Do-it-yourself blind area: step-by-step instructions with recommendations

Tags:Waterproofing, With your own hands

After completing the construction of the house, it is imperative to install the blind area. It will protect the foundation from soaking and cracking, and will significantly extend the life of the building. The design is quite simple and therefore the blind area can be done by hand - step-by-step instructions and recommendations will help you go through all the installation steps without errors.

Do-it-yourself blind area: step by step instructions

The appearance of the blind area

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1 Device blind area around the house
2 Photo blind areas around the house: the main types of structures
3 Determination of the parameters of the blind area
4 Preparatory work
5 How to make a blind area around the house?
6 How to repair the blind area?
7 Conclusion
8 Video: how to make a concrete blind area

Device blind area around the house

The device of the blind area around the house is quite simple and consists of two main elements: a substrate and a coating. The main role of the underlay is to create an even and solid base for laying the sheeting. Usually, two layers of clay or sand and crushed stone act as a substrate. The use of clay is good because it is capable of performing a waterproofing function and does not allow moisture to pass through itself, but for this it will need to be laid with high quality and to achieve a uniform layer. Sand is easier to use, as it can easily smooth out any irregularities in the soil surface.

Simplified layout of the blind area

Any suitable material can be used as a coating that has the following properties:

Strong enough to withstand anticipated mechanical stress.
They have high quality waterproofing properties.
Resistant to sudden changes in temperature.
Thanks to the smooth surface, they are able to efficiently remove moisture from the foundation.

Therefore, concrete, asphalt, stone or tile coatings are mainly used for blind areas.

Related article:

How to make a blind area around the house with your own hands? We will tell you about competent design and installation in a special publication of our portal.

Photo blind areas around the house: the main types of structures

When designing a photo, blind areas around houses will greatly simplify their choice. There are such types of structures:

Hard. They are structures based on hard coatings, which retain their shape without deformation under load. They are usually made of concrete or asphalt. Their service life is usually compared with the duration of the building's operation. At the cost of bookmarking, rigid structures will cost more than others, since they require mandatory insulation and waterproofing. Required to install the presence of soil of medium or high density.

Rigid blind area scheme

Rigid design appearance

Soft. They are distinguished by simple installation technology and minimal requirements for operation. In fact, it consists of several layers of bulk materials. Requires minimal cost and physical effort to install. The service life is on average 5-7 years. They can be laid on any type of soil, including loose ones. They are used mainly for temporary purposes, since their appearance is not entirely aesthetic and is unlikely to fit into the design of the building facade.

Soft blind area scheme

Appearance of soft construction

Semi-rigid. They represent a kind of compromise between hard and soft structures in terms of financial and physical costs. The outer layer is usually laid out with tiles, stone or reinforced concrete slabs. The service life can be up to several tens of years. They have excellent maintainability, since part of the structure can be replaced or shifted without any problems. However, they are limited to use in areas with a high location of groundwater, on soils with a great depth of freezing and on heaving soils. The cost of installation work will be cheaper than the hard ones, but at the same time the highest quality aesthetic appearance will be achieved.

Semi-rigid blind area scheme

Semi-rigid design

Determination of the parameters of the blind area

In order to understand how to correctly make blind areas around houses, it is necessary to correctly select its technical parameters. One of them is width. It is determined by the current building codes and regulations, which say that it should be 20 cm longer than the most protruding part of the roof slope. Usually this size is counted from the gutters. The width of the blind area around the house is determined based on the selected type of material, the density of the soil on the site and the magnitude of the expected loads of a variable and static nature. In most cases, the width of the structure for private houses is at least 1 m.

Another parameter is the depth of the structure into the ground. It is mainly influenced by the level of soil freezing. In regions where a significant drop in air temperature is observed, such a property of soils as heaving, which can damage it literally in a year without the possibility of recovery, has a significant effect on the structure. Therefore, the level of the filling must provide sufficient strength so that it effectively resists heaving and does not deform. The minimum depth is at least 10 cm, including the layer of sand and crushed stone cushion. If constant loads are assumed, then it is recommended to increase the thickness to 15-20 cm.

Sketch of the blind area with dimensions

Helpful information! In the place where the porch adjoins the house, there is no particular need to lay a blind area, since the main foundation in this case will be protected. However, if built monolithic or brick porch, it is recommended to protect it as well, since the weight is large enough per unit area and there is a high probability of subsidence.

For high-quality drainage of sediments, the surface must have a certain slope.The value of the angle to the horizontal, on the one hand, is influenced by the amount of precipitation in a particular region, and on the other, by the convenience of using the structure as a walkway or for other purposes. The optimal value is 2-3 °.

In order to prevent flooding of the structure, it is recommended to make it 5 cm higher from the ground surface. If there are trees or bushes near the house, you will need to uproot them at a distance of about 1.5 m from the house.

Attention! You can protect the structure from destruction by the roots of trees or any plants by installing a curb.

Preparatory work

Preparation for installation is carried out in several stages:

Territory marking.
Earthworks.
Laying the underlayment.

We mark the territory for the installation of a blind area

With the help of pegs around the perimeter of the house, it is necessary to mark out. To do this, measure a distance of 1 m from the walls with a tape measure and drive wooden pegs in the corners to a depth of 0.5 m so that it is possible to carry out earthwork without displacing them. We pull the rope onto them.

Helpful information! If the building has a large area, it is recommended to install additional pegs along the walls every 2.5-3 m.

Layout of the site for the blind area

Excavation stage

With the help of a shovel, it is necessary to dig a trench along the markings made. The depth is determined by the type of structure chosen, climatic conditions and soil composition. The layer should be removed evenly with a slope of 2-3 ° from the building. This can be done quite easily by setting the digging depth along the building and along the marking line.

Digging trenches

Since the main foundation and the construction of the blind area will have different coefficients of thermal expansion, it is recommended to create a thermal gap between them of 1-2 mm. To do this, after stopping the digging along the wall, you need to lay a damping layer based on a polyurethane tape.

The bottom of the trench should be carefully tamped with a special tool, which is a steel rod with a flat sheet welded on at the lower end. If such a device is not at hand, then you can use a regular log.

Laying pillows under the blind area

At the bottom of the prepared trench, it is necessary to lay waterproofing and fill a layer of sand 10-20 cm thick, depending on the type of construction and depth of the trench, with careful compaction and leveling. For the convenience of work, it is recommended to spill the layer abundantly with water in order to maximize its compaction. However, you will need to wait for the pillow to dry before placing the outer layer.

Laying waterproofing, followed by backfilling and compaction of sand

Important! If the construction is carried out in an area with a high groundwater level, then a drainage system will need to be installed. It is a pipe with holes in the upper part, which is located around the perimeter of the building and is connected to the storm sewer system.

On top of the sand, it is necessary to fill in gravel with a grain size of up to 5 cm, and level the top layer with crushed stone with a grain size of up to 5 mm. This will save building material on the outer layer due to the absence of the need to fill the formed pores.

A layer of rubble is laid

Helpful information! Crushed stone can be replaced with other types of stone or even brick breakage. The most important thing is to use a homogeneous material so that areas with different strength characteristics are not created.

How to make a blind area around the house?

The installation process depends on the type of construction and the selected material. For example, when laying a soft structure, no additional work will be required, but when installing a rigid one, you will need to lay several waterproofing layers. How to carry out the installation correctly will be described in the following subsections.

Installation of a rigid blind area

It is recommended to install a rigid structure on a heat and waterproofing layer, which will significantly extend the life of the structure. For these purposes, it is recommended to use thermal insulation materials that are highly resistant to moisture and have increased strength under significant mechanical stress. An example would be expanded polystyrene or foam boards.

Installation of formwork and waterproofing

Attention! Before laying insulation it is necessary to install the formwork, as it is recommended to use boards laid from the inside with a waterproofing film. This solution will prevent the absorption of moisture from the subsequently poured concrete solution and it will be able to gain the design strength. Otherwise, the dehydrated parts will become brittle and the service life will be significantly reduced.

To understand the technology of pouring the blind area around the house of concrete, how to make the formwork and what sequence of actions to follow, you need to read the step-by-step instructions. It looks like this:

We install the first slab from the corner of the building along the wall, checking the correct position using the building level.
We fix the insulation to a suitable type of fastening, pressing it tightly against the wall.
We install the next one end-to-end to the first slab with a minimum gap.
We fix the slab, and carefully seal the joint with construction foam.
In the same way, we lay the entire perimeter of the walls with heat-insulating material.

Attention! If the blind area is installed in the northern regions, then it is recommended to lay two layers of insulation with bandaging the joints of the two layers. This will avoid the formation of cold bridges.

Installation of expanded polystyrene plates

Before pouring concrete into the formwork, it is necessary to lay the reinforcing mesh. For these purposes, ready-made meshes with a rod diameter of 8-10 mm and a cell size of 10-15 cm are used. It is important to lay in such a way that the steel rods are in a layer of concrete. For this it is necessary to use special plastic props.

It is recommended to fill the structure with concrete mortar of the M400 grade or higher, and at a time, so that the structure gains maximum strength. Therefore, in advance you need to calculate the approximate volume and order the mortar in the required amount at the cement plant.

Pouring concrete

When pouring, it is important to create an even layer, for which gently smooth the concrete over the surface with a shovel or mop. Additionally, the solution must be stirred to remove air bubbles from the layer. After the pasting of the layer to the level of the edges of the formwork, it is necessary to level the surface as a rule. The sides of the formwork will act as guides.

Leveling the blind area

At the final stage, the surface of the blind area must be sprinkled with a thin layer of cement. To ensure ideal conditions for concrete hardening, it will be necessary to cover the entire upper part with a layer of polyethylene. Moisten the surface with water every day. Curing time is 28 days, depending on the temperature and humidity of the environment.

Installation of a rigid blind area completed

Installation of a soft blind area

A soft blind area around the houses is laid on a waterproofing layer laid over a sand cushion. It is recommended to use rubemast as an insulating material, which has an increased service life. Laying is done with an overlap of 10-15 cm, not only along the main surface, but also on the walls of the main building. The joint joints are sealed with bitumen under the heating of the burner.

Laying of rubble blind area completed

On top of the waterproofing, a 10 cm layer of dry mixture of sand and gravel should be poured in equal proportions. Then the surface should be carefully tamped and leveled. In this case, it is imperative to maintain the angle of inclination.On top of the embankment, another layer of crushed stone with a grain size of no more than 5 mm is laid and also compacted.

DIY semi-rigid blind area: step by step instructions

Is it realistic to create a semi-rigid structure on your own in the absence of suitable experience? The task is quite solvable and a reliable blind area can be created with your own hands - step-by-step instructions will allow you to go through all the stages without errors. It is installed directly on a prepared sand-crushed stone cushion, on top of which a layer of sand 8-10 cm thick is additionally poured. For paving paving slabs it is necessary to study the layout of the elements in advance, as well as choose the direction of the masonry. In this case, the layout can be absolutely any and not limited to anything. The main requirement is to create butt joints with minimum thickness.

The laying technology looks like this step by step:

The first tile is placed on the leveled base.
With the help of a mallet, its surface is gently tapped to ensure reliable fixation.

Laying tiles with leveling

It is imperative to control the angle of inclination with the level in order to avoid skewing.
The next tile is placed end-to-end with the previous one.
For alignment, it is necessary to lay a wooden plank on the surface of the tiles and, by tapping, achieve their correct position.
If there is a subsidence of one of the corners of the tile, then you need to add a little sand and repeat the alignment with a mallet.
If you need to cut tiles for laying under the wall of the house or along the curb, you need to use a grinder.
We carry out the installation paving slabs over the entire area of the blind area.

Laying tiles on the blind area completed

How to repair the blind area?

The blind area around the house, if you do not know the nuances of the laying technology, how to properly pour concrete or lay tiles, will obviously contain such defects that will surface sooner or later and require repair work. Restoration is carried out depending on the degree of its damage:

In the presence of cracks of no more than 1 mm, repairs are not required, since they are not critical and will in no way worsen the operational characteristics of the structure.
If the size of the cracks is up to 3 mm, then it is recommended to fill with water-cement mortar in equal proportions. After the mortar dries, a strong layer will be created that will provide maximum protection for the building foundation.
For cracks up to 3 cm, it will be necessary to fill with concrete, having previously cleaned them from dirt and treated them with a deep penetration primer. The use of waterproof fillers or sealants is also allowed.

Sealing cracks in the blind area with a width of up to 3 cm

Cracks more than 3 cm - it is necessary to study the strength of the structure and evaluate it and maintainability. It may be necessary to remove some of the top layer and align the pillow. After making sure of the sufficient load-bearing capacity of the structure, concrete should be poured.
The crumbling of the blind area is eliminated by applying a water-cement composition to the surface in order to strengthen it.

Conclusion

It is shown that a self-installed blind area can last a long time if step-by-step instructions were used and construction technologies were followed. The main installation methods for all types of blind areas are given. Some methods of repairing damage to the outer surface of the structure are indicated.