Performing basement insulation for your house in a proper way

How to perform basement insulation with your own hands properly.

Basement insulation is the basis of a house’s durability. Insulation is traditionally performed to protect the house from moisture and mildew, as well as the destruction of the walls.

There 2 main methods of basement isolation:

1. horizontal;
2. vertical.

Before you start your work you must take into account the conditions in which the house will stand and answer the question what type of insulation to use in basement. You should work out the following aspects:

• level of ground waters;
• how strong the ground usually swells during the thaw;
• how much non-uniform the ground is;
• conditions in which the house will be exploiting.

Horizontal basement insulation

The horizontal basement insulation (basement floor insulation) takes place on the stage of construction of the house. This type of insulation is performed twice. The first time it should be performed on the level of the floor (or 6-8 inches below), and the second time where basement is connected with the house wall. The work traditionally begins with preparing of clay layer for the bottom of the trench with a height of not more than 1 foot. Then comes a layer of concrete (2-3 inches) – it is used for insulation under the basement to be well organized. Before you lay the next layer of insulation, the concrete should dry completely. It takes from ten to fifteen days. After this the next layer of bitumen mastic is laid. Then it’s also necessary to coat it with mastic and put roofing felt. After that the surface is poured with concrete (2-3 inches). Then you should perform the floating with cement. This operation should be done in two or three hours after filling with concrete. The top layer of concrete is poured with cement for 10-20 mm. Previously cement needs to be sifted through a fine sieve. Then you need to smooth the surface and wait for the cement hydration of the concrete.

The insulation between the basement and the wall is also important! This operation will allow to trap moisture and avoid its climbing into the walls. In order to perform this, it’s necessary to cover the basement surface with a protective layer using a bituminous mastic.

Drainage system

The drainage system around the house is needed if the ground on which the house is built poorly absorbs moisture and ground water rises too high. It will output the excess water in a special pit.

Performing of the drainage system begins with digging a trench around the perimeter of the house. The distance from it to the house should be at least 2 feet. The width of this trench should be about 1-1,5 feet. The depth depends on how high the ground water usually rises. Once the trench is dug, put geotextiles into its bottom. Wrap the edges of the board trench somewhere in the 80-90 centimeters. This is followed by five centimeters to fill it with gravel or gravel bottom and top to put drainage pipes. Prepare even rubble – it should be rinsed thoroughly and pour on top of the pipes by 20-30 centimeters. The inner “filling” is ready, you can wrap the edges of the geotextile. It remains to bring the pipe into the well and fill up all the ground.

This is not a problem if you have not completed the drainage system during construction. It can be done later, if necessary, even when the house is already built.

The vertical basement isolation

If you want warm, dry rooms in your house, that part of the construction of the house is very important. It should be noted that the vertical insulation, as well as basement ceiling insulation, must be done after the construction itself.

Types of vertical basement insulation:

1. bitumen;
2. insulation by means of roll materials;
3. liquid rubber insulation;
4. penetration;
5. plaster.

Bitumen insulation

This is the cheapest way of insulation. It works thanks to the fact that the hot bitumen resin should smear the outside of the basement to the bottom. This procedure should be done with great care to fill all the pores in the concrete. This isolation will last about five years, after that the bitumen begins to crack and moisture begins to pass. Net bitumen can be changed on the mastic made of polymer bitumen. Such material will serve you much longer.

Insulation by means of roll materials

This method can be used independently or be combined with other methods of insulation. The most popular material (and the cheapest one at the same time) are prepared roofing paper and fiberglass. Anchoring on the working surface takes place after treatment with related materials. This can be good mastic and the bitumen primer. Then it needs to be heated up with the gas burner and then attached to the surface (for about 6-8 inches overlapped). If you don’t want to mess around with a burner, you can use a special adhesive mastic. Modern technologies of nowadays market offer different modern materials (izol, rubitex, etc.) for this type of insulation which are more quality than, for example, fiberglass insulation. They have improved waterproofing characteristics, but they are more expensive.

Liquid rubber insulation

Its advantage is in the fact that it’s well connected with the working surface, durable and fire-resistant. If you perform basement insulation of the house with your own hands, you can use one-component liquid rubber. It is applied in layers, each of which should dry for at least 24 hours. Before you apply the liquid rubber to the working surface, you need to remove dust carefully and then to prime it. Just one hour may be enough to put the liquid rubber.

Penetrating insulation

This method is based on the use of the materials which, after application into the concrete, crystallize inside. The crystals formed repel water well, increase frost resistance and prevent the destruction of the concrete. Apply the material to the wet concrete waterproofing. The surface should be pre-cleaned of dust carefully and well-moistened afterwards. The material is applied in several layers.

Plastering insulation

This method allows you to level the surface of the basement, as well as to perform insulation. Nowadays market has many special plaster mixtures that contain strong water-resistant components (for example, mastic asphalt, polymer concrete, etc.). Plastering the surface is best to perform in a hot manner to prevent cracking. The plastered surface should dry completely. Then you should make make a “clay lock”.

We hope this article helped you to find an answer to the question how to install insulation in basement with your own hands.