Insulating wooden house roof

Although, most wooden cottages today are little different from homes that can be lived in all year round, the issue of insulating a wooden house is still quite often discussed.

If, in the case of a residential house, we are considering which insulation method to choose when building a wooden summer house, first of all, we ask ourselves whether it is worth investing in this process.

What is the importance of roof insulation?

Roof is the part of the building that protects the premises from external influences: heat, cold, rain, and ensures a cozy microclimate inside the building. However, the external influences from which the premises are protected have a significant impact on the condition of the roof.

The roof is undergoing severe climate change, which is affecting its structural parts.

An unattended or leaky roof often causes the greatest heat loss - as the warm air in the building rises, as much as 30% and more of the heat energy is wasted through a poorly maintained roof. Along with the warmth, the building is also abandoned by the coziness and comfort of the residents. Therefore, it is very important to find a reliable way to stop the leakage of warm air through the roof and its structures and to properly insulate the roof of the building.

What materials are used to insulate the roof?

According to common practice, roof insulation usually only makes sense if the second floor of the house is used for living quarters. If the roof is used as a simple attic, it is recommended to pay attention not to the roof, but to the insulation of ceiling ceilings. When warm air rises to the top, it is especially important that the ceiling is airtight and does not contain even the slightest cracks through which heat could enter the outside.

Stone wool is the most common method of roof insulation

Most commonly used insulation material is mineral wool. By using mineral wool to insulate wooden houses, consumers reduce energy consumption in buildings, and by choosing insulating materials that meet ecological and sustainable development standards, they have a double benefit for the environment, as they use less energy and do not use harmful substances.

The group of mineral wools includes both glass mineral wool and stone wool. The main difference between these products is the raw materials and production technology.

At Timber Cabins we use stone wool for roof insulation as we find it to be the most suitable option for wooden structures.

• Advantages - common insulation solution among designers and contractors, non-combustible material, wide specialized range and application.

• Disadvantages - high costs of insulation work, high requirements for the qualification of contractors, poor tightness parameters at even the slightest deviation from the technology.

Another popular material for ceiling insulation is polyurethane foam, which price depends on the density of this material. If you are considering higher quality insulation, we recommend that you consider using foam boards with a milled edge. They have a particularly excellent joint and will therefore help to ensure thermal insulation.

• Advantages - maximally tight seamless insulation technology, almost twice as thin a layer as stone wool is sufficient to achieve thermal insulation, durability, possibility to adjust the density of the material according to the specifics of the construction, works fast.

• Disadvantages - the quality of polyurethane requires the latest technological equipment, high qualification of employees, insufficiently fast improvement of fire parameters.

Ceiling insulation

The insulation of the ceiling is no different from the insulation of the floor. Only difference is that floor boards are used to cover the house instead of the logs. Chosen heat insulator is placed between the ceiling beams and surrounded by a steam bottom and a hydro insulator from above. Structure is later covered with boards and a drywall attached on top of them that will be the basis of the second floor.

Roof insulation

That’s where you definitely should not save. The roof serves in particularly difficult conditions; it is affected by rain, snow, rain and temperature changes, so when choosing an insulation material, first think about the quality, and then about the cost.

We offer tin, tile and bituminous roofing options.The selected roof covering does not affect roof insulation process, except slight difference in final steps of fixing the covering.

There is no essential difference in how to insulate a pitched roof - regardless of whether we insulate the roof itself or the ceiling. The minimum required thermal insulation thickness for the ceiling will be the same as for the slope. In the insulation structure of the ceiling, same as in the sloping - it will be placed between the wooden structures.

In short - we form all the necessary layers, films and air gaps so that the stone wool can breathe and no moisture will accumulate.

Relater articles:

How to insulate wooden house walls.

How to insulate your wooden cottage floor.