Living in a private home and never doing repairs is a dream for any home owner! But, unfortunately, this dream is not feasible, since you still have to monitor not only the house itself, but also the adjacent plot and the foundation of the building. And from frequent repairs and the formation of cracks, the blind area around the house will save. Its construction is an integral part of the building.
What is blind area?
The blind area is an inclined strip around the house, which is made of either asph alt or concrete. Its main function is to keep water out and protect the basement and foundation. If you do not build a blind area around the house, then moisture will quickly get into the basement, which will damage the foundation. It is for these reasons that slope must be taken into account.
Some experts neglect the need to build a blind area and believe that you can do without it, but this is an erroneous opinion, since it is a necessary part of the construction of a building.
What is the blind area for?
- Prevents rain and sewage from entering the basement.
- Keep warm and keep foundations from freezing.
- Prevents moisture from entering the foundation, which causes the house to be washed away and the formation of cracks in the walls, and even the destruction of the house.
- Without a blind area around the house, there is a big risk for the building in winter, as the wet ground freezes and begins to exert uneven pressure on the structure of the house.
- The blind area serves as a decorative element of landscape design.
- Used as sidewalk.
Types of blind area
- Concrete pavers.
- Paving stones made of natural stone.
- Paving slabs.
- Concrete and crushed stone.
- Waterproof blind area.
Concrete pavers
This material is used most often, tested by more than one generation of masters, therefore it is considered a reliable option. In addition, the process of erecting a blind area around a house made of concrete is not the most difficult, such work can be done independently. Paving stones of various colors are on sale: from yellow to black. Despite the variety of shapes, it is recommended to purchase paving stones rounded, it will not chip off on the sides. The optimal thickness is 6 centimeters. Concrete pavers are resistant to frost and temperature extremes, which is undoubtedly a big plus. Concrete canlay with an ornament, use beautiful borders on the sides, and fill the joints with sand.
Paving stones from natural stone
Stone paving stones - one of the noble materials, which attracts with its naturalness. On sale you can find granite paving stones - gray or yellow, from bas alt - black. A small minus can be considered that such a coating will be of a non-uniform color, even in the same batch there are differences. Also, stone paving stones do not have a large selection of shapes, most often found in the form of a cube or parallelepiped. Such paving stones must be laid on a special layer of sand and gravel, and sand is poured into the joints. Construction, unlike concrete pavers, is considered difficult and therefore requires more time.
Paving slabs
The blind area around the house made of tiles makes the site more attractive. The advantage of paving slabs is that, if necessary, it is not at all difficult to remove the damaged tile and replace it with a new one. Plates are smooth and with a corrugated surface, square and rectangular shape. Square slabs come in sizes from 35 to 50 cm, while rectangular slabs are 1 m long and 0.5 m wide. On sale you can find tiles of various shades: from yellow to black. Before paving slabs are laid, a base is made from a mixture of crushed stone and sand, and sand is poured into the joints.
Blind area of concrete and rubble
Concrete pavement can be easily done by yourself as it does not require an experienced and professional approach
The advantage of concrete is that this material is simple and inexpensive, it perfectly protects the foundation from moisture, and it takes the least time to build. But it should only be of high quality, you should not save on the mixture, because otherwise the blind area will not be able to perform the function of waterproofing assigned to it.
The thickness of the correct blind area around the house is better to choose from 7 to 10 cm. Optionally, you can decorate with stones, pebbles or tiles.
A crushed stone blind area would be a good option if groundwater is high on the site. It is quite acceptable to use gravel, pebbles, expanded clay instead of crushed stone. As a base, a woven fabric for drainage is covered, and crushed stone or other material is poured on top, without the use of sand. The minimum level of crushed stone embankment is 10 cm.
Waterproof blind area
A waterproof blind area is made if a drainage system is installed around the house. To begin with, a woven fabric is covered, on top of a layer of pebbles and rubble. Crushed stone will not sink into the soil due to the material. Since the blind area is heterogeneous, it is difficult to fit and it is not very comfortable to walk on it, and this is certainly a minus.
Building Requirements
How to make a blind area around the house correctly so that it can last a long time and reliably protect the foundation? First of all, you need to choose the right width, purchase quality materials and follow the construction technology exactly.
It is necessary to mount the blind area around the house with your own hands,so that it is 20 cm more from the protruding edge of the roof (i.e. approximately 50 cm). But, as it turns out in practice, it is inconvenient to walk along such a narrow strip, so 1 meter is considered the most optimal width. Consider further how to complete the entire blind area around the house wisely?
Specifications
- When erecting a blind area, it is important to remember that the slope should go from the building to the outside, and not vice versa. The most comfortable angle is 3-10 degrees.
- The pavement around the building must be continuous.
- A seam is necessarily made between the house and the blind area, into which sand is poured.
- The minimum width of the blind area is 60 cm, and for soils that are prone to subsidence - 1 meter.
What do you need to have for installation blind area?
- Sand.
- Rubble.
- Cement.
- Road grid.
- Polyurethane sealant.
- Formwork board, the width must match the thickness of the blind area.
- Spatula, bayonet shovel, rule.
- A spirit level to set the board formwork.
- Capacity for solution.
Let's consider further how to make a blind area around the house.
Features of the blind area
When making a blind area with your own hands, there are some nuances that are important to pay attention to:
- The arrangement of the blind area should not be started immediately after the construction of the basement. The trench is filled up with soil removed from it earlier (clay, black soil, etc.). After some time, the soil in one way or anotherdegree starts to sag. If you start to make a blind area until the earth has completely subsided, if moisture gets in, it will deform, cracks will appear on its surface. To avoid these negative consequences, you can backfill with sand, which is able to freely pass water. If it is well watered and leveled, the construction of the blind area can be started in 1-2 days. But still, it is best to start this work no earlier than 8-10 months after the completion of the foundation.
- It is not recommended to use porcelain tiles to cover the blind area, since its surface is smooth and rather slippery, which can lead to accidental injury. Yes, and she will not be able to serve for very long.
Sequence of work
- Before you start building the blind area, you need to prepare the foundation. To do this, remove excess vegetation around the entire perimeter of the house, if necessary, treat with weed control.
- It is necessary to make markings on the site of the future blind area. The required width of the blind area is measured, stakes are installed in the corners, on which a cord is tied. Install formwork from boards.
- According to the markup, it is necessary to dig a trench. The depth depends on the characteristics of the soil on the site and weather conditions.
- Line the bottom of the trench with a material that protects against moisture, pour sand on top, tamp and spill with water.
- Pour a thin layer of rubble on top.
- Prepare and pour concrete in increments of approximately two meters for a stronger structureroad grid is used.
- Seal the joints and in the place where the blind area is adjacent to the building.
- If you plan to lay tiles, then twenty minutes after pouring the cement, sprinkle dry cement on top and smooth.
- Next, tiles or paving stones are mounted.
Blind area repair
So, we looked at how to make a blind area around the house with our own hands. Its service life is equal to the service life of the building itself, so you need to carefully choose materials for construction.
Unfortunately, over time, the blind area may require repair in case of chips, cracks or other damage. The areas of the blind area that are most often in contact with water drained from the roof are most susceptible to damage. Don't wait for the damage to increase, start repairing as soon as possible.
If there are several damages, they must be combined into one defective area. For an asph alt concrete pavement, the defective part is removed and lubricated around the perimeter with bitumen, then a new piece of asph alt concrete is mounted, which must be smoothed out. Smoothing is best, starting from the edge to the center.
For cement concrete pavement, it is necessary to remove the defective area, and pour cement concrete over it again, cover the seams with a special mixture of bitumen, asbestos and crushed slag. After that, sprinkle the filled damage with sand.
When small and minor damage occurs, instead of removing the entire layer, it is betterpour liquid cement into them. It is important not to allow the poured cement to dry before it has completely hardened. To do this, you can spray water on top or cover with polyethylene to prevent drying.
For repairs, it is best to choose a cool weather day, it would be ideal to carry out repairs in the spring or autumn season. But if it happened that in the summer the repair of the blind area is urgent, then you should choose a cool morning time. Due to the fact that during the day, due to the high temperature, the concrete will expand, the cracks will, on the contrary, narrow, this fact will not allow for a quality repair.
In this article, we examined how the blind area is made around the house, the work during its construction, touched on the main points that must be considered during installation, what materials are best to choose and how, if necessary, to make repairs.
