Do-it-yourself cellar in a private house or country house. DIY cellar under the house Cellar under the floor of the house

A cellar in a homestead is simply necessary - it will help preserve a large amount of food stored for the winter, which simply cannot fit in a regular refrigerator. This room may be located under the house, or it may be located near it, on the site. To know how to build a cellar on the street, you need to study all stages of this process, starting with digging a pit and ending with installing a roof.

A very important condition is the choice of time of year for constructing a cellar. Recommended do work in summer in dry weather, so that the pit remains dry and dense during the construction process.

Types of cellars

An outdoor cellar can be arranged in three main ways:

- completely located underground, in a dug pit, and having a roof over the entrance;

- dug out in an elevated area of the site, on top of which an embankment is made;

- a ready-made insulated body, which is installed in a pit and covered with soil.

Having purchased a ready-made version of the cellar body, you don’t have to worry about the process of building walls and waterproofing them; you just need to prepare the foundation pit and strengthen its bottom.

To determine which of the existing options is most suitable both for the conditions of a particular site and for the volume of upcoming construction work, you need to consider each of them in more detail.

Cellar on a flat area

This option for building a cellar is quite labor-intensive, but if it is not possible to purchase a ready-made building, and the site area does not have a pronounced elevation, then it will be the only one that is applicable in this case.

When resorting to this method of constructing a cellar, you need to take into account the height of groundwater in the given area and in the specific area where the pit will be dug. If the area is not enough, then soil water can ruin all the work done or, appearing later, render the products stored in the cellar unusable.

The approximate water level is determined by looking into a nearby well in the spring, when abundant snow melts. In summer, in places where groundwater runs high, moisture-loving grass grows, such as horse sorrel, horsetail, sedge and other similar varieties - there it is juicier and taller.

If you want to more accurately determine this parameter, you can call a specialist who will professionally calculate the best place to dig a pit and its possible depth. In any case, there is no need to choose a place in the lowlands where water can stagnate.

When arranging a cellar in this way, the pit must be planned at least two to two and a half meters deep. The work needs to begin with the process of digging a pit.

Pit preparation

The place chosen for the cellar must be thoroughly cleaned by removing the fertile turf layer, thereby marking the area for digging. The work is carried out manually, since the equipment will disturb the edges of the pit, which is undesirable for this particular option for constructing a cellar. To make digging easier, it is better to remove the soil in layers, loosening each of them and carefully leveling the edges of the hole as much as possible.

If the soil on the site itself is loose, then the pit is dug with a slope - then the earth will crumble less. In this case, the top of the pit is marked 30-50 cm in each direction more than its bottom should be.

If the groundwater level is sufficiently high, the pit is also made wider and deeper by 40-50 cm, and this space is filled with waterproofing material that will protect the walls from dampness. The walls and floor of the cellar can be waterproofed using clay extracted from the pit; it is poured into the bottom of the pit after digging is completed and around the already erected walls. The top fertile layer of soil is suitable for transferring to the beds of a vegetable garden or flower garden, and the rest of the soil can be used, for example, to fill the bottom layer of an “alpine hill”.

Materials for building a cellar

To build cellar walls, it is best to use natural materials that will not emit harmful fumes. The explanation for this is simple - in such a room there will be not only canned closed products, but also vegetables and fruits in special open boxes. They are capable of perceiving and absorbing odors and various substances unnecessary for the body. It is also not recommended to use open metal in the construction of a cellar, since it will serve as a conductor of cold, violating the optimal temperature necessary for storing food.

Therefore, for arrangement you need the following:

- choose brick, foam blocks or concrete slabs for the walls;

— for the floor you need cement and sand to make the mortar, reinforcement to strengthen the screed being poured, sand and crushed stone for the “cushion”;

- the floor requires ready-made concrete slabs or boards for formwork and a base for pouring concrete, as well as reinforcement to create an appropriate reinforcing belt;

— on the outside, clay waterproofing can be supplemented with roofing felt, securing it to the walls using mastic;

— for the roof you will need wooden blocks and boards, roofing felt for waterproofing, roofing material;

- plastic pipes for ventilation will be required;

— for the manufacture of hatches and doors, lumber is prepared;

— interior wall decoration involves the use of plaster mixture or cladding boards.

All wooden parts of the building must be treated with antiseptic agents so that they last a long time without rotting, damage by insects or microorganisms.

Foundation

In order for the cellar to be reliable and dry, it is best to make it concrete, but before pouring it, you must make a good base for it. waterproofed basis.

A sand cushion with a thickness of 100 ÷ 120 mm is poured into the bottom of the pit; it must be well compacted. To do this, the sand is slightly moistened and compacted.
Crushed stone, 60 ÷ 80 mm thick, is poured on top of the sand, leveled and compacted.

Next, it would be good to make a boundary around the perimeter of the pit and lay reinforcement. The height of the foundation floor can be from 70 to 120 mm.
The next step is to pour concrete into the formwork and level it.
After it hardens and the formwork is removed, the sides of the foundation can be coated with tar, which well insulates it from moisture coming from the ground.

It should be noted that the floor of the cellar is sometimes left earthen. This is possible if the groundwater is deep enough. An earthen floor will allow natural ventilation and soil temperature at a given depth to be maintained in the cellar. In this case, to erect walls at the bottom of the pit, a strip foundation is poured around the perimeter.

Construction of walls, ventilation and waterproofing

Walls can be erected on the prepared foundation. For laying brick walls of a cellar, a mixture of clay and sand is most often used, but the usual cement mortar can also be used.
If the ceiling of the cellar will rest on the masonry walls, then their thickness should be equal to one brick.
When using not only walls, but also the soil surrounding the cellar to support the ceiling, then their thickness of half a brick is sufficient.
If space is left between the earthen walls of the pit and the brickwork for waterproofing, then, as it is carried out, this space is filled with clay, spilled with water and thoroughly compacted.

A layer of roofing material can be fixed between the clay backfill and the brick wall.
After laying one or two rows of bricks, in the opposite corner from the entrance, in the wall to the entire height of the basement, a niche is cut in the ground for the ventilation pipe.
In the second or third row of masonry, opposite the niche, install a ventilation pipe with a corner outlet, which is built into the wall. Later, this hole should be closed with a fine grate to prevent rodents from getting inside the cellar.
The pipe above the surface of the cellar covering should rise no less than one and a half meters.
The walls are erected to the top of the pit, with constant monitoring of their verticality and horizontality using a plumb line and a building level.

An important note - if the groundwater comes close to the foundation-floor, then it is worth building around the brick walls. It is usually filled with crushed stone or broken brick. It will drain moisture from the cellar into a specially constructed container or pit near the cellar.

Cellar cover

Covering a basement can be done in different ways. The simplest of them is to lay concrete slabs on top of it, which should, in addition to the walls, rest on the ground around the cellar by 400 — 500 mm. But not every site can be visited by equipment capable of lifting the slab and placing it in the intended place, so very often you have to do the flooring yourself. In addition to ready-made concrete slabs, a home-made concrete, wooden or combined floor can be installed. The latter is convenient because it is convenient to lay insulation between the wooden beams from the inside of the cellar, as well as to secure the ceiling boards.

If this option is chosen, then roofing material is laid on top of the walls and on the ground around them, on which processed bars measuring 150 × 100 mm are laid - they will act as beams. The distance between them should be no more than 500 mm.
A flooring of boards is placed on top of the beam bars, and a hole is provided for the hatch.
Then, waterproofing made of dense polyethylene film is laid on top of the wooden boards. The film should be placed on the ground, around the cellar.

A reinforcing grid is laid on top of the film, a boundary formwork is installed, and then the resulting space is filled, which is leveled and left to dry. The thickness of the concrete floor poured on a wooden base should be 40 ÷ 50 mm.
After the concrete has hardened, the hole for the hatch, if necessary, is raised to the required height and a cover is installed on it.

When constructing such an entrance, the staircase can only be the simplest.

Roof over the cellar

A gable roof will be installed above the hatch, and the rest of the space above the cellar will be covered with the film remaining on the surface and sprinkled with soil.

Since the concrete area will be larger than the cellar room, a gable roof is installed over its entire width. Thus, a small triangular shed is formed above the hatch, in which you can even stack some firewood.

The roof structure is assembled from high-quality lumber. The rafters of the slopes are fastened at the bottom with bars, which will become a reliable basis for the roof. They need to be secured to a concrete base with anchor elements.

You can do it another way. Along the perimeter of the concrete site, it is necessary to build a low wall in two or three rows of bricks, and install a roof structure on top of it. The brick part of this mini-shed must be covered with waterproofing.

The front part of the roof is sheathed with boards, and roofing felt can be laid on the slopes, and slate or metal tiles on top. Some people prefer to cover the slopes with plywood and then lay a soft roof. On the one hand, the pediment is completely sewn up, and on the other, an opening is left for installing the front door.

When the cellar is no longer affected by precipitation, you can light the interior and finish the walls and ceiling.

Cellar lighting

The interior decoration of the room can, of course, be done before installing the ceiling, but there is no guarantee that it will not be spoiled by sudden rain. Therefore, it is better to conduct electricity and make lighting after the hatch is closed with the roof.

Lighting should be done not only in the basement, but also at the entrance to it under the roof.

Copper wires in reliable double insulation are stretched from the house to the roof above the hatch into the cellar; from this entrance room they are already carried down. The lamps must be placed so that under no circumstances can they be touched when going down to the basement. It is best to cover the light bulbs with a protective cap.

The wiring must be done in such a way that the light bulbs turn on simultaneously - under the roof and in the cellar. The switch should be placed under the roof at the entrance, at a convenient height, approximately 1.2 ÷ 1.5 m from the floor. It is prohibited to install sockets in a cellar or basement due to safety precautions.

If you do not have experience with conducting and connecting electricity, then it is better to entrust this to qualified specialists, since, without knowing the wiring system, at best, you can leave the entire house without light.

Finishing walls, floors and ceilings

If the cellar is good waterproofed, then any material can be used for finishing. If the ceiling is built on bars, then it is worth laying insulation in mats between them - this will maintain an even temperature in the cellar both in winter frosts and in summer heat.

To strengthen the insulation to the concrete ceiling, you can mount a lattice structure that can press the mats to the surface. From below, it will not be difficult to sheathe the ceiling with boards or moisture-resistant plasterboard, screwing it to the bars.

Roofing felt and mastic can be replaced with liquid rubber or liquid silicate glass, which will also create a waterproof layer.

Many people leave the walls brick, without additional coating, but it is better to finish them with plaster mortar, rubbing them to perfect evenness. They can be impregnated with liquid waterproofing, which can penetrate deep into the plaster and, having crystallized, make it waterproof. After the waterproofing has dried, you can whitewash the walls with lime - this will make the cellar room neater and brighter.

After all the finishing of the cellar is completed and dried, you can think about where and how many shelves to place and where to organize boxes (boxes) for storing root vegetables.

There is one trick that will help site owners naturally remove excess moisture from the cellar. To do this, you just need to plant berry bushes around the cellar, which will actively absorb moisture from the soil. Trees of any species should not be planted close to the building, as their roots can destroy the waterproofing, and over time, even the walls of the cellar.

Prices for various types of thermal insulation materials

Thermal insulation materials

Video: stages of construction of one of the cellar options

Cellar with an inclined entrance and an earthen embankment

The second option for a cellar is located on a small hill, if there is one on the site. If there are high groundwater levels and there is such a place on the territory, this particular cellar will be the best option. However, such an “elevation” can also be created artificially.

The peculiarity of this approach is that all the soil that is removed from the pit is used for embankment on top of the roof and entrance. A thick layer of soil will not allow the cellar room to heat up in the summer, and in winter it will maintain the desired temperature inside to preserve food.

When building such a cellar, a door is used for entry, and not a hatch, as in the first option. The staircase leading down is made of mortar, brick or treated boards, and has wide, steep steps rather than simple rungs.

The most important advantage in building such a cellar is that the pit for it does not need to be made too deep, since the embankment of soil built on top creates all the necessary conditions. The floors and walls are arranged in the same way as in the first case, but the work of the corridor leading down also complicates the work.

The first thing they do is, as in the first option, they dig a foundation pit, but not so deep, since the walls will be raised above it.

Then, on the other side, where it is planned to install the door, steps are cut into the ground leading to the surface. They are subsequently necessarily strengthened by one of the options mentioned above.
The optimal solution would be to strengthen the steps with reinforcing mesh and pour concrete with a layer of 40 — 60 mm, having previously made enclosing formwork. Steel corners are built into the edges of the steps - they will allow the stairs to last longer. If the steps are securely reinforced, they can serve as a foundation for the walls of the corridor leading upward.

When the walls are removed, you can move on to installing the ceiling. It can be folded in the form of an arch or have a flat surface running parallel to the direction of the stairs.
The brick walls of this cellar option rise higher above the pit than in the first option, so much so that the ceiling height is at least two meters.
After raising the walls to the required height, a ceiling is placed on top. It must be strong enough to support a thick mound of soil. Waterproofing the walls is carried out in the same way as in the first option, but in this case it will also have to be done from above, under the roof.
There is no need to insulate the ceiling or screed the cellar roof. There are enough floor beams for which flat or regular slate is laid on which and a mound of soil is made.

The exit to the surface can be designed in different ways, but in any case it should be a brick wall in which the door is installed. The upper and lower doors will reliably close the room from external cold or summer heat. Doors are usually made of thick boards, which themselves are natural insulation.

Such a cellar is sometimes made not in a dug pit, but by digging downhill. This method is more complicated in the sense that it is not as easy to remove soil from a closed space as from a pit.

When making a cellar in this way, as you go deeper down the walls, you install supports that will hold the vault. At the end of the dug room it is necessary. For it, a hole is drilled from above into which the pipe is installed.

The interior is usually finished with bricks or stones, which are laid along the walls in concrete or clay mortar. Raised walls can turn into an arched ceiling or be covered with massive, impregnated with antiseptic compounds logs, which can be covered with boards on top.

But this method of building a cellar is rarely used today, since it is quite labor-intensive, requires careful calculations and, it must be said, is quite unsafe due to the risk of the vault collapsing during the digging process.

Installation of a finished structure for a cellar

Currently, industrial enterprises produce ready-made housings cellars made of different materials, which eliminate the labor-intensive processes of wall construction and waterproofing during their installation. If you purchase such an insulated cellar, then you do not need to do additional thermal insulation for it.

A very good solution - a ready-made barrel cellar

This structure can be installed on the street or even under the house. The entrance to the cellar is a hermetically sealed hatch, which means that there is no need to build a massive staircase.

For example, a cylindrical body is presented, the side parts of which are made in the form of hemispheres - it is this geometric shape that will well withstand the external dynamic impact when the soil swells during its freezing.

Barrel cellar it is quite compact: its diameter is only 2.2 m, the length of the room inside the case is 3.3 m, and the total volume is 10.40 m³. In fact, it is a small cozy underground room with shelves arranged on the walls and ventilation.

The walls of the barrel are reliably insulated and completely sealed. They are multi-layered and consist of polyurethane foam and carbon steel, and the outer shell is made of fiberglass. The surfaces inside the barrel are primed and coated with enamel.

The ventilation system is made according to all the rules, and consists of two pipes - exhaust and supply. They are located on opposite side walls of the barrel and maintain optimal humidity conditions indoors.

The floors, shelf system and stairs are made of well-dried, varnished wood, which creates a favorable atmosphere for storing workpieces, fruits or vegetables.

In addition, inside the cellar there is a lighting system that uses a reduced voltage of 12 V, which is safe for working at depth and in wet conditions.

Installation of the cellar barrel is quite simple. Considering the size of the structure, a pit is dug under it. A reliable base is arranged in it, on which the container is lowered, and then buried with soil. If the cellar is being built outdoors, then it is recommended to build a shed or at least a shed with a roof over the hatch, which will prevent the entrance from being covered with snow in winter.

The installation of such a cellar is usually carried out by a manufacturing company, whose specialists during this process take into account all the available nuances of the technology, so the owner of the site is tasked with only the simplest work.

Video: installation of a finished insulated cellar

Which of the presented cellars located on the street should be chosen by the owner of the site depends on the available capabilities and characteristics of the territory. Some people prefer to do everything themselves from start to finish in order to be confident in every stage of the work done. Others trust the construction of the cellar to qualified craftsmen who know all the intricacies of the technological process. Still others opt for ready-made structures that will cause a minimum of hassle during installation.

Read interesting information on how to do it in our new article.

Nowadays it is hardly possible to imagine building a private house without a basement. A basement in a private house can be intended for a variety of purposes: storing food, equipment for a sauna, bathhouse or billiard room. Depending on the purpose for which the basement will be used, its shape and type of decoration of the walls, floor and ceiling are selected.

Small billiard room in the basement of the house

In order to build a basement in a house, it is necessary to establish the groundwater level on the site - it should be quite low. Otherwise, it will be a very common occurrence after heavy rain has passed. To prevent this from happening, the foundation of the overall structure is provided deep, and it is better if it is of a mixed type.

To build a utility basement, a height of 2-2.2 m is sufficient. It is also rational to install a heating boiler for the entire house in the basement. Due to this, all rooms of the cottage, including the basement, will have a constant temperature regime.

Drawing and diagram of the construction of a private house with a utility basement

Advice. If the groundwater level on the site is quite high, then instead of a full-fledged basement or cellar, you can build a basement space. Its depth can be no more than 120-150 cm.

In terms of its technical characteristics, the room is not inferior to a cellar, and has recently become very popular. The basement is being done simultaneously with the general construction. Its walls must be connected to the foundation, and the ceiling must be connected to the ground floor.

To ensure the safety of the basement, the walls of the structure must be thick enough to withstand the load of the soil on them. As a rule, this thickness is at least 30-40 cm. The construction of a basement directly depends on the quality of the soil on the site.

If the soil has a loose structure, then the walls of the basement can be made of brick, rubble stone, reinforced concrete, rubble concrete, concrete.

In order to ensure sufficient structural strength of the walls, which are lined with bricks, it is necessary to lay reinforcing mesh in horizontal seams in the masonry of the building material along the entire height of the wall in increments of 40-50 cm.

If there is high air humidity in the basement, then it is better to build the walls of the room as a monolith. For this purpose, a solution of concrete or reinforced concrete is pre-prepared. The walls must have a certain degree of inclination to allow the soil to expand.

Durable monolithic basement walls

The wall structures of the basement must not only have sufficient strength to withstand the loads of the soil on them, but also be well insulated and insulated. This will help ensure a constant temperature.

Expanded clay or mineral wool are widely used as insulation for floors. You can also use polystyrene foam or polystyrene foam. Similar insulation materials are used for walls.

Advice. It will be more effective to place insulation on the outer walls of the basement - then the walls will not freeze.

The best material for this is considered to be polystyrene foam. It has high thermal conductivity, which is several times less than that of mineral wool. Also, this insulation does not burn and does not emit toxic substances.

External insulation of basement walls with foam plastic

In order to make a floor in the basement of a house, you must first add broken brick or bitumen, gravel or crushed stone to the ground. Layers of material are laid and distributed evenly around the entire perimeter, after which they are compacted.

If the soil in the basement is too wet, a layer of insulating material should be laid before adding layers of brick or gravel. This can be polystyrene foam, polystyrene foam or polyurethane foam.

Scheme of pouring and correct installation of the floor in the basement of a house

Advice. It is better not to use mineral wool for such work, as it absorbs moisture very easily and can be deformed even under light loads.

A layer of clay or crushed stone is placed on this material, which is impregnated with heated bitumen.

As for the finished floor, it can be concrete or reinforced concrete, it can be made of ceramic tiles or linoleum, as well as wood.

The base for the latest flooring options must be level. It is for this reason that concrete or reinforced concrete floors are often used. Any material can be laid on top of it.
In this video you can see how to make a basement in a house with your own hands and equip it with everything you need

Cellar or basement

Very often it acts as a basement. It is usually located under the floor of a residential building. It can be placed in the hallway or kitchen. It is very common to have a cellar in the dressing room.

The walls of the cellar may not be connected to the foundation. They are usually built independently from brick, concrete or reinforced concrete. The form of this design comes in different shapes. The round shape has been considered the best option for a cellar for many centuries. It greatly helps to reflect the soil pressure on the walls, and the walls themselves can be made thin. It is also convenient to place food products for storage in a round cellar.

Waterproofing and ventilation of the basement

In order to ensure high-quality use of the basement, it is necessary to waterproof it internally or externally. For a cellar or basement, it is necessary to carry out waterproofing work, since the walls are in contact with the ground. And it, in turn, can be wet or dry, the condition of the external walls of such a structure will depend on this.

Basement waterproofing diagram

If the site has dry soil and groundwater is below the foundation structure, you can double coat the walls with heated bitumen. As for the wet structure of the soil, in this case it will be necessary to cover the walls of the basement with roofing felt.

Advice. Instead of roofing felt, you can use ordinary plastic film for the walls of a basement or cellar.

Quite serious measures will need to be taken during the waterproofing process if the basement is located at a level below groundwater on the site. In this case, make the floor in the room monolithic, and cover the outside walls with several layers of roofing material and lay plastic film on top of it.

Scheme of waterproofing the basement of a house located below the groundwater level

To ensure the strength of the floor and ensure the reliability of the entire structure, the base of the basement needs to be made of a monolith of reinforced concrete mortar.

Most of the work that is carried out to strengthen and waterproof a basement located below the groundwater level can take place in a flooded pit. It would be more rational to abandon the idea of building a room, since only a professional in this field can cope with such work.

In addition to waterproofing, you need to think about effective waterproofing. The quality of product storage will depend on how fresh air gets there; ventilation is also important to keep the air humidity in the basement normal. As a rule, when constructing walls, ventilation pipes are inserted into them. Their exit can be on the street or in the house itself.

Drawing and the simplest diagram of a ventilation system for a cellar or basement in a private house

Advice. It would be better to place the outlets of the ventilation ducts on the street, so fresh air gets into them, and the circulation of air masses will become much better.

The top of the pipes is covered with special unique roofs. They are cone-shaped and attached to the pipe using small diameter metal pipes. The minimum pipe size to ensure high-quality ventilation is considered to be 140x140 mm. This method of ventilation is called natural.

Natural ventilation of the basement of a private house

In the basement you can also make artificial ventilation using special equipment. But this method of ensuring air circulation will not be rational to use, since it is considered expensive. Ventilation ducts that lead from the basement to the roof must also be sufficiently protected from rainwater or snow entering them.

Sauna in the basement

Very often the basement under the house is used as a sauna. This is an option for saving space in a suburban area.

Building a sauna is considered not only fashionable, but also healthy.

To ensure comfort in the sauna, its size should be at least 12-15 square meters. m. This is necessary even if the sauna is located in the basement. Natural ventilation can be ensured by the correct arrangement of rooms. They must be adjacent to the walls of the main building.

In saunas located in basements, it is not possible to build a swimming pool, since groundwater can penetrate into the building. The average depth of the pool is 1.5 m, and you also need to take into account the deepening of the basement itself, in general, it will be 3.5 m. That is why you should not risk the integrity of the structure.

How to build a basement in a private house

Construction of basements is a task that almost every land owner has to face. It is almost impossible to imagine a private house without a cellar. If you think that the basement floor is intended solely for storing all sorts of unnecessary things (as is usually the balcony in an apartment), you are deeply mistaken. can quickly and very easily solve the problem of lack of usable space and save its owner from many problems.

Classification of basements and cellars

Before you start using the device, you need to study the features of the available options. There are several types of building structures. Each of them pursues their own goals.

So, for example, a basement cellar is great for storing vegetables and fruits, winter preparations, etc. However, in the case of the construction of such a cellar, heating is prohibited, which is not entirely good for the foundation.

The technical basement will allow for the placement of various engineering structures, such as boilers, water heaters, filters, etc. This makes it possible to get rid of bulky structures in the kitchen or bathroom and use the usable space with maximum efficiency.

The basement can be equipped as a billiard room or office. It all depends on your needs and wishes. If you want, such a basement can even be turned into a gym.

A spacious basement, equipped as a workshop, is a real salvation for everyone who likes to make something with their own hands. The room can be divided into 2 functional areas: a warehouse for storing various types of tools and a workshop.

One of the most popular options is to build a basement garage. It is important to take into account that the main condition in this case is the availability of convenient entry.
The basement of the house should be very spacious, because you will need to worry not only about organizing the proper conditions for storing the car, but also for carrying out repair work.

The cost can vary within very wide limits. To a large extent, it all depends on your requests. You can always choose an option with an acceptable construction cost.

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Building a basement: step-by-step instructions

Before starting construction of a basement, you need to take into account such an important point as the height of the walls. If the basement will be used as a technical room, the height of the walls should be 190-220 cm. If this is a living space, the optimal height of the walls is 260 cm.

If groundwater passes close to the surface, it is better to make the basement from reinforced concrete. Professionals recommend using concrete M 500.

Prepare the following tools for basement construction:

shovel;

bayonet shovel;

axe;

bucket;

hacksaw;

hammer;

hacksaw for metal;

plane;

portable welding machine;

trowel;

concrete mixer.

The procedure for constructing a basement also depends on the groundwater level. If they are too close to the surface, the floor will form first. Otherwise, work can begin with the construction of walls.

First, a hole is dug with some margin in width (for formwork installation). A cushion of sand and gravel is formed. After this, the formwork is installed, waterproofing material is laid, reinforcement is laid and concrete is poured.

When constructing a concrete basement, the walls are erected using strip foundation technology. First, trenches are dug, their bottom is filled with sand, and then formwork is installed. Waterproofing is installed, reinforcing mesh is laid and concrete is poured.

If the floor is poured first, the formwork to form the walls should only be installed after the concrete has completely hardened. Otherwise, the formwork braces can easily press into the floor and create unnecessary depressions.

Concrete is, of course, a very good material. But if you are not looking for simple solutions and want to be 100% sure of the reliability of your building, think about building basement walls from brick.

The work requires certain skills and extreme accuracy, since you have to monitor the verticality and horizontality of the walls, but the result is definitely worth it. The laying starts from the corner and continues until the 7th row. If plaster is applied to the walls, you need to ensure that the solution does not get on their inner surface.

Professionals recommend laying reinforcing mesh every 50 cm. This is done in order to give the structure additional strength. To ensure that the frame is completely covered with the solution, the thickness of the applied layer is increased by 2 cm.

Remember also about the locations of window and door openings. Lintels are made of both wood and reinforced concrete. Wooden lintels are made from beams with a cross-section of 150 mm. They are pre-treated with bitumen and laid at a distance of 250 mm on each side. Reinforced concrete lintels are installed in reinforced formwork, the width of which should be similar to the width of the walls. Reinforcement with a diameter of 7-8 mm is used.

You can use blocks to build basement walls. This method is attractive because it saves time, since a basement made of blocks is built quite quickly. The only inconvenience is that each block will need to be aligned vertically, horizontally and wall level. So that this process does not seem tedious to you, installation should begin from the corners. Load-bearing columns are filled with mortar using columnar foundation technology.

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Even if your basement is being built in the driest area, you still need to take care of high-quality waterproofing. After all, no one is safe from burst water pipes and heavy rains.

If you are building a basement using blocks or bricks, you need to protect the spaces between the joints. For this, waterproofing mastic is used. Layer thickness – from 20 mm. After the seams are coated, you can additionally treat the building blocks with the same mastic. Now you can finish the surface with plaster. To do this, a reinforcement frame is pre-fixed to the walls and a 30 mm layer of plaster is applied.

The joints between the floor and walls must be coated with bitumen. Ideally, penetrating waterproofing should be used. But keep in mind that filling concrete pores is only possible if the floor is not yet completely dry. Waterproofing mastic is applied only to a dry surface.

Waterproofing is done not only inside the basement, but also outside. External waterproofing allows you to provide reliable protection from moisture under the floor and outside the walls. The best way to protect the floor is clay carefully compacted at the bottom of the pit. It is covered with a double layer of roofing material and coated with bitumen.

The walls are insulated using a similar technology. Roofing material is laid along the entire height of the walls, which should extend beyond the surface by 200 mm. If there is a gap of 100 mm on the outside of the walls, then clay must be laid along the entire perimeter; if the gap is larger, halves of bricks must be laid.

Our distant ancestors had no idea that a basement could be used as a living space.

However, with the development of technological progress, building materials have appeared that can make the basement suitable for habitation.

It is for this reason that owners of country houses, interested in increasing the usable area of their homes, use basements for a variety of purposes.

Basements built in compliance with all technological features can perform a variety of functions - it all depends on the needs of the homeowner. In any case, this corner will not become a useless room, and it will definitely not be empty.

Types of basements by purpose

By method of use basements are divided into several types:

Cellar for storing vegetables, fruits and various household preparations. Today, many residents of country houses enjoy growing vegetables and fruits. Now they will have the opportunity to set aside a separate corner for the harvest.
Basement workshop. In this room you can make a full-fledged workplace, put comfortable tables and place all the necessary tools on the shelves in the basement.
Basement as an additional room. Most often, original living rooms or cozy minibars with a wine cellar are arranged here. However, the basement may contain a bedroom, a recreation room, and a billiard room.
Underground garage- This is a great idea for owners of small plots who do not have the opportunity to build a separate garage for storing and maintaining a car.
Basement with bathhouse, sauna and swimming pool. With proper design and construction of this room, it will be a wonderful place for the whole family to relax.
Basement as a technical room. Here you can place a boiler room or various communications, for example, a gas boiler for heating the house.

Materials and tools

To choose materials, necessary for the construction of a basement, should be approached with special attention, since not only the quality of the structure, but also the waterproofing process (protecting building structures from moisture penetration) will depend on them.

The optimal solution for building a basement would be sand-lime brick. When constructing walls and ceilings, it is better to use waterproof concrete, which will protect the basement from groundwater pressure.

As for tools, you will need:

mixer for preparing concrete composition;
several clean buckets;
welding machine;
shovel, as well as a bayonet-shovel;
trowel (in other words, “trowel”, a tool that is a polished spatula on a curved handle);
hammers of various sizes;
saw;
plane;
hacksaw;
axe.

Step by step construction of a basement

Before starting construction of the basement, it is necessary to carry out all the necessary calculations and compose blueprints future construction. In this case, the depth of soil freezing should be taken into account, as well as the negative destructive influence of groundwater.

Groundwater can make the basement unsuitable for full use. Long-term exposure to groundwater leads to destruction of the foundation, and then the entire structure.

Laying the foundation for a country house with a basement

It is clear that the basement will be below the ground surface, so it is necessary to dig a pit of the required depth (1.5 – 2 m), and then arrange it correctly.

The walls of the trench should compact so that the soil does not go down. Several layers of crushed stone and sand are placed at the bottom of the pit, which are carefully compacted.

Construction of a basement floor

It should be noted: if you make the floor after the walls, then the concrete mixture is poured air bag, and the construction of formwork is not required.

Basement floor construction technology:

First of all it is checked pit depth, if necessary, remove excess soil.
Next stage - basement waterproofing. This procedure can be carried out in different ways, but the simplest way is to use a special thick film for waterproofing; it is sold in specialized stores. This material is durable and does not lose its properties over many years.
After waterproofing, it is mounted on the base of the floor thermal insulation layer, consisting of extruded polystyrene, expanded polystyrene, etc. Sheets of thermal insulation material are laid directly on the surface of the film.

Advice! In order to retain heat better in the basement, it is necessary that the thermal insulation layer be at least 5 cm thick.

Next, another one is mounted waterproofing layer and then installed mesh for reinforcement. The thickness of the wire of such a mesh should be at least 3 mm.
The last stage of forming the base for the floor will be pouring concrete mortar. The optimal thickness of the concrete layer is 8 – 10 cm.

After the concrete base has completely hardened, you can begin floor finishing in the basement. For this you can use ceramic tiles, floorboards etc.

Construction of monolithic walls in the basement

If technology is chosen for a house with a basement strip foundation, then the walls will be reliable and durable.

The procedure is as follows:

initially mounted stationary wooden mold, which corresponds to the height of the walls;
Further monolithic walls are reinforced. To do this, a reinforcement frame is knitted, the distance between the cells is 25x25 cm, the diameter of the reinforcing mesh is not less than 12 mm;
concrete is poured. It is important to fill at once, and not in several stages. To do this, you need to take care in advance of having the required amount of concrete solution.

Advice! The thickness of the concrete walls in the basement should be 20–40 cm. It may vary depending on the characteristics of the soil and the number of floors in the residential building.

Waterproofing in the basement

In order to prevent water from accumulating in the basement, you need to think about it waterproofing.

If the basement was built from foam blocks or bricks, all seams should be covered with a special waterproofing mastic and then carefully plaster the walls.

On the floor too all available joints processed with mastic. This procedure should only be performed on a dry surface.

Another mandatory action will be the production drainage(a method of collecting and subsequently draining groundwater from a building structure), which will protect the basement from flooding, as well as from moisture accumulation.

To do this, even at the stage of wall construction, specially dug trenches are installed at the base of the foundation (the lower part that is in contact with the ground). drainage pipes. Products are mounted at an angle of approximately 3 degrees. Water will drain out of them naturally.

How to make ventilation in the basement

Most often, to create comfortable conditions in the basement, they use supply and exhaust ventilation system providing a natural flow of fresh air.

It consists of:

a supply pipe supplying fresh air from the street;
a hood that removes air from the room to the street.

Exhaust pipe mounted along the ceiling and then brought to the roof. If there is a fireplace duct in the basement, then the hood is installed next to it. This can significantly improve the efficiency of basement ventilation. The exhaust pipe should be located higher than all buildings that are located near the house.

Supply pipe is installed on the opposite side from the exhaust, and is located approximately at a height of 50 cm from the floor. This pipe also leads to the roof.

How to insulate a basement

The basement is the coldest and most uncomfortable place in the whole house, so you should take care of it, which will not create condensation in the heat and retain heat in the cold.

After the waterproofing mastic has dried, you can begin the process of insulating the floor.

For this purpose it is used expanded polystyrene, which can be glued to the floor surface using bitumen (a resin-like or solid product - a mixture of hydrocarbons with sulfur, nitrogen, and metal-containing derivatives).

Expanded polystyrene sheets are covered on top asbestos-cement slabs.

Suitable for the ceiling surface:

expanded polystyrene is glued to the ceiling using liquid nails or universal synthetic adhesives;
mineral wool is mounted in the lathing, which is pre-made from boards or metal profiles;
the foam is glued to the ceiling surface using a special adhesive.

Basement design

Basement design completely depends on the needs and desires of the owner of the house.

So, lovers of entertainment and fun parties can arrange there stylish bar, and connoisseurs of family holidays will like it living room with soft sofas, fireplace and large TV.

The decoration of the basement depends only on the preferences of the owner of the house; elements are often used brickwork, arches, and aged furniture and accessories. You should definitely take care of grounding the outlets, without which there can be no question of safety.

As a rule, the basement is connected to the house using a small hatch. For convenience, you can build a staircase or buy a ready-made structure.

Approximate cost of building a basement

If the basement is built with your own hands, then the monetary costs will only go to materials and necessary tools. Everything will depend on room size and, of course, from the professionalism of the performers.

If you involve professionals with construction equipment for the work, then prices vary from 500 thousand to 2 million rubles.

You can learn the features of building a basement with your own hands, from laying the foundation to erecting walls and ceilings, from this video.

A cellar is a mandatory extension in a country house or near a private house. In this room, the optimal temperature is maintained all year round to preserve vegetables, fruits, preserves and preparations. It is quite possible to build a cellar yourself. To do this, it is necessary to assess the condition of the soil, determine the optimal type of structure, select materials and adhere to the chosen technology.

Requirements for arranging a cellar

The optimal place for canned food and grown crops is the cellar. This room maintains natural conditions and a temperature of about +4°C. A favorable microclimate is necessary to preserve the presentation and taste characteristics of fruits and vegetables.

Some people confuse the concepts of cellar and basement. However, these are completely different structures. The basement is located in the basement of the building. The cellar is arranged separately - separately on the plot. The design is made invisible, or, conversely, acts as a striking element of landscape design.

Practical use of vegetable storage is possible subject to certain conditions:

the presence of low temperature - the cellar is built underground or arranged in a basement in contact with the external wall of the house;
darkening - windows are excluded from the cellar design;
constant filling with clean and fresh air thanks to natural and supply and exhaust ventilation;
air humidity is about 80-90%.

Selecting the optimal design and materials

Depending on the depth of burial, the following types of cellars are distinguished.

Ground structure rises above the surface, the depth of the structure is no more than one meter. Essentially this is a small bin for vegetables. A storage shed can be erected anywhere, even in small lowlands.

The construction of a “garden” storage shed is the optimal solution for waterlogged areas and low-lying areas. A distinctive feature of an above-ground cellar is the lack of overlap. As a rule, a gable roof made of boards is installed. Thanks to this, the time and final cost of constructing a vegetable storage facility are reduced. An additional plus is the ease of building such a cellar with your own hands.

A more spacious above-ground cellar - externally the building resembles a small house. Earth is poured on top of the ceiling, covering the ceiling with a thick layer. The end side with the door remains unprotected. Lawn grass is planted on top of the backfill, decorating the area and keeping the soil from crumbling with its roots.

Semi-buried cellar- the most popular type of structure. The structure is externally similar to a ground structure, but part of the room (about 1.5 m) is located underground. The entrance door to the bins is located below the ground surface, so it is necessary to provide a system for draining melt/rain water. The door structure is thoroughly insulated.

Deep cellar well suited for compact areas. However, its construction is possible only when groundwater is low or with thorough drainage and waterproofing. The entrance can be covered with a heat-insulating removable cover or decorated with a special cellar - a small house with a hatch in the ceiling. The cellar can be used as a utility room for storing gardening equipment, various household items or vegetables.

Cellar walls are built from different materials: stone, brick, concrete or asbestos-cement sheets. It is not advisable to build a building from metal, since it is difficult to achieve a suitable temperature regime.

When using earth as the main material for the walls, the inside of the bin is lined with wood. The wooden slats must be thoroughly dried, sanded, treated with an antiseptic and dried again.

Making a cellar with your own hands: video on selecting materials

How to make a cellar with your own hands: recessed design

Assessment of terrain and soil conditions

The best location for the cellar is a hill, hillock or hill. Groundwater in such cases passes far from the surface of the earth. When placed on a hill, rainwater ingress is reduced. In addition, you will be able to save on waterproofing materials.

Many people prefer to build a cellar next to a residential building in order to quickly get to and take the necessary products during the cold season, in the rain, etc.

Before starting construction, you need to find out the type of soil and the possibility of constructing a buried/semi-buried vegetable storage facility. To do this, you need to do a little test:

At the site where the bin is being built, place a scrap of natural wool and a raw egg on top.
Cover the “structure” with a jar and leave for one night.
Evaluate the result of the experiment:
- if the wool has dew droplets, then groundwater is located nearby;
- if the egg and wool are dry, then the water is deep and you can safely start working.

Before building a cellar with your own hands, it is advisable to evaluate the type of soil:

Peat is the optimal type for bunding. This soil minimizes food spoilage, which is especially important when storing root crops.
Quicksand is heaving soil that is not suitable for building an “internal” cellar. This soil contains loam, sand and sandy loam. To be able to build a vegetable storage facility, you will have to replace the soil and add sand.
Sandy soil is well suited for arranging the foundation. This natural material is often added to reduce heaving and moisture content.

Materials and tools

To build a cellar in your country house with your own hands you will need:

crushed stone and gravel;
rack sand;
clay mortar;
rolls of roofing felt;
brick;
cement;
boards for arranging the floor frame;
concrete grade 100;
molten bitumen;
grid for reinforcement.

Tools you should prepare:

concrete mixer;
manual tamper;
shovels;
screws, screwdriver, nails, hammers;
welding machine;
grinder;
primer;
brush;
hacksaw

Pit preparation

The construction of an underground storage facility begins with digging a pit. The work is performed in the following sequence:

Clear the area of stones, sticks and vegetation.
Mark and dig a hole. Traditional cellar dimensions: length/width - 2.5 m, depth - 2.3 m. To dig a pit, it is better to use the services of an excavator.
Level the walls of the pit with a shovel, scraping off excess soil and giving them a flat surface.
The depth of the pit depends on the type of cellar being built. When determining this value, it is necessary to take into account that the space will be partially occupied by a hatch or entrance, shelving, and a ladder. In view of this, the pit must be dug with a certain reserve.
Compact the bottom of the pit, pour sand and gravel into the hole. The thickness of the sand cushion is 20 cm, the gravel cushion is 10 cm.

Arrangement of the subfloor

It is better to screed the floor using clay mortar. To prepare it, you need to combine clay and quartz sand in a ratio of 90%/10%. Dilute with water until it becomes thick sour cream. Pour the prepared solution into the gravel to a thickness of 3-4 cm.

To increase the strength characteristics of the base and provide better isolation from groundwater penetration, it is recommended to additionally reinforce the bin with concrete. Procedure:

Prepare a mixture of rack sand and concrete in a ratio of 5:1, respectively.
After drying, fill the clay base with concrete mortar 5 cm thick.
Smooth the surface and leave until completely hardened.

Construction and waterproofing of walls

The technology for constructing brick walls is as follows:

Build a foundation for the masonry with a width of 1 brick and a height of about 15 cm.
Leave the foundation to dry.
The laying is done from the corner of the wall where the doorway is provided.
The bricks are placed in a checkerboard pattern.
When laying brick, you need to tap it with the handle of a trowel - this will help get rid of excess mortar and improve the adhesion of the materials.
After the construction of each row, its evenness must be checked with a building level.
The working solution is prepared from sand and cement in a ratio of 4:1, respectively.
In parallel with the masonry, the cracks and spaces between the brick and the earthen wall are filled with clay mortar. This technology provides additional waterproofing for vegetable storage.
After all the walls have been erected, leave construction for 1 week until the mortar hardens.

Brick walls require waterproofing. For this purpose, hydroglass insulation, roll insulators or bitumen mastic are usually used. Sequence of insulation work:

Treat all surfaces with a water-repellent compound.
Attach sheets of roofing felt to the walls - the material is fixed using heated bitumen mastic. To ensure high-quality insulation you will need 2-3 layers.
Plaster the walls with cement.

Construction of the floor

Arranging the ceiling is a responsible undertaking. The supporting structures must withstand heavy loads. Often the ceiling is made of a monolithic block made of concrete and reinforcement cage. It is important that the roof of the cellar exceeds the size of the room, since the walls will act as load-bearing supports.

Algorithm for performing the work:

Install supports on which the wooden formwork will subsequently rest.
Before pouring, the formwork must be carefully sealed so that the solution does not leak out through the cracks.
After preparing the formwork, make the frame of the concrete slab from reinforcement. The spacing of the reinforcing bars is about 25 cm, the height of the frame is up to 30 cm.
For a large cellar area, it is recommended to double reinforce the slab.
The reinforcement mesh should protrude beyond the cellar wall by 5-10 cm from different sides.
The resulting frame is evenly filled with concrete mortar.

After pouring the slab, you need to wait 3-4 weeks. The overlap will completely harden and take on its final form.

Ventilation system and electrical supply

Good air exchange is an important condition for the safety of products in the cellar. Lack of normal ventilation will lead to rotting of vegetables, and too rapid circulation of air flows will lead to drying out of root crops.

In a technical room, it is preferable to create natural ventilation - it is less expensive, and its proper organization will ensure sufficient air exchange. To implement this, you will need to install a supply and exhaust air duct. The exhaust element is placed at the top near the ceiling, and the supply opening is on the opposite wall at a distance of half a meter from the floor.

The procedure for creating natural ventilation in the cellar with your own hands:

Select an air duct based on 1 sq. m bin area - 26 sq. cm pipes.
The pipe is installed from the corner of the room, and its lower end should be located under the ceiling. The air duct passes through the entire room, the roof, rising half a meter above the rafter system.
To prevent condensation from collecting in the pipeline, it is necessary to thermally insulate the exhaust pipe using the sandwich principle. One pipe is installed into another, and the space between them is filled with mineral wool.
The open end of the air pipe is located at a distance of 50 cm from the lower floor level. The exhaust air duct penetrates the ceiling, ending 80 cm above the base.
Cover the outer hole of the pipe with a mesh.
It is advisable to put valves on the pipes to regulate the air flow.

Cellar electrification is carried out using double or triple insulated copper cable.

Interior design of the cellar

Upon completion of the installation work, you can begin landscaping the cellar. There are several design options:

make the walls with racks with spacious shelves;
hang metal shelves;
set up prefabricated racks.

Important! All wood structures must be coated with an anti-insect compound and a protective impregnation against moisture.

Do-it-yourself above-ground cellar: step-by-step instructions

At your dacha, you can equip a simple cellar with your own hands if the groundwater level is high. Inside the bin, the air temperature can be maintained at 2-3°C. Let's look at an example of building a vegetable storage facility like a storage shed, with the following dimensions:

height at the center of the structure - 2 m;
width - 3.3 m, length - 3 m;
passage width - 0.6 m.

Sequence of work:

Coat logs resting on the soil with hot bitumen mastic.
The ceiling is made of boards, and the sheathing elements are made of hewn slabs, obapol, clay straw, and pine trimmings from the sawmill.
The roof overhangs must rest on the ground. Such an installation provides additional thermal insulation in the form of snowdrifts during the cold season. As a result, a structure is formed, like a tent.
On one side, the storage shed is sewn up with two rows of boards, between which insulation is laid. At the other end there is an insulated door.
From the outer part of the lobaza, dig a drainage trench around the entire perimeter to prevent the ingress of natural water.
Make a hood near the ridge - a wooden box with an adjustment plate.

Building a cellar with your own hands: video

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