Insulating the insulation

In the 80s the most common insulation layer thickness was 5 cm. A large number of buildings, including those constructed from prefabricated concrete slabs, were insulated with ETICS of this, to put it mildly, not too suitable insulating layer thickness.

Today, after years of research, tests and experiments, we know, that the optimal thermal insulating layer should be far thicker than that mere 5 cm!

Thanks to infra red mapping, the designers , contractors and investors, are much more conscious of the insulation issue what results in the necessity of improving the insulation of partitions in buildings already insulated.

Photo 1 (left): Gable wall of a prefabricated concrete slab building. Visible wall insulation inhomogeneity with a mean heat-transfer coefficient of U=1,89 W/m2K.

Photo 2 ( right): Prefabricated concrete slab longitudinal wall. Visible thermal bridges at slab joints, between the thermal insulation panels, around anchors and window openings.

The solution for these defects is the RENOVADEX system which enables thickening the entire system without removing the existing insulating layer. This technology dramatically cuts the costs incurred by removing the existing thermal insulation layer and utilizing the waste.

This thickening process, however, must be preceded by inspecting the insulating layer as regards it technical shape. Careful attention must be paid to the bonding and adherence of the insulation system to the carrying substrate. This requires destructive and endoscopic testing. Such tests will provide data for reasonable assessment of the technical shape of the substrate for the RENOVADEX system.

Should the tests reveal insufficient bonding properties, the RENOVADEX system enables improving them.

Generally speaking the system includes laying a new insulating layer on the old one and fixing it to the substrate with highest quality PU adhesives and special, plastic, plateless anchors

These fixing pins, with a hollow, perforated stem, enable leaking the PU adhesive out through special slots, penetrating and filling up the surrounding zone of the pin and thus provide for very strong anchoring alongside its entire length. One of the biggest advantages of this system is the elimination of thermal bridges of mechanical anchors, since in this case, the binding material is the insulation material, unlike in the case of plastic mechanical anchors but with a metal stem.

Infra red photos from the article "Termowizja - narzędzie kontroli jakości" (infrared mapping – instruments of quality control)by: Jerzy Żurawski JaCo Ośrodek Oszczędzania Energii