Do-it-yourself concrete pavement around the house: step by step instructions. How to make a blind area around a house with a strip foundation? Proper laying of the blind area

The blind area around the house no longer performs a decorative function, it protects the soil near the foundation from getting wet and uneven softening. The blind area device has its own tricks and technical requirements, which we will share with readers in our today's review.

Timing and soil preparation

Work on the construction of a concrete blind area should be carried out as early as possible. From the moment the foundation has assumed more than a third of the design load, it already needs protection from soaking. Therefore, a house with lined walls is not recommended to be left for the winter without a blind area. Heaving forces are able to do their "dirty" work even in one season. You can schedule work for almost any time of the year, but taking into account weather conditions, observing the technology of working with concrete.

The first stage is digging a trench along the outer perimeter. The bottom should be located 30-35 cm below the final level of coverage, and it, in turn, should be 50-80 mm higher than the adjacent fertile soil.

The width of the blind area cannot be less than the cornice and gable overhang above it and cannot be less than 60 cm. In the general case, it is defined as 50% of the depth of the foundation. For basement buildings on soils of the first type of subsidence, the width of the blind area can reach two meters.

The general scheme of the concrete blind area: 1 - parent soil; 2 - formwork; 3 - concrete blind area; 4 - clay castle; 5 - gravel preparation; 6 - sand preparation; 7 - damper tape; 8 - fittings

When the trench is open, an clay castle is formed at the bottom with greasy clay 10-12 cm thick. Above, make two layers of incompressible and non-porous materials: first crushed stone with a layer of 50-60 mm, then up to 100 mm of sand. Along the outer edge of the trench, be sure to dig the so-called "tooth" - a groove of about 20x20 cm.

The level of the finished sub-base layer should be 45-60 mm below the planned level of coverage. It should be borne in mind that the thickness of the layers of sand and gravel must be constant at each point of the trench, so that the recess under the “tooth” after the backfilling device is preserved.

To prevent mixing of the layers of the underlying layer, separate them from each other with a geotextile sheet, and separate the substrate itself from the compacted soil with a drainage geocomposite. On strongly heaving and, sometimes, medium heaving soils, insulation of the blind area may be required. It can be done with extruded polystyrene foam slabs, which are laid on top of a thin (10-15 mm) sandfill over a layer of crushed stone, and then another layer of 50-60 mm of dry sand is poured.

Formwork, reinforcement

The device of storm sewers is considered correct in order to divert atmospheric precipitation and perched water into the drainage system. Water from the blind area is collected in a tray at the edge, from where it is discharged into a drainage trench. If a system of hidden channels is provided for these purposes, they are arranged at the stage of preparing the underlying layer. During the preparation of the reinforcing layer, all the necessary elements of the drainage system should be prudently laid.

The formwork under the blind area has the simplest device. It is only necessary to knock down a pair of boards 20x100 mm into shields in parallel, connecting them with jumpers after 50-60 cm. The formwork is installed under the side of the trench, the height of the upper edge is adjusted according to the final level of coverage. For ease of alignment, with an interval of 150 cm, wooden stakes are hammered on the outside of the shields, to which the formwork is screwed with self-tapping screws. After that, from the outside, the shields are supported by a dump of soil from the adjacent territory.

The most important point in the device of the blind area is that it should not be monolithically connected with the basement of the building. The best scheme for the removal of external water, including those flowing down the wall, is observed when two layers of concrete are separated by a material with sufficiently high ductility, provided that the plinth finish is put on the blind area from above, preventing water from seeping through the separating layer. If the plinth will not be finished with hinged sheathing, its lining should begin with an EPPS damper strip that compensates for the “floating” of the concrete slab.

The easiest way to achieve such a device scheme is to paste over the bottom of the base with a strip of polyurethane foam about 20 mm thick. The separator sits on the adhesive mastic, as it is mounted, the upper edge is aligned with the cord, setting the slope of the coating towards the adjacent soil at least 3:100. However, the separating material can be cut along a common line after the adhesive has dried, but the principle remains the same: the formwork and the separating layer serve as beacons for leveling the concrete mix.

Reinforcement of the blind area is carried out with a steel mesh with a rod thickness of 8 mm and a cell size of up to 200 mm inclusive. The reinforcement is laid in one row and placed on remote supports that regulate the protective layers of reinforced concrete at least 45 mm above and below and about 60 mm on the sides.

Preparation of concrete mix

The blind area is allowed to be cast with concrete prepared on site, but the requirements for the quality of the mixture are quite high.

The desired concrete strength class is B25 or higher. The feedstock should be measured by volume so as not to take additional corrections for the moisture content of sand or gravel. In total, 20 liters of sand and 35 liters of crushed stone or large granite screenings are added for 10 liters of cement grade 500 for the preparation of concrete.

To ensure the homogeneity of the mixture, cement milk is first prepared in a concrete mixer with the addition of half the calculated amount of water and sand. After 2-3 minutes of kneading, you can add the rest of the filler and sprinkle the mixture with water as needed. The final consistency of the concrete is a loose mix with a low moisture to cement ratio, with all stones being evenly wetted.

The cycle of continuous mixing of one portion should take at least 15 minutes. To entrain air and provide additional plasticity, add one tablespoon of liquid detergent per bucket to the water. As a result, concrete has a frost resistance class of at least F200 and water absorption resistance of at least W6. If necessary, enhance the desired properties with modifier additives.

Optimal concrete consistency for pouring formwork

Filling, leveling, ironing

The blind area should be poured from the most remote part, gradually moving closer to the place of concrete preparation. The formwork is filled with the mixture almost to the top, after which the concrete is bayoneted or vibrated.

The need for transverse separation of the blind area with expansion joints is determined by the operating conditions. For the shaded sides of the building, this is not necessary, but under the open sun, the blind area should be poured, dividing the mixture with strips of polystyrene foam every two widths.

When leveling, it is convenient to move straight through the liquid mixture in rubber boots. Armed with a rail-rule, check the degree of filling of the formwork and the depth of immersion of the tray box in concrete. If necessary, upset the formwork with gentle hammer blows, but do not overdo it: it will be much more difficult to raise the edge higher.

When both beacons and the edges of the tray are brought to the same level, add a small amount of the mixture and stretch it with a rail. It is not necessary to smooth the surface, it is enough to ensure its flatness and correct slope, to remove depressions in which water can collect.

After leveling, a board is laid flat on the edge of the formwork and the tray, on which a small oppression is set for 10-12 hours of preliminary setting of the mixture. For the next 7-10 days, the blind area will need to be sprayed once a day with water from a hose and then covered with a film.

Two weeks after pouring, the formwork can be broken up and wet ironed. For him, a mixture of sand and cement is prepared in equal proportions, instead of water, three parts of milk of lime and one part of liquid glass are added to the solution. The finished mixture should have a consistency slightly thicker than cream.

Before ironing, the blind area must be well moistened and wiped with a metal brush, breaking the structure of the crust formed on the surface, then sweep and rinse again. After preliminary drying, the ironing mixture is poured over the surface from the plinth outward, and then leveled with a wide spatula in the longitudinal direction. The iron layer must be at least 1.5-2 mm, the time for the mixture to solidify is at least 3 days with periodic surface moistening.

No building can do without a solid foundation to support its weight and ensure the integrity of the entire structure, but it also needs additional protection. If necessary, each person can make a concrete pavement around the house with their own hands, without using the services of professional builders. This process is not very complicated, but it requires careful fulfillment of a number of requirements.

Requirements for the blind area, arrangement rules

This design serves as additional protection for the base of the building, preventing the destructive influence of groundwater and the environment. In addition to protection, it also performs an aesthetic function - a building with a blind area acquires a complete appearance. Before concreting the blind area with your own hands, you need to familiarize yourself with a number of requirements:

To successfully create a blind area, you should draw up a drawing. You can make it yourself, focusing on standard projects, or turn to specialists. If necessary, it can be limited with . Being a decorative element, it also increases the integrity of the structure and protects against penetration of the roots of trees or shrubs.

Borders are mandatory if you create a blind area around the house from screenings or crushed stone, and if poplar, plane tree, raspberry and blackberry grow nearby.

Do-it-yourself materials for creating a concrete blind area around the house

Before starting work, you need to prepare all the necessary materials and a diagram. Strengthening the foundation should be consistent, but the whole process should take a minimum of time. In most cases, when drawing up a project, you can use typical concrete blind areas, making adjustments to the scheme in accordance with the characteristics of your region. You will need the following materials:

1. Concrete. The resulting mixture must comply with the characteristics of the class from B3.5 to B8. When creating it, cement of the M 400 brand will be the best.
2. Sand. As a pillow, you can use river or quarry sand. The material used when mixing the mixture must be soft, the presence of large impurities is not allowed.
3. Crushed stone or gravel. Fraction of crushed stone for blind area at home - 10-20. It is used as a filler for a concrete mixture, or as a base material.
4. Clay or geotextile. This material is used when arranging a concrete blind area with your own hands for additional protection against moisture, which is important for regions with high humidity.

It is determined by the brand of cement used and its specific gravity as a percentage of the elements of the solution. A good solution would be the material M400 Portland cement. Used cement must be fresh. If the powder forms lumps when squeezed in the hand, it will soon become unusable. The grade of selected cement depends on the planned thickness of the blind area made of concrete. Recommended proportions for mixing 1 m 3 solution:

• water - 190 l;
• filler (screening or crushed stone) - 0.8 m 3;
• sand - 0.5 m 3
• plasticizers (liquid glass and the like) - 2.4 l;
• cement - 320 kg.

When calculating the size of the blind area around the house, you should prepare the required amount of building materials in advance. It is also important to follow the order of feeding materials, which is necessary to ensure the desired consistency. Compliance with the technology will achieve the desired result and create a reliable design. When all the requirements are met, you can effectively equip the concrete pavement around the house with your own hands.

The amount of water supplied is of great importance. Excess will reduce the strength of the resulting concrete. Lack of water will not allow it to harden properly.

How to make a blind area for the foundation with your own hands - step by step instructions

The required amount of cement is poured into a concrete mixer or other mixing container, and then it is filled with water. When mixing, a "cement milk" is formed, into which other components are fed. Next, sand is added in small portions, while the mixture should be constantly mixed. Next, the filler is poured (crushed stone or screenings). If you know in advance which crushed stone is better for the blind area, and you have selected the material of the correct fraction, mixing will not be difficult.

To ensure more efficient mixing, wait 5 minutes after adding each component.

Once the materials are prepared, you can get to work. The blind area around the house includes the following steps:

Also, before pouring, an expansion joint is installed between the blind area and the plinth using boards or plywood sheets - this measure will protect the concrete from destruction when the temperature changes.

Installation of blind area from crushed stone

A more economical option would be to use crushed stone as the main fill material. The same requirements are imposed on its arrangement as on the blind area made of concrete, however, reinforcement and the creation of an expansion joint are not required here. An additional layer of waterproofing (geotextile) is installed between the crushed stone and the sand "cushion". This will prevent the crushed stone and sand from mixing, and will prevent plants from growing from seeds that may have been left in the "cushion".

You can make a blind area from rubble with your own hands without much effort. Large fraction material can be used to fill the bottom of the trench. From above, to give a decorative effect, fine gravel is used. Such a blind area also successfully protects the foundation from the destructive effects of groundwater and the environment. With the right approach, you can give it a neat and attractive appearance.

Do-it-yourself concrete blind area from A to Z - video

The article was prepared with the participation of TECHNONICOL specialists

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of the blind area, especially in regions with high groundwater levels and heavy rainfall. Nevertheless, for many, it still remains a desirable, but optional element. Last but not least, this is due to the complexity of the device of the classic monolithic "pie". Relatively recently, a simplified, but no less reliable version of the blind area has appeared, which does not require cubic meters of concrete. Together with the specialists of TECHNONICOL, we will consider the most relevant aspects.

• What is a blind area and its purpose.
• What is a soft blind area.
• Soft blind area device technology.
• Questions of portal participants and answers of specialists.

What is a blind area and its purpose

The blind area is one of the most important structural elements of the building, which is a strip of impenetrable coating that runs along the entire perimeter next to the base.

The main task of the blind area is to divert water from the foundation and prevent the soil from getting wet in this area, and later freezing.

Without a blind area, the base will regularly come into contact with moisture, which will adversely affect its strength and durability.

In addition, with heavy precipitation, the absence of a blind area will contribute to the pollution of the facade. Also, the coating serves as a sidewalk, on which you can move around the building in any weather. As for the aesthetic side of the issue, the house, edged with a blind area, looks much more attractive and takes on a complete look.

Alexey Tsybenko leading technical specialist of the direction "Engineering waterproofing" of the Technical Directorate of TECHNONICOL Corporation

Unfortunately, the importance of the blind area is often underestimated, not all builders pay enough attention to it. And the owner in the future may face such negative consequences as cracks on the facade of the building. When there is no blind area, rain and melt water can naturally accumulate at the base of the foundation. In addition to the direct destructive effect on the base of the structure, heaving of soils can also occur, which is fraught with deformations.

What is soft blind area

Both ordinary and insulated blind areas are of two types:

• monolithic;
• soft.

In the first case, this is a coating with a continuous, concrete finish layer, in the second, on the contrary, it is a permeable coating, but with a sealed base. Monolithic (hard) blind areas are most often concreted or asphalted, soft ones can be either with a gravel layer or with tiles laid in a floating way, sometimes they are even planted with lawn grass. A hard blind area removes water from the finishing inclined surface, while on a soft one, water freely penetrates through the top layer, and penetration into the ground is prevented by a waterproofing layer from which it is drained into the drainage.

Unlike hard blind areas, soft ones are not in danger of destruction due to heaving, and they are easier to equip, since there is no concreting stage.

The most popular soft type of blind area on heaving soils, so in most cases they are insulated, based on XPS sheets. However, they do it without insulation, when the choice is dictated not by the need to prevent swelling, but by the desire to simplify the process.

zip FORUMHOUSE Member

I really don’t want to bother with pouring a concrete blind area, and the final result will certainly not please the eyes. I want to arrange it easier: a sand cushion, waterproofing on top, and paving slabs on top, with a slight slope. It will turn out, as it were, both a blind area and a path.

chicken FORUMHOUSE member

The idea is correct. This method is now often used. A thick (about 0.6 mm) high-pressure polyethylene membrane is used as a waterproofing layer. As a top layer, you can not only lay tiles, but pour gravel, pebbles, sow a lawn, etc.

However, a standard soft blind area cake includes the following layers:

• preparation;
• insulation;
• waterproofing;
• drainage;
• geotextile;
• finishing layer.

The minimum width of such a blind area is 60 cm, the maximum depends on the roof overhang - the coating should protrude from it by 15-20 cm. On heaving soils, a canvas of at least a meter wide is recommended. The depth depends both on the type of soil and the presence of insulation, and on the type of finish layer, but, on average, it is 30-40 cm.

Soft blind area device technology

The main element of the soft blind area is waterproofing - it must be strong enough and withstand the load from drainage and the finish layer. Geotextile prevents mixing of the drainage and finishing layer, which is fraught with silting and deterioration of throughput, so its importance should not be underestimated either. Today, manufacturers produce special two-layer membranes - a profiled base made of high-strength polyethylene (HDPE) and thermally bonded geotextiles.

Geotextile attached over the "spikes" of the polyethylene base provides filtration and rapid drainage of water. That is, one membrane is both waterproofing, drainage, and geotextile, which greatly simplifies installation.

Plus, it can be beneficial.

Alexey Tsybenko

The two-layer membrane not only instantly removes the filtered liquid from the foundation, but also simplifies the choice of the finishing layer. Why expensive coatings when you can fill with gravel or cover with fertile soil and sow with lawn grass? The polyethylene from which it is made cannot be damaged by plant roots.

The technology of a soft blind area based on such a membrane is not complicated by special operations.

Training

The soil is chosen to the required depth, leveled, rammed. Filling is carried out with a layer of building sand with a slope from the walls, if the soil is very loose, sometimes compacted clay is used instead of sand.

Warming

Insulation plates are laid on top of the backfill to prevent freezing of the soil under the blind area. Since there will be a membrane and a finishing layer on top of the insulation, additional fixation is not required.

Waterproofing

The membrane is rolled out along, over the insulation, with a layer of geotextile upwards, overlapping the wall by 15 cm and going beyond the edge of the insulation so that it completely covers both the XPS and the sand cushion. To seal the coating, the membrane sections are overlapped - a layer of geotextile is separated from the membrane spikes and the pieces are fixed on four spikes (at least 10 cm), tightly inserting them into the grooves. It is desirable to glue all seams with a special double-sided tape. After that, the geotextile is returned to its place, and the joints are also glued with adhesive tape at least 50 mm wide. After laying, the membrane is fixed to the wall using special fasteners; some members of our portal use mastics.

Finishing layer

Gravel or soil substrate is poured over the membrane, a layer of sand is poured under the tile or natural stone. The border is used with gravel backfill or with tiles / stone.

Answers of experts to the questions of the portal participants

Soft blind areas are quite popular among our craftsmen, and various questions often arise during their construction. Who, if not experts, will give exhaustive answers.

Cosmos02 member FORUMHOUSE

For a soft blind area, I also bought a drainage pipe, but I didn’t lay it along the edge, to collect water from the membrane, as I thought at first. I thought this: when I have a tile, then from the pipe from the roof funnel, along the open tray (with a grate), the water will also go to the edge of the blind area into the tray. And from those trays to a certain point "A" to gather, from where into a ditch, also in an open way on top. That is, it turns out that all the water from the roof will 100% go away and not fall on the blind area. There remains water from oblique rain that falls on the tile: some of it will flow down the tile into the tray on the edge of the blind area, it’s already good, and some will penetrate through the seams, crushed stone and sand onto the membrane and roll down 1.7 meters from the foundation. So maybe you should not be afraid of this water and not make a drainage pipe to collect it?

Alexey Tsybenko

All right. Drainage of water falling from the roof onto a soft blind area can be organized in several ways:

• "Open" surface removal of water, by means of the trays already mentioned, which can be made in the form of molded plastic and concrete products. Such a system for collecting and transporting water from the roof to the blind area minimizes its spread over the surface of the blind area, and this, in turn, preserves the durability of the coating.
• "Closed" lead without the use of special products presented above. Water that enters the blind area from the roof is drained along the surface of the drainage membrane, the edge of which can be connected to the annular drainage of the site or to the wall drainage of the foundation, or simply connected to the adjacent territory of the site, where water is drained in the same way as from the surface of the classical concrete pavement.

The specialist notes that, due to the variety of options for surface drainage, including atmospheric water (oblique rain), it is possible to refuse the use of drainage pipes when constructing a blind area.

Mitroshka FORUMHOUSE member

I study the proposed options for soft blind area. Here, explain the following points to me: on the proposed schemes, the waterproofing layer is laid with a slope from the foundation and, at best, descends into the drainage ditch, and in most cases it simply ends, or even slightly rises upward with a trough. And all this at a depth of 30 cm. instead of diverting rainwater to the side, we drive it through sand and rubble into the ground until waterproofing and get a near-foundation ditch with water?

No, we don't.

Alexey Tsybenko

The considered option of a soft blind area using drainage membranes involves the formation of a slope from the walls of the building of at least 3 ° to organize the drainage of water entering the surface of the blind area. It is precisely due to the formed slope of the earthen base that when laying profiled membranes, water falling on their surface flows down unhindered. The distance to which water is drained is equal to the width of the blind area, it is usually 800-1000 mm, but in any case, this distance covers the width of the filled sinuses of the pit. Thus, water is “discharged” to the area adjacent to the house (unless measures are taken to collect water from the roof to the surface of the blind area, such as a plastic sewer system or the connection of drainage membranes with ring or wall drainage). Therefore, by definition, there is nothing to say about any “near-foundation moat with water”. Therefore, as natural, the soil of the adjacent area does not apply to either the wall or the foundation space.

Mitroshka FORUMHOUSE member

In the case when the waterproofing goes into a drainage ditch filled with crushed stone in the spring, all this crushed stone is a monolithic ice block, and the drainage does not work, i.e. at the moment when the GWL is as high as possible, such a blind area, again, does not work?

It depends on what to expect from the blind area.

Alexey Tsybenko

The blind area, following the example of the outer walls of the building, is formed not to protect the foundation from groundwater, but to protect the foundation from atmospheric water (rain, snowmelt), therefore, it is pointless to lay foundation protection against groundwater on the blind area, regardless of their level of occurrence. In the case when the drainage membrane of the soft blind area is associated with the sprinkling of the annular or wall drainage, drainage from its surface is carried out, regardless of the time of year. A plastic drain in a drainage trench is located below the freezing level of the soil. For Moscow, for example, the freezing depth, depending on the soil, ranges from 120 cm for clay to 132 cm for sand. Water in a plastic drain located at this level not only does not freeze, but is also freely transported along the slope to the catchment area.

There is nothing secondary in construction. All structural elements of buildings and structures must be approached responsibly.

One of the final types of work at a construction site is a blind area. It is carried out at the end of the construction of the house, in parallel with the construction of an external staircase or entrance to the garage, but after the facade of the building or at least the basement has been finished.

blind area- this is a strip 0.6-1.2 m wide adjacent to the foundation or basement of the building with a slope, "descent" from it. The slope of the blind area must be at least 1% (1 cm per 1 m) and not more than 10% (10 cm per 1 m).

Do you need a blind area?

The main task of the blind area is to drain surface "rain and melt" water from the walls and foundation of the house. The blind area prevents the penetration of surface water to the base of the foundation, and is also a decorative element of external improvement, forming a sidewalk around the house.

In addition, the blind area does not allow the lawn or plants to grow close to the walls of the house, preventing excessive moisture of its structures and damage to the foundation by the roots of trees and shrubs.

blind area design

The traditional blind area consists of two main layers - a decorative coating and an underlying layer.

Underlayment

The underlying layer serves to create a compacted and even base for further laying the blind area. As an underlying layer, it is used: sand, gravel, clay. The choice of material depends on the top cover of the blind area.

decorative coating

The covering of the blind area must be primarily waterproof and difficult to wash out with water.

In the old days, the blind area was made of clay: they dug a shallow trench around the perimeter of the house and filled it with clay, which was compacted with a slope away from the house and moistened, creating a water-resistant layer, on the surface of which rain and melt water flowed.

Today, when constructing a blind area, clay is replaced with concrete - it allows you to get a monolithic surface without cracks, which is especially important when there is no certainty that the foundation is waterproofed. If the foundation is properly insulated, then piece materials can be used for the blind area - paving slabs (paving stones), crushed stone, slabs.

blind area device

blind area level

The height of the base depends on the type of material from which the blind area is made. If it is gravel or crushed stone, it is enough to raise the base to a height of 30 cm. If it is a hard and flat surface (for example, concrete or paving slabs), the height of the base must be increased to 50 cm.

blind area width

The width of the blind area is set depending on the type of soil and the removal of the cornice overhangs of the roof. On ordinary soils, the width is taken 20 cm wider than the eaves (but not less than 60 cm), so that the water flowing from the roof does not erode the soil and does not stagnate under the house. On subsidence soils 20-30 cm beyond the slopes of trenches or pits, torn off under the foundation, but not less than 90 cm.

blind area slope

For cobblestone and crushed stone blind areas, the transverse slope from the axis of the house is taken within 5-10% (5-10 cm per 1 m of width). For concrete and asphalt 3-5%. At the same time, the steeper the slope, the better the water is drained and the more inconvenient the blind area becomes as a footpath around the house.

Gap between wall and deck

When constructing a blind area, you should remember about the gap between it and the wall. Its purpose is to protect against damage and destruction of the waterproofing of basement walls. If there is no gap, then the blind area made of paving stones or slabs under the influence of frost will put pressure on the wall, and as a result of walking on it, it will settle and damage the insulation on the outer surface of the foundation wall. The facing material may also be damaged, for example, the tiles on the plinth may crumble.

To prevent this, it is necessary to leave an expansion joint 1-2 cm thick and fill it with sand, extruded polystyrene foam or sealant.

Drainage around the blind area

Only a blind area of ​​3 or more meters wide can guarantee complete drainage of water from the foundation and its “dry mode”, which of course is not always realistic, so it is worth using additional protection - a stormwater and drainage device.

For hard blind areas such as concrete and slabs, surface linear drainage is suitable - a drainage groove or gutter along the outer line of a blind area made of stone, concrete, plastic or asbestos-cement pipes, sawn in two along the length. And don't forget about their biases!

Good ready-made drainage elements, complete with upper protective gratings (plastic or polymer concrete). Ready-made trays for drainage, having a drain pipe and an upper grate, adapted for installation in the prepared plane of the foundation blind area.

Blind area from paving slabs
(paving stones)

One of the most commonly used paving materials is concrete pavers. It is resistant to frost and temperature extremes. Paving stones are available in different colors and shapes: rectangle, square, hexagon, wave, etc. The edges of the paving stones can be smooth or chamfered, which significantly reduces the risk of chipping the edges. Paving stones are produced with a thickness of 4-10 cm, a width of 6-20 cm and a length of 10-28 cm. For the blind area, elements 4-6 cm thick are most often used.

stone paving is a natural material and, compared to concrete, does not have such a variety of forms. Usually it is a cube or parallelepiped made of gray, red or yellow granite, as well as black basalt. Of course, it costs much more than concrete analogues.

Laying the blind area

Prior to the commencement of work on the installation of a blind area around the building, all work must be completed, the execution of which can lead to damage to the blind area, namely:

• the roof, cornice overhangs and canopies over the entrances were arranged;
• metal-covered plums of window openings;
• All fixtures for drainpipes and fire escapes have been installed.

Pegs are hammered in the corners of the building, on which the height of the blind area adjoining the basement is marked, and according to these marks, a cord is fixed around the entire perimeter of the building. A second line of pegs is installed along the outer edge of the blind area. They mark the height of the outer edge of the future concrete pavement of the blind area.

To drain rainwater, the blind area is made with a slope (at the base, the thickness of the coating is 15 cm, and at the opposite edge, 10 cm). The transverse slope from the basement of the building is - 5% (5 cm per 1.0 m of width).

First of all, it is necessary to determine the width of the blind area, which depends not only on the wishes of customers. This parameter is largely determined by the type of soil and the width of the removal of the eaves of the roof overhangs. On ordinary soils, the blind area should be 20 cm wider than the eaves overhang (its minimum width is 60 cm). In the event that the building is built on subsiding soils, the width of the blind area should be at least 90 cm. Sometimes it is made 1.0 m wide or more - in this case, the blind area, as a rule, performs the function of a path around the house.

The construction of the blind area begins with the removal of vegetation around the house and the removal of the vegetation layer to a depth of 15 cm. Carefully remove the remnants of the roots so that in the future the sprouts that have broken through do not destroy the coating.

Along the stretched twine, which marks the longitudinal line of the edges of the blind area, manually tear off a trench of rectangular section (trough) for the construction of the base under the blind area. The bottom of the trough is compacted.

On the prepared bottom of the trough, crushed stone of the M400 brand is manually scattered with a layer of 15 cm at the base and 10 cm at the opposite edge, leveled with giving the layer a design slope of 5%. The thickness of the crushed stone layer in the loose body must exceed the design one by the loosening factor. A prepared crushed stone surface is considered when the mobility of individual particles is not felt.

On the prepared crushed stone base, a leveling (mounting) layer of a dry sand-cement mixture 3 cm thick is manually arranged. A tight fit of the slabs to the base is achieved by settling them during laying and immersing the slab into the mounting layer of a dry sand-cement mixture for the final landing of the slabs to a predetermined mark.

Laying of paving slabs should be carried out from any conditional line: the edge of the plinth, parallel to which the seams are located, or a verst row laid perpendicular to the plinth, on both sides or one from it. Alignment of the edges of the plates is carried out along a stretched wire or cord located along the stacked row. The slabs are laid in transverse rows from edge to edge towards the slope.

To maintain the slope and evenness of the coating when laying paving slabs in the blind area, it is necessary:

• arrange a verst row along or perpendicular to the base;
• laying of plates to start from the edge of the blind area and lead towards the slope to the base;
• align the laid slabs with a light tapping with a rubber (wooden) hammer on a wooden gasket lying on the tile.

Alignment of the laid plates is carried out by light tapping with wooden rammers. Ledges in the seams of adjacent plates should not exceed 2 mm. The roller formed at the edges of the slabs from the sand-cement mixture is cut off with a manual template.

The width of the seam between the plates should be 3-5 mm. The seams between the slabs are filled with a cement-sand mixture in a ratio of 1:3.

Concrete pavement

Concrete pavement is one of the cheapest and easiest solutions. It is this material that makes the blind area waterproof.

The blind area should be at least 5 cm thick (recommended 7-10 cm). The concrete used for the blind area must correspond to road concrete in terms of frost resistance and the grade must be at least M200.

The blind area of ​​monolithic concrete should be arranged on a sandy base, compacted to a density coefficient of at least 0.98. The minimum preparation thickness in this case is 10 cm.

expansion joints

The concrete blind area must not only be separated from the wall with an expansion joint, but also divided with expansion joints every 6 m of its length. Practice shows that a solid fill cracks in the very first winter. For seams, a tarred or antiseptic-treated board 15-20 mm thick, laid on the edge, is suitable.

The upper surface of the wooden slats is located at the level of the concrete surface, taking into account the slight slope of the blind area from the house. After that, concrete is laid, and the slats serve as so-called beacons, along which the concrete surface is leveled.

Reinforcement of the blind area

To increase the service life of a concrete blind area, especially on heaving soils, it is recommended to reinforce it. This is necessary in order for the blind area to work both in compression and in tension. Concrete works in compression, and reinforcement works in tension.

Reinforcement is carried out with a metal mesh with cells of 100x100 mm or iron bars overlapped.

Iron blind area

At the final stage of manufacturing a concrete blind area (approximately 1-2 hours after pouring the next section), in order to further strengthen the surface, it should be ironed. Freshly poured concrete is sprinkled with cement, creating a layer 3-7 mm thick, and rubbed with a trowel. As a result, the material is protected from atmospheric precipitation by a very durable and stable top layer, which has a characteristic dark blue, steel shade.

So that the concrete does not crumble during rapid drying, its surface should be covered (for 2-3 days) with wet burlap or plastic wrap.

After the concrete has hardened, it is necessary to seal the seam between the blind area and the wall of the house, for which bitumen or sealant is suitable.

The blind area works in the most unfavorable conditions for concrete, therefore it is good and correct to use only high-quality cement or concrete, to which it is desirable to add to protect against freezing.

Asphalt pavement

The base for the asphalt concrete pavement should be compacted with crushed stone (15 cm) or gravel with a particle size of 40-60 mm, pressed into the ground with a roller or rammer. An asphalt coating (3 cm) is arranged on top.

The device of a blind area made of asphalt concrete is quite difficult and this material cannot be called popular in private construction. In summer, if the asphalt is very hot, it can soften and give off an unpleasant odor.

Blind area from crushed stone

The crushed stone blind area is the cheapest option for coating. This is an ideal solution for high groundwater levels and where drainage is being done around the building, as the rubble encourages surface water infiltration. Instead of crushed stone, you can use gravel, pebbles, expanded clay. It is recommended to use a crushed stone fraction of 8-32 mm.

A special geotextile material is laid on the compacted mainland soil, crushed stone is scattered on top of it - without sand backfilling. Geotextiles prevent coarse granules from mixing with soil and weeds from germinating. The thickness of the gravel layer is about 10 cm.

However, with unorganized drainage from the roof (i.e., when water does not flow down the gutters, but directly from the entire slope), the coating will have to be regularly corrected.

It should be noted that it will not be possible to compact the granules of the same size tightly, therefore, it will be uncomfortable to walk on them.

Reading time ≈ 8 minutes

To protect the foundation from the destructive effects of precipitation around the house, a blind area made of concrete is used. Such work can be entrusted to professional builders or do it yourself if you have the appropriate skills.

Appointment blind area

The main purpose of the blind area is to protect the house, or rather, its foundation. Not everyone understands what it is necessary to protect the house from. In fact, any structure can not withstand some natural "surprises".

Consider what dangers may lie in wait for the owners of private houses. First of all, it is important to understand what kind of soil the house is built on. Basically, the soil is divided into two main varieties:

• non-porous;
• heaving.

From a non-porous option, you should not expect a dirty trick.

But the heaving soil is subjected to frost heaving. Given such features of the soil, they are determined with a suitable type of foundation. It happens:

• shallow;
• buried.

If you ignore all the recommendations, the water flows that occur against the background of heavy rainfall and snowmelt will be actively absorbed by the ground, and then erode the foundation of the house. Of course, such negative consequences do not go unnoticed. The foundation collapses, and behind it cracks appear on the walls. All this leads to the need for urgent repairs.

Things are quite different when the blind area has already been made. The inclined plane directs water flows in the opposite direction from the foundation.

If a site with moisture-saturated soil is chosen for building a house, a drainage system or storm sewer must be built to drain water.

Attention is also paid to the design of the roof, namely, overhangs. They should be approximately 25 cm from the walls. However, even all this is not enough to protect the building from the negative effects of precipitation.

Rainwater under the influence of the wind still falls on the walls, flows off them and concentrates at the base of the house. And in these cases, it will no longer be possible to do without blind areas.

However, the blind areas were not limited to the protective characteristics. This additional design still performs the function of an excellent insulation, preventing the foundation, basement and basement from freezing.

Blind areas also contribute to increasing the architectural attractiveness of the house. Some designers, when creating a landscape project, necessarily pay attention to the blind areas, considering them one of the most important elements with which you can significantly improve the landscape aesthetics of the site.

Tools and materials

To build a high-quality blind area, of course, you need to follow the proposed step-by-step instructions. It will guide you in what order you need to perform certain actions. However, the final result depends not only on how correctly the work will be carried out.

In many ways, the effectiveness of the design will also depend on what quality characteristics the materials will be accompanied by, as well as whether it will be possible to prepare a concrete solution of the desired strength class.

In addition, you can carry out construction work yourself, but only if you have the appropriate construction tool. For this reason, before starting work, you need to purchase all the necessary tools or borrow it from friends.

Concrete mortar can be ordered from a construction organization, but in such cases you will have to pay not only the cost of the material.

You will need to spend extra money on the services provided. However, it is these funds that can not be spent, the concrete solution can be made independently.

So, for work you need to take:

• sifted coarse sand (it is important to exclude the presence of clay in it);
• crushed granite (size 20 × 40 mm or 5 × 20 mm);
• portland cement (grade M500 or M400);
• fittings (diameter from 8 to 10 mm);
• steel wire;
• expanded polystyrene extruded;
• geotextile (as an alternative, you can use building polyethylene, the thickness of which should be 30-50 microns);
• boards.

In order to make it easier to mix the concrete mix, it is good to have a concrete mixer with a total volume of up to 200 liters. However, this device alone will not work. You must also prepare:

• shovel;
• buckets;
• a sieve with which the sand will be sifted (as an alternative, in the absence of such a sieve, you can use a shell mesh from the bed);
• Master OK;
• building level;
• laser level;
• rule;
• grater.

It is also important to have any source of water and power nearby if using an electric concrete mixer model.

As soon as it is possible to decide on the grades of materials, you can begin to prepare the mixture. It is better to install a concrete mixer in the place that will be closest to the rubble. Otherwise, you will have to carry it in buckets, complicating the process of completing the task a little.

Water is also needed: you will either have to carry it in buckets, or use a more rational offer by connecting a long hose to a water source.

Water will need approximately the same amount as cement. Although sometimes this amount may vary depending on the moisture content of gravel and sand. For this reason, it is not possible to obtain an exact recipe; you have to do something “by eye”.

When preparing a mixture, the order in which materials are added is important. The most important is the need to pour approximately 8 liters of water into the concrete mixer drum. Then the device turns on, the drum starts to rotate, at this moment all the other ingredients are poured according to the following scheme:

1. Cement is poured in and waiting for it to mix well and a substance that looks like “gray milk” is obtained (if unmixed cement is observed on the walls of the unit, the concrete mixer is stopped, the cement is scraped off the walls with a trowel, and then the device is restarted).
2. Add sand and add a small amount of water.
3. Fall asleep rubble.

After the mixture has been stirred for several minutes, you need to visually evaluate the composition, decide whether you need to add more water to the mixture.

To get a strong and reliable blind area around the house, you need to prepare a mixture of concrete with your own hands strictly according to the recommendations.

Work on the formation of the blind area

It is more correct to build a blind area initially, and not after the house is fully erected. This requirement is not random.

Firstly, such work is accompanied by the risk of subjecting the walls of the house to severe contamination, since in the process of performing tasks, the spray scatters in different directions.

Secondly, the basement thermal insulation should be installed only with an emphasis on the thermal insulation of the blind area. And even if there is an already constructed blind area, it will be easier to build walls, since there is already a surface on which scaffolding can be placed.

To create a blind area, you must perform five consecutive steps.

First, a trench is dug into which the concrete mixture will be poured. The width of such a trench should be from 80 to 100 cm. By the way, it is not at all necessary to measure the width of the blind area with the existing overhangs. When digging a trench, it is rather important to decide whether it is necessary to create storm drains or not.

The depth of the trench may vary. First of all, it is important to remove a layer of earth with signs of vegetation cover (with particles of the root system of plants). Sometimes you have to dig a trench up to one meter deep, and sometimes 10 cm is enough to remove the vegetation cover. However, in any case, you need to continue to go deeper until a hard layer is reached, when it will be difficult for the shovel to enter the ground.

Then move on to the next step. Since the blind area is being constructed with insulation, a geofabric is laid out at the bottom of the dug trench. If you really need to save at least a little, polyethylene can be used instead of geotextile. Such a substrate can act as an effective barrier to plant growth if some seed does remain in the soil.

Further, crushed stone is poured into the trench in an even layer, which must be compacted. Another layer of waterproofing is laid on top of the rubble. It is recommended to use fiberglass here. Next, a layer of sand up to 20 cm high is covered. It is important to exclude the presence of clay in it. Using the rule, the surface of the sandy flooring is leveled and then compacted.

After that, the sand is poured with water and subjected to repeated tamping to obtain a dense base.

If necessary, small trenches are dug in the sand, into which rain sewers are installed. It is important to install storm water inlets on a slope. If it is laid in a horizontal position, precipitation will not be able to drain. After laying the storm water inlets, the surface is again leveled and rammed.

Now there is a need to build a formwork that will act as a beacon when pouring the concrete mixture. Boards are placed around the perimeter of the blind area. Next, foam is laid on top of the sand, which acts as a heater, so it must adjoin the foundation tightly.

If necessary, foam sheets are fixed by drilling holes and driving rods into them. When all the rods are installed, they are connected, as in the photo, with a wire.

It remains to perform the last action - pour the concrete mixture. When pouring, it is important to consider that the risk of cracking from temperature changes is characteristic of a huge slab. For this reason, it is better to use a little construction trick. Along the entire perimeter in the formwork, boards are placed at an angle. They will not allow you to create a monolithic slab, and will also act as beacons indicating how to pour the mixture in order to ensure that the blind area slopes.

The minimum height of the blind area should be 10-15 cm. It must be above the ground surface. The height of the blind area at the foundation, respectively, should be 1-2 cm higher than the specified indicator.

The solution is poured, strictly monitoring the preservation of the angle of inclination. The next day, the surface is rubbed with a grater. Well, at the end of all work, clinker or ceramic tiles are laid out on the blind area. Of course, you can do without it, but it will contribute to a significant increase in the overall aesthetics of the building.

The blind area around the house is an important element in the construction of most buildings, and it cannot be ignored. Building a concrete pavement with your own hands is quite simple if you follow the step-by-step instructions and take into account all the recommendations. It is also useful to watch a video that clearly demonstrates each stage of creating a blind area.