How and from what is the concrete blind area around the

How, from what material and how wide is a concrete blind area around the house with your own hands? We will answer these and other questions in this article. We will also consider the features of the technology of building a concrete platform around the house. But first we will try to decide on whether it is necessary to construct a concrete blind area around a country house or to do without it.

The need to build a blind area

Asphalt paving is a multifunctional structure that not only makes the house aesthetically attractive and complete, but also protects the foundation from the negative effects of external factors.

The foundation, built and operated without effective protection, is exposed to thawed and rainwater, which periodically flushes the concrete structure, causing cracks and tears in it. As a result, the lack of proper protection of the foundation leads to the fact that the structure sags and can generally collapse.

The danger of the situation is that the destructive process that has already begun is extremely difficult to stop. It is much easier and more efficient to concreting the blind area in a timely manner and thus prevent the penetration of moisture to the foundation.

What the blind area is built from

A special platform to protect the foundation around the house has been used for a long time and was made of different materials.

At one time, a strip of soil around the building just plentifully poured with clay and compacted to the stone state. Such a barrier was able to stop the water, but in itself required periodic repairs. In addition, these structures could be made of wood and other materials, but they were not able to demonstrate adequate strength and optimum performance.

Everything changed when concrete was used in the construction of the blind area. Now blind area without concrete is made extremely rarely, as concrete structures are distinguished not only by strength and durability, but also by reasonable price.

So, after we figured out what to build from, let's talk about the technology of the concrete blind area.

How to build

Before you start building, you need to decide on the optimal width of the blind area. I must say that this parameter does not depend only on our wishes with you.

The width and thickness of the concrete pavement are determined by the type of soil and the width of the overhang of the roof eaves. According to SNiP on ordinary soil types, the blind area is 20 cm more than the eaves overhang (on average, the overhang of the roof cornice is 60 cm from the wall of the house). If the construction object is erected on subsiding type soils, the width of the concrete strip should be from 90 cm and more.

Often the blind area is made more than one meter wide and is used as a courtyard. But in our case we will consider how to make a concrete blind area on ordinary soils.

Construction technology

Instruction for the construction of concrete protection of the foundation is phased.

Moreover, the quality of the finished result depends on the quality of each individual step.

• At the first stage we prepare the territory for construction works.. Since we work on ordinary soils, we choose a blind area of ​​90 cm. The choice of this parameter is largely determined by both the soil features and aesthetic considerations, since the narrow strip of concrete adjacent to the building does not look very harmonious. In the course of the preparation, we retreat 1 meter from the walls of the building and remove the entire vegetative layer at this distance approximately 20 cm in depth. The selected soil is exported outside the site, so that it does not interfere. The surface of the soil at the site of the future laying of concrete leveling, and periodically moistened with water we stamped.

Important: The remains of the roots must be cleaned especially carefully, as some plants are particularly tenacious and can later destroy the concrete. In order to prevent the deterioration of concrete, the soil can be treated with special means that will remove all vegetation. If such funds are not available, you can use refined testing.

• At the next stage formwork is mounted.. Formwork can be built using old planks, unnecessary direct slate and other construction waste. Before installing the formwork walls, we hammer in the pegs along the perimeter of the future blind area, on which we fasten the marking cord. The blind area, in addition to the previously listed functions, must divert water from the walls of the house. Therefore, the part of the blind area that is distant from the walls should be made lower than the side that directly adjoins the walls. On average, a slope of 5-10 ° will suffice, as in this case an effective outflow of water from the house will be ensured. Assembling the formwork, we use screws instead of nails. Screws, unlike construction nails, easier to unscrew and subsequently beat off the board.
• At the next stage, we proceed to the device "cake", which will be laid in the formwork. On the cleared and compacted soil we line the waterproofing roofing material or PVC film and pour out a layer of sand 10-15 cm thick. Sand filling is carefully rammed. After the filling is leveled and compacted, pour out a layer of medium-sized crushed stone 15-20 cm high. Crushed stone for concrete is carefully tamped in order for this filling to take its final position and so that the concrete will not subside afterwards.

The tamping of sand and rubble is carried out by a vibrating machine. Of course, most of the owners of country houses do not have such equipment, so it would be advisable to make a tamper with their own hands.

We do this as follows. From a tree trunk with a diameter of 30-40 cm we saw off a cylinder with a length of 0.7-1m. At the top of the cylinder securely attach the handle.

All manual ramming is ready and you can get to work. We take the handle, raise the cylinder above the ground and lower it with force. Thus, we pass through all the sand and rubble.

• Next, prepare the concrete. To prepare the solution, we use cement brand M400, seeded river sand, fine-grained, cleaned crushed stone and water. As a result, the grade of concrete on the blind area must be at least M200. For concrete with mark M200 the proportions are as follows: 1 part of cement, 2 parts of sand, 4 parts of rubble and 0.5 parts of pure water. Estimates for the concrete blind area can be calculated taking into account the fact that for every 1m? approximately 15-20 kg of solution will be spent.

• We form a blind area. To do this, we pour concrete at half the required thickness and lay the reinforced welded mesh or working wire with a mesh size of 100 per 100 mm. We lay out the missing concrete over the grid and carefully align the entire structure. Until the coating is completely dry, it is advisable to perform ironing. To do this, the wet blind area is sprinkled with dry cement, which is then rubbed into the surface.

Important: During the first few days after pouring the concrete, it is advisable to slightly open the blind area with cellophane film so that the surface does not dry out or crack.

Protective treatment of the finished structure

So, we coped with the manufacture of the blind area and after 20-30 days it can be fully used for its intended purpose, even to walk on it. But the question arises, how to process the concrete pavement to ensure its strength and durability?

It turns out that there are many tools designed for the effective hardening of concrete surfaces. For example, you can apply special impregnation of deep penetration, which, falling on the surface of concrete, penetrate into the micropores and, filling them, form a completely monolithic structure.

Such impregnations at the same time strengthen, dedust the concrete and make it more hydrophobic. Impregnations are applied to already dry pre-cleaned concrete by means of rollers or wide flat brushes. After complete absorption and drying of the impregnation, the concrete surface is ready for subsequent painting.

If the appearance of the structure is not as important as the functionality, the blind area can be covered with a continuous layer of bitumen mastic. If aesthetics is important, a good solution for dyeing would be epoxy or silicone based paint.

Conclusion

Now that you know how and what materials to do the blind area, it remains to determine the amount of concrete and related materials, and get to work. In spite of the fact that the instruction of work is simple, it is necessary to treat the fulfillment of the task in a responsible manner, since otherwise you will need to cut the reinforced concrete with diamond circles and a difficult rework.

If you have any questions, all the answers you need can be found by watching the video in this article.