The construction of a private house or cottage is most often accompanied by the creation of a blind area. What is it and why is it needed? The blind area around the house is a kind of foundation protection. From what? From moisture, of course. Excess water is dangerous because it erodes the soil under the foundation, which is why the latter “sits down”. And because of its shrinkage, the whole house shrinks. Most of the time it's uneven. This is why many houses become rickety and slightly crooked over time.
Before you make a blind area around the house, you need to take a number of important preparations:
- determine the type of soil (shrinkable or not);
- measure the width of the future blind area according to the type of soil (minimum 100 cm for the first type; 60 cm for the second);
- choose the underlying layer (rubble, sand, clay);
- choose the type of coverage (tiles, paving stones and others);
- dig the first layer of soil under the blind area (about 25 cm deep);
- put the formwork.
Formwork can be a simple board, which will be shaped to cover. If the soil shrinks, then you can not use the solutionconcrete for blind area. She must be mobile. An important condition: the blind area around the house should be tilted. This is necessary so that rainwater can drain down the slope from the foundation without seeping into it.
In addition, there is no need to make a bunch of blind area and foundation. The fact is that these two objects carry a different load, which means they do not need to be tied. To prevent precipitation from falling into the vents of the house, you can make special "fungi" on the blind area. They are pipes closed on top with a special awning. Holes for air circulation are naturally preserved.
The blind area around the house with paving slabs will better fulfill its purpose if it is made not only at an angle, but also on a movable basis. It's simple:
- all materials stacked in layers;
- no need for pouring concrete.
You will definitely need waterproofing material. Suitable roofing material or thick oilcloth. Having dug a hole under the blind area around the house, you need to lay a layer of clay, tamping it tightly. Then a layer of waterproofing. After a small layer of sand, which is not compacted. The gravel that will be laid on top should not be too small, but not very large either. Then another layer of sand is made. Here it can be lightly tamped.
If it is desirable to use exactly paving slabs or paving stones, then it is driven exclusively with a rubber mallet into the sand. No mortar or concrete. The seams between the tiles wake up with dry fine sand.
Such a blind area around the house will protect the foundation not only from moisture penetration, but also from cracks in winter. The fact is that this blind area is mobile, which means it allows moisture to penetrate inside itself and go into the ground, in the opposite direction from the house. Moreover, in the off-season, the blind area does not crack from freezing, thawing, expansion and narrowing of water. She is moving. All you need in the spring is to lightly touch up the tile in case it has moved.
