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How to Waterproof your Home’s Foundation Walls Insulation

Learning about Different Aspects of Insulation

Believe it or not, there is more to installing insulation than just purchasing the right material and following the given installation instructions. Namely, if you are planning on organizing a DIY insulation project, then you will need to know a bit about every aspect of installing insulation. Although the insulation itself has the basic purpose of protecting your home from some potentially harmful exterior effects, such as extreme temperature, wind loads, rain and snow etc, sometimes the insulation also needs protection. Basically, in order of making sure that the installed insulation will serve its purpose, you will need to take some additional precaution measures that will only upgrade the efficiency of the chosen insulation material, why you need to know how to waterproof your home’s foundation wall insulation.

Step by Step Guide to Foundation Walls Insulation

Foundation walls are probably the most important part of a building envelope, why they most certainly deserve special attention. They should be constructed so they can withheld the entire building structure and properly repaired in case of any damage, especially cracks that can appear on the surface due to many different factors which are a very common nuisance with foundation walls. This is why we advise you to take equal care when designing, constructing and insulating you foundation walls.

Now, waterproofing is equally important regardless of the building element you are insulating, why everything said about waterproofing foundation walls insulation can be equally applied to the rest of your home’s insulation. Waterproofing means protecting your walls from the effects of water, moisture and condensation caused by different both internal and external factors. If the walls are not properly waterproofed, the water can easily reach the interior and cause serious damage including wall deterioration. On the other hand, if insulation is not installed onto a waterproofed wall, the moisture can penetrate inside the insulation structure and cause it to lose its protections and thermal insulation effectiveness. What you will end up with is soaked insulation material that will simply allow the water to go through the insulation and straight onto the interior surface of the wall. Now, some insulation materials are more moisture resistant than others, so this is another factor to consider when choosing and installing wall insulation. However, regardless of the moisture resistance characteristics of the material, this does not mean that waterproofing should be a must in every foundation wall. This is why we advise you read and implement the following few lines on waterproofing wall insulation, which includes a few simple steps, as follows:

  1. The first thing you need to do is make sure that the wall surface is smooth and clean. Simply remove all the irregularities from the wall surface and make sure that the wall is flat and smooth. Then, use a proper cleanser to remove and remaining dirt or dust from the wall surface.

  2. The second step involves measuring firstly your foundation walls in order of determining how much material you need. You need to measure the chosen waterproof membrane and insulation material so you will make sure that the purchased materials will be enough to cover the entire surface of the wall. A good thing is that certain insulation options (mostly rigid insulation boards) come with a waterproof membrane already attached to its surface, so, although initially more expansive, you can save yourself some time and order a two in one product.

  3. Once you have determined just how much of the material you need, it is time to move on to step number three in waterproofing your foundation wall insulation which includes marking the measurements onto the waterproofing membrane and cutting it to the right size. This is an easy task, since most membranes can be easily cut with a pair of scissors or a utility knife. Make sure to mark and cut the membrane precisely since this will influence the rest of the project.

  4. You will now need to fix the membrane onto the wall by using tacks or a staple gun, so this should be a pretty straightforward tax. In case there are any joints in the membrane, make sure to overlap them so that the water cannot penetrate and damage the membrane.

  1. Once the wall is covered with the waterproofing membrane, you can install the chosen insulation material. The installation process will depend on the insulation product you have decided to use for your DIY foundation walls insulation project. Anyhow, the insulation needs to be fixed securely and firmly onto the wall, so that there are no loose ends and gaps in the insulation. Most commonly used options are rock wool or different types of rigid insulation boards.

  1. Finally, you can end your foundation walls insulation project by adding a decorative finish onto the installed insulation, by using plaster or a dry wall.

 

Buy insulation online at Insulation London for less money and fast delivery. If you need our help in choosing the right product contact us at info@insulationlondon.co.