plinth from decorative panels

Installing a panel false plinth is much simpler than building a brick wall. With the right approach to its arrangement, this technology for insulating a pile-screw foundation will be durable and reliable.

First of all, you need to take care of the supporting structure to which the plinth panels will be attached. To do this, it is necessary to weld a guide frame made of a metal profile along the perimeter of the house to the piles.

The pitch of the guides is determined based on the height to which the house is raised above the ground; as a rule, 2-3 longitudinal profiles are quite enough. You can also use a wooden beam as a frame, but it must first be impregnated with an antiseptic, which prevents the wood from rotting.

Insulation boards (extruded polystyrene foam or penoplex) are attached to the supporting frame. It is necessary to select the thickness of the slabs so that they do not protrude beyond the grillage, since the decorative panel will be attached to it.

Next, a decorative fence is installed on the grillage of the house using an adhesive composition. It is important to select the size of the panel so that its upper part, with which the panel is glued to the grillage, ensures reliable fixation of the structure, and the lower part penetrates 4-5 centimeters into the soil (you must first dig a small groove).

From the place where the fence and insulation come into contact with the soil, you need to remove the soil to a depth of 10 centimeters and add expanded clay sand.

Expanded clay has low thermal conductivity and will not allow the structure to freeze in the cold season, as a result of which the heat exchange between the floor and the pile-screw foundation will be minimal.

The technology for arranging an insulated false base of a pile-screw foundation requires natural ventilation, which is necessary to prevent excessive dampness in the air under the house, moisture from which will condense on the inner surface of the floor, which can lead to rotting of the wooden structure.

To ensure air circulation, it is necessary to create ventilation holes. One vent on each side of the house is sufficient. In the cold season, the vents are closed with heat-insulating material, or plugged with a regular rag.

2.3 Technology for arranging an insulated base on screw piles (video)

Pile foundation, how to insulate it, what materials to use for this. And let's start with the question: what is a pile-screw foundation and why does it need to be insulated.

The foundation of a house made using metal piles screwed into the ground is called pile-screw foundation. This technology has been used for quite a long time, only over time it has changed a little. For example, previously wooden poles impregnated with various anti-corrosion compounds could be used as piles. This was necessary to increase the service life of the structure.

The technology has been developed primarily for areas with marshy areas or heaving soils with unstable soil. The advantage of using a pile foundation is that the weight of the house is transferred through the piles to the lower layers of soil, which are much denser than the upper layers. Thus, the risk of destruction of the building is minimized.

Currently, to organize the foundation using this technology piles are used, at the end of which there are blades, reminiscent of threads on a self-tapping screw, it is for this reason that the foundation is called a pile-screw foundation. To install such piles, special equipment can be used or they can be tightened manually.

The screw foundation can be classified according to the height of the grillage. The grillage is the first crown of the foundation, which rests directly on the piles; in some cases, it is also called the frame.

The grillage happens:

• Short, is installed below ground level, i.e. the pile is completely in the ground. Based on this principle, a pile-strip foundation is constructed, which cannot be distinguished externally from a regular strip foundation.
• High, when the grillage is at a certain distance from the ground surface.
• Intermediate, in this case the grillage is located on the very surface of the earth.

The answer to the question why it is necessary to insulate the foundation on screw piles is that the space under the floor of the building is blown by the wind and no matter how the floor insulation is carried out, it will not be as effective as if it is used together with the insulation of a screw foundation.

An insulated foundation is the key to a warm floor and significant savings on heating.

Insulation of a pile-grillage foundation with a low grillage level

Insulation of a strip-pile foundation can be carried out on the same principle as a conventional strip foundation due to the fact that it is also buried in the ground and made of reinforced concrete. This means that you can use either sheet insulation for a pile foundation or loose insulation, and additionally insulate the structure using a warm blind area.

Insulation of the grillage of a pile foundation should begin by marking and preparing a trench with a width slightly greater than the thickness of the insulation, and a depth of 5-10 cm below the location of the support area of ​​the piles located under the foundation.

At the next stage, it is necessary to clean the base surface and install insulation against moisture penetration, after which you can begin installing the insulation. To do this, you will need to have fasteners, polyurethane foam or other adhesive composition. Dowels for insulating materials, or in installer slang, “mushrooms,” are optimally suited for fastening.

Do-it-yourself insulation and finishing of a pile foundation

If it is necessary to simultaneously improve the appearance of the base, you can apply insulation technology using bulk materials, together with base thermal panels.

The algorithm for this type of insulation is as follows:

• A trench is prepared with a depth just below the support pad of the piles and a width of 0.5 to 1 meter.
• Sand filling is being made.
• The trench is filled with insulation, slightly below the ground level, 5-10 cm is enough.
• Thermal panels are installed; they need to be slightly deeper into the loose insulation and secured with dowels.
• The blind area is being poured.

Insulation of a pile foundation with an intermediate grillage

Insulation of this type of foundation is best done using thermal panels, since it is not necessary to significantly deepen the insulation into the soil. Thermal panels can be mounted either directly on the surface of the foundation or on a pre-prepared sheathing.

Insulation of the base of a pile-screw foundation with a high grillage

A pile-screw foundation with a high grillage is the most common foundation of this type. Depending on the design, the grillage can be at different heights. At the same time, it is simply necessary to protect and insulate the space under the house. For this purpose, technology is used to create false base.

Such a base can be made of brickwork, or using a wooden frame on which insulation is mounted.

False brick plinth

Organizing such a base for a house on a pile-screw foundation is not the most popular way to solve the problem. Firstly, brickwork is quite expensive, due to the fact that it is necessary to use facing bricks, cement, crushed stone and sand to construct the cushion.

The process itself looks like this:

• A trench is being prepared for the construction of a sand cushion; its average depth is about 20 cm.
• Crushed stone is poured and compacted, then sand.

Tip: to better compact the sand cushion, it can be spilled with plenty of water and allowed to dry before starting laying.

• Brick is being laid. The masonry is used with an offset of half a brick, i.e. standard.

After the masonry is ready, it it is necessary to insulate the sides. For this, it is more convenient to use sheet insulation. It could be polystyrene foam or analogues. Insulation using expanded clay will require additional costs for installing formwork. One of the best options is to apply it on the inside of such a base; it will reliably protect the structure from the penetration of cold.

Insulation of the base of a pile foundation

Panel plinth or it can also be called frame, which will reflect its essence much more fully, it is made according to the following scheme:

• Done double tying of all piles from the outside. If the grillage is at a high height, the number of turns can be increased. The harness can be either metal or wood. Metal ones, as a rule, are fixed by welding; this is the most popular method; as for wooden ones, you can weld guide corners onto the piles and secure the strapping using wood screws. The second option is to use metal clamps.
• At the next stage you can install thermal panels, or sheet insulation. If you plan to insulate the base using, then the trim must be sewn up with tape, and then sprayed with insulation on both sides.

When using non-insulated panels to create a base, it can be covered with soil from the inside, but it is better to use expanded clay for these purposes. At the same time, do not forget about waterproofing the grillage.

Advantages of a panel plinth obvious are the simplicity of design, speed of installation, and a large number of insulation options both inside and out.

If you plan to independently manufacture a false base, you will need the following tools and skills to work with them:

• welding machine for welding fasteners to piles;
• “grinder” for cutting metal corners;
• drill for drilling corners;
• a screwdriver for installing self-tapping screws that secure the insulation;
• construction level for leveling the piping horizontally;
• chainsaw for cutting wooden strapping.

conclusions

A pile-screw foundation with a high grillage is popular due to its low cost and high practicality. Its downside is that it is a ventilated underground space.

To protect the house from the penetration of cold and simply to give it beauty, the technology of creating a false base is used. It can be done using insulated brickwork, but it is better to use the technology of an insulated panel base. Compared to brickwork, panel plinth is much cheaper and more efficient.

Useful video

How to cover the base of a pile foundation with a brick: