What to make a blind area from. What is a foundation blind area and why is it needed? Preventative maintenance and repairs

Concrete blind area – important element Houses. Often this design seems insignificant, but if you look at the issue, it is very important. It is necessary to follow the technology and choose the right type of design. How to properly fill the blind area around the house yourself is described below.

What is it for?

Concrete blind area is a mandatory event. Its device performs a very important function - protecting the foundation. This element around the house removes rain and melt moisture from the perimeter of the basement walls, thereby reducing the load on drainage system and vertical waterproofing.

Before making a blind area with your own hands, you should decide on its width. To perform the given function, the protrusion of the blind area around the house is taken equal to one meter. This value allows you to reliably protect the basement walls. In some cases, it is allowed to reduce the width, but only if absolutely necessary (for example, tight conditions on the site). The minimum value is 80 cm. It is important to take into account the protrusion of the roof eaves. Its projection onto the ground surface should be at least 20 cm less than the protrusion of the concrete protection.

The main role of the blind area is to protect the foundation from water

In addition to waterproofing, the blind area takes on several more functions:

completion of the architectural appearance of the house;
arrangement of a pedestrian zone around the building (the blind area plays the role of a pedestrian path).

The blind area can be used as a path only for low-rise individual buildings, subject to timely removal of ice from the eaves and snow from the roof. It is important to remember safety precautions in winter period, since when driving close to the cornice there is a danger of snow and ice falling on a person.

To perform the main function - water drainage, the blind area must be made with a slope. The height decreases away from the walls of the house.

The installation of a blind area around the building requires a slope of at least 0.015.

This value means that for every horizontal meter there is a vertical change of 1.5 cm. Before pouring the blind area, you should calculate its height near the walls of the house.

Blind area design and materials

The concrete blind area is designed quite simply. Filling the blind area around individual house Even a non-professional can do it. The device requires the preparation of the following materials:

The bedding that needs to be done before pouring the solution with your own hands. You can make bedding from various materials. The design allows the use of medium or coarse sand, sand-gravel mixture, crushed stone or gravel of a not very large fraction. Can't fill cement mortar on fine sand. Such a base can shrink, which will lead to the concrete for the blind area cracking. It is best to make a pillow from two types of material. The first layer must be done in order to compact the base soil and level it. For this, gravel or crushed stone is used. The second layer should be made of sand.
To increase strength, pouring the blind area involves reinforcement. You can reinforce the element around the house with your own hands using reinforcement mesh. It is recommended to make meshes from reinforcement with a diameter of 6-8 mm, depending on the characteristics of the base soil. The design of the blind area assumes mesh cell sizes of 30x30 or 50x50 mm.
Before pouring, it is necessary to make formwork. Do wooden boards along the perimeter of the blind area is necessary in order to concrete mortar did not spread. To make formwork you will need wooden boards. The width is selected depending on the thickness of the blind area. To hold the solution, it is enough to purchase material with a thickness of 22-25 mm.
The main material for production is concrete mortar. The most important thing here is to choose the right brand of mixture. The strength class of concrete should be at least B15 (old marking M200).

You can use a solution of higher grades, but this is not profitable from an economic point of view. To make a durable building element, you also need to think about frost resistance. The frost resistance grade of concrete for the blind area must be at least F50. It is best to choose the F100 brand; such a solution will provide better resistance of the element to temperature changes. When preparing concrete, it is important to maintain the proportions of its components.

Composition of concrete for blind area

To do quality work with your own hands, you will need to choose the right concrete mixture. There are two ways to obtain a filling solution:

purchase at the factory and transportation by concrete mixer;
self-cooking.

It is better to opt for the second option. This is due to the following factors:

buy ready mixture always more expensive than making it yourself;
the blind area requires a small amount of concrete, and factories sell it in fairly large volumes;
no need for transportation costs.

When making a mixture, a home craftsman must only correctly select its components and maintain the proportions. The composition of concrete for the blind area is as follows:

cement (it is better to use PC400);
sand ( best option– medium, small is allowed);
coarse aggregate (crushed stone or gravel);
water.

The proportions of each of these components are set depending on what grade of concrete needs to be obtained. For concrete grade B15 (optimal for blind areas), the proportions should be made as follows:

cement -1 part;
sand – 2.8 parts;
coarse aggregate - 4.8 parts.

These proportions from 10 liters of cement allow you to get 54 liters concrete mixture. For every 6 parts of water by weight there should be 10 parts of cement.

If you need to create a material of a different brand and there is no opportunity to familiarize yourself with the information more carefully, you should remember that in general case the proportions look something like this: 1:3:4 (cement: sand: crushed stone, respectively).

Work order

The DIY device involves performing actions in the following sequence:

first you need to mark the blind area on the ground;
digging a trench around the perimeter of the building to the depth of the blind area (depending on the thickness of the layers of bedding and concrete);
compacting the base;
installation of formwork panels and fastening them together;
styling bulk materials(sand, crushed stone) with compaction;
laying reinforcing mesh;
installation of boards that will act as expansion joints that prevent concrete from cracking in winter) in increments of 2 meters;
laying concrete and its compaction, leveling;
ironing of the surface;
waiting for time to gain strength, caring for concrete.

It is important to ensure a distance between the blind area and the wall of approximately 2 cm. This gap will allow structures with different weights to settle independently of each other and prevent the appearance of cracks.
Concrete gains full strength in 28 days at an average daily temperature of +20 degrees Celsius. If the air temperature is lower, it will take longer. The formwork can be removed after reaching 70% strength.

Caring for concrete involves periodically wetting it. To prevent moisture evaporation, the blind area after pouring is covered with film or burlap. These measures will prevent the appearance of cracks during hardening.

An additional measure could be insulating the element. For this, extruded polystyrene foam is used, which is placed under a layer of concrete on a bedding. Insulation is relevant when the depth of the foundation base is higher than the freezing depth.

Today we will continue the topic of the foundation and plinth of your house, or rather, we will “close it” with an article about how to build a concrete blind area correctly and inexpensively with your own hands for your home. We will look at the simplest and inexpensive way devices concrete blind area(after all, our task is to build inexpensive house with your own hands, which is not inferior in reliability to an expensive house. Remember?).

So what do we have? The construction of our house is completed: the roof - it's all finished. It's time to start building the blind area. In fact, the blind area can be made almost any time after the walls are laid. But the most optimal time, in our opinion, this is when you start the final exterior decoration your house. If you plan to cladding the base, then the blind area should be done after this work has been completed.

Why do you need a blind area?

If you don't have enough funds for final finishing at home, then blind area We still recommend doing it. In any case, the blind area should be done before the cold weather. Then your house will “overwinter and welcome spring” without any problems.

And now - the main functions of the blind area:

Decorative effect, a sense of architectural completeness;
Except decorative element houses, blind area is protection of the foundation from external waters: melt water, rain. Retention of water, its diversion into storm sewer(this is what you plan to do) - the main task of the blind area;
In addition, the blind area allows you to reduce freezing of the soil underneath it, and, accordingly, around the house. Those. the blind area guards the heat of the house;
Reducing soil freezing entails reducing the likelihood of soil heaving. It is recommended to do this on swelling soils. True, we decided not to do this;
If there is no blind area and the soil comes close to the base, then in addition to excessive moisture, plant roots can also cause damage to the foundation.

How to make a blind area correctly?

The simplest option is a concrete blind area with a width of 60 cm, which surrounds your house on all sides.

In order for the blind area to fully fulfill its purpose, it is necessary to follow several basic rules:

the width of the blind area should not match or be less than the roof overhang. Minimum width of the blind area = roof overhang (eaves) + 20cm;
the blind area should continuously encircle the entire house. Then the basement of the house (and ground floor) will be protected from moisture penetration;
the wider the blind area, the better the function of protection against water penetration will be performed;
the blind area should be performed with a slight slope. Minimum slope from the house towards the ground, which will ensure water drainage - 1.5 degrees. The slope may be greater. It depends on the base coating. The slope can be formed both at the stage of creating the underlying layer and at the stage of laying the coating. We will describe below what the underlying layer and coating are.

DIY concrete blind area

The durability of your foundation, the minimum expenditure of both money and time on repairing the foundation, basement and blind area and the absence of “headaches” after you have finished building your house with your own hands depend on the blind area, carried out according to all the rules - and this is probably , the most important!

The blind area is two structural layers:

underlying layer. The main task is to create an even, compacted base for the coating. Material used: clay, sand, small crushed stone. The material for the underlying layer depends on the covering material. Thickness - up to 20mm;
coating. The main task is water resistance and resistance to the destructive effects of water. Material used: clay (clay is a material that can be used as both an underlying layer and a coating), concrete, asphalt mixture, small cobblestones. Thickness - up to 10 cm.

This is true for any type of blind area. In this regard, we will tell you in what order the work should be performed for concrete blind area structures.

We carry out markings for the future blind area. We talked about the minimum width of the blind area in this article above. The width of the blind area in our house is 100cm;
We remove and compact the soil around the perimeter of the building. Usually the soil is removed during the zero construction cycle. When constructing a blind area, you need to prepare the soil exactly for the width of the future blind area in accordance with the markings. In this case, you need to consider what material you will make the blind area from. For a concrete blind area, the soil must be removed to a depth of 20-25 cm - the depth “at the bayonet of a shovel”;
Sometimes it is recommended to treat the roots of plants under the removed soil with herbicides, which can subsequently cause harm to the blind area. This is at your discretion - we did not do this;
We make formwork from boards. For formwork we use boards 20mm thick. About how to make it correctly removable formwork from boards (the principle is the same), we described in the article;
Place a small layer of clay on the compacted soil. Level and compact the clay;
We lay a layer of sand 10 cm thick. The sand must be thoroughly compacted. To do this, it is effective to shed the sand with a layer of water. Don't overdo it - there's clay underneath! Compact the sand especially carefully near the foundation.
Now we lay crushed stone in a layer of 6-7 cm;
To strengthen the blind area, we reinforce it with reinforcement mesh (see photo) in increments of 100 mm. It is typical for concrete to withstand compressive loads. Reinforcement allows the blind area to also effectively withstand tensile loads;
At the junction of the blind area with the plinth, it is necessary to make a seam, which is called a compensation seam. It is also called deformation or temperature. The expansion joint will protect the base and blind area from destruction during soil subsidence. In this case, the blind area will sag or fall along the prepared seam without causing damage to the base. The width of the expansion joint is 1-1.5 cm. We fill this gap with a mixture of sand and fine gravel, bitumen, mastic or two layers of roofing felt. Some builders use foamed polyethylene to fill the seam. The diameter of the tourniquet should be 25% larger than the width of the seam so that the tourniquet fits tightly into the gap. A special feature when laying a rope: its top should be at a depth equal to 1/2 the width of the seam. To make laying the bundle easier, you can use a piece of plywood. And although we talked about this method of filling an expansion joint, we did not use it ourselves. We used sealant;
When pouring a blind area with concrete across the blind area, an expansion (temperature) joint should be constructed every 2-3 meters (the distance depends on the likelihood of soil swelling). Expansion joints protect the concrete blind area from possible ruptures in winter. Suitable for these purposes wooden slats, mounted on edge. The slats must be installed so that their top surface coincides with the surface of the concrete. IMPORTANT! Consider the slope of the blind area! To protect the slats from rotting, we treated them with waste oil (used oil). Wooden slats can also be processed;
Expansion (temperature) joints must also be installed in the corners of the house;
We put and ;
Level the concrete base. Pre-installed to create expansion joints wooden slats play the role of beacons, which should be guided by when leveling the concrete;
It will give maximum strength to the formwork. Ironing done wet method will give the blind area for your home maximum moisture resistance;
And the final stage: concrete surface cover with a cloth, wetting it with water from time to time. This will keep the concrete from drying out until it is completely cured. If you are making a blind area during the rainy season, and this is exactly what happened to us, you can do without additional moisture. Daily rains will do their job;
A week later correct blind area made of concrete for your home.

Repair of concrete blind area

If you have properly completed the foundation, plinth and blind area for your home, you should not have problems for a long time.

However, it happens that cracks appear on the blind area or damage takes up a significant area. What to do in these cases?

Small cracks should be filled with liquid cement mortar (1:1 or 1:2);
Larger cracks must be cut out to their full depth and cleaned of contaminants. Then fill the prepared cracks with mastic of the following composition: 70% bitumen BND-90/130 or BND-60/90, 10% crushed slag and 15% asbestos. Cracks filled with mastic should be sprinkled with sand.
If the damage to the concrete blind area is significant, it is necessary to restore it with fresh concrete. To do this, clean the surface to be repaired from dirt and prime it. For priming, use cement mortar (1:1 or 1:2). Then lay fresh mortar and level it. Next, you need to prevent the laid concrete from drying before it hardens. In other words, periodically moisten it or cover it with plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out.

IMPORTANT! It is more effective to repair the blind area in spring or autumn in cool weather. If you need to repair the blind area in the summer, choose the morning hours for this. During the day under the influence high temperature Due to the expansion of concrete, the gaps will decrease. This will prevent you from completing your repair as efficiently as possible.

After the construction of the house is completed, when it is ready to move in, you can start working on the blind area. At this time, there is a possibility that the materials at the base of the building may be damaged by precipitation and external negative factors.

The need for a blind area

The blind area not only carries aesthetic function, but also protects the house from sedimentary moisture and uneven washing. Leaving the building without this part of the structure is especially dangerous in winter. The soil is saturated with moisture, which begins to crystallize and expand as the temperature drops. Heaving forces put pressure on the foundation, which subsequently causes its destruction. In some cases, the design of the blind area also requires thermal insulation.

Requirements for the blind area

Before you fill the blind area around the house with your own hands, you need to familiarize yourself with the main requirements. Firstly, it is important to ensure that there is a seam between the system for removing moisture from the building and the building itself. To do this, the hollow space is filled with sand. Secondly, it is important to ensure that it is at least 60 cm. This value increases to 1 m if we are talking about soils subject to subsidence. Thirdly, to determine the width of the blind area, you must add 30 cm to the length of the roof overhang.

Blind area parameters

If you are wondering how to properly fill a blind area, you should ask about its parameters. For high-quality moisture removal, the width of this part of the building should be 30 cm or more greater than the width of the eaves of the roof. The blind area is usually used as a path around the house. In order to operate it comfortably, the width should be 1 m or more. It is also important to provide correct angle tilt, which usually varies from 3 to 10 °.

Preparation of tools and materials

Before you fill the blind area with your own hands, it is important to ensure that you have certain tools and materials, including:

sand;
cement;
boards;
rule;
spirit level;
crushed stone;
sealant;
putty knife;
capacity;
bayonet shovel.

As for the sealant, you should prefer the polyurethane variety. This material will be needed to form expansion joints. When selecting boards, you should find those whose width is equal to the thickness of the blind area. The spatula can be replaced with a trowel if the first one is not at hand.

To level the solution you will need a rule. When mixing concrete yourself, make sure you have a container. To set up formwork from boards, you need to purchase or find a spirit level in your arsenal. Before pouring the blind area, it is important to take care of the availability bayonet shovel, with the help of it you will carry out excavation, removing a layer of soil.

Preparatory stage

If you, too, are among those who are thinking about the question of how to properly fill the blind area of a house, then you must mark the structure along the entire perimeter of the foundation. To do this, according to external and internal corners walls, it is necessary to mark a certain distance, which will determine the width. In these places, pegs are driven in, between which a rope or thick thread is stretched. In the marked area, it is necessary to remove the top layer of soil, going 0.25 m deep.

It is recommended to remove the excavated soil, otherwise it will interfere with work. If there are no depressions on the site that need to be filled, the soil is immediately transported outside the territory. When builders are wondering how to properly fill a blind area around a house, they must follow technology. Having familiarized yourself with it, you can understand that along the edge of the formed trench it is necessary to install removable formwork, which is well attached.

A 10 cm layer of sand is placed at the bottom of the trench, which is watered generously with water for compaction. The next layer will be crushed stone, which is laid in a thickness ranging from 5 to 8 cm. To strengthen the structure, you should use reinforced mesh made of metal. It is laid on crushed stone and fixed. During the counting process reinforcing mesh It should be taken into account that the edges of the sheets when joining should overlap each other by 15 cm.

How to prevent cracking

If you are faced with the question of how to fill the blind area around the house, then you must also take care that over time the structure does not become covered with cracks, which especially often happens in winter. To eliminate this problem, builders make the system block-based. To do this, 10 mm wooden planks are installed on the edge every 1.5 m. Their top edge should coincide with the surface.

Before installation, the wood is impregnated with a water-repellent composition. After the concrete is poured, the planks will act as beacons along which alignment is carried out. In order to facilitate further work, the elements are installed at the required angle.

Pouring the solution

At the next stage, you can proceed to the main stage - filling the formwork with mortar. You can order ready-made concrete, but in this case you will need a large container for temporary storage of the mixture. It is almost impossible to cope with transporting concrete from the container to the blind area alone. To do this, you should enlist the help of at least 3 people.

Although it is possible to prepare the solution yourself, it will take more time. However, in this situation, you can work slowly, saving money. After the formwork is filled with mortar, it is necessary to smooth the surface using the rule. On final stage, after the solution dries, the base becomes iron. To do this, it is sprinkled with dry cement, which is then rubbed in a little. If you are not sure that you know everything about how to fill a blind area, then carefully follow the instructions. After completing all of the above steps, you must leave the structure until the mixture sets. Sometimes concrete is wetted with water during the hardening stage, which helps prevent it from cracking.

Additional instructions for performing work

If you are faced with the question of how to fill the blind area, then at the first stage you should deal with the soil, which is well compacted around the perimeter. To do this, the plant layer is removed, and then a layer of crushed stone is laid. In order to outline the boundaries of the future structure, you can simply dig up the area where the blind area will be located.

At the next stage, restrictive boards are installed. After wetting, the sand is well compacted, and then a layer of crushed stone is poured on top and concrete is prepared for pouring. The latter should be filled in parts. You can pour sealant into the space between the joints, as well as the blind area and the house. 20 minutes after filling the formwork, you can sprinkle the surface and smooth it. Next, paving stones or tiles are laid. In this situation, there is no need to sprinkle concrete with cement.

Repair of the blind area

If during operation you notice cracks or damage in the blind area, then it is necessary to repair it before the deformation changes become more noticeable. First you need to define the boundaries. If the base has several cracks or holes, then they are combined into one problem area. Concrete is removed from it, lubricated around the perimeter with bitumen and a new layer of mortar is laid. The blind area is leveled from above; you need to start from the edges, gradually moving towards the middle.

The seams are sealed with special putty. It should contain bitumen, asbestos and crushed slag. After the crack is sprinkled with dry sand. If the damage is minor, then liquid cement is poured into it. This approach is less labor intensive compared to removing the entire layer.

Is it worth making an asphalt concrete blind area?

Before you fill the blind area, you should think about the technology. Some people decide to install it. However, when performing the work, you may encounter some difficulties. They are expressed in the need to compact the material, where considerable effort must be applied.

Conclusion

Today, several varieties of the described design are known. And before you fill the blind area of the house, you should definitely familiarize yourself with all of them. Among them it is worth highlighting concrete structure, stone system, paving slabs and crushed stone. Craftsmen even make waterproof blind areas. It is used if there is a drainage system around the house.

For this purpose, geotextile material is placed in the recess, which is covered with crushed stone or pebbles. The material does not allow crushed stone to dig into the ground and eliminates subsidence. The disadvantage of this design is its heterogeneity and the complexity of compaction. It will be inconvenient to move on the surface of such a coating. Therefore, the most durable and multifunctional solution will be a concrete blind area, which, when correct device will not sag over time.

A blind area built around the foundation of a house protects it and the soil adjacent to it from moisture penetration and premature destruction. Water flowing from the roof of a house erodes the top layer of soil and seeps to the base of the foundation. This leads to its subsidence, and ultimately can lead to the destruction of the house. To prevent such a phenomenon, a proper blind area must be installed around the perimeter of the house.

Installing a blind area significantly reduces the depth of soil freezing under the house and reduces its heat loss in winter time of the year.

However, to fulfill this requirement building codes you need to know how to properly fill the blind area.

The main purpose of the blind area

To do this, first of all you need to select its width. Since it must protect the base of the house from moisture, a larger width is better. As a rule, its minimum width is taken to be 80 cm and, at a minimum, it should protrude approximately 20 cm beyond the roof eaves.

In addition to the function of protecting the base of the house, the blind area is often used as pedestrian path located around the perimeter of the house. Therefore, it is better to make its optimal width from 1 to 2 m. With its help, the base of the house receives additional decorative decoration and a sense of architectural completeness of the building.

Second important condition- she needs to make such a slope that it ensures the flow of water away from the walls of the house. The slope angle should be about three degrees. The generally accepted slope is approximately 15 mm per 1 m of width. This slope ensures good drainage of water and is practically invisible when walking.

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How is the blind area arranged?

You will need the following materials:

sand and fine gravel to create a base layer;
reinforcement with a diameter of about 8 mm, a mesh with a cell size of approximately 30x30 cm is made from it. The reinforcement rods are fastened together using knitting wire.
boards 22 mm thick to create formwork.

Technologically, the blind area is performed on a cushion of two layers of dissimilar material:

The first layer is a compacting pad. Its main function is to create a dense, even layer under the main coating. The materials used for it are clay, fine gravel and sand. This layer is laid with a thickness of at least 20 cm.

The second layer is the coating. It is designed to be waterproof and must be resistant to water penetration. Covering material: concrete, asphalt, pea gravel or compacted clay. Its thickness can be about 10 cm.

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The procedure for constructing a blind area

To properly fill the blind area, you need to perform work in the following sequence:

First of all, make the correct markings for the future blind area, choosing the required width.
It is necessary to remove soil within the established width along the entire perimeter of the foundation. As a rule, the soil is removed to a depth of about 25 cm. Then the entire surface of the cleaned area is compacted.
Formwork made of 22 mm thick boards is installed around the entire perimeter, which is carefully strengthened.
Clay is placed on the surface of the compacted soil in a layer of about 5 cm. The clay layer is leveled and thoroughly compacted.
Sand is placed on the compacted layer of clay. The thickness of the sand layer is about 10 cm. The sand layer must be leveled and thoroughly compacted. For compaction to be effective, the sand must be soaked with water during the compaction process. The sand must be compacted very carefully against the walls of the foundation.
Fine crushed stone is poured on top of the sand, in a layer approximately 8 cm thick. The crushed stone is also carefully compacted.
To strengthen the blind area, it is reinforced with reinforcement about 8 mm thick in increments of about 15 cm.
In the process of pouring the blind area with concrete, it is necessary to install expansion joints across the blind area in increments of approximately 2 m at the corners. Expansion joints prevent the blind area from breaking in winter. To organize the seams, wooden slats with a thickness of about 20 mm are used. The slats are installed flush with the concrete surface, maintaining the slope angle. Before installation, they must be impregnated with an antiseptic or bitumen mastic.
The blind area should be separated from the foundation walls by an expansion joint. It prevents the destruction of the base and preserves the blind area in the event of soil subsidence due to heaving and thermal expansion of the soil. If such situations arise, the blind area will simply fall along the prepared seam without damaging the foundation walls. The seam is made about 2 cm wide. Then it should be filled with fine gravel, sand, sealant, bitumen or a strip of roofing material folded in half. However, it is best to fill it with a strip of polyethylene foam. This strip should be about a quarter larger than the width of the seam.
After execution preparatory work lay and compact the concrete solution. We perform the alignment concrete base. When leveling the surface, compensation slats should be used as beacons.
After leveling the surface, we iron it, it will give maximum strength and moisture resistance to the surface of the blind area.
For final hardening of the blind area, its surface must be periodically moistened with water and covered with cloth or film.
After about two weeks, the blind area gains its design strength, the fabric is removed and

The blind area of the house is one of important aspects in creating long and comfortable operation of the house itself. It creates protection for the foundation and soil around the circumference from moisture. After intense rain or snowfall, or melting snow, water may accumulate near the building. It can also drain from the roof. Moisture can have a damaging effect on top layer soil and get to the foundation. If this happens, the bearing potential of the foundation will be seriously weakened. As a result, the entire structure may collapse.

When creating a drain, creating a blind area is mandatory. The drain will protect the soil from water coming from the roof, but will not protect it from precipitation.

It is extremely important to properly build a blind area when you have a shallow foundation. Its sole is quite close to the surface, and water can reach its very depth without any problems. Then the strength of the sole will disappear, the sole itself will sag, and the foundation will lose its shape and begin to collapse.

A blind area should also be created with a built-in buried foundation.

To create a strong, durable blind area, you will need to wisely select high-quality materials and strictly adhere to the technological aspects of construction.

Tile blind area.

Determining the width of the blind area

The main task of the blind area is protection. And its width is the parameter that should be the maximum possible. Its recommended minimum value is 80 cm. And the maximum numbers are a purely business matter. There are no standards here. The required width will ensure that moisture is absorbed into the soil far from the house.

When determining the width, it is worth considering one more task of the blind area - path around the perimeter of the building. The blind area should ensure free movement along this path: no walking sideways or close to the wall. Taking this factor into account, the width should be set in the range of 100 – 250 cm.

The blind area should be formed with a slope. This will allow water to drain away from the walls of the building. According to Soviet standards, the slope parameter is as follows: 5 – 10 cm per 100 cm width. That is, the edge of the blind area, whose width is 100 cm, will reach a height of 5–10 cm near the wall of the building. Its other edge will be flush with the ground. This results in a rather steep descent. It is optimal for fast and efficient water drainage. But moving along such a blind area will be problematic. If the angle of inclination is reduced, the flow rate will drop significantly, and water may generally accumulate on the surface. Although movement along the blind area will be comfortable.

Given that ideal surface blind areas (evenness, smoothness), a slope of 1 cm is acceptable. However, it will be difficult to move on such a surface in winter - it is very slippery.

If a material with a rough surface is used for the assigned tasks, the minimum tilt value is 1.5 - 2 cm.

When a blind area is created around a non-residential building, for example, the recommended angle at the entrance is: 2 - 3 cm. This way the surface will receive high-quality protection from rainwater. It will quickly drain, without penetrating into it and not freezing in the cold. And your garage will not have puddles and ice.

Selection of materials

This task should be approached extremely seriously. Exist different variants materials for creating a blind area. The most popular is considered reinforced concrete.

When using it, the work is performed according to the following algorithm:

Clearing the site for future construction.
Reinforcing bars (minimum diameter - 6 mm) form a mesh. Its cells are as follows: 30 x 30 cm. The cells are connected with knitting wire.
Installation of formwork. For this, boards are used.
Pouring formwork.

Before creating the blind area, its base is prepared: along the perimeter of the building along the width of the blind area, the top soil layer is eliminated - approximately 13 cm. At the walls, the depth should slightly exceed the specified parameter. The poured concrete mixture should flow towards the house, slightly compressing it. Any other fastenings of the blind area to the building are not necessary.

Then they are marked boundaries of the blind area. The pegs come into play. They are driven in. A cord runs between them. The bottom of the trench is covered with a 5 cm layer of sand. Concrete will be placed on it.

If in work area The soil is sandy, the use of sand can be eliminated. Place on this layer formwork, reinforcement cage, concrete pouring follows. Reinforcing elements must be completely concentrated in concrete base. To do this, the base rises a little.

Concrete is created in the following proportions:

cement M400: 1 share,
sand: 2 shares,
crushed stone: 4 or 5 shares.

Concrete blind area.

Radioactive materials

If you intend to build a blind area from ash - the result of coal combustion at a thermal power plant, be vigilant. Ash can be a source of radiation. And this will have a detrimental effect on the health of residents.

As a rule, coal mining is carried out in Russian mines. There is a very high level of radiation there. Radiation checks are not carried out at thermal power plants. An important factor there is the ash content of the coal. Therefore, by purchasing ash and using it in construction activities, you risk seriously deteriorating your health. To reduce the risk, purchase ash with a dosimeter. This device will calculate her radiation level.

Also included in the category of radiation materials is cinder block. It also contains ash. There are known cases of determining very high level radiation in residential premises made from such blocks.

It is extremely rare that increased radiation occurs near foundation blocks and reinforced concrete slabs. In construction, sawdust blocks can be used instead of cinder blocks. This option is completely environmentally friendly.

Metal can also give off radiation. This applies to both black and colored varieties. A dangerous background is most often present in melted metal. The echo of Chernobyl speaks here. A lot of metals were taken out and melted from this zone. And there is some probability that when buying metal product for the blind area, you acquire the “element” of Chernobyl. When purchasing, also use a dosimeter.

Working on the covering for the blind area

After the concrete mixture has completely hardened, a coating can be laid on it. Very often the coating is formed from figured paving elements (FEMs), or from granite paving stones.

The first ones differ in their quality and appearance. Acid-resistant bricks with dimensions of 12 x 25 x 5 cm are considered high-quality options. They cope excellently with loads from frequent movement and walking, as well as natural conditions.

Standard FEMs do not have the required strength. This negatively affects their service life. It hardly reaches 5 years. After this period, their original appearance is completely lost. Such coating should last at least 10 years.

Paving stones – great option for covering. Its strength is high, its service life is decent, and it has a rich color range. It can be used as a mosaic and formed into intricate patterns. Its main drawback is related to its huge price.

Coverage example

The nuances of creating a blind area around the house yourself

In this work it is worth paying attention to the following nuances:

Don't build a blind area immediately after the construction of the basement. When backfilling is performed, the trench is filled with soil that was previously removed from it. That is, black soil, clay, etc. are used. To a certain extent, there is subsidence of any soil. It takes time for it to completely subside. If you build a blind area right away, without waiting for this subsidence, then if moisture penetrates into the soil, it will begin to sag, changing the shape of the blind area. And cracks form on its surface. To prevent such a situation, make the backfill from sand, which easily allows water to pass through. When you water it properly and level it, the blind area can be created within 24 hours. Although it is better to start this construction after the construction of the building box or 8-12 months after work on the foundation.
To cover Do not use porcelain tiles. It has a smooth, slippery and traumatic surface. In addition, it has a very modest service life. After all, it is laid directly on a concrete plane, which expands in cold weather. And such a coating will soon burst.

Principles of installation of FEM

To lay this material, use a mixture created from a bucket of cement (grade M400) and 3-4 buckets of sand, as well as 70 grams detergent. The last component protects the created composition from subsidence.

There is a more economical version of installation - on sand. But the service life of the coating in this situation will be short. When moisture penetrates the sand, the material will sag and will need to be re-laid or completely replaced.

More economical option with similar characteristics - this is laying on a dry mixture. This way the surface will retain its pleasant appearance a little longer. Therefore, the first proposed option remains the most optimal.

Example

Creating blind area protection

As you know, the main task of the blind area is protective. But it is advisable to protect this structure itself from water coming from the roof. Here it is necessary to arrange a high-quality outlet in the format of gutters. They will be organized along the entire perimeter of the roof. This way, the water will first end up in the gutters and flow through them into the drain pipe. As a result, it will still end up on the blind area, but the height of its flow will be radically reduced. The impact on the surface of the blind area will also be reduced.

According to old standards, diversion technology was used for buildings with more than two floors. Nowadays, allotments are arranged in any private houses.

Examples:

It wouldn’t hurt to insulate the blind area additionally. This way the soil will freeze less in cold weather. For such purposes in concrete composition castling is made: instead of crushed stone - expanded clay.

Another good insulation method is to fill the blind area in two layers, with insulation placed between them, for example.

Final requirements for the blind area:

Optimal width for efficient drainage and comfortable walking: 1-2 m.
The optimal slope according to the same criteria: 1.5 cm (per meter of width).
When creating the foundation, it is necessary to dig a trench with a slight slope towards the residential building. The blind area should be in close contact with the house throughout its entire depth.
Optimal and safe material– reinforced concrete. It guarantees excellent results in terms of strength and durability.
The best option for coating is acid-resistant brick - FEM. It is laid on a concrete mixture.
No matter how many floors there are in a built house, high-quality drainage is necessary. It will seriously increase the service life of the blind area.

An example of a finished blind area with drainage.

Video instructions

Alexander Kvasha’s video on creating a blind area with your own hands is not only one of the most popular. The authors of the material did not turn off the ability to comment, so viewers were able to actively criticize the presented material and analyze errors in detail.