Insulation of a balcony door is warmth and comfort in the house

Repair and decoration

05/30/2018 Anastasia Prozheva

I always want to keep warm and cozy in the house. In modern apartments, the most problematic place is the balcony structure, in particular, its door. In this regard, you should think in advance about the question of how to insulate a balcony door and how to do it yourself. As in any other issue, first of all it is necessary to determine the reason: how the cold air gets into the apartment. Only after that, you can choose the right way of insulation and get a high-quality result.

We insulate wooden doors

One of the primary reasons for cold access to an apartment is the installation of a wooden door on the balcony. In principle, if we assume that the door leaf is a wooden structure, then such a door is simply irreplaceable. But often, the doors to the balcony consist of panels that are not able to cope with such a task as keeping the precious heat in the apartment. Too many problems drag such doors to the balcony with them:

• poor sealing of joints;
• poor insulation, and often generally non-insulated door leaf;
• drafts;
• poor-quality embedding of slopes.

First of all, before starting work, you should determine all the reasons, and only then proceed to eliminate them. And if you carry out everything in a complex, then the result is guaranteed.

Necessary materials

To carry out work on the insulation of wooden balcony doors with your own hands, you first need to stock up on all the materials that are required for this. First of all, you need to purchase insulation. This material is different for each direction. For example, for arranging the door leaf, we stock up on foam rubber, insulate the slopes with foam or glass wool, to seal the joints we use a conventional seal. You will also need wood putty, door upholstery material and plaster mixes for finishing slopes.

Criterias of choice

When choosing a heater for a street door, the following points are taken into account:

• the thickness of the thermal insulation must correspond to the operating parameters of the structure being equipped, not to interfere with the normal functioning of the elements of the entrance group;
• the total weight of the insulation and sheathing complete with fasteners should not contribute to the weight of the canvas.

When arranging the thermal insulation of the street door of a country house, it is allowed to use materials with not very high durability characteristics, since a low intensity of operation is assumed. For the insulation of an entrance block in a private house, strict requirements are imposed on the choice of materials and installation in order to exclude quick wear and the need for repeated work on thermal insulation.

Step-by-step instruction

With the problem of how to insulate a wooden balcony door with your own hands, this instruction will help you figure it out:

• We clean the door leaf from the old paint and carefully examine it to see where there are defects in the thermal insulation. We seal all the joints of the panels with putty.
• We release the door leaf from all kinds of accessories: hinges, handles and other things. We arrange it so that it is convenient to carry out the work. We cut the upholstery material in pieces with dimensions that will be slightly larger than the insulated surface, and attach it along one edge of the door. For this, it is better to use special upholstery nails.
• We put foam rubber on the surface to be insulated.
• Gradually pulling the upholstery fabric from the fixed edge, we continue to fasten it every 15–20 cm. At the same time, do not forget to tuck the edge of the upholstery inward.
• Then three foam rubber strips are cut in accordance with the following dimensions: the width is equal to the thickness of the door, and the length of two strips is equal to its height, and the third is the width. We also harvest strips from upholstery material. The length of these strips is the same as that of foam rubber, and the width is about 10-15 cm. Strips of finishing material are nailed on three sides.
• We equip a seal made of foam rubber strips, wrapping them with already attached upholstery, and then fix them so that they can block the gap between the door frame and the canvas itself.
• We mount the hardware on the canvas and install it in place. For additional sealing, you can lay a seal around the perimeter of the box. However, if all the insulation work is done correctly, then this may not be necessary.
• In order to qualitatively insulate a balcony door for the winter, it is necessary to close up the gaps between the door leaf and the glass.

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It is possible to insulate the door leaf on one side or on both sides at the same time.

In addition, it should be remembered that the balcony door is not always the cause of heat loss. Cold can also penetrate through the slopes of the window structure, in this regard, they should also be given special attention.

How can you insulate the front door

The guarantee of future comfort depends on the selected material, for the sake of which the insulation was started. And if a few decades ago only felt, foam rubber and dermantin were available, today the choice is much greater. And here's what the manufacturers offer:

• Mineral wool;
• Styrofoam;
• Izolon;
• Expanded polystyrene.

Mineral wool, like polystyrene, is most often taken as the basis for insulation for metal door leaves.... Both materials perfectly retain heat indoors and are not susceptible to the influence of microorganisms. Mineral wool is also worth noting because no rodents will spoil this insulation.

Mineral wool absorbs moisture

But these materials have some restrictions on their use.

Polyfoam belongs to the category of combustible insulation, therefore its use for working with wood is possible only when processed with special compounds. And the "disease" of mineral wool is subsidence. Over time, the sheathing may end up at the bottom of the canvas and no longer retain heat. In addition, mineral wool accumulates moisture inside itself, which adds weight to the entire structure. Therefore, such material should not be used to insulate a bath or sauna.

Isolon is more justified to achieve the heat retention goal. This material is made on the basis of polyethylene foam, which gives it minimal thermal conductivity.... The advantages of the material include the fact that a canvas 10-15 mm thick will be enough for work. This allows you to maintain an attractive appearance of the door leaf without thickening it or making it bulky.

We insulate plastic doors

The process of insulating a plastic structure as such is impossible, since the structure is produced in finished form and does not provide for such kind of work. Based on this, when ordering the appropriate PVC products, it is worth consulting with specialists in advance and choosing the required configuration.

Types of double-glazed windows

It is best when the ordered products contain a two-chamber or three-chamber double-glazed unit. Although there are times when doors are installed without using double-glazed windows. But it doesn't always look aesthetically pleasing. Answering the question of how to insulate a plastic balcony door, we come to the following conclusion. Since PVC doors are a sealed structure, the problem of cold air entering the apartment should be solved by eliminating cracks in the slopes and thresholds, as well as replacing the sealing gum.Another reason is the incorrectly adjusted door. We will figure out how you can eliminate all these disadvantages with your own hands.

Types of heaters

When choosing a suitable insulation, first of all, the operational characteristics of the material and the installation features are taken into account.

Foam rubber

This type of porous insulation is one of the most affordable solutions. In addition, the installation of foam rubber is extremely simple, which determines the popularity of the material when arranging an entrance door in a private house. However, in terms of functional parameters, foam rubber is somewhat inferior to modern analogies, which are endowed with improved heat and sound insulation properties.

Styrofoam

Styrofoam is considered to be one of the most inexpensive ways to prevent heat loss through the entrance area:

• due to the lightness of the porous composition, loads on structural elements and fastenings of the door block are excluded;
• the presence of numerous air cells in the composition provides an effective barrier against the leakage of warm flows from the room;
• the product has high sound insulation characteristics.

Polyfoam, as a common type of insulator, stands out for its excellent strength and wear resistance, which determines the duration of its service life.

Polyfoam stands out for its excellent strength and wear resistance

Minvata

Insulation based on mineral fibers contributes to effective heat conservation, copes well with temperature changes. The potential of mineral wool also provides for a high level of noise absorption. The material has the ability to recover in size after compression, is easy to install, and is sold in a democratic segment. Among the disadvantages of mineral wool, susceptibility to moisture is noted. When deciding how to insulate a metal front door in a private house, stone wool is often preferred, since this type of mineral wool is not afraid of a humid environment.

Mineral wool promotes efficient heat conservation

Foamed polyethylene

Izolon - foamed polyethylene - is a relatively expensive type of thermal insulation. Among the competitive advantages of the material are high thermal protection properties, the minimum thickness of the product, and the presence of an adhesive base. Due to the sticky surface, the isolon is easily fixed on the equipped base. In structure, foamed polyethylene resembles foam rubber, while it has excellent strength indicators and provides a long service life. It should be borne in mind that isolon reacts negatively to prolonged exposure to UF radiation.

Polyurethane foam

The characteristic structure of polyurethane foam allows filling all cavities of the treated surface, without exception, with the formation of a continuous heat-insulating sheet. The material is applied using special equipment. Insulation of the front door with polyurethane foam involves considerable financial investments, however, the high cost of products is leveled by high performance properties.

Expanded polystyrene

Expanded polystyrene, as a type of foam, has a denser structure and, with a relatively small thickness, has the same properties as foam with more impressive dimensions. The material is not afraid of moisture, has self-extinguishing properties when exposed to a flame, and is able to provide a high level of thermal insulation for the structure being built.

Expanded polystyrene is able to provide a high level of thermal insulation of the structure being built

Determine the reason

Choosing a way to insulate a balcony door on your own for the winter, we determine the weak points. This is not difficult at all, you need to follow these steps:

• Inspect the slopes. The fact is that when performing work on the installation of a balcony structure, the integrity of the slopes is most often violated. Voids may appear when the cracks are blown out with polyurethane foam.You can check this fact with a lit candle. Its flame will tell you exactly where the cold air flows.
• Checking the threshold. This is one of the weakest points. He gets the most attention.
• After installing the door structure, we check the tightness of its abutment. If necessary, we carry out the appropriate adjustment of the fittings.

Do not forget that the density of the adjoining door to the door frame in winter and summer should be different. Therefore, twice a year we carry out the procedure for regulating the structure - transfers to the appropriate operating modes.

How to insulate a metal street door in a private house?

The process of thermal insulation of a metal entrance group includes the following stages:

• dismantle the door leaf, remove the fittings;
• remove the skin (lining), remove the old insulation layer;
• the inner cavity of the stiffeners is filled with polyurethane foam;
• if thermal insulation is planned from mineral wool, the base is equipped with a polyethylene hydro-barrier;
• cut insulation with a small margin in order to neutralize the risk of cold bridges formation;
• lay the insulation with polyurethane foam or liquid nails;
• if necessary, the layer is supplemented with waterproofing.

Next, they proceed to fastening the metal lining, install the door hardware. After revising the box and laying the sealant, the canvas can be hung on the hinges.

Insulation of slopes

Sectional slope trim

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This process is performed in several ways, for clarity, we will pay attention to plastic slopes and consider an example of their insulation. Work should be performed according to the following algorithm:

• First of all, the crate is mounted. It is better to execute it from a metal profile, since it is in these places that a large amount of moisture accumulates. The wooden structure can be deformed.
• We attach the starter strip of plastic to the edge of the PVC structure.
• We put insulation inside the crate.
• Insert plastic into the starting strip and close the gap between it and the opening with a special plastic corner.

Before starting the insulation of the balcony door with sealing the slopes, do not forget to check how well the foaming of the joints is made.

In a similar way, you can insulate the slopes using drywall. But in this case, you will have to perform additional work on finishing the slopes. They will need to be putty and painted. Slopes are also insulated with foam. For this, special adhesive mixtures are used. After installing the foam sheets, they should be reinforced and putty.