Insulating Under Concrete Garage Floor

Adding insulation under the concrete floor requires the same skill set and equipment as forming and pouring the concrete slab.

Insulating under concrete garage floor.

The basement walls and floors of older homes are generally uninsulated. The edge of the concrete floor slab is usually uninsulated the sides of the concrete slab also referred to as the perimeter wall is often forgotten or not considered at all with respect to the thermal envelope. Run the polyethylene up the sides of the walls 3 to 4 inches and secure to the walls with construction tape. An uninsulated or under insulated basement floor is a major source of heat loss in the home.

Multiple uses insulation boards can be laid over both concrete and suspended wooden floors. Insulation below the slab suits continuous low level heating gradually warming the thermal mass of the concrete and sustaining it at a consistent temperature. Insulating concrete garage floors begins with covering the entire floor with 6 mil polyethylene which will serve as a vapor barrier. Where the heating is likely to be turned on and off such as in new build domestic properties and a faster thermal response is required the floating floor arrangement of insulation above the slab can be more appropriate.

I need to insulate the floor and was planning on doing. Step 1 excavate the area under the slab to 12 inches below the planned level of the top of the slab. Three key benefits of insulating the concrete floors in the basement are heat loss prevention moisture prevention and a higher level of comfort. Rapid room warming placing insulation boards above the concrete floor will mean the room warms quickly.

Easy to handle insulation boards are fairly light easy to manoeuvre and easy to cut to size. These all assume that the existing floor of the garage is a solid concrete slab and any irregularities in the floor do not exceed 5 mm over a 3 m straight line. Concrete floor this is where the insulation such as kingspan kooltherm k103 is laid on top of the existing concrete slab and final layer of screed added above this.