The insulation is then laid followed by a polythene separating layer and either a concrete screed or tongue and groove chipboard ready to receive the specified floor finish.
How to lay a concrete floor with insulation uk.
Get an understanding about the importance and what is involved in insulating a floor slab.
Most modern buildings have insulation built into the floor structure.
Insulation is laid on the concrete and covered with a screed.
If you have an existing concrete floor or newly laid floor slab with minimal levels of damp you can lay a slimline floor membrane over the top and lap it up the walls or a 1200 gauge dpm.
Super insulating an existing floor may pose problems with room heights in many buildings.
Before you lay your concrete floor you ll need to take a few things into consideration the first of which will be your building regulations.
If a vinyl or lino is being used we would advise the use of a plywood over the top of the floorfoam.
Lightweight rigid polyisocyanurate pir foam insulation boards such as those manufactured by celotex are among the most thermally efficient commonly available.
Insulating the floor in a renovation or conversion is challenging but even more important as it is unlikely that there is adequate insulation in the existing sub floor.
Wood laminate flooring can be installed directly on top of floorfoam.
Typically 75 100mm of rigid.
If your concrete floor needs to be reinforced in areas which are likely to be heavily loaded such as garages then a metal mesh standing on plastic feet will be put down before the concrete is poured.
Insulating a floor slab how to lay insulation under a concrete floor slab.
We recommend to use a carpet underlay prior to a carpet being installed.
But it isn t cheap and it can cause additional problems such as raising the floor level too much.
Once your concrete floor has been covered with floorfoam next you can install your desired flooring.
Once the concrete has been levelled and has set the insulation will go down if it didn t go down before.
Insulating a concrete floor alternative options.
The method shown above is the best way to insulate a concrete floor without digging it up and laying it again with insulation added below the finished surface.
There will be a damp proof membrane under the insulation and possibly a second membrane on top depending on the type of screed.
In this scenario a rigid foam insulation is usual and as you d want the same u value in the roof we need the same thickness of insulation 180mm.
This isolates the slab below from any floor covering applied above.
Laying a concrete floor is a very labour intensive task and cannot be performed alone so ensure you have a few hands to help you before you begin.
How to lay insulation under a concrete floor slab and advice on target u values damp proof membranes and underfloor insulation boards.