An ordinary uninfected balcony brings little benefit to its owners. The maximum how you can use it as a landfill of different trash, linen dryers and smoking places. And then, the last two points in winter may disappear. But if the balcony is glazed and well insulated, then a completely different matter. It practically becomes an additional room in the house, and you can use it already for a lot of more goals.
Glazing of the balcony, as a rule, are carried out by experts. This is a rather difficult job, requiring experience, knowledge and accuracy. Therefore, it is recommended to resort precisely to the help of specialized firms, if you decide to glaze and insulate the balcony. But if this option is not suitable for you, then in principle you can try to warm the balcony yourself.
For glazing the window of the window, only metal -plastic ones need to be chosen, since wooden are very short -lived, and the metallic ones do not retain heat. It is desirable that the windows are sliding – this will save a lot of space when they open them. But if you put the swing ones, then get windows with small wings. For the balcony, you should buy windows with a large thickness of the profile and energy -saving glasses – this will provide good thermal insulation.
The insulation of the balcony consists of insulation of the outer walls, ceiling and floor. The ceiling and walls overlooking the street are advisable to insulate with several layers of foam – foamed polyethylene, covered with aluminum foil. This material provides good protection against heat loss, does not pass and does not absorb water, has good soundproofing, you can also buy raw rubber for better insulation. First, close all the cracks with construction tape so that the balcony does not blow out anywhere. Then fix the wooden rails along the walls and on the ceiling, to which isolation will be mounted.
Attach the first layer of foam to the rails, then lay the foam panel on top of it. Over the foam over the foam again lay a layer of foam. Such triple isolation will provide reliable protection against cold in winter. The floor is insulated with the same materials: you can put one or more layers of the foam, and lay the laminate over it. Subsequently, decorate the ceiling and walls with plasterboard and install the baseboard. Everything, now no weather whims are afraid of the balcony!