How to insulate the floor on the balcony?

Today many owners of apartments spend capital insulation of balconies and loggias. Thanks to this decision, it is possible to expand the living space, because a quality insulated balcony is a few additional square meters. The insulated loggia can be used as a separate room (for example, there you can equip a mini-cabinet or winter garden) or as an addition to the room. In the latter case, carry out the demolition of the balcony block and install sliding doors. With the doors open, the room and the loggia form a single whole. Of course, you can conduct a complete unification of the premises, but if the apartment is located in an apartment building, then the permission for such redevelopment, most likely, will not be given.

Warming of balconies, as a rule, begin with glazing, installing windows with plastic or metal-plastic profiles. Then, the walls, the ceiling are insulated and, lastly, the floor is insulated on the balcony.

As a rule, the balcony floor is a bare concrete slab, which is a poor heat insulator. If you leave the floor the way it is, the microclimate on the loggia will suffer, as the cold and damp from the bottom plate.

To insulate the floor on the balcony, you can use different materials. Each of the thermal insulation materials has its advantages and disadvantages.

For example, claydite in this quality is undesirable, since to achieve the effect it will be necessary to pour a very thick layer of this material.

Mineral cotton wool, in order to insulate the floor on the balcony, fits better. However, when using this material, it is necessary to make a qualitative vapor barrier, otherwise the mineral wool will quickly get wet and cease to cope with its functions.

Very affordable and, at the same time, having good insulating properties, the material of thermal insulation of the floors is polystyrene foam or the most common foam. This material practically does not conduct heat, does not absorb moisture and is almost an ideal warming agent.

To insulate the floor on the balcony, you can use a modern material, such as isokam. When using this material, you can use relatively thin layers of insulation, although the qualitative characteristics of the isokam can be attributed to the elite insulation materials. The only drawback is the relatively high cost.

Warming the floor on the balcony can be using different methods. For example, you can raise the level of the floor to the level of the door opening leading to the balcony. For this, one or two layers of foam are first laid on the slab, the joints between the sheets being filled with mounting foam. Then, over the insulation make a cement-sand screed, on top of which the finish coat is laid. Flooring on the balcony can be done with any material - boards, laminate, linoleum, tile or even carpet.

In some cases, it is convenient to use wooden logs. Reiki, before laying on the balcony slab it is desirable to treat with an antiseptic. Reiki mount on the floor, making sure that the distance between adjacent lags does not exceed half a meter.

Then between the slats stack insulation (minvat or the same polystyrene). The layer of insulation material should not be less than 30 cm. The next layer is waterproofing, the seams on which are sealed with a metallized tape.

Now it's time to lay the moisture-proof plywood, which is laid on the floor and fastened to the lags. And only then, on the leveled insulated floor, the finishing finish is laid.

Is it possible to install a floor heating system on the balcony? If we are talking about an apartment located in a high-rise building, then this conversion is unlikely to get permission

Warm floors can be used for heating hot water (option connected to a heating system) or electricity. In the first case, it will be completely impossible to connect to the central hot water piping, since the controlling authorities strictly prohibit interfering with the common life support systems. As for the electrical system "warm floor", to connect it, more often, it requires additional power, which is quite expensive.