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About PENOPLEX / Insulation of foundations / Low-rises

Today, the share of low-rise buildings (cottages, hangars, pavilions, agricultural structures, buildings and structures of the lumbering industry, etc.) in the total construction volume has risen. The cost of foundation construction for these buildings in most regions of Northwest Russia, where seasonal ground freezing occurs, is 25 to 45 percent of the total building cost.

Massive foundations do not always sufficiently counteract tangent forces from heaving of the frozen soil. Deformations may lead to damaging and even destruction of various building’s structures already during the first year of operation.

When designing shallow foundations, you should not focus your strategies around counteracting frost heaving, but rather on reducing the deformations they cause to fit an accepted range for a particular buildings or structure (VSN 29-85). For a layer of thermal insulation installed near exterior foundations (under the bridge), calculate its thickness, and install it at a depth of 20-30 cm at a slight angle down from the building with a width of at least 1 meter. In this case, your insulation will also drain surface water away from the foundation.

We recommend building less massive and inexpensive shallow foundation (see SNiP 2.02.01-83*). PENOPLEX^® boards laid along the perimeter of a building help avoid frost heaving and create comfortable conditions in basements and other substructure elements of a building.

Insulation of foundation bed Insulation of exterior wall Insulation of crawlspace wall Insulation of floors