Polystyrene foam insulation - cheap, but not great?

The best price for turnkey home finishing!

Did the house you built or purchased turn out to be cold? One way to solve the problem is to insulate the facade with expanded polystyrene. This method has a number of undeniable advantages:

• Installation of polystyrene foam on the outside of the building does not reduce the area of ​​the house and does not interfere with the interior decoration;
• An insulated facade stabilizes the temperature in the house, preventing daily fluctuations from affecting the indoor microclimate;
• The dew point for external insulation is located outside the load-bearing walls, which does not allow them to accumulate moisture and prevents freezing;
• In the summer heat, thermal insulation also helps maintain a comfortable temperature in the house, preventing the walls from heating up.

Our specialization is the construction of houses and cottages in Moscow and the Moscow region, so insulating the walls of a house with polystyrene foam is a common job for our craftsmen. We can turn a cold cottage that freezes in winter into warm, comfortable housing quickly, efficiently and inexpensively - fortunately, the insulation method itself is a fairly budget-friendly solution to the problem.

The cost of façade insulation works. Price per m2

As you can see, the prices are reasonable. The company also provides a full package of documents, including a long-term guarantee for all work performed. If you want to order facade insulation with polystyrene foam, the price will be announced to you after the surveyor’s visit, and after the contract is signed, it will not increase.

What else can affect the cost of facade insulation in Moscow?

In addition to the main cost of insulation (labor + materials), there are other cost items. For example, indirect costs, which are also included in the estimate, include the following items:

• Remoteness of the object.
  They affect transportation costs (delivery of all necessary materials, transportation of scaffolding, relocation of household premises).
• Availability of scaffolding at the site.
  If the scaffolding is provided by the Customer himself, then the costs are reduced by the cost of renting the scaffolding itself and their transportation.
• Possibility of placing workers
  on site.
• Various finishing options.
  The presence of decorative elements and facing materials on the facade play a very important role. Additional finishing materials give the facade a unique style.
• Weather.
  This applies only to the winter season, when the average temperature should not be below +5C. If the priority is the timing of the work on façade insulation, then in these situations additional measures are applied related to the installation of a thermal circuit throughout the façade building to maintain the required temperature.

Properties of expanded polystyrene

Expanded polystyrene has many useful properties and a fairly wide range of advantages over other materials that are used for insulating facades:

• Expanded polystyrene has low thermal conductivity: a 3 cm thick slab replaces 43 cm thick brickwork, 10 cm of wood or 25 cm of foam concrete.
• The slabs are highly durable and do not deform over time - this is one of the most durable insulation materials;
• Expanded polystyrene practically does not absorb moisture, which compares favorably with mineral and basalt wool;
• The material has a low level of fire hazard - it does not ignite and only with prolonged exposure to an open flame or very high temperatures does it begin to melt;
• The boards are resistant to aggressive environments (chemicals);
• The operating temperature range of expanded polystyrene is from -50 to +75 degrees;
• Expanded polystyrene is environmentally friendly, it is completely safe for the health of people and animals living in the house;

With all the advantages listed above, the material has an affordable price - insulating the facade with polystyrene foam works effectively and is inexpensive for the developer.

Cost of work on façade insulation with polystyrene foam

The cost of any construction work traditionally consists of the cost of the material itself and the work of the construction team. Today, many companies offer facade work on a turnkey basis, i.e. The indicated price includes materials, preparatory work, and finishing coating.

Prices for insulating facades with foam plastic range from 1600-2000 rubles/sq.m. At the same time, the price increases slightly for a work area of ​​less than 100 square meters and decreases slightly for an area of ​​more than 350 meters. The given numbers are relevant for insulation of medium thickness, i.e. 10 cm, if thicker insulation is used, the price will increase proportionally. The scope of work offered by construction companies is usually standard and includes installation of scaffolding, cleaning of the facade, installation of corner and window profiles, fastening of insulation, mesh reinforcement with the application of a double adhesive layer and finishing coating with decorative plaster. Some companies add facade painting to this list.

Modern market realities force construction companies, in order to attract clients, to separately allocate the cost of work only on facade insulation, without materials. This allows the developer to order work with materials he purchased himself and provides significant savings, since the cost of insulation in this case will be 700-1000 rubles/sq.m. In this case, only the prices of registered construction organizations are considered. If you use semi-legal teams, the price will be significantly lower, but the quality is also highly questionable. As for saving on purchasing materials yourself, you first need to understand their composition. For insulation you will need:

• primer
• glue for insulation
• Styrofoam
• dowels
• reinforcing mesh
• plaster
• decorative plaster
• finishing coating.

Quite a large list, the price of each element of which “jumps” quite decently depending on the quality of the material or the promotion of the manufacturer. However, for insulation, the most significant characteristic is the thickness of the foam. The recommended insulation thickness for residential buildings is 10-25 cm, depending on the region. There are recommendations to insulate facades with foam plastic 5 cm thick, but in reality, this does not greatly reduce the heat loss of the building. Prices for polystyrene foam for insulation range from 2000-2300 rubles/cubic meter. for the PSB-S-25F brand, 2500-3000 rub./cub.m. for PSB-S-35 and 3500-4000 rub./cub.m. for PSB-S-50). If we translate this into area, then 1 sq.m. insulation costs from 150 to 400 rubles, depending on thickness and density. If the thickness is 5-10 cm, then its price is from 50 to 100 rubles per sq.m. If you add up the cost of all the materials mentioned above per 1 sq.m., you will get an amount of 250-500 rubles per sq.m. m.

This is significantly less than the 700-1000 rubles laid down by construction organizations for each square meter, even with the maximum thickness and cost of polystyrene foam.

Which polystyrene foam to choose for home insulation

How effective the insulation of a facade with polystyrene foam will be depends on the characteristics of the insulation. The industry offers a special type of facade polystyrene foam - its brand is PSB-S M-25F. The density of slabs made of this material is 25 kg/m3, and this is the minimum density of expanded polystyrene for use in central Russia. The size of the sheets can be 1 x 1 m, 1.5 x 1 m or 2 x 1 m. Usually the facade has a significant area, so it is worth choosing slabs 2 meters long.

The thickness of expanded polystyrene for insulating facades varies from 50 to 80 mm. The slopes of door and window openings also need to be insulated. For them, polystyrene foam is purchased, the slabs of which are 30 mm thick. When choosing a material for insulating a house, you definitely need to check its quality. To do this, just break the slab and look at the place of the break - the grain size of the material should be uniform. It would also be useful to inquire about the presence of a quality certificate, since, unfortunately, not all manufacturers adhere not only to the requirements of GOST, but also to the recommended technological process as a whole.

Why is foam plastic the best choice for home insulation?

Foam plastic has long earned the respect of builders for its versatility of use for thermal insulation of buildings. Its structure resembles foamed polystyrene - high porosity, resistance to heat transfer.

Insulation is widely used for different types of thermal insulation:

• facades;
• walls from the inside;
• ceilings.

The service of insulating a house with polystyrene foam from the outside is especially popular - for this purpose, a material with a thickness of 80 mm or 100 mm is chosen.

Installation of expanded polystyrene

First of all, you need to make sure that the walls of the house are fairly smooth - if there are unevennesses of more than 1-1.5 cm, they must be removed. The old paint is cleaned, removing exfoliated fragments (PF paint is removed completely), and the walls are primed. The second stage is the installation of the base profile along the entire perimeter of the building. The profile will not allow the insulation boards to slide down and will protect against contact with groundwater.

Next comes the turn of preparing the slabs: if it is extruded polystyrene foam with a smooth surface, the slabs need to be treated with a special grater or rolled with a needle roller - this will increase the adhesion of the insulation to the wall when placed on glue (it must be special for polystyrene foam slabs) and the reliability of fastening the plaster from the outside.

Installation of insulation begins from the corner and is carried out in rows from bottom to top with offset, avoiding the coincidence of vertical seams. The glue is applied with a notched trowel to the wall surface along the perimeter of the slab and fragmentarily in the center. Insulation of slopes is carried out earlier than the plane of the facade around them, using material of less thickness. The ends of the slabs should protrude 1 cm for a tighter connection with the wall insulation. Professional insulation of the facade with polystyrene foam involves the installation of jagged ligation of slabs at the corners of the building, which prevents the formation of cold bridges.

It takes at least a day for the glue to “set”, after which you can proceed to fastening the slabs with disc dowels. It is better to choose plastic nails (they do not conduct heat) 5 cm longer than the thickness of the insulation + glue. Fastening is carried out in the center of the slab and at the junction with other slabs (in the corner, no closer than 15 cm from the edge of the slab). The surfaces of the plate and the cap should ideally lie in the same plane; the cap can be pressed in no more than 0.5 mm. The gaps up to 1.5 cm formed during the installation process are foamed, and strips of insulation are placed in the wider ones. After the foam has dried, the excess is cut off and the facade is immediately covered from direct sunlight - they do not benefit the insulation.

After the insulation of the walls with polystyrene foam is completed, the facade can be plastered using insulation or the cottage can be finished with siding, panels or other materials using ventilated facade technology. Choose your finishing option and call Cottage Expert - we are always ready to offer excellent quality and the best price!

We also carry out external finishing of the facade with plasters: Bark beetle, pebble, Bayramiks, Travertino and Marmarino, beacon plaster, putty and painting of the facade.

How to choose foam plastic for home insulation?

The PSB-S-25 brand is most suitable for this purpose for several reasons:

• excellent thermal insulation properties;
• resistance to external factors and weather conditions;
• light weight;
• prevention of mold and mildew;
• soundproofing the room;
• preventing moisture from getting inside;
• easy installation and processing;
• low price;
• long service life.

How is the work of insulating a house with polystyrene foam carried out?

When insulating the facade of a house with polystyrene foam, our craftsmen in Moscow strictly follow the execution technology. The work is carried out in stages:

1. Preparing the load-bearing wall - cleaning, leveling, priming.
2. Application of adhesive composition.
3. Installation of insulation.
4. Fastening the slabs using fastening dowels.
5. Installation of fiberglass mesh.
6. Applying a leveling reinforcing layer.
7. Final decorative facade finishing.

Prices for insulating houses with foam plastic

Thermal insulation will help reduce heat loss and reduce utility costs. The price for insulating the outside of a house with polystyrene foam depends on the specifics of the service:

• insulation thickness;
• area of ​​insulated surface;
• installation of corner and window profiles;
• choice of finishing coating;
• surface reinforcement.

The final price of the service is low, so it is better not to risk doing the repairs yourself, but to entrust the installation of thermal insulation to professionals.

Cost of work on insulating facades with expanded polystyrene

Expanded polystyrene is one of the types of foam plastic, characterized by increased density, uniformity, thermal insulation and vapor permeability. It can withstand higher heating temperatures; some sources generally indicate extruded polystyrene foam as a non-flammable material. In reality, it, like polystyrene foam, is flammable and releases toxic styrene, but it is more difficult to create conditions for fire.

In any case, expanded polystyrene is recommended by Russian state building standards for use “as the middle layer of a building envelope” (GOST R 53786-2010 “Facade thermal insulation composite systems with external plaster layers. Terms and definitions”). This material is more expensive than regular polystyrene foam, its cost is approximately 1,500 rubles / sq.m. with a thickness of 50mm. On the other hand, higher technical indicators make it possible to use thinner insulation boards for insulation, within 5-10 cm for the average climate zone. The cost of the facade insulation itself differs in direct proportion to the cost of the insulation, since the entire composition of the work and other materials is absolutely the same.