Do-it-yourself cellar in the country (56 photos): materials, stages. DIY basement construction - what to look for How to make a small separate cellar

How to build a cellar with your own hands: step by step instructions, video review. A cellar is an important element of any suburban area; it is indispensable for storing vegetables, fruits and preservation. The article contains information on how to build a cellar in the country with your own hands: a step-by-step description will help to take into account a lot of nuances, from choosing the right place and ending with the installation of waterproofing and electrical wiring. The external arrangement of the building is also of great importance, and the construction of shelving and boxes will help to efficiently use the space.

The process of erecting the walls of a red brick cellar

Varieties and features of cellars

Do not confuse a cellar and a basement. Do-it-yourself construction of a cellar in the country can be reduced to a simple digging of a hole and its minimal arrangement. The choice of the type of construction depends on many parameters, for example, on its intended purpose, on the climatic conditions of the region, financial capabilities, etc. Also, when choosing the type and materials for building a cellar in the country with your own hands, you need to take into account its location.

It is easier to build a detached building than, for example, to build a cellar under the house, but this option will require more materials, and hence finances. It will be cheaper to make storage under a residential building or outbuilding, but this option is limited in space.

The arrangement of the cellar will allow for a long time to preserve conservation and other products

One of the most popular options is the glacier cellar. It copes well with the function of long-term storage of products even in the hot season and is especially in demand in the southern regions. It is rather difficult and expensive to build this type of cellar in a private house with your own hands, but the result is distinguished by high performance characteristics, durability and reliability.

Another good option for this building is a two-section storage facility. As a rule, this type is used when it is necessary to avoid mixing the smells of various vegetables and fruits, which are simultaneously stored in the cellar. Less materials are needed to build such a storage facility than to build a glacier.

A separate type of cellar is a wine cellar. It is used to store wine products, has its own design features and nuances that must be taken into account in order to carry out the correct construction of the cellar. As a rule, such storage can store not only wine, but also various preserves.

The wine cellar has design features that must be taken into account even at the stage of construction planning.

The nuances of arranging a cellar with your own hands with a high level of groundwater

When choosing a place for a storage facility, it is very important to take into account such factors as the total soil moisture and the level of groundwater. The lower it is, the easier it will be to build a structure, and also less often repairs are needed. If we are talking about a free-standing structure, then it is worth choosing the highest place on your site. It is best to determine the groundwater level when it is at its maximum, that is, in spring or autumn. If there is a well or a well on the site, then you can determine the maximum elevation by them, otherwise you will have to drill the well separately.

The construction of the cellar will be somewhat more difficult if the groundwater is close. How to do it as efficiently as possible? First of all, it is necessary to pay great attention to the waterproofing of the structure. Also, with high soil moisture, for better waterproofing of the cellar from groundwater, it is worth using building materials characterized by increased resistance to water. In this case, you should not use wood or plywood, but rather give preference to concrete and brick.

Diagram of a separately located cellar: 1 - foundation; 2 - steps; 3 - protective fence; 4 - walls; 5 - ceiling vault; 6 - ventilation; 7 - waterproofing; 8 - filled soil

Helpful advice! You can also check the level of groundwater according to folk signs. To do this, you need to leave a piece of wool and a chicken egg at the construction site, and cover them with a clay pot on top. If there is dew on both the wool and the egg in the morning, then the groundwater is close, and if only on the wool it is far away.

Recommendations for building a cellar with your own hands: how to do it as efficiently as possible

Regardless of what type of construction you have chosen or what materials you are going to use, there are a number of general recommendations that you should follow when building a cellar step-by-step with your own hands:

if you are going to use wooden elements, then they must be pre-treated with a special impregnation to protect them from the harmful effects of moisture;
the construction of the cellar is best started in the summer, then the groundwater level is at the lower mark. In this case, the soil will be the driest, and the risk of flooding the structure will be minimal;
to ensure efficient storage of food, it is very important to consider a ventilation system;
if you want the structure to maintain the desired temperature, then it is recommended to make two doors separated by a vestibule when building a cellar with your own hands;

To build a really good cellar, you need to carefully study the features of materials and types of structures.

special attention must also be paid to thermal insulation, then the optimal temperature in the cellar will be ensured at any time of the year;
the choice of tools and materials for construction is very important, so it is worthwhile to familiarize yourself in advance with the advantages and disadvantages of various types. The construction itself must be carried out in a clearly recommended order.

Features of the use of various materials

Most often, materials such as bricks or concrete blocks are used in construction. They best tolerate high humidity and low temperatures, and are also characterized by durability, reliability and relatively low cost. When building a brick cellar with your own hands, it is worth considering the features of the operational characteristics of each of the varieties of this material:

cinder block or foamed brick is characterized by increased fragility, therefore, these varieties are not recommended for use in the construction of underground storage;
silicate brick is more durable, but reacts very poorly to high humidity. This means that the construction from it cannot boast of a long service life;

The ideal material for the construction of cellar walls is red brick.

red brick is ideal for a cellar in a private house. How to make a building out of this material as efficient as possible, you can learn from numerous step-by-step instructions from specialists.

If you decide to use concrete blocks in the construction, then you will definitely need specialized construction equipment, since they are characterized by high weight. The cellar of them will last a long time and keep the temperature well.

Also, when building a cellar in a house with your own hands, you can use a brick that has already been in use, if its condition allows it. And in the event that you are just going to sheathe an earthen hole with wooden boards, they must be carefully treated with antiseptics to prevent decay.

Note! The use of metal-reinforced concrete slabs is also possible. But in this case, it will be quite difficult to maintain the desired temperature, so this material should not be used for the building in which you are going to store food.

Diagram of the device of a semi-buried brick cellar

Do-it-yourself cellar in the country: a step-by-step guide for construction

Strict adherence to the sequence of actions is the key to the correct cellar. How to make the construction as efficient as possible, spending a minimum of time and effort on it? For this, installation work must be performed in a specific order.

Arrangement of the pit

The sod is removed from the selected area, after which the land is leveled and the marking is performed. In many do-it-yourself photos of the cellar, you can see that specialized construction equipment is often used to equip the pit, but if this is not possible, then you can use shovels and spades. The advantage of working with a hand tool is that it preserves the structure of the soil. If the soil in the selected area is loose, then the walls of the pit should be sloped to avoid crumbling.

DIY cellar construction. Step 1: digging a hole

The dimensions of the cellar depend solely on your needs, but remember that the size of the pit should be 0.5 m larger than the size of the structure itself. In the process of how you build a cellar with your own hands, the fertile soil you dug can be distributed over your summer cottage. The evenness of the bottom after the end of the work must be measured with a level and corrected, if necessary.

Erection of the foundation

Although this stage can be dispensed with (simply filling the bottom of the pit with rubble or filling it with bitumen), the arrangement of the foundation will increase the level of waterproofing of the cellar from groundwater. How to make the foundation as effective as possible, but not very expensive? To do this, you can use a reinforcing frame, on top of which a concrete mixture is poured. The recommended foundation height is about 40 cm. Installation of the foundation is a prerequisite for the construction of a cellar in the country with your own hands, if the groundwater is close. How to make the foundation correctly - thematic videos on the Internet will tell you.

DIY cellar construction. Step 2: arrangement of the foundation

Walling

If you use a brick to build a cellar under the house with your own hands, then you will need a number of specialized tools. These include a trowel, a construction cord, a bricklayer's hammer, a building level, and a mortar bucket. For greater efficiency of work, you should use the help of another person.

As a mortar connecting bricks, you can use a mixture of clay with sand or cement. When building an underground or above-ground cellar with your own hands, laying should start from the corners, and the first row is laid without using mortar in order to more accurately plan the position of the wall. The bricks of the next rows must be sunk into the mortar until the thickness of the seam is approximately 12 mm.

DIY cellar construction. Step 3: building the walls

Helpful advice! Be sure to use a building level and a plumb line when laying walls. With the help of the first, it is checked how evenly the brick is laid, and with the help of the second, the correctness of the angles.

DIY installation of the cellar overlap

When constructing a ceiling, it is best to use wooden planks. If the structure is being built under the house, then beams can be used as an overlap, and the ceiling of the ground cellar in the country house is made step by step from PKZh slabs or slate. In this case, the surface can be flat or gable.

The thermal insulation of the ceiling is done according to the same principle as the thermal insulation of a conventional roof - the gap between the timber beams and the roofing material is filled with a layer of thermal insulation.

DIY cellar construction. Step 4: installation of the floor

Types and features of floor installation in the cellar

There are many different options for arranging the floor in the cellar, which one is better depends on your preferences, the purpose of the building, the characteristics of the soil and other factors. You should also familiarize yourself with the specifics of each method in advance, this will help you quickly and efficiently build a cellar with your own hands. Both video and photo instructions can greatly facilitate the installation process.

Earthen floor- the simplest and cheapest option. There is a misconception that the correct floor in the cellar should only be earthen, but this is not the case. Even well-compacted soil will not protect the room from dampness and mold.

If you nevertheless decide to make a ground floor in the cellar, then the base must be carefully leveled and tamped, after which a layer of gravel about 10 cm thick is filled in. The advantage of this option is the zero cost of installation, but there are much more disadvantages. These include a high risk of flooding the premises and a high likelihood that metal elements will rust and wood elements will rot.

Cellar with loose sand floor

Concrete floor- a good option to protect the premises from high-lying groundwater. A concrete screed can act not only as a floor covering, but also as a base for the installation of other materials.

For the construction of a concrete floor, it is very important to level the surface, after which a cushion of rubble and sand 15-20 cm thick is mounted. The sand must be thoroughly moistened and tamped, and poured with bitumen on top. In order for the concrete base to be as strong as possible, a metal grate can be installed on top of the bitumen layer. After that, you can start pouring concrete.

You can install a waterproofing layer both on a sand cushion and on top of concrete. In the second case, one more concrete layer must be poured from above.

Clay floor- a reliable, but very laborious option in terms of installation. It requires a large amount of high quality material, so it is rarely used. Clay is considered one of the most sustainable materials. It is laid on a base of crushed stone 10-15 cm thick, which can be impregnated with bitumen. Under the clay, it is worth installing a layer of waterproofing made of roofing material or other material, and cracks that may form after drying are sealed with a clay-lime mixture.

The floor in the cellar, built with his own hands, is equipped with concrete

Brick covering- strong, durable and attractive in appearance. In addition, the material is quite cheap and easy to install. The brick floor is laid on a cushion of fine gravel or gravel, a clay mortar is poured on top. The bricks are slightly recessed into the mortar close to each other. Also, cement mortar can be hammered into the seams between the bricks with a stiff brush.

Wooden floor- it is used in ground versions of the cellar or where groundwater is located very deeply. Before installation, the tree must be treated with special impregnations to extend its service life. Wooden boards are mounted on top of logs from a bar, which, in turn, are laid on a base of crushed stone and clay. It is best to fasten the boards with self-tapping screws, but you can also just nail it down.

Note! For each of the materials, you will need a separate set of tools, the acquisition of which is better to attend to in advance.

An example of a ventilation device: 1 - for the cellar under the house; 2 - for a free-standing cellar

Design and installation of a cellar ventilation system

If you are building an above-ground structure, then the flow of air into the cellar can be carried out naturally through small openings. For an underground structure, ventilation must be supply and exhaust. The outlet of the chimney should be located near the ceiling, and the suction pipe should be located near the floor. In many photos of the cellar in the country house, you can see with your own hands that the ventilation outlets are equipped with special curtains, this allows you to more accurately control the temperature in the room.

Installation of stairs and doors

If the cellar is being built under the house or, if necessary, to save space, it is worth making an almost vertical staircase to the cellar with your own hands. How to make it as safe as possible for descent? The use of handrails is recommended. Do-it-yourself photos of the stairs to the cellar show that it can be built from wooden boards fixed directly in the ground, as well as from bricks or other materials.

Doors are mounted in ground versions of the design, in other cases a hatch is used. Making a hatch in a cellar with your own hands is quite simple.

The cellar is equipped with a metal staircase

Manhole manufacturing

If the cellar is located under a house or outbuilding, then a hatch is used as an entrance partition. You can buy a cellar hatch, or you can make it yourself. The second option will allow you to get a design that exactly matches your needs. Self-assembly of the hatch includes the following steps:

a place for the future entrance is chosen. It is very important that access to it is as simple as possible and not cluttered with shelves, drawers and other items;
the dimensions of the hatch are determined. It all depends on your needs, but its parameters should not be less than 75x75 cm. In order for the room to be sealed, the side edges of the hatch must be sheathed with a seal;
a hatch cover for the cellar is made. How to make it light and durable? For this, it is best to use wood planks impregnated with drying oil. They are interconnected by slats, and a sheet of plywood is nailed on one side of the cover. If we are talking about a cellar in a residential building, then the hatch cover can be sheathed on top with the same floor covering as the floor around it. It should be borne in mind that if it is planned to equip a hatch for a cellar under a tile, its structure must be made of sufficiently strong materials that can withstand all the ceramics. If you prefer to use steel, then for the cover you will need a sheet with a thickness of at least 3 mm, which is welded onto a metal frame;

Diagram of the device for the cellar hatch

the handle is attached. The best option would be a special hidden or folding design. If the cellar is located in a non-residential area or there is a need to save money, then you can use a regular doorknob;
hinges are screwed on. These can be regular door hinges or automobile hinges with springs. The latter option will make it easier to open the lid and fix it in any position.

There are many answers to the question of how to make a hatch in a cellar with your own hands, so you should choose the option that is most suitable in your particular case.

Wiring and lighting

Due to the fact that the design of the cellar provides for high humidity, the wiring in it must be reliably insulated. The best option for wiring is copper wires with a double layer of insulation. Light bulbs should be placed in the driest places and additionally equipped with protective caps. It is strictly forbidden to make sockets when building a cellar. How to make the wiring as safe as possible, you can watch the training videos from specialists.

Bulbs in the cellar must be placed in dry places and must be equipped with caps.

Installation of waterproofing in the cellar

As already mentioned, insulation from moisture is a very important point in the construction of a cellar in the country with your own hands. How to make waterproofing the most effective - there are many options, and the choice of the optimal one depends on the level of soil moisture and the design features of the building.

Waterproofing can be external or internal. The outer one is done at the construction stage, while the walls are sheathed with insulating materials from the outside, and gutters, drainage wells and other structures are also mounted. Internal insulation is done after the cellar is built. In this case, before using insulating materials, drainage of groundwater should be carried out, otherwise the work will be ineffective.

Types of materials used for internal waterproofing

If you made a cellar in the country house with your own hands from waterproof concrete, then you are unlikely to need additional sheathing with insulating material. But for a brick structure, you can use the following waterproofing options:

mastic or bitumen - used in cases where the groundwater level is below floor level. The solution is heated and applied in a thin layer to the walls, resulting in a reliable waterproof film;

Membrane type waterproofing material

penetrating waterproofing is the most expensive, but also the most effective option. It is good because it increases not only the level of resistance of walls to moisture, but also their frost resistance. Also, penetrating waterproofing reliably closes all cracks and micropores, is characterized by a long service life and is quickly installed;
cement-based polymer mortar - is one of the most reliable and easy-to-apply waterproofing materials. It fits snugly to the walls and reliably protects them from mechanical damage;
membrane-type moisture insulation - consists of various polymers, among which liquid rubber based on bitumen is very popular.

Note! It is very important to have effective ventilation for reliable waterproofing of the cellar in the country with your own hands. How to build a ventilation system so that excess moisture does not condense in the storage? For this, the installation of a supply and exhaust system is best suited.

Diagram of the device for thermal and waterproofing of the cellar

Waterproofing installation procedure

Numerous photos of a cellar in a private house show that waterproofing can be hidden under decorative wall panels. This is not a prerequisite, but only affects the appearance of the walls. The nuances of installing a waterproofing layer depend on the type of material selected.

Do-it-yourself waterproofing using bitumen or mastic for the walls of the cellar under the house, as a rule, will not be difficult. To do this, the walls must first be plastered, and the waterproofing itself is best applied in two layers. Before final drying of the coating, it is recommended to sprinkle it with fine dry sand.

Before installing the penetrating moisture insulation, the surface of the walls must be thoroughly cleaned of dirt and dust, and then moistened with water. After applying a layer of insulation for several days, it must also be constantly moistened. Concrete walls are brushed with a wire brush before installing the penetrating waterproofing.

One of the most effective moisture protection options is penetrating waterproofing

To apply liquid rubber, the walls must be leveled and cleaned. After that, the surface is primed and a waterproofing material is applied to it with a brush, spatula or roller. Finishing materials can be mounted directly onto the liquid rubber layer after it has dried. In the photo of wine cellars, for example, it can be seen that the walls are sheathed with wood panels.

The cement-polymer mixture is applied to well-damp walls with a notched trowel or brush. It is best to do this in several layers.

DIY installation of shelves in the cellar: photo and instructions

Shelves and racks are integral elements of any cellar and basement. There are several types of cellar racks, which you can buy in specialized stores, but it is much easier and more economical to make them yourself. The most popular options are as follows:

wooden shelving - one of the most common answers to the question of what to make a shelf in the cellar. The material is environmentally friendly and easy to use, and for shelving it is best to use a beam with a section of 100x100 mm and boards with a thickness of 3-4 cm. The installation scheme is very simple - racks are made from a beam, in which nests are cut to fix the shelves. In order for the shelves made of wood to last longer, they are impregnated with special compounds;

Mounting dimensions of a wooden rack for a cellar

Concrete shelving is a good option if you want to know how to make your cellar shelves as durable and moisture resistant as possible. To create concrete shelves, you can use reinforced concrete slabs or niches in the walls, which are poured with a concrete screed;
steel corner shelves - used in rooms with low humidity levels, otherwise structures can very quickly begin to rust. In order to make a shelf in the cellar for cans, as a rule, a welding machine is used, but you can get by with simple self-tapping screws. First, frames are made from metal rails, then shelves are attached to them;
plastic racks are one of the most economical and simple options, which are distinguished by their attractive appearance and resistance to moisture. However, plastic does not tolerate low temperatures quite well, so it cannot boast of durability.

Helpful advice! When wondering how to make a shelf in a cellar with your own hands, and what material to choose for this, take into account the level of humidity in the room, as well as the average weight of cans and boxes that will be stored on the shelves. Concrete perfectly withstands even a very heavy load, but plastic cannot boast of this.

There are wooden shelves along the walls of the cellar

Boxes for potatoes can be made from the same materials in the cellar. As a rule, they are equipped with removable covers, which are installed if necessary. Regardless of which material you choose, it is recommended to take shelves and drawers outside for drying in the warm season. This will avoid the growth of mold and the growth of pathogens.

When the construction and interior arrangement of the cellar is completed, you can think about the exterior decoration of the ground structure. Its version depends solely on your preferences - you can simply fill an earthen hill, or you can decorate it with turf or ornamental grass, turning it into an element of landscape design. Use video and photo instructions in the process of building a cellar with your own hands, which will help to take into account all the nuances and equip a practical and functional room.

How important and necessary a good cellar in the house is for those who grow vegetables with their own hands and store a strategic stock of jams and pickles, there is no need to tell. The most rational and most convenient solution would be to build a cellar under the house even at the stage of building the building, but it does not always work out as planned. Most often, a private house is bought ready-made, and the question of how to make a cellar has to be solved after many weeks or months, when it is too late to remodel the built house.

What is the difference between a cellar built under a house and a yard version?

A small difference in the location of the cellar gives tangible benefits:

A significant area in the yard is saved, which is always in short supply in a private house;
It becomes much more convenient to use the cellar, it is enough to open the hatch, get out and put on the table exactly what you need, and not drag mountains of preservation and kilograms of vegetables to the kitchen;
There is no need to go out into the yard in winter and cool the storage room.

Important! All the advantages of a cellar under the house become obvious and vivid if the storage is installed in accordance with the basic requirements for arranging house glaciers.

Otherwise, the cellar under the house will create more problems than advantages, among which the most harmless are the smell of spoiled vegetables and sagging floors. It will be superfluous to want to put an excessively large or deep cellar, or try to adapt a part of the basement for storage.

The main ways how to put a cellar in a built house

Collapsible structures of underground tanks on the basis of high-strength fiberglass panels, which are used for facing the constructed foundation pit under the house;
In a similar way, you can put a modular version of the cellar based on a fiberglass or polypropylene caisson;
The easiest way is to place a storage facility under an already built house using movable formwork, steel reinforcement and concrete casting;
The most difficult thing is to build a cellar under the house with your own hands in the old old-fashioned way - laying out a box under a built house made of natural stone, brick or clinker blocks.

For your information! The last option is considered to be the most durable and beautiful way, it is he who is gaining frenzied popularity today, a large number of owners of large and respectable houses decide to put a wine or cheese cellar under an already built house because of its unique qualities.

How to equip a cellar in a built house

Any of the above options will have to start with the most difficult and dirtiest part of the construction - digging a hole or foundation pit. To begin with, you will need to perform detailed reconnaissance and study the state of the underground. If the box and the foundation of the built house allow, then you can try to arrange the pit in such a way that the entrance to the cellar is in the kitchen or hallway, but not in the living rooms or hall.

Where to put the entrance to the built cellar

In such cases, there is often a need to compromise. The main underground storage room will be placed under the largest room of the house, for example, under the hall or dining room, and the entrance will be built by a separate "trailer" from the side of the auxiliary room.

Why such difficulties? Everything is very simple:

Any cellar is dampness and odors that must be removed from the room with the help of additionally built ventilation;
The entrance to the underground storage, located away from the living rooms, will eliminate the need to interfere with the household every time you need to take or put something there;
In addition, it is simply necessary to place the entrance to the side due to the fact that the construction of a cellar under the house will take a lot of time, which is associated with the transfer of a large amount of building materials and dirt.

Important! This approach to building a cellar under a built house is convenient, but only if there are no main walls between the kitchen and the hall on a strip foundation.

Otherwise, it will be necessary to put a "window" in the concrete and reinforce the floor with massive channels. This is quite hard work that requires a good knowledge of structural mechanics in a built house, before deciding on such alterations, consult with specialists.

If you nevertheless decide on a rework and intend to equip a small bomb shelter in the built house, then immediately aim at concrete work with a double safety margin. It is quite difficult to calculate exactly how much the installed basement will weaken the foundation in the built house, therefore all supports and walls must be installed with the maximum margin of safety.

We put a box of a concrete cellar under the built house

Before starting work, you will need to remove the floors in the place where it is supposed to put the entrance to the cellar. It is necessary to remove at least boards at least a meter wide, reinforce the logs with a transverse beam so that, in the absence of floorboards, the rest of the floor does not fall apart under the weight of building materials.

It will be necessary to dig the entrance to the cellar only in an upright position, as in the construction of a well. The easiest way is to put an entrance of a square or rectangular shape, measuring 60x70 cm. Every half a meter of deepening, the walls must be reinforced by packing boards on a slab or timber installed in the corners of the pit. When digging, you have to constantly keep your eyes open so as not to run into an aquifer, sewer pipe, electrical cable or any other serious obstacle.

Having sunk to the calculated floor level of the future storage facility, it is necessary to install a pit, by the presence of water in which it will be possible to judge the future of the cellar under the built house - to build further or fill up the dug hole. In the pit, it is necessary to bury a metal container with holes in the walls and put a drainage pump. So that in the future the cellar does not bother with dampness, during construction, you can use the tips outlined in the video:

Important! When working at depth, it is imperative to install safe lighting and a forced supply and exhaust ventilation system.

As the pit is being dug, the floor, walls, ceiling must be reinforced with an unedged board. In order to prevent subsidence, weakening and subsidence of the main foundation of the built house, the walls of the cellar should not approach the concrete base closer than 120-150 cm.

Next, we lay the drainage pipes and fill it with gravel, lay out the geotextile cloth, and fill it with a layer of sand. Thoroughly ram the whole "pie" and level it to the horizon. Then we lay out the reinforcement and fill the floor with concrete, the thicker the better.

After two weeks, you can start laying out the walls. It is best to put walls from ready-made concrete blocks, 20x20x40 cm in size, filled with granite screening. Such a cellar can easily withstand any pressure or heaving of the walls; it is quite difficult to work with the blocks. Alternatively, the walls can be cast into the supplied formwork. This method is more laborious, you will need to put a layer of waterproofing, a frame made of reinforcement and internal struts that keep the constructed formwork from bending inward. The sequence of work on the arrangement of walls and floors is shown in the video:

The ceiling of the cellar is usually done in unison with the walls. For rooms built at great depths, the ceiling is reinforced with a reinforced concrete screed on laid beams. For shallow cellars, the ceiling from the timber is insulated with foam, a double film of waterproofing is laid and sutured with cladding made of plastic panels.

For storages built of bricks or clinker blocks, the most successful solution is to lay out the ceiling vault of the cellar from a brick or stone wedge.

The work on laying out the vault requires an individual selection and layout of the material, so rarely any owner risks putting up a brick vault with his own hands. Usually, a ceiling vault is ordered if the basement or cellar is made for a specific use - wine storage, mushroom growing or cheese ripening.

Small version of the cellar in the kitchen or dining room

You may not need a massive concrete box, and you can use a small plastic caisson to store supplies. Whereas a concrete room can be built in a month, a plastic caisson can be delivered in just a few days. And in such a storage you can keep a stock of preserves and vegetables for several weeks, store the bulk of the supplies in a cellar or basement built on a free surface in the yard or under a garage.

Conclusion

Any experiments with arranging a cellar in an already built and inhabited house can be carried out only on the condition that the soil on which the storage is supposed to be installed has a sufficient reserve of bearing capacity. In addition, when deciding how to build a cellar, you need to take into account that the constructed concrete box should not overlap underground springs and aquifers. Otherwise, even with heavy-duty waterproofing, there will be constant dampness in the house, which cannot be removed by ventilation.

Gardeners, who are in love with their work, grow vegetables with great pleasure and stock up on the fruits of their labors for the winter. Numerous seams and vegetables neatly stacked in boxes require special storage conditions. To provide them, you need high quality: dry and cool. In this material from the site, we will talk about how to organize a cellar on a site so that it meets all the requirements.

The advantages of a separate cellar for storing vegetables and types of structures

A storage outside the home has its undeniable advantages. The main thing is the temperature regime. In a home basement, it is always much warmer, which means there will be higher humidity. In such conditions, carrots and potatoes begin to sprout, and apples wither. In addition, mice and rats tend to a warm home cellar. Another thing is a free-standing structure. If done right, it is cool all year round.

Such designs also have disadvantages. In winter, you will have to go outside to get a jar. If the entrance to the cellar is covered with snow, you will have to wave.

The question naturally arises: how to organize the simplest cellar with your own hands so that it has a convenient entrance and optimal storage conditions in the form of vegetables and glass jars with homemade canned food?

There are three main types of structures that can often be found in suburban areas: cellars on a drainage cushion, classic underground cellars, semi-buried storage facilities.

How to make a ground cellar if groundwater is close

Such structures are relevant for areas with high groundwater levels. To avoid moisture penetration, the base of the cellar is made on a high drainage cushion. To do this, sand, expanded clay or crushed stone are poured into a shallow pit (40-70 cm). This pillow ensures dry storage. A reinforcing frame is laid on top of the pillow, and a concrete base is poured. After that, the cellar itself is built from bricks or blocks. For reliable, experts recommend laying. Mineral wool has proven itself excellent in this regard. But you can replace it with sawdust, small expanded clay or other filling material.

Important! If you use sawdust as insulation, they must be treated with copper sulfate or lime.

Outside, the walls of the cellar are protected with moisture-proof, and the roof is covered with metal or other. Roof space is also important with high quality. The ideal option for arranging a cellar with your own hands with a private house is to then fill this entire structure with an earthen hill. In this case, the storage will have ideal conditions, of course, subject to the arrangement of the ventilation system.

For your information! For waterproofing cellars, you can use any kind of materials: roll, membrane, coating and mastic.

How to make a traditional underground cellar right

Underground storage facilities are built quickly and, thanks to the special heat-insulating properties of the soil, they never let their owners down. If there are no problems with the groundwater level on the site, then this is the best choice for storing vegetables.

For an earthen cellar, you need to dig a pit with a slight slope of the walls to the outer edges. Such expansion is necessary so that the soil does not crumble over time. Additionally, the walls should be reinforced with plank sheathing.

Advice! If you are lining the walls of the cellar with wood, make the lining collapsible. In this case, it will be possible to dry the boards in the sun in the summer. This will prevent mold and rot on them.

To keep the underground storage dry, you also need to arrange the floor on a sand and gravel cushion.

The ceiling is sewn up and a layer of compacted clay and earth with a thickness of at least half a meter is arranged on top of them. Around the cellar, a ditch is made with a depth of at least 40 cm to drain water.

Semi-recessed cellar made of bricks or blocks

Another model of suburban storage is semi-recessed. As you already understood from the name, it is a cross between an earthen and an overground structure. The walls of such structures are made of or blocks, the storage itself is recessed into the ground by about half the height.

How to choose the right storage

The main criterion for choosing a type of construction is. If the site is regularly flooded in the spring or is located in a swampy area, do not hesitate to choose a ground structure.

If there are no problems with flooding, and the site is located on a plain, build a semi-buried structure. And the pit does not have to be deeply dug, and it will be convenient to use the cellar.

How to quickly and efficiently make a cellar in the ground with your own hands

The main thing in the construction of a storage facility is to choose the right location for its location. It should not be too far from home so that you do not have to carry cans and sacks of vegetables far. For digging a pit, it is important that the soil is not stony. It is undesirable to place the storage near garden trees - you will damage the roots during construction, and then these same roots will destroy the walls of your cellar in revenge.

Step-by-step instructions for arranging an underground cellar in the country with your own hands

Now let's look at the process of arranging the cellar in more detail.

Illustration	Description of action
	Make a layout for the future cellar, based on the size of the concrete slabs (if you are going to use them). In addition, the storage chamber itself needs to be marked out and the place for descent into it.
	Dig a pit by making a slight slope of the walls as we recommended above.
	The sloped entrance should be approximately 1.2 m wide and 4.5 m long. The slope for a comfortable descent is 30-35 ºС.
	Fill with a sand and gravel cushion, lay a reinforcing mesh on it and fill in a concrete floor.
	In the process of arranging the formwork for the walls, immediately lay the pipes for ventilation. The pipes should be placed on opposite walls at different heights.
	Install wall reinforcement and formwork around the entire storage perimeter, including the entrance area.
	Lay in advance in the places where the steps will be located.
	Pour concrete around the entire perimeter of the vault. Wait until it becomes and remove the formwork. In this process, there is no need to rush; meet the deadline.
	It's time to decide how to block the cellar. Place concrete slabs on the roof and cover them with waterproofing mastic. If you do not plan to use slabs, make formwork and reinforcement for pouring.
	Insulate the storage ceiling with penoplex or other reliable heat insulator.
	To preserve the heat insulator, cover it and cover it with a layer of soil on top. The do-it-yourself cellar lid is extremely reliable.
	As a result, you will get such a warm and comfortable cellar, in which your products will be completely safe.

Some nuances in the arrangement of the ventilation system of the cellar

An important factor in the normal functioning of the storage facility is ventilation. Without it, the cellar will always be damp, the wood paneling and shelves will be moldy, the lids of the cans will rust, and the vegetables will rot.

Consists of a fresh air intake pipe and a channel through which the air will leave this room. The easiest way is to take two plastic pipes of a large diameter (about 15 cm) and place them as follows: the entrance to the supply pipe should be located half a meter from the floor, and an exhaust opening is located on the opposite side under the ceiling.

Important! The exhaust and supply pipes must not be located at the same height.

The upper edge of the ventilation pipes must be protected from rain with a cap. It will be useful to install mesh barriers in the pipes from rodents.

Construction technology of the above-ground storage structure

In order to build an aboveground structure, building material will be required - it may not necessarily be bricks or blocks. The walls of the vault can be made from a mixture of clay, adobe, or by using several layers of quality insulation.

How to make a ground cellar in the country with your own hands: step by step

The thicker the walls of the above-ground cellar, the better it will maintain the optimum temperature. Step-by-step construction of a cellar with your own hands will look like this.

Illustration	Description of action
	As in the first case, you need to do the markup. Dig a shallow pit, make a gravel pad for waterproofing.
	Lay waterproofing material and reinforcing mesh on the bottom of the pit. Pour the concrete base.
	After the foundation is established, start the brickwork.
	Protect the outside with waterproofing foil as you build up the walls. Use roll material.
	When the height of the cellar is sufficient, lay a metal profile or flat slate as a base for pouring.
	To overlap the cellar with your own hands, install a reinforcing mesh and fill the roof of the cellar with concrete.
	Make an entrance area and steps, cover it all with a roof.
	Cover the structure with earth for better thermal insulation. A self-made bulk cellar will be your reliable assistant.

How to make comfortable shelves with your own hands in a cellar: photo examples

The storage system in the cellar should have shelves for displaying jars and boxes for storing vegetables. What can be used to make shelves and boxes in the cellar is a question that becomes key at the time of arranging the finished structure.

The easiest and cheapest option for storing vegetables is plastic perforated boxes. They have special grooves, thanks to which you can put them one on top of the other. Shallow, they provide good ventilation, so necessary for vegetables and fruits. If desired, the fruits in such boxes can be sprinkled with shavings or sawdust, having previously laid newspapers so that the backfill does not spill into the holes of the boxes.

Vegetables can also be stored in large wooden boxes. But this will have to periodically go through the entire box in order to remove the spoiled fruits, and it will not be very convenient to get them when the box is almost empty.

Pickled cucumbers, sauerkraut and other starter cultures are best placed in sealed plastic barrels.

And finally, the shelves. You can make them out of wood or. In any case, they must be stable, anchored to the walls, and strong enough to support a lot of weight. Please note: a three-liter can of homemade preservation weighs approximately 4.5-5 kg. So think about it, if you put on a rack in 10 cans in 2 rows, then this is already 100 kg.

The metal frame will ensure the strength of the structure; you do not risk accidentally breaking the jar by placing it on a wooden surface. Boards can be exposed in the sun in the summer so that they dry out properly.

Important! The material for the shelves in the cellar must be carefully processed in order to protect it from rot and corrosion. The tree needs to be plated and the metal painted.

What are ready-made cellars for summer cottages and features of their installation

Can be used as a ready-made structure for a cellar. The volumes of such structures are thousands of liters. They are made of durable plastic and have stiffening ribs. These cellars come with a side or vertical entrance. A ventilation system can be installed here. Such caissons can be dug into the ground, even if the water level is very high.

The disadvantage of plastic cellars is their more than decent cost. The bunker itself will cost about 65 thousand rubles. And if you put it on, attracting hired workers, then this is another 40 thousand from above. Why so expensive? The fact is that with a high occurrence of groundwater, the caissons are squeezed out of the ground. Correct installation involves the installation of a concrete base. In addition, the installation of a ventilation system in a plastic box is not an easy task, you will have to invite a professional. Another tricky part is installing storage shelves. It is difficult to fix them to the walls or floor without breaking the tightness of the caisson. We'll have to prepare special spacers, and at the same time, the structure of the shelving will not be particularly reliable. So it turns out that it will be possible to store only boxes of potatoes in such a cellar. 100-120 thousand - a bit expensive for such purposes, you must agree.

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The basement is not: if the latter is necessarily located away from the house, then the basement is under it or in the immediate vicinity; most often, the basement as a building structure is also the foundation of the house. The basement is necessarily buried below the standard depth of soil freezing (NGP); the cellar can also be a bulk surface. The basement floor is often located below the groundwater table (GWL). All this makes the basement and the house on it especially sensitive to ground movements and the action of groundwater. Moreover, the basement can exacerbate the influence of both of these factors. All this makes the construction of a basement almost the most difficult and responsible task of the entire cycle of construction work. When built to order on a turnkey basis, a house with a basement costs 30-100% more than the same basement. Nevertheless, a basement in a house provides a lot of amenities and benefits, and it is quite possible to build a basement with your own hands and save a large amount. Let's try to figure out how.

What does the basement give?

The traditional use of the basement as a store of food is already more useful than the cellar: the microclimate in it is more stable, easier to regulate, and it is much more difficult for pests to get into the basement than into the cellar. The basement is also more suitable for a workshop and other utility rooms: it is electrified, gasified and heated at the same time as the house.

The basement in a private house is especially beneficial as a center for the concentration of life support systems (LSS): all equipment can be located safely, compactly and conveniently for routine maintenance and repair, on the left in Fig. And that's not all: a boiler or a heating stove with a water circuit, transferred in the same house from the boiler room (furnace) upstairs to the basement, turns out to consume 3-5% less fuel due to the same stable basement microclimate. The savings for the heating season in material terms are quite tangible.

Another advantage of a house with a basement in our area is still little known, but in the countries of Southern Europe, the demand for houses with a residential basement (on the right in the figure) consistently exceeds the supply. It's about survival, but not in case of war or some fantastic cataclysms. There are also enough real ones: because of global warming, the Sahara will "spit" hot air for a long time every summer. Surcharges, special or "environmental" tariffs, penalties, etc. levies for excessive consumption of electricity and in countries provided with their own energy resources - mom, do not worry! When + (40-45) is kept in the yard for weeks and months, it is impossible to live normally, and energy bills for air conditioning the whole house come in such a way that ... he thinks better about democratic values, they are permanent. Relocating to a residential basement for the summer either reduces the cost of air conditioning to acceptable, or makes it possible to do without it altogether.

Waterproofing: the beginning

The basement under the house will only be a blessing when it is dry and does not violate the stability of the entire structure. Both of these factors are interrelated, since a house with a basement often begins to heel and / or sink just as a result of a disturbance in the underground runoff by a rigid box deeply buried in the ground: the natural movement of groundwater is disturbed, see fig .:

As a result, the mobility and bearing properties of the soil also change. There are cases when a house with a basement, built on dry dense loam, had to be left - under it, due to the influence of an improperly built basement, quicksand crawled under it.

The ways of penetration of soil moisture into the basement are varied, and there are no 100% effective ways to drain a frozen basement. Basement dampness and the whole house will make you uncomfortable and unhealthy. But it is also necessary to think about the influence of the basement on the underground runoff. The only way to prevent the tying of such a Gordian knot is the correct design of the basement and its reliable external waterproofing. The choice of design is directly related to the properties of the structural material. Therefore, in order to properly build a house with a basement, its development must be carried out in the following sequence:

The choice of construction material;
Selection of power circuits in plan and section;
The choice of the method and scheme of waterproofing;
Determination of the composition of the basement arrangement;
The choice of construction techniques.

Note: if the basement gets wet, but the house still stands with it, then there are ways to dry the basement, see below. Such a basement will not be suitable for housing and stationary electrification, drying will have to be repeated every 3-5 years, but it will serve as a storage facility for products and / or a location for non-volatile heating devices.

Materials (edit)

It is possible to make a basement from materials capable of withstanding the lateral soil pressure of 20 bar (2 kgf / sq. Cm or 20 tf / sq. M) and formation water pressure of 10 bar (1 kgf / sq. Cm or 10 ton-force / sq. M) . m). These conditions correspond to a strength grade from M200 and a water resistance grade from W10. Of course, the larger the margin for both parameters, the more reliable the basement will be.

Independent developers usually have basements made of reinforced concrete monolithic (item 1 in the figure), prefabricated from concrete foundation blocks with a monolithic base (item 2), brick (item 3), monolithic with a brick base (item 4) or from cinder blocks, pos. 5.

The "brick on concrete" option is quite durable if the basement is made of burnt iron or clinker brick: the facing external brick is not intended to carry the weight load from the building; its service life is up to 40 years, and a house with a basement is being built for generations. Red working brick in the immediate vicinity of the ground within 25 years begins to crumble, and in 50-60 years it completely loses its bearing properties. Iron ore and clinker will last in the basement of a century, but not aesthetic. In general, the basement at pos. 4 is not an option. For beauty, it is easier, safer and cheaper to fill in the monolith and veneer it to taste.

The suitability of certain materials for building a basement is shown in the figure:

As you can see, they can be divided into 3 groups:

Unsuitable.
Conditionally suitable on structured soils (dense sandy loam, light loam), if the groundwater level does not rise closer than 0.2 m to the underside of the basement floor.
Suitable.

I group

The unambiguous "poor" ones are foam and aerated concrete, and their low bearing capacity is not the most important thing here. Let's say the natural wear of concrete is 0.01 mm per year. This is an insignificant amount; it is much larger in the ground. The minimum layer of concrete over the reinforcement is 40 mm. In order for the reinforcement to begin to be massively exposed and thus the structure required overhaul, in the absence of other destructive factors, 4000 years must pass. Let us also assume that the bridges between the pores of foam and aerated concrete are thick, 1 mm; they are usually thinner. With the same wear and tear over 25 years, the material will lose 50% of its strength (lintels are destroyed from 2 sides) - overhaul is impossible, the structure has fallen into disrepair. After another 10-15 years, it will begin to spontaneously collapse without the possibility of recovery. For this reason, in southern Europe (most of all in Spain), thousands of houses, once built for seasonal rent, are now being sold "for what they will give". They still look gorgeous, but their lifespan is coming to an end, and there is no way to restore it.

This also includes silicate bricks and expanded clay concrete. The first one crumbles in the ground literally before our eyes, is expensive and requires sufficiently high skills to work with it. The second one is cheap, it is easier to work with it, but, alas, it gets wet through and through, and it is impossible to reliably isolate it, there are no such methods and compositions.

II group

From this group, it is better not to use red brick and bad concrete for the foundation under the house: they crumble in the ground and repair is often impossible. Clinker brick is quite reliable, durable up to 150 years or more, easily insulated, but expensive. Burnt iron brick is a little inferior to it and is cheap, but it does not regularly go on sale, because is a manufacturing defect. But a cinder block basement, due to its cheapness and ease of working with it, is quite common, see the video:

Video: construction of a "box" basement from a cinder block

An important advantage of the cinder block basement is that it is light and a house with it gives a normal draft on rather weak soils with a bearing capacity of> 0.7 kgf / sq. see Building a basement from a cinder block is possible not only on dry ground. It can be quite suitable for economic purposes if the soil water is above the basement floor level for no more than 6 months. per year, and the reservoir pressure does not exceed 10 bar; in most cases of self-construction, these conditions are fulfilled. But, firstly, the measures for waterproofing the basement walls must be started already at the stage of their construction, steadily observing all the rules of cinder block masonry, see the video:

Video: the basics of cinder block masonry

Secondly, the waterproofing must be done the same as for walls made of bricks or foundation blocks, but reinforced: both paint with bituminous compositions, and pasting, see below. And instead of pasting materials on a textile basis, use roofing paper on cellulose (cardboard). Looking ahead, the principle of operation of insulation based on natural bitumen is as follows: if, after many years, the structure isolated by it is disassembled, the original insulator does not reveal a trace. The bitumen from it is pressed into concrete, on which a waterproof crust has formed. The pores of the cinder block are much wider than in concrete, and cellulose fibers from the roofing base will become a reinforcing filling for the bitumen in them.

How to insulate a cinder block

How the cinder block basement waterproofing works is shown in Fig. on right. Since there is no guarantee of the level of standing of groundwater, and there cannot be, it is better to replace backfilling with soil with a clay lock (highlighted in color) with an extension above 0.5 m beyond the contour of the blind area. Its presence around the house, as well as heels with a projection of 0.4 m under the foundation tape, is an indispensable condition for the reliability of the cinder block basement waterproofing.

In this case, glued (sheet) insulation is applied in the reverse order of the generally accepted one - from top to bottom. It is more convenient to work this way, using a device in the form of a tragus with a stick laid in it or a piece of pipe on which a roll of tar paper is put on. The tragus is placed on the foundation tape, and then:

A section of the wall is painted over the width of a roll + (15-20) cm with liquid bitumen mastic-prime (primary) on a gasoline thinner. It is better to apply mastic-prime with a wide, stiff brush, pressing into the wall material;
The same area is smeared with bitumen mastic in anthracene oil - it is thicker, sticky and dries more slowly than with gasoline. Layer - 3-4 mm;
A piece of roofing is wound from a roll to the bottom with a small margin;
The insulator is rolled onto the coating, going upwards and squeezing out the bubbles;
The cut is cut with some margin;
The tragus is rearranged so that the overlap of the cuts is 20-25 cm;
Repeat paragraphs. 1-6 on a new section of the wall with an extension of 15-20 cm beyond the width of the roofing strip;
The joint of the sheets is heated with a gas burner and rolled according to claim 4;
Repeat paragraphs. 1-8 until they reach the corner;
At the corner, paint over and coat the adjacent wall, take out the roofing paper around the corner, cut across the top and bottom;
The wing of the insulator is not very warm from the outside and is softly wrapped around the corner;
The wrapping is warmed up and rolled according to claim 4;
Repeat the working cycle until they have bypassed the entire structure;
In a similar way, apply the 2nd layer of glued insulation;
Apply an external safety layer of paint insulation from the same mastic;
Backfill or erect a clay castle.

For a beginner, this whole procedure will seem very time-consuming, but any reliable anti-pressure insulation is no easier. But a cinder block basement will cost 1.5-2.5 times cheaper than a concrete or brick basement.

At the same time about the brick

The insulation described above does not provide 100% protection of the brick basement from dampness - the pores of the brick are thinner than the cinder block, and bitumen is pressed into them poorly. It is better to insulate the walls of a brick basement with modern penetrating materials with a deep penetration effect (see below). A typical scheme for insulating a brick wall by them is given in Fig.:

Plastering the wall on a mesh under the insulation is mandatory: penetrates reliably fill cracks up to 0.4 mm, and wider cracks can form in a brick wall. The role of an earthen lock, which does not let capillary moisture into the concrete-brick seam, is played by Penekrite corks in the 25x50 mm groove and Penekrite with Penetron in the boreholes of the concrete heel. The disadvantage of this scheme is that penetrates are not eternal, like natural bitumen; after 10-30 years, the insulation will have to be replaced.

Repair of a damp concrete basement with deep penetration compounds

Note 2: if the previously dry concrete basement began to moisten with a drop on the walls and floor (the underground drain has changed), it can be repaired with Penekrit with Penetron for 5-20 years, see fig. on right. Stroba - 25X25 mm. On the insulation, they are plastered with moisture-resistant plaster in 2 layers of 15-20 mm each with a reinforcing mesh (see above) to avoid swelling of the insulating layer by capillary pressure. The works are carried out during the driest season. The basement is pre-dried, see below, and immediately before applying the insulation it is twice wetted with a wide soft brush.

III group

In the materials of the III group, there is a high-strength moisture-resistant concrete with a large margin. Only from it it is possible to build a dry basement on flooded soil, without doing such a complex and technically not always feasible thing as the drainage of the site. It is enough to apply inexpensive (and very durable) bituminous insulation, see next. fig., and the basement will not dampen generations of residents, no matter how the groundwater “walks”.

A big minus of a concrete basement is emergency work on pouring and technical breaks for curing with a monolith; being built on their own, you may simply not be in time for the season. In addition, concrete M400 W> 10 is not cheap, and the concrete truck will not arrive exactly at the time you have appointed. Most likely, he will be appointed to you, and even have to wait.

The way out is the construction of a basement from ready-made foundation blocks. 2-3% by volume of liquid glass is added to the water for the masonry mortar. It is better to buy ready-made blocks, they are already M (400-600) W (20-3). The block 200x200x400 is tossed by one person. The masonry is then carried out in 2 blocks with bandaging the seams and alternating spoon rows with butt rows, like a wall into a brick. Corner "half-blocks" do not chop off and do not cut off - let them stick out half into the ground, the whole structure will only be more stable. If there are 2-3 strong assistants and at least a hoist, it is even better to purchase blocks 400x400x800 - they are with a tooth and the masonry will be very strong. In this case, it is led into one block with dressing of seams in rows.

Foundation blocks on reinforced concrete structures undergo steaming, which is not feasible at home. But, let it be known to you that exposure from 3 months. blocks that have gained 25% strength in a pile under the film completely replaces it. The rows in the stack must be shifted with pieces of wood so that there are gaps of 20-30 mm between them; in hot dry weather, the stack is wrapped in wet burlap. And high-strength concrete with your own hands can be prepared by hand kneading, see the plot:

Video: making concrete by hand

Building a basement, especially in an existing home, can generally be considered a third business that cannot be rushed. Then - the first year we slowly prepare the required number of blocks; next summer we are building again without an emergency. Blocks can be cast non-typical, within their own strength and with a tooth - the finished masonry will withstand a pressure of more than 30 bar. And W? In production, liquid glass is mixed into the concrete mass in special apparatus, which, again, cannot be done at home. But self-builders are successfully preparing moisture-resistant concrete at W (10-15) with the well-known repair composition Dehydrol, see video:

Video: how to make hydraulic concrete

Note: homemade hydro-concrete does not guarantee against the penetration of capillary moisture, therefore, the external anti-pressure insulation must be supplemented with an internal anti-capillary one made of the same Dehydrol, see Fig. Also inside the entire basement is plastered with armor-plastering insulation made of cement-sand plaster, see above.

Power circuits

The basement waterproofing scheme is tied to its general power (carrier) scheme. It is also developed, depending on local conditions, first in the section, and then in the plan.

Possible power circuits of self-made basements in a section are given in Fig.:

A basement on a slab is built on weak homogeneous soils: a large support area gives a low specific pressure on the ground and distributes the weight load more evenly over it. In fact, the entire building then stands on a deeply buried slab foundation. Removal of the slab along the contour is necessary at least the thickness of the basement walls (foundation tape), otherwise weight loads will concentrate on the edge of the slab, it will crumble over time, and the whole house will sink crookedly and obliquely. Also, basements on soft soils float more easily, see below; "Side hook" counteracts this. The slab is poured with the onset of stable warm weather, kept up to 50% strength (at least 20 days) and built on it from any other suitable material. If the seasonal standing of groundwater is possible above 0.6 m above the level of the basement (not the floor!) Of the basement, the slab is poured one and a half thick (from 300 mm) with a tooth one third of the height, see below.

A basement on a tape is built, on the contrary, on dense, well-bearing (from 1.7 kgf / sq. Cm), and, possibly, inhomogeneous soils: a slab from a boulder that falls at an angle during draft will dangerously tilt; the tape will either push it down or squeeze it out to the side. On dense homogeneous non-heaving or slightly heaving soils, if the house has been established without disturbances for at least 3-5 years, it is possible to build a foundation on a tape in an existing house. A typical circuit is shown in Fig. on the right, but in each case, the construction is carried out according to an individual project based on on-site research.

If the basement on the tape is being built at the same time as the house, then the emergency concreting cycles are not tied to each other: the pouring of the permanent floor can and should even be postponed (see below) for the next year. In any case, the removal of the heel of the tape to the side must be at least 0.6 m in order to "disperse" the loads from the force of soil resistance to the settling building (shown in red dotted line), otherwise the floor can simply be squeezed up.

Temporary gender

It is advisable to leave the basement on the tape without a floor for a year, if the groundwater level does not rise above 0.2 m under the basement base, so that the building gives an initial draft and does not exactly bulge the permanent floor. In the meantime, you can lay a temporary floor, like laying floors on the ground.

The flooring diagrams on the ground are given on the left in the figure:

Pos. And it is applicable if the soil water does not rise above 0.6 m to the basement base; pos. B - if they reach 0.2 m below it. In the case when the utility basement on the tape remains dry for more than 3 years, a warm soil floor is often laid in it, on the right in the rice: this way vegetables and fruits are stored longer and deteriorate less. Stored plant products release ethylene, which stimulates their ripening; without ethylene, the products "sleep". Ethylene is slightly heavier than air and is not completely removed by conventional basement ventilation (see below); there are many known cases of ethylene poisoning of people who have been in food cellars for a long time. The soil ethylene, on the contrary, greedily absorbs, you just need to make the bins ventilated and on stands from 15-20 cm. In addition, homemade kvass, liqueurs, wine, beer, mead in a basement with a dirt floor ripen better and turn out to be much tastier.

Note: basements on a slab and tape are suitable for installing boiler equipment and electrification for housing only after at least 3 years after the completion of the construction of the whole house, if during this time there were no signs of dampness of the basement and / or uneven settlement of the building.

A caisson basement made of moisture-resistant concrete with external anti-pressure insulation will be dry on any ground, even if it floated in water - even sea vessels were built from reinforced concrete during World War II. The coffered basement is also compatible with any building, see below. But its construction is a continuous complex rush, see below. And on light, loose, heavily watered soils, the basement-caisson can suddenly float up. Basements on the slab and tape let you know about the dampness of the underground runoff in spite of any insulation - the work and masonry joints are torn - and the caisson can float up and fall on its side with the house literally in a week. Therefore, caisson basements are not recommended to be built at the highest ground level of more than 0.6 m above the basement floor, and the removal of the box should be given from 0.6 m on medium and dense soils and from 0.8 m on light ones.

The basement power circuit in the plan is linked not only with the ground, but also with the building structure. Its possible options for self-construction are shown in Fig. below. The ground floor (pos. 1) is the only one that allows you to immediately equip a boiler room and a house communications wiring unit in the basement (on the left in the figure at the beginning); in this case, it is being built as a coffered one. The important thing here is that the boiler room must have a window, and the walls of the caisson and the basement of the building are a single monolith.

An incomplete basement floor is built less often - savings on earthworks are more than eaten by an excess of concrete. Typical justified cases are heavy, difficult and expensive soil in development (pos. 1a), or on heavy soil, a light loose spot is found that is suitable in size for a basement, pos. 1b. In this case, on the contrary, it is in no way possible to build a basement-caisson or on a slab, only on a tape! The caisson is not recommended for pos. 1a, so you will have to wait several years before moving the boiler room to the basement or its equipment for housing.

Note: an incomplete basement floor and a basement mezzanine are two different things. In the basement semi-storey it is possible to install an external entrance door, recessed into the pit by no more than 3-4 steps.

Even less often they build basements adjacent to the foundation of an existing house (item 2 in the figure above) - there is a high risk of a new uneven settlement of the building. If the pros are building according to the project, then the owner and the operator give a subscription that they take the damage from all possible consequences. In an existing house, it is better to build a "floating" basement, at least 1 m from the foundation tape of the house, pos. 3. Its power circuit in the section is any possible, but you will have to spend money on a separate overlap of the basement, between which and the overlap of the floor of the house you need a free clearance of 0.3 m, i.e. and the pit for the basement needs to be dug deeper. The reason is the difference in the speed and the amount of settlement of two separate buildings nested one into the other.

You can get by with a smaller total volume of earthwork and concrete work, as well as a general overlap, by building a connected basement - connected to the foundation of the house with rigid reinforced concrete lintels wide as a foundation strip. They are buried, like the house foundation tape, but normally,> 0.6 m below the standard frost penetration depth (NFD), and the basement walls - as needed, so that one can walk in it at full height (1.9-2.2 m + floor thickness + floor cushion thickness). As a result, the difference in specific pressures on the ground of the foundation of the house and the walls of the basement turns out to be a value that can be accepted by lintels up to 1-1.5 m long.

The T-shaped scheme (pos. 4) is used on light pliable homogeneous soils; H-shaped (pos. 5) on light heterogeneous and medium, and cellular (pos. 6) - on medium heterogeneous and heavy homogeneous. In any case, a connected basement is built only and only on a tape - on a slab or a caisson will break the lintels and destroy the foundation of the building. Typical mistakes in the development of connection schemes for the foundation and basement are as follows:

The corners of the basement adjacent to the connected corners are left hanging (pos. 7).
The connection diagram is made asymmetric relative to both axes of the foundation plan (pos. 8) or centrally symmetric (pos. 9).
The corner of the basement box is associated with the corner of the foundation, pos. ten.

The latter is especially dangerous for the integrity and stability of the entire structure. In the case, as in pos. 10, it would be necessary either to change the layout of the house with a basement to symmetry along at least one axis, pos. 11, or, better, without changing the plan, tie the inner corners of the foundation with a lintel, and execute the basement with an incomplete basement, pos. 12.

Waterproofing

In the process of developing a basement waterproofing, first, its scheme is selected in relation to a given structure in given specific conditions, and then suitable materials are selected. Water is an insidious element and it is impossible to protect oneself from its penetration for decades by a single obstacle. A typical case in individual construction is considered when, at the seasonal peak of dryness, the GWL drops below the basement floor by 0.2 m or more, and at the peak of moisture it rises to the level of the humus layer; the most fertile soil layer is considered to be constantly moistened, but does not create any significant flow and pressure of moisture on the structure.

Under these conditions, the only reliable is external anti-pressure waterproofing. Non-pressure only from surface runoff does not guarantee dryness of the basement, because, firstly, in rainy years, the pressure of surface water can become significant. Secondly, the most underground runoff under the structure may change, see above. Internal anti-capillary insulation and the armouring holding it may be required when the ground level is stable at the basement floor level and above, see below.

External waterproofing of the basement is carried out in general in 2 ways: cut-off (cut-off), on the left in the figure, and diversion (discharge), on the right:

If a building with a basement is located on permeable soil (pebbles, gravel, cartilage, sand, sandy loam, loose loam), then cut-off insulation can be performed without drainage; in this case, the clay castle is continued down to a level of - (0.25-0.3) m below the base of the basement floor cushion. This is its great advantage - an expensive and time-consuming drainage system is not needed. If the basement is built of hydro-concrete, then the outside walls are plastered over insulation with cement-sand plaster and, instead of a clay castle, backfill with excavated soil is performed. This is the second advantage of cut-off insulation - self-dug clay is not suitable for the lock, you need to buy construction, and a lot.

The disadvantages of shut-off insulation are, firstly, a large amount of earthwork. Secondly, they are not always technically feasible - nearby buildings may not allow choosing a pit of the desired profile (see below). Third, clay is an obstacle to moisture, but not a solid barrier. It reduces the flow and pressure of water on the wall, but does not stop it completely. Therefore, external insulation is needed full-fledged (prime + coating + flooring), and if the basement is cinder block or brick, then reinforced, see above. Fourthly, cut-off insulation is applied only as a whole, at least within the walls, since the joints of the flooring sheets need to be glued and heated, therefore it is very problematic to arrange it on an existing house - it is impossible to completely dig out any of its walls without risking the stability of the entire structure.

Breathable insulation acts only in conjunction with drainage: its basis is a membrane with a reverse capillary effect, which collects moisture and removes it into the drain. The membrane itself is glued to the wall instead of the sheeting of cut-off insulation and is protected from rapid soil clogging with geotextiles. The main advantage of drainage insulation is minimal or zero impact on the underground drain under the house; shut-off insulation, even with drainage, changes it, therefore it is recommended to insulate the basements of houses with a membrane on soils with complex unstable hydrology. Additional, firstly, a pit for cut-off insulation is needed with a width less than the removal of the blind area (almost 0.6-0.8 m is enough, if only the worker could squeeze into it). Secondly, you can insulate with pieces of about 1.5 membrane panels wide. Therefore, the basements of existing houses can almost always be isolated only by a drainage method.

The disadvantages of drainage waterproofing are also very serious. The first is an even greater volume and complexity of earthworks, only accompanying ones. It is not a joke to build a drainage of the site, and it is not always possible to find a place under the discharge field of the drainage runoff. Second, the best membranes last up to 20 years; more often - 10-12 years, and on heavily watered loose soils for 3-7 years. If you intend to insulate the basement with a membrane, be prepared to dig in the house with such frequency and change it.

When you need it inside

If the GWL is more than 3 months. in a year it is flush with the basement floor or rises higher, external anti-pressure waterproofing is complemented by an internal anti-capillary. Concrete, let alone brick, is not a solid monolith. Its microstructure is the smallest grains of cement, similar to sea urchins, the needles of which are silicate crystals. These "needles" cement grains are interconnected, and the gaps are filled with sand and, in hydro-concrete, hardened liquid glass (which is also silicate), and in moisture-resistant polymer additives. In both cases, micropores remain; the polymer also decomposes in 3-15 years, and under pressure the concrete is slightly moisture permeable. In the dam of the hydroelectric power station it is imperceptible, but in the basement it is very much.

Basement internal anti-capillary waterproofing options are shown in Fig. on pos. C and D external insulation is conventionally not shown, but it is needed here too. Insulation of the seam in pos. B - at least 4 layers of roofing material glued with liquid mastic-prime and heated with a burner. It is impossible to isolate the seam with a lean solution - it will leak. Roofing or roofing bitumen insulation (hydrobutyl, etc.) is also impossible - the wall will transfer and squeeze out. Fiberglass, etc. based on fiberglass, the weight of the wall, on the contrary, will underpress - the base will remain uncrushed and capillary moisture will go through it, so it is also impossible. The pressure wall at pos. B - plastering on the mesh with cement-sand mortar, see above.

Insulating materials

Roofing and wall waterproofers are not suitable for a basement - they are not designed to withstand soil pressure and formation water pressure. According to the method of application and purpose, materials for basement waterproofing are divided into:

Primary, or primes, or impregnating - liquid mastics applied to a prepared surface (see below) to create a base for coating with other materials.
Paint or coating - more viscous adhesives, used either alone, or as a base holding the applied sheet insulation, or, again together with prime, for an anti-capillary coating inside. In the latter case, after plastering, the walls are plastered on a mesh with any moisture-resistant plaster in one layer.
High-build mastics with cement filler - intended for application of coatings up to 20 mm thick only on the sides facing the pressure head. They are used instead of overhead materials in cases where the groundwater level does not reach the basement floor for more than 9 months. a year.
Overhead or gluing - sheet flexible or soft materials on a woven or fibrous base, impregnated with the insulator itself. The most versatile and most reliable insulator. They are also applied only on the sides facing the pressing water.
Capillary Membranes - The waterproof plastic backing is specially coated with a reverse capillary effect, see above.

The insulating principle of these materials, in addition to membrane ones, can be as follows:

Bitumen is still not surpassed in durability, but it is difficult to work with. See above for how bituminous waterproofing works. It is produced in the form of primary mastics on gasoline thinner (primes), coating mastics, thick-layer mastics and overhead materials. Armor insulation is almost never required; if yes - then cement-sand plaster. Adheres to any wall (concrete, brick). Penetration into concrete is up to 30 mm (more often - 7-15 mm), therefore the treated surface loses its water resistance in case of mechanical damage.
Bituminous-nairite mastics are frost-resistant, can be applied at temperatures up to - (15-25) degrees. Layer - up to 6 mm. Tighten cracks up to 30-50 mm wide, because foaming in the air, so the opened package must be worked out within the time indicated on it (or in the instructions). The coating retains its plasticity up to - (45-60) degrees. Service life - 10-25 years. Specific material for northern construction or complex repairs of completely dilapidated buildings.
Epoxy, epoxy-tar and epoxy-furan mastics are an even more specific material for waterproofing building structures that are regularly flooded up to full immersion in water, freezing and icing unheated. Fragile, after 3-5 years they require a complete replacement. In work, they are difficult, toxic, carcinogenic.
Natural elastomers (liquid rubber) - it is easy to work with them, but they are applicable only as a repair for internal insulation. Only brick and cinder block fit well. Renovation period of waterproofing with natural elastomers is 1-5 years depending on local conditions. Mandatory armor insulation of at least 2 layers of cement-sand plaster on the grid, because easily swell and flake off by capillary pressure. In general, an ambulance for a damp basement, until the hands and wallet reach a more serious repair.
Synthetic elastomers - polyurethane, silicone, MS plastics. They act similarly to bitumen, but penetrate deeper into concrete, up to 100 mm. After 7-20 years, insulation needs to be renewed. For repairs from the inside, they are applied to a dried and abundantly moistened surface immediately before processing, see below.
Penetrating (deeply penetrating) compounds - synthetic elastomers + cement + polymer additives. They are produced in the form of mastics for painting with a thick layer. The work is simple. They are used only for external insulation. They are pressed into gaps of up to 0.4 mm (polyurethane) or up to 10 mm (on silicone or MS) to a depth of 100 mm and clog them with cement recrystallizing under the influence of moisture. The surface to be applied must be leveled to +/– (2 mm) and thoroughly free of dust. Bituminous gluing materials do not hold onto themselves. Armor insulation, if required - cement-sand plaster on the grid. Service life - 10-30 years. 100% capillary moisture is not cut off, therefore, bitumen anti-capillary insulation inside is almost always needed.

And if it's damp?

Since we are talking about repairing an existing damp basement, it would be appropriate to mention the sets of compositions for it. Their components are prepared, as a rule, on a different basis, but are coordinated with each other in terms of physical and chemical properties. Therefore, the repair of a damp basement from the inside must be done with compositions from one reputable manufacturer.

For example, in Fig. it is shown how basements of different designs are insulated inside with compounds from the well-known Dehydrol kit. Strobe wherever needed - 25x25 mm. Surface preparation - according to the instructions for acc. composition. Dehydrol 10-2 is also successfully used for making homemade waterproof concrete, see above.

How to dry a basement

Bituminous waterproofing mastics are applied to a dry surface. When they write that penetrating compounds should be applied to a wet one, this is correct. But when they add what is better for freshly poured concrete, it is wrong at the root. Capillary moisture in the wall, prepared for treatment with penetrates, should go deep into the dry massif and, as it were, pull the insulator along with it. If the concrete mass is saturated with water, it will begin to flow out through the capillaries and, conversely, squeeze out the insulator. The depth of its penetration into the wall will turn out, at best, much less than the calculated one; acc. the service life will also decrease, because the destruction of the composition is from the outside under the influence of air.

A damp basement must be thoroughly dried before repairing, and immediately before processing, the walls and floor must be moistened several times with water using a soft plastering brush. Moistening with a roller gives the worst effect, and spraying is even worse, because the air is excessively humidified and the capillary moisture is no longer so actively striving to escape into the concrete mass.

It is useless to dry the basement with a stream of warm air - it will not dry out until it starts to "sweat" again in the fall. You need to dry it with thermal (infrared, IR) radiation. But not "farther" from the electric fireplace or nichrome "goat" (which is dangerous), but "near" - it is given in excess by incandescent lamps, which is why they are out of use. Near-infrared penetrates deeply into concrete and brick, almost not being absorbed in the air. Light bulbs need to be hung with more garlands at the rate of 60-100 W per 1 cubic meter. m of the basement volume. If a control hole is hammered in at its wall, then most often after 10-12 days of continuous drying of the IC it turns out that the soil around it has already begun to dry. In any case, after a week, it is already possible to apply penetrates or smear with bitumen. Drying it out longer in no way does not hurt - how much patience is enough to watch how the electricity meter shakes.

Repair is not for your own hands

Sometimes it is possible to dry a damp basement only by injecting special compounds into the surrounding soil, see Fig. on right. For example, if quicksand crawled under the house, then the whole structure must be saved. But in this case, a body of irregular shape is formed in the soil, and it is definitely impossible to predict the further settlement of the structure. Therefore, only specialized organizations are engaged in injections into the soil based on the results of on-site research, and they take from the customer and the owner of the building a subscription that they take any consequences upon themselves.

Arrangement

This section is not about 3D wallpaper, bar, HD TV, jacuzzi or 3-bed under the ceiling mirror. This and all that stuff - at your discretion. Mandatory and, for residential and technical, desirable basement arrangement consists of:

Ventilation is required.
An entrance with a staircase is required.
Entrance hatch - if the staircase is steeply inclined.
Insulation - for residential and technical basements.
Surface drainage - in areas with heavy rainfall during the warm season.

Ventilation

Ventilation is vital for any basement, because almost all harmful, poisonous and many explosive gases are heavier than air and flow downward. For the same reason, basements are built with non-volatile natural supply and exhaust ventilation.

The basement ventilation device under the house is quite simple, pos. 1 and 2 in the figure:

The cross-sectional area of the lumen of the nozzles is 5 sq. cm for each cubic meter of basement volume, but its diameter is in any case from 60 mm. It is better to put a filter on the inlet pipe instead of a rodent mesh, on the right in Fig. Flow-through with a filtering filler (pos. 3) protects in addition to dust and insects, but requires regular inspection and replacement of the filler. Aerodynamic (pos. 4) is cleaned as needed, it is only necessary to attach a strip of newsprint, etc. to the mouth of the inlet in the basement. flow indicator: when the air filter is clogged, the air flow stops abruptly. But especially harmful and cunning mosquitoes with flies make their way through it.

If the basement is next to the house, then making a high chimney is difficult and not always possible. In this case, basement ventilation is built according to the diagram in Fig. on right. The minimum diameter of the branch pipes is 100 mm; for a basement of more than 10 cubes, a cross-sectional area of 10 sq. cm per cubic meter of volume. In the basement, there should be no obstacles to the movement of air between the supply and exhaust pipes. The upper ends of the pipes are bent by a goose from rain and snow.

Ladder

The staircase to the basement is one of the most common causes of domestic injuries, so special attention should be paid to its design. From this point of view, stairs are divided into viable and steeply inclined. On the first one, you can climb / fall with a load in your hands, without holding on to the railing, and it is generally undesirable to walk on steeply inclined ones - stepping awkwardly or swaying, you can crash, leaning back. With a load in one hand, they generally climb the steeply inclined stairs, intercepting the railings or upper steps with the other.

The staircase design can be any of the ones shown on the left in fig. The most convenient in terms of saving usable space are highlighted in color:

On the right in Fig. the calculated ratios for them are given, and here there is a nuance: since the height of the ascent and descent into the basement is small, a ladder with an inclination of up to 50 degrees will be quite comfortable viable. tg 50 is almost exactly equal to 1.2, which makes it easier to calculate, based on the fact that the minimum tread width of a step of an emerging ladder is 180 mm, and its maximum allowable height is 230 mm. Let's say the height of the descent into the basement is 2.2 m from the top of the floor (see below). A whole number of steps should fit along this height, take 10. The height of the step is then 220 mm. Divide by 1.2, we get 183 mm - good. The removal of the stairs in the plan will be 183x10 = 1.83 m, which is also not bad. The area under the stairs, with its minimum permissible width of 0.8 m, is 1.83X0.8 = 1.464 sq. m.

On erroneous stairs

What you don't need to be smart with the basement staircase is, firstly, to do it on a string (one stringer) with hanging steps, pos. 1 in the figure, such stairs are extremely traumatic:

Secondly, pour the concrete staircase yourself in place, pos. 2. Ready-made concrete stairs - a real monolith, they are poured entirely into a split form. There are no working seams of concreting in them, and when pouring with "self-hand" they are inevitable: the upper step must not be poured until the lower one has grabbed. The seams are weak, in basement conditions they soon crack, and as a result, a homemade concrete staircase to the basement serves less than a wooden one.

Basement stairs

In a dry basement, a wooden staircase serves no less than himself. A properly made wooden staircase does not suddenly collapse, and before the steps begin to rot, it lets you know about a violation of the structure with a creak.

The device of a wooden emerging ladder for the basement is shown in Fig.:

Instead of cutouts in the inner string, you can stuff filly from a board or, better, thick plywood under the tread of the steps, pos. a. However, the collapse of rotten wooden basement stairs in a damp basement is also a common thing in household injuries, so it is better to attach the treads to steel or concrete kosoura beams. The cross-sectional dimensions of the concrete stringer are from 100 mm in width and from 150 mm in height. Steel - channel from 100 mm or I-beam from 80 mm.

The methods of fastening wooden treads in steel and concrete kosoura are shown in the figure:

Dowels for fastening to concrete are made from corrugated reinforcement bars of 8-18 mm. Embedding into concrete from 60 mm; in wood from 30 mm. Holes in filly for landing on dowels are drilled 2-2.5 mm narrower; the filly are thrust down with the blows of the mallet. Fastening the treads to the legs allows you to simply arrange the railing: the fittings are released upward to the height of the railing, and pipe pieces are put on them for the supports of the treads and balusters; can be plastic. It is best to fix the treads on the strip - they will not rot even in a damp basement.

In the case when there are no one and a half squares under the stairs, here in Fig are given drawings of a wooden steeply inclined staircase for the basement. You will definitely need a hatch to it, see below.

Note: Before being assembled into a product, all parts of a wooden staircase to the basement must be impregnated with an oil-based water-repellent compound (can be worked off), and the finished staircase must be lacquered with acrylic lacquer for outdoor use or painted with moisture-resistant paint. Best of all - acrylic bath enamel.

Entrance and hatch

There is often no space for an emerging staircase to the basement under a private house, and then the entrance to it is made from the outside. This is generally necessary if a ready-made concrete staircase is purchased for the basement - they are not made with an inclination of more than 40 degrees. Then, firstly, the entrance to the basement must be protected from precipitation by a canopy, see fig. on right. The overhang of the canopy roof should protrude forward above the edge of the upper step by less than 30 cm, and on the sides and rear - from 15 cm.Secondly, the upper step should protrude above the ground or blind area by at least 70 mm, and the basement door opening should be with a threshold of 90 mm. Both are necessary so that rain and melt water does not penetrate into the basement. It is better to make a threshold with a height of 120-130 mm, attaching ramps with a width of 400 mm or more to it on both sides.

The basement hatch is not so simple either. Probably, no one makes "lyada" from planks with a rope anymore - there is a wide range of ready-made basement hatches on sale. In the overlap (see below), they are walled up with cement-sand mortar, and the price is followed by a trace. way:

Non-automatic with a mechanical stop, like in old sofa beds: pulled, lifted - clicked into place. You need to close it - pulled it up, snapped it off, lowered it.
Semi-automatic in a spring-lever mechanism - pulled to the stop, keeps open. It is necessary to close - pushed down, down.
Semi-automatic with pneumatic lift - pulled up slightly, opened. It is necessary to close - pushed down, closed itself smoothly.
Automatic ones with pneumatic lift - he stepped harder on the edge of the lid, removed his leg - opened. To close, gently push the lid down, it closes.

In terms of ease of use, both semi-automatic devices are equivalent, but automatic ones are nothing more than a marketing trick without regard to safety. Let's imagine - furniture is brought into the house. The riggers (or you and your assistant) carry the cabinet. The front one walks on the hatch, it opens. The rear one cannot see what is under his feet, and he is not up to that - he falls through, is crippled. If you really want to fork out for the steepness of the basement, take a motorized hatch with remote control from the remote control, they are also sold.

Warming

Insulation is necessary for a residential and technical basement. The latter - so that the water in the pipes does not freeze, and fuel savings are noted only in insulated bulk boiler houses. It is also advisable to insulate the basement storage next to the house: building structures are good cold bridges in winter, and warm in summer.

The basement must be insulated with sand filling, see fig., So that seasonal movements of the soil do not break the insulation.

Mineral wool and cellulose insulation, excellent in all other respects, are not suitable for basement walls: they are caked and destroyed underground. Granular foam is also bad: under the pressure of soil and formation water, it quickly crumbles into granules. Extruded polyethylene foam (EPS) is more or less resistant in soil; the sprayed polyurethane coating lasts more than 10-15 years. They are insulated in both conventional ways, and before backfilling the sand cushion, they are protected with cement-sand plaster.

Drainage

In places with heavy rainfall during the warm season, no basement without surface contour drainage of the house will always be dry. In other cases, drainage is also useful: it reduces the swing of the groundwater level, which makes it possible to simplify the basement waterproofing and / or increase its efficiency. Equally important, the impact of a drained house with a basement on the underground runoff is significantly reduced. Incorrect settlement of such structures is extremely rare as a result of gross violations of construction. A diagram of the device for contour surface drainage of a residential building is shown in Fig. on right. The discharge field can be located under a vegetable garden or, better, a garden: practically the same atmospheric precipitation is collected in the drains, which are quite suitable for irrigation.

Basement under the garage

The basement in the garage is attractive in that it does not require the withdrawal of land area or the complication of the structure of a newly built house. The basement under the existing garage is being built without demolition into housing. But special requirements are imposed on the equipment of the basement under the garage, because explosive vapors of fuels and oils are heavier than air; much harder - in the cold, when they thicken.

Firstly, the hood of the garage basement must be high, towering at least 1.5 m above the roof, on the left in the figure:

It is unacceptable to display "geese" side by side over the ground! Secondly, the exhaust air duct needs an increased cross-section, from 15 sq. cm per cube of basement volume or at least 120 mm in diameter. Thirdly, the hood should have an aerodynamically closed type deflector, providing some "cold" draft and in complete calm, for example. deflector TsAGI or Khonzhenkov. Fourthly, in winter, the basement should be warmer than an unheated garage so that air is drawn into the ventilation only from the outside. Therefore, the basement under the garage is insulated from above, like the attic floor of a house, on the right in Fig.

The drivers will, of course, ask: won't the machine push through this feather bed? And how. Therefore, in the insulation, it is necessary to provide for gaps along the length and lay the ruts in them flush with the floor. It will be necessary to drive into the garage carefully so as not to leave them. All in all, a basement in a garage isn't all that attractive; there is a place for a repair pit.

Construction

Building a basement on your own is only possible in dry or seasonally dry soil. In the latter case, all work this year must be fully completed before lifting the GWL. Pumping groundwater is so complicated and expensive that it is rarely used in large-scale construction. An exception is a caisson basement, built at the top to the side and installed in a pit, but if it is made of concrete, a crane of at least 20 tons and a team of experienced slingers-riggers are needed. There is, however, an exception to the exception, see the end. In general, the construction of the basement includes a footprint. stages of work:

Excavation of the pit;
Pouring the base - slabs or tape soles;
Installation of communication input channels;
Walling;
Floor arrangement - on dense ground when the groundwater level is above its level for no more than 3 months. after at least 6 months. at the end of the annual cycle of work;
Floor installation;
Basement equipment, see above.

Pit

Building a basement in a pit with vertical walls is a gross mistake - it is impossible to make high-quality waterproofing. When isolating an existing basement, the house is dug in parts, and the finished site is covered up before choosing the next one. A typical pit profile for the construction of a basement is shown in Fig. on right. The width of the passage outside of the future wall is at least 75 cm along the bottom. The slope angle is acceptable for the given soil.

Base

At this stage, you need to order a concrete truck with reinforced concrete structures. It's not about the quality of self-mixing, it may be better than the factory one, but in its volume. Concreting working joints on the basement basement are highly undesirable, therefore it is necessary to fill in one fill. It is also wrong to lay the reinforcement cage directly on the sand-crushed stone pillow - lean preparation is needed for crushed stone, see below. Before pouring, insulation is applied to the preparation with cuffs on the sides of the pit 150-200 mm higher than the thickness of the slab / sole. Concrete is poured into the resulting bowl. Thus, direct contact of concrete with the ground is excluded, which, in turn, excludes the formation of fistulas in the monolith. The fistula, perhaps, will not lead to dampness of the basement, but it will allow moisture to reach the fittings, and in fact the basement of the basement should hold the whole house on itself. After pouring out the concrete mass, it is de-aerated (deaerated) by piercing each cell of the reinforcing cage in the middle with a rod. After the monolith has set, it is covered with a damp burlap, which is kept wet until the base gains 25% strength; in the usual summer in the Russian Federation it is approx. a week.

Walls

Basement walls are erected according to the usual building technology for this material. If a caisson basement is being built (see below), the walls are erected at the same time as the base. The openings of doors and windows are reinforced with concrete lintels with a height of 80 mm and more with laying from 120 mm into concrete walls and from 200 mm into brick and cinder block. Do not reinforce basement openings with steel or wooden mortgages! Remember again: the basement holds the whole house on it! When light dry spots appear on the set drying concrete of the walls, anti-capillary insulation can be applied. On brick and block walls - 3-4 days after the erection to the top.

Standing floor

The permanent floor in the basement on the tape immediately during the construction process is poured after the walls have set at least 25% strength. Under the permanent floor, rubble backfill is poured over the sand with a lean liquid cement mortar: cement from M400: sand 1: 3 - 1: 4. Pour to a level of 40-50 mm above the tops of the pebbles. When the pouring is set, insulation is applied and the screed is poured with cement: sand: crushed stone 1: 3: 2 with a layer of 70-80 mm. You can lay a clean floor and finish the walls in 2 weeks - a month.

Overlapping

Ceilings of hollow or box-shaped finished slabs are expensive and require for the installation of lifting equipment with qualified operators. Self-made monolithic flooring is laborious and technologically difficult. It has, like hollow-core slabs, a load-bearing capacity that is clearly excessive for a private house. Is it possible, having sacrificed it within reasonable limits, to block the basement with something moderate in price and easier to work with?

In modern individual construction, prefabricated block floors, designed for just such a case, are becoming more and more widespread. You can compare a monolith with a prefabricated block structure in Fig.:

Insulation of the floor of the house above the basement under the prefabricated block overlap in normal climatic conditions is not required or a simplified one is required. The load-bearing beams are poured together with the load-bearing belt (see below) in grooved formwork on supports, which are much easier and easier to make than a solid one hanging under a monolith.

Laying and belt

It is impossible to build a house with a box-on-box basement: at the top, in the basement walls, you need a large groove, into which a monolithic floor enters, slabs are laid or the bearing belt of a prefabricated block floor is poured. In all cases, the minimum wall thickness and the placement of the overlap in it are different for walls made of different materials.

How much which ceiling is laid in a wall of concrete or brick is shown in the figure:

Waterproofing is shown conditionally, in the case when the basement ends with the basement of the building with its own ceilings. For a cinder wall, the laying is the same as for a brick one, but its distance from the top is at least 2 rows of masonry.

How to build a caisson

The reinforcement frame of the basement caisson is assembled at the top as a whole and installed in the prepared foundation pit (see below) with a crane. It is impossible to assemble the entire frame during welding - the reinforcement will weaken due to metal tempering. Therefore, the frame is first knitted with wire as usual, and then individual joints are welded: at the bottom, at the corners of the cells, there are 3x3 or 4x4 cells of the frame, and on the walls in each 3rd or 4th belt.

The pit for the caisson is prepared as for other cellars, see above. Further, construction proceeds in the following sequence (see also fig.):

Note: concrete walls of basements on a slab and tape are also poured according to paragraphs. 7 and 8. Pouring between the boards and the ground is a mistake - what a reliable anti-pressure insulation here.

Couldn't it be simpler?

This is a very correct question. The construction of an eternally dry, reliable basement for an inexperienced is terribly difficult on the knees, and even experienced ones have a headache. The answer is positive: you can buy a ready-made basement-caisson, put it in a pit on a sand-crushed stone pillow and fill a clay castle (necessarily, otherwise it will float up). If it (basement) is needed not under the house, not residential and not technical. The vegetables in the bins will have to be sorted out from time to time, but the suppliers optionally offer delivery to the place and installation in the finished pit.

Caissons for basements are produced steel welded insulated with a hatch, stairs, ventilation and reinforcement for concreting (optional), on the left in Fig. There are also plastic ones on sale, but don't take them - they float 100%. Individuals also make caissons for basements from steel from 8 mm. To catch on the ground from floating up, brackets are welded from a strip of 12 mm or more (on the right in the figure), but this is less reliable, and you have to isolate the caisson from corrosion yourself.

It is possible, by the way, to get by even cheaper - to make a basement-caisson from a used shipping container. If you cover it with a thick-layer bitumen-cement mastic, it will last no less than 100 years in the ground. To hook on the ground, pipes are threaded into the eyes of the lifting paws at the bottom and an anchor frame is welded to them. Container width - auto size 9 feet (2.7 m). Length - 12-70 feet (3.6-21 m); the most popular 20 and 40 feet (6 and 12 m). It is quite enough for a basement, but how savvy amateurs make basements from shipping containers, see the video.

For storage and storage of preparations and vegetables for the winter, many summer residents decide to build a cellar on their own territory with their own hands, which is quite justified for several reasons. Firstly, independent work will save a lot of money, especially considering that the work on organizing the cellar itself cannot be called very difficult. Secondly, such a structure near the house makes it possible to consume scarce vegetables and vitamins in the winter.

In the article, we will try to reveal as fully and in detail as possible the topic of how to build a cellar on a site with our own hands. We will list the different types of structures for self-construction, offer instructions for each type of building, and also look at the ready-made solutions available in the store. Go!

Cellar with concrete walls: instructions

The first step is to make training, namely, to determine the building materials, the place and dimensions of the cellar. We decided to choose a project from bulk expanded clay concrete, since this option copes well with maintaining a constant temperature, and moisture will not penetrate into such a room. As for the depth, in our case, the optimal indicator will be 3 meters.

An important point! When self-building and choosing a place for a cellar, it is worth stopping in elevated areas... So you can avoid the risk of flooding the pit in the spring with groundwater.

We pass to digging a foundation pit. For greater comfort when descending into the cellar, a hole should be dug rectangular... The walls and floor of an underground structure should be carefully tamped! A gravel or crushed stone backfill is created on the floor, which is then poured with a clay solution.

If your site is located in a lowland, and there is a risk of flooding the pit, then for the place of clay, it is worth using concrete mortar. In this case, before pouring, it will be necessary to lay a steel mesh.

The construction of walls can be carried out in a variety of ways, it all depends on the material used. Alternatively, you can arrange concrete walls. For this purpose, a formwork with longitudinal reinforcement is placed in the pit, after which it is poured with concrete. The formwork is dismantled after a few days.

Another good option is to build walls from expanded clay or reinforced concrete blocks. The process of laying the material is identical. Even at the planning stage, it is worth considering places for organizing ventilation and a doorway for greater comfort in operating the cellar.

After the walls, the overlap is created. For this, a chipboard formwork is again created, which is laid on top of the supports.

A reinforcing mesh is placed in the formwork, which is then poured with concrete.

Forgetting about the moisture inside the pit will allow waterproofing! In our case, this is a coating waterproofing using bitumen mastic, which will be applied both from the outer and inner sides of the walls. On top of the overlap, directly on the mastic, a layer of roofing material is laid, which will act as an additional waterproofing of the cellar.

The final stage in the construction of the cellar with your own hands will be filling the foundation pit and concrete floor with earth.

Advice! In the process of backfilling the floor and foundation pit, make sure that no sharp objects and stones remain in the ground that can damage the roofing material layer, thereby violating the waterproofing of the room.

In the end, all that remains is to equip the storage, namely to carry out electrical installation measures, install a ladder and a door, and also place special places for storing vegetables and racks for blanks and cans inside.

Video

Brick cellar: work order

If desired, for a country house, a cellar can be built from bricks. To create such a building with your own hands, you can adhere to the following order of work.

After the final determination of the place for the cellar, taking into account the previously mentioned recommendations, you can immediately proceed to the excavation of the pit of the required dimensions. In our example, the pit will be 2 by 2 meters.

After carefully tamping the floor and walls, we proceed to pouring the floor concrete slab, followed by waterproofing.

For the construction of the walls, brick was used with a thickness of masonry in one row.

During masonry work, you should constantly check the evenness of the walls when help level and construction plumb line!

After the walls, go to the ceiling. For this purpose, wooden logs, pre-impregnated with antiseptic composition are installed along the walls. A flooring is laid on them, on top of which a 25-30 cm layer of sawdust is arranged.

A wooden hatch will act as a door inside. Do not forget to insulate it with polystyrene so that the cans with blanks do not freeze in winter.

The final structure in a homemade cellar with brick walls will be a wooden gable roof, on one side of which there will be an entrance door with an opening for ventilation.

Along the perimeter of the above-ground part of the cellar, it makes sense to dig a small groove, where in the future water will drain from the roof during the rain.

As for ventilation, in our case, a pair of pipes with a diameter of half a meter was used for this. One was placed diagonally 20 centimeters from the ceiling, the other at the same distance from the floor.

Red brick cellar

The creation of such a cellar, as in the case of other varieties, begins with digging a pit no more than 3.5 meters deep. As a result, we should get two rooms: a staircase and a vestibule.

After digging the pit, we carefully tamp the steps of the stairs, the floor and walls of the room.

We are pouring concrete as a floor. After it has hardened, you can proceed to laying brick walls.

It is important to emphasize that you can start laying the walls only after the concrete has set and gains about 70 percent of its hardness!

On top of the finished walls, rolled metal is placed, which will serve as a kind of basis for the future overlap.

Formwork is placed directly on the metal frame and concrete is poured.

After the final hardening of the concrete, you can proceed to the construction of the aboveground part of the cellar using red brick. At the end, the roof is equipped.

Do-it-yourself storage in the country

Before proceeding to the construction of the cellar, it is necessary to prepare in advance all the necessary drawings, draw up at least a preliminary work plan and calculate the amount of building material. During planning, it is important to consider that the finished storage must meet the following requirements:

The room must have good ventilation;
It is important to keep it cool inside;
An autonomous power system should be located in the underground part;
It is necessary to take measures to protect harvesting and vegetables from mice;
The temperature regime in the basement should not be too harsh.

Reconstruction of the cellar in the country

The first step is to remove everything from the underfloor covering, after which you can move on to cleaning the deciduous and earthy layer, followed by disassembling the knurler. It will be more correct if the listed work starts to be carried out from the edge to the center!

The next step is to disassemble the old masonry walls with joist floors.

Arrangement of the foundation ... For this purpose, a pit is pulled out, in which the formwork is created. In order to keep relatively warm inside the cellar, the thickness of the walls should be made at least one brick thick. In our case, the height of the foundation has reached 150 millimeters.

Before pouring the concrete mixture, reinforcement with a diameter of 16 millimeters is laid in the formwork in 3 rows. Each row of fittings is welded to each other using metal strips... Only then can the structure be filled with cement. The formwork is disassembled after a few days.

To avoid problems with it will turn out if in advance, even at the stage of installing the foundation, a bar-eight is welded to the reinforcement!

Brick wall claws ... The first or, as it is also called, the zero row of bricks is laid directly on top of the concrete surface of the foundation with a poke. In the center above it, a strip of steel metal is attached, on which embedded parts are fixed. Thanks to this solution, reliable and high-quality grounding is achieved.

All the following rows fit into half a brick, while the steel strips should be placed after each row. This will provide the basement walls with greater strength. It is not necessary to connect the strips to each other!

When building basement walls with your own hands, it is important to ensure that during construction there are no voids and gaps between the material. Otherwise, in the future, rodents can enter the cellar through them.

When a height of one meter is reached when laying the walls, you can proceed to the arrangement of supply ventilation, in our case, sewer pipes were used for this.

It is possible to organize waterproofing of the basement walls using roofing material sheets.

Create a slab and top rail ... Only after laying 21 rows of bricks can the upper part be strapped with metal elements. To do this, a sheet of roofing material is laid on top of the last layer of brick, which is then covered with earth. In our example, for strapping, we used two profiles from I-beam No. 12, which was sawn in the middle. A piece of rail was used as a beam.

The next step is to carefully secure the ladder!

Pouring a 100 mm reinforced concrete floor begins with the formwork and installation of reinforcement. After that, the structure is poured with concrete.

At the end of construction work in the cellar, the screed from the smallest crushed stone is poured with cement, the ceiling is insulated by a 5-centimeter foam layer and a hatch is placed.

Electricity supply and finishing works are being carried out, in which it will be enough to just whitewash the surface of the walls.

When finishing work, do not forget to place a visor over the ventilation pipes!

The difference between the basement and the cellar

In most cases, the basement is set up as an underground space inside the house. As a rule, it is used as a place for placing summer cottages, less often as a workshop, etc. The cellar is built mainly for storing vegetables and food. In addition, the cellar is often constructed as a separate room outside the building.

How to convert a basement into a cellar with your own hands?

If there is a basement inside your country house, then, if necessary, you can easily convert it into a cellar with your own hands - you just need to place racks inside for storing vegetables, and also install a wooden partition in order to divide the basement. At the same time, a staircase, fans and lighting are required for the cellar.

The staircase leading to the basement must remain comfortable and without steep steps!

If in winter in the basement the temperature dropped below zero, then you will additionally need to make wall insulation... Before that, it makes sense to apply slaked lime or an antifungal composition to the surface of the walls. As a heat-insulating material, foam plastic, glass insulation or rolled roofing material will fit. The insulation itself is covered with sheets of fiberboard or plywood.

In addition to the walls, it may be necessary in the basement in floor insulation, which is realized due to the plastic film and timber stacked on top. If necessary, you can fill the floor with bitumen, create a 5-6 cm flooring of sawdust, covered with wood on top.

How to build a cellar in the country?

A typical cellar is made in the form of a simple pit with concrete walls, on top of which a roof is placed. It is recommended to build such a structure. in a high place so that during periods of water abundant groundwater does not reach the underground room.

Work order

Preparation of drawings. In our case, the basement depth will be 1.0-1.2 meters, dimensions - 1.5-2.0 meters.
Digging a pit in the case of a separately placed cellar.
The bottom of the pit is covered with a 5-7 cm layer of crushed stone or pebbles, steel mesh and formwork are installed, after which cement is poured.
After the concrete has hardened, you can proceed to laying brick walls.
Along the perimeter of the basement, on top of the walls, bars of 50 by 50 millimeters are laid. A hatch is mounted, insulated with ordinary foam.

Types of ready-made solutions

Barrel cellar

To create such a solution, high quality fiberglass is used. A cellar in the form of a barrel is an absolutely sealed structure, and therefore it can be placed anywhere and in the ground. The operational period of the finished product reaches 50 years. Design features ensure a constant internal temperature, which allows you to safely store vegetables and food inside. To place it on your own site, you just need to dig a hole, place a cellar inside and fill the barrel back.

Ready models

Similar to the previous model, many conventional ready-made cellars are designed to last 50 years. They are usually made from seamless plastic. Together with them, the set usually contains: supply ventilation, steel ladder, hood, built-in light source, etc. To install such a product with your own hands, you just need to dig a pit of the required size, place the device inside and fill the structure back so that only a rectangular hatch is visible above the ground.

Cellar in the form of a capsule

If you do not have time to build a cellar with your own hands, you can purchase a ready-made structure in the form of a capsule in the store. Outside, such a product resembles a ball with a ladder. To install the product, similar to other models, it is enough to dig a hole, place a container inside and fill the voids with earth. Only the door inside will be visible above the ground.