How to make a blind area around the house with your own hands: design, installation and useful tips
Regardless of the purpose of the building, a blind area is required for it. Useful recommendations will help in answering the question: "How to make a blind area around the house with your own hands?" This is a useful building element, which is a strip of concrete mix that adjoins the structure around the entire perimeter of the house. Such a structure protects the foundation from soil displacement, from groundwater and precipitation. It is important to fill it up before the onset of cold weather, since the frozen soil puts a lot of pressure on the foundation.
The content of the article
- 1 The nuances of designing a blind area
- 2 Preparation: important steps
- 3 How to make a blind area around the house with your own hands: important stages of work
- 4 Do-it-yourself blind area around the house: video and useful recommendations
- 5 Do-it-yourself concrete blind area around the house: video and installation features
- 6 Video: making the right blind area
The nuances of designing a blind area
Before carrying out installation on pouring, you need to select the optimal strip width. The minimum size is 0.9 meters. This element can be up to 2.5 meters wide.
In addition, the water drainage tape is used as a walking path. It is worth calculating the size so that the concrete element extends 30 cm beyond the borders of the cornices.
It is also important to choose the right slope of the strip away from the walls. In this case, the area near the wall will have a small height, and the edge of the tape will go level with the ground.
When deciding how to make a comfortable blind area around the house with your own hands, it is worth considering a rise in height of 16 mm by 1 meter. At the same time, you can walk on it, and the liquid will not accumulate.
Helpful information! During the winter cold, this option can turn into a skating rink.
Preparation: important steps
Before filling the blind area, preparatory work is performed. It is necessary to make a foundation. In this case, a concrete screed is performed:
- pegs are driven in at a certain distance from the wall, and marking is made. Pull the cord over them;
- excavation is performed, while the soil layer is removed by 20-25 cm. The depth of the deepening should be the same everywhere;
- the sand cushion is being laid. In this case, the bottom of the trench is compacted and leveled, geotextile fabric, and sand is poured on top;
- a layer of sand must be spilled with water and tamped several times;
- crushed stone is poured on top and reinforcing mesh is laid.
Useful advice! The sand should have a uniform structure without rubble and broken bricks.
How to make a blind area around the house with your own hands: important stages of work
Most often, the trench made is concreted using formwork. Along the entire contour of the concrete tape, special equipped recesses (grooves) are mounted for water outlet.
Related article:
Do-it-yourself blind area: step by step instructions. A detailed practical guide to the types of blind area and installation in a special publication of our portal.
How are expansion joints made?
At the junction of the wall and the protective concrete sheet, an expansion joint is made, the size of which varies in width from 1 to 2 cm. It is filled with sand and roofing material. You can also use a styrofoam harness with a piece of plywood.
To simplify the laying of the blind area, you can mount the tape in separate blocks. For this, slats are used, which are installed across the formwork.
Useful advice! To prevent water from penetrating between the concrete and the rail, these areas are best sealed with sealant.
How is the formwork cast?
When deciding how to make a blind area around the house with your own hands, it is worth using concrete. The composition is prepared from one part of cement, part of sand and three parts of crushed stone. The mixture is poured in portions.
In this case, the end parts at the top of the lintels coincide with the surface of the blind area. The concrete composition should be leveled wide spatula... The mixture is compacted with an iron bar or vibrator. The rebar section is immersed in concrete and rotated.
Punctures help eliminate bubbles. This makes the concrete denser. To give strength to concrete, dry cement should be scattered, which will absorb excess moisture. Then, using a metal trowel, the cement is rubbed well into the surface to a dark gray color.
The finished tape should be covered with burlap from the sun's rays. If there is no rain, then the material must be periodically wetted with concrete, otherwise it will not gain strength. A blind area can be created by a person who does not have construction skills.
Do-it-yourself blind area around the house: video and useful recommendations
A monolithic tape around the building helps to strengthen the waterproofing properties of the base and walls. Also, this part is distinguished by its functional properties, and also performs an aesthetic function. The width of the tape should be over a meter. This parameter depends on the overhang of the roof structure.
Do-it-yourself concrete blind area around the house: video and installation features
When determining how to make a blind area around the house with your own hands, you need to properly excavate the soil. It is imperative that all walls of the excavation be treated with a special compound that will help destroy weeds. If this is not done, then the weed will destroy the structure made.
A curb or removable formwork is laid out along the entire contour of the structure.Then the bedding material is produced and carefully compacted. Depending on the material that will be used, the designs will differ in the way they are laid:
- laying stone or cobblestone. In this case, the height of the material should not be more than 10 cm. Installation is carried out on a laid out sand floor. If crushed stone is used, then the thickness will be less. The space between the cobblestones is covered with sand;
- if a blind area is performed around the house with your own hands from paving slabs, then you do not need to lay an additional layer of fine gravel and sand. All voids between individual tiles are also covered with sand. To keep the tiles simple, you need to make a strip of such a size that you do not have to trim the tiles.
Application paving slabs is the most profitable and optimal option for arranging the blind area. Since it has many advantages. This is the possibility of repairing the coating in parts and a long service life.
If the soil is not porous, then clay is used. If the soil is heaving, then a sand layer is also used together with clay.
Installation of any blind area consists of the following steps:
- after marking along the perimeter, the soil is removed;
- the formwork is made of plastic, plywood sheets and boards. From the outside, the formwork is fixed with special stakes;
- a sand cushion is placed on the base of the soil. A layer of rubble is leveled from above;
- there is a deformation layer between two surfaces at the junction. It will prevent cracking and deformation of the tape. Several layers of roofing material are mounted between the surface of the basement and the blind area;
- additionally created waterproofing layer with an overlap on the wall of the building. The material is laid on the concrete surface. This is especially necessary when the water table is high. A reinforcing metal mesh is installed on the surface of the blind area;
- before you start pouring concrete mixture, you need to mark the slopes of the blind area. The slope should not go towards the building. In order not to be mistaken when creating slopes, you need to apply marks with a hydro level;
- before filling, expansion joints must be made every few meters;
- concrete is being poured. In the process, it is important to mount the stormwater segments. The poured surface is covered with plastic wrap.
He will show in detail how to create a blind area around the house with your own hands from concrete, the video below. Correctly made tape should be free of cracks, continuous and tight to the building. With high-quality installation, the house will be well protected from the destructive effects of moisture.
Video: making the right blind area