ᐅ Proper Base Insulation in the Entrance Area – How to Do It Correctly?

Hello and happy Easter!

I’ve been struggling for a few days now with the issue of base insulation at the entrance area of our house. The general contractor applied 20cm (8 inches) thick base insulation continuously around all entrance and exit areas (see pictures). This insulation is far from being walkable, and the landscaper who is now going to install the paving and outdoor areas said he cannot lay paving or a terrace on it here, which sounds reasonable to me.

When I asked about this, the general contractor said I could remove the insulation in this area if I wanted, but it is actually planned that way and referred me to the BDF information sheet “Base Details 03-04.” However, the drawing in that document shows installations in the entrance area that we do not have at our place.

How should I deal with the base insulation now? Is it really a problem if I remove it near the external doors? The base area was waterproofed before the insulation was installed.

Does anyone have advice on this?

Thank you!

Here with the base insulation—you can already see the dent from people stepping on it…

Here without base insulation (example at the terrace) with visible waterproofing:

Here the terrace exit with base insulation:

We had a V2A stainless steel sheet installed by the roofer at the base area, with ventilation behind it. I, weighing over 90 kg (198 lbs), wouldn’t walk on it, but visitors do sometimes use it as an exit without any issues so far. The terrace substructure should also be fine, but I wouldn’t be as sure with paving, especially regarding the ventilation.

Standard procedure: if the landscaping contractor doesn’t know what to do, you just have to find one who does. Or bring in a third party (e.g., an architect) to advise them on what needs to be done.

Yes, but what exactly can you do about it? We have this issue not only on the terrace. It’s the same at the main entrance and the side entrance door! So how can I pave the platform up to the doorstep when there is 20cm (8 inches) of base insulation to overcome? I don’t really understand it myself!

MayrCh schrieb:
We had a V2A stainless steel sheet installed by the roofer at the base area, with ventilation behind it. I, weighing over 90 kg (200 lbs), wouldn’t walk on it, but guests often use it as a step, and so far there have been no issues. The substructure of the terrace should also be fine, but I wouldn’t be so sure with paving, especially concerning ventilation.

That wouldn’t work for us. Firstly, it would prevent the idea of an accessible terrace, and secondly, I can already compress the insulation with my thumb, so a metal sheet wouldn’t make much difference. Why ventilation? The terrace isn’t going to be paved anyway. It will be made of wood.

Lumpi_LE schrieb:
Usually, if the landscaping contractor doesn’t know what to do, you just have to find one who does. Or bring in a third party (for example, an architect) to tell them what needs to be done.

But honestly, what do you do in that case? The general contractor doesn’t care, and I don’t know how to do it properly. Do you know how it should be done?