Blind area with insulation: different options and materials. Why is it necessary to insulate the blind area and how to do it? Insulated blind area

When building a house, professionals definitely recommend equipping a blind area around the house. After all, the foundation and basement rooms are exposed to frozen ground in winter and an abundance of water during rainy periods. It is important not only to build on and be sure to insulate the blind area. In this case, the house will be protected even better.

Often the blind area is used as a path around the house, and it also performs an excellent decorative function. Therefore, for the arrangement of this part of the house, it is necessary to select materials that are most compatible with the cladding of the building.

If the insulation of the blind area around the house is done correctly, then it will help:

Reduce home heating costs.
Extends the life of the foundation.
Protects from high humidity.
Timely planned insulation of the blind area will help reduce the depth of the foundation.

What are these prospects? IN winter time year, the water that is in the soil freezes, which means that its volume increases, and the soil begins to move. Such shifts have a bad effect on the foundation. As a result, small cracks may appear in the base. In turn, moisture can again get into them and freeze. Which leads to an increase in gaps.

Through such holes, heat begins to leave the house. But this is only a small problem. After a while, you can notice the appearance of cracks already on the wall of the house, which increase over the years. But if you take care of the arrangement and insulation of the blind area in time, then such problems will appear much later.

The video is working, the author has such a splash screen.

When is the best time to start

Professionals recommend doing the blind area after the box of the house, that is, the walls and the roof, has been fully erected. But if this was not done at the construction stage, then it can be built already when the house was put into operation.

It is advisable to start work at a drier time of the year, so that sudden rain or close-lying underground water did not interfere with the construction. After all, the installation of an insulated blind area requires digging the soil near the foundation to a depth of 30–40 cm.

The basic principle of construction

Those who first encounter such a process are wondering how to insulate the blind area? In order to do everything qualitatively and correctly, you need to adhere to one rule of the “insulated blind area pie”. It consists of:

Geotextile. It is laid on a pre-prepared site. To do this, the place where the blind area will be equipped is cleared of the upper ball of soil with plant roots. Then they dig a trench about 30–40 cm deep. The bottom of the trench must be rammed so that subsidence of the soil does not occur later, which can lead to the destruction of the blind area.
Sand. It is laid with a thickness of 10–15 cm. It is important to level and compact this layer well. It will form the entire blind area in the future. Be sure to make a slope from the house. The difference should be about 3 cm, and more. This is necessary in order to melt or rainwater did not stay near the walls, but flowed into the drain gutter or into the flower bed. To quickly compact the sand, it is spilled with water, but here you need to be careful and not overfill it.
Thermal insulation. To do this, use a variety of materials. Starting from expanded clay and ending with modern, foam and. We will talk about various heaters and their advantages and disadvantages a little later. The thickness of the thermal insulation depends on the material used. Expanded clay needs more up to 20 cm, but synthetic materials need less up to 8-10 cm.
Sand. In this case, you need again 10-15 cm of the substance, which is leveled and rammed. The slope is maintained.
Geotextile.
Crushed stone of small fraction.
Decorative finishes.

Such complex structure and resembles a layered cake. But it is precisely such materials that will reliably protect the foundation or basement and the whole house as a whole from the destructive effects of moisture.

The choice of insulation

It is important not only to know how to properly equip the blind area, but also to choose the right insulation. In some cases, it may be possible to use only extruded polystyrene. For example, where soil moisture is too high. But let's look at a few options.

Penoplex

Thermal insulation of the blind area with foam plastic has many advantages, due to which this material is considered the most popular. These include:

Long service life.
Moisture repellency.
Resistance to low temperatures.
Little weight.
Poor flammability and combustibility.

In order to insulate the blind area with foam, plates with a thickness of 5 and 10 cm are used. If the first option was chosen, then the plates must be laid in 2 rows. Be sure to ensure that the joints are hermetically protected with a special film.

Plates 10 cm thick are laid in one layer, but the joints should also be treated with a protective film.

polyurethane foam

If this material is chosen for insulation, then you cannot do without the help of professionals. For installation, a special machine is used, which is very expensive, and you also need work skills to do everything right. It is desirable to insulate both the blind area and the foundation (basement) at the same time. Then you get a continuous layer that will reliably protect the structure. Why is this material so good?

It has a low coefficient of thermal conductivity.
Does not ignite.
Resists biological influences.
Repels moisture.
It is applied at any ambient temperature.
Fits without cracks or gaps.

Expanded clay

This material has been used to insulate the blind area since ancient times. It's ecological pure material which does not harm environment, nor the inhabitants of the water. At the same time, it retains heat very well. You need to know that expanded clay comes in three fractions, which differ in size:

Sand.
Rubble.
Gravel.

For the arrangement of the blind area, expanded clay gravel is used. It resists low temperatures very well. But expanded clay must be protected from excess moisture. To do this, it is imperative to build a drainage system.

The water that will drain from the walls of the house will fall into the ground near the blind area and may fall on expanded clay. After getting wet, the thermal insulation characteristics are greatly reduced. To avoid this, pipes are laid along the perimeter of the blind area and diverted to a distance of about a meter.

They dig a hole there, line it with geotextile. Topped with rubble. Then the drainage pipe is laid. More rubble is poured on top and covered with geotextile ends. Completely cover the hole with sand.

Having learned all the subtleties of arranging and insulating the blind area, you can do everything with your own hands. But it doesn’t matter if the owner of the house does everything on his own or uses the services of professionals, the main thing is that the blind area is done.

Today, many who are building their own home know that the building needs a blind area. However, not everyone knows about the need for an insulated blind area. Before proceeding with these works, it is worthwhile to figure out what materials can be used for this, what is step-by-step instruction on thermal insulation work and whether it is necessary to insulate the blind area.

Before considering thermal insulation materials and proceeding to further work, you should figure out why to insulate the blind area. If such a design is made around the perimeter of the house, this is good. But the protection of the foundation does not end there. Even with its presence, moisture, although to a lesser extent, still spreads underground, penetrating to concrete base. Water penetrating microcracks in concrete sub-zero temperatures expands, gradually destroying it. In our country, daily temperature fluctuations reach 10-20°C.

In order to reduce this figure and prevent the foundation temperature from dropping to below zero, it is necessary to perform insulation. By the way, proper insulation foundation and blind areas should be carried out simultaneously with the waterproofing of the building.

Various materials can be used for thermal insulation. In order for the work to be done properly, you need to properly insulate the blind area around the house. The use of high-quality material will reduce the impact of external cold air on the foundation of the building. The heat that comes from the ground and leaves the walls is stored. This temperature will be enough to keep the foundation from freezing.

It should be borne in mind that the insulated blind area around the house will reduce the heat loss of the building, which will positively affect the savings in heating costs.

The presence of insulation allows you to keep the foundation and the ground under the house at a higher temperature. This affects the reduction of heat loss, because there is no need for constant heating of the earth under the house in order to ensure comfortable conditions in the rooms. Thermal insulation of the blind area refers to one of the insulated structures of the house.

The arrangement of insulation is not a complex and expensive undertaking, provided self-assembly, but it's still worth knowing when you can do without it. You can refuse insulation in the following cases:

if the building is located on solid ground, which is slightly subject to fluctuations during the season;
if the house is built on a shallow foundation, which is laid above the freezing level of the soil.

Under these conditions, a warm blind area may not be performed. This will save money, time and effort, which is important.

The choice of material for insulation

You can insulate the blind area around the house using various heat-insulating materials. Today it is proposed wide choose but the most common are:

extruded polystyrene foam;
Penoizol;
Styrofoam;
Expanded clay.

Recently, insulation of foundations with isolon (foamed polyethylene) has been encountered. The listed materials are endowed with both pluses and minuses. For right choice Both the first and second must be taken into account.

If you make the insulation with extruded polystyrene foam, then it will last a long time. The main advantages are durability and strength. These parameters endow the material with low moisture absorption. Accordingly, it is not subject to frequent and strong temperature changes. One of the main disadvantages is the high cost.

Penoizol also belongs to materials with high durability and low thermal conductivity. Its spraying is carried out in a continuous layer, which eliminates the appearance of seams. Therefore, cold bridges are excluded. The material is resistant to high humidity. However, its application requires special equipment, which only specialists have. It will be expensive to rent. Because of this, many owners refuse to insulate their home in this way.

The insulation of the blind area with foam plastic is widespread. It has high thermal insulation properties, is characterized by ease of installation, while requiring a minimum number of tools. Therefore, if a blind area with insulation is needed, then the foam will the best option thanks to affordable price. Of the minuses, it is worth highlighting the fragility.

The device of the insulated blind area can be made using expanded clay. To use it, it is enough to pour the material into the pit near the base of the house. He is not afraid of moisture or temperature fluctuations. In addition, the cost of expanded clay is low. The disadvantages include low efficiency, i.e. the layer of material to ensure the required level of thermal insulation must be thick. Next, you can consider the question of how to make an insulated blind area around the house.

Stages of insulation of the blind area

A step-by-step instruction for a warm blind area consists of the following layers:

The lowest, serving as the base, consists of geotextiles.
Sand layer 10-15 cm.
Insulation.
Sand layer 15 cm.
Geotextile.
A layer of small gravel.
Finishing material, such as decorative tiles.

Such is the pie of the insulated blind area. So that there are no questions left, we will briefly consider the entire laying process sequentially using the example of insulation of the blind area with foam plastic. First, it is necessary to remove a layer of soil around the house to a depth corresponding to the laying of insulation, and up to 1 m wide.

The material may vary in thickness, depending on its thermal insulation properties. Formwork is installed in the pit made, you can use a stone curb. This step is necessary to increase the level of the blind area above the ground. The base is geotextile. It is laid on the bottom and covered with a layer of sand, after which it is poured with water and rammed.

To obtain high-quality insulation, a layer of clay 20-25 cm is laid on top of the sand, which will create a clay castle. It would be useful to lay roll insulation, which will serve as protection for concrete blind area from moisture penetrating from below. Next, the blind area is insulated with polystyrene foam by laying plates. The next layer is the final one. As a material, paving slabs, paving stones or just concrete, asphalt can be used. This is a step-by-step instruction for warming the blind area.

The blind area pie may differ depending on the materials used. So, when arranging an insulated concrete structure, reinforcement is required.

In addition, it is necessary to make expansion joints using wooden slats which are pre-treated with bitumen. They will protect concrete from destruction and cracking in winter. If the concrete coating is poured in the summer, it must be moistened by periodically pouring water. The insulated blind area of paving slabs or paving stones is laid on a mixture of cement and sand.

How to avoid mistakes when warming?

If a do-it-yourself blind area is arranged, the most common defects are cold bridges, which reduce all efforts for warming to zero. The main mistakes made:

the base is not insulated, which leads to the formation of a cold bridge in the form of a concrete surface;
there is no facade insulation, as a result of which cold penetrates into the foundation through the walls of the house, even when the basement is insulated from the outside;
lack of insulation under the blind area, which leads to freezing of the soil layers located near the base of the foundation.

In the presence of cold bridges, uneven swelling is manifested. So, if there is a crushed stone pillow under the foundation, then even with high level ground water the foundation of the building is not affected by ultra-high loads. After the non-metallic material is saturated with moisture, when it expands, the structure will rise evenly and in the spring will fall into place without distortions. If only a separate section freezes, then the house will tilt, there will be torques, as well as tensile and bending deformation. This suggests that the insulation of the foundation and the blind area is necessary.

In order to completely eliminate errors in the thermal insulation of a house, it is necessary to consider and take into account in the process of work which insulation scheme can be used for structures such as a basement and a blind area. in the house with year-round living Depending on the overlap of the first floor, the following options can be applied:

If the overlap is made along the beams, then the heat loss is uniform, the horizontal thermal insulation is performed with the same thickness.
If the floor is made on the ground, then in most cases a heater is laid under the floating slab, which cuts off the soil from the housing, which reduces heat loss, but at the same time, the freezing of the foundation in the corners increases. Under the blind area, in this case, the scheme involves laying a 10 cm layer of extruded polystyrene foam in straight sections, and 20 cm in the corners.

If the basement and blind areas are insulated, one should not forget about cold bridges, which can be numerous throughout the house, which will lead to large heat losses. Such moments must be taken into account. So, if the wall is made of brick, then in the absence of heat-insulating material, cold penetrates into the base of the building without obstacles, even if the basement is insulated. In this case, it is desirable to lay polystyrene foam under the facade cladding.

How to make insulation with your own hands?

Above it was briefly described how to insulate the blind area. Now let's consider the whole process of insulation using polystyrene foam or polystyrene foam in slabs in more detail, which can be used as a step-by-step instruction:

A layer of dry sand is poured at the bottom of the prepared trench, which is well compacted. If the soil is weak, sand should be covered and compacted several times. The thickness of the sand should be at least 15 cm. To do this, marks are applied to the walls of the trench. To the walls, the level of sand should be slightly higher. This is necessary for the next step.
Before the blind area receives a layer of insulation with your own hands, it is necessary to lay a layer of roofing material on the sand as additional protection. The material should go on the walls by 10-15 cm, while creases should be avoided. Between horizontally located strips, the material is launched 10-15 cm.
Styrofoam or polystyrene foam is placed in the prepared base. The main thing is that the insulation procedure is carried out with the same material with the same thickness. Otherwise, all work will go down the drain.
Thermal insulation material is cut to the required dimensions. To make the joints tight, use a sealant. Before that, the sheets are laid in their places and fixed so that they do not move. When choosing a sealant, pay attention to maximum plasticity. Apply it immediately to all joints, do not remove the excess.
When the sealant hardens, the insulation is covered with sand. You don't need to push it hard. You can just walk on the sand the next day. Next, you can start pouring concrete.

This is a step-by-step instruction for warming the blind area. If all the work on thermal insulation is done correctly, the strength of the house, as well as durability, will increase. The process is not as complicated as it might seem, as evidenced by the video.

02.04.2016 3 Comments

Many people have built own house from brick, cinder blocks or concrete, first of all they arrange a blind area to protect the foundation from moisture - rain or melt water. But at the same time, not everyone knows that it is also necessary to insulate the blind area.

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Why do you need to insulate the blind area?

As a result, when small and few cracks appear on the wall of the house, the number and thickness of which is growing rapidly, they wonder - why is this happening? In fact, everything is simple. Water, penetrating underground and in contact with the foundation, impregnates the concrete. The cold of the night causes the water to freeze. Microcracks appear in the structure of concrete, into which even more water is collected. In countries with such a difficult climate as Russia and Belarus, this is especially true. After all, daily differences often reach 10-20 degrees, which leads to the rapid destruction of concrete. Particularly noticeable negative impact if it was used during construction strip foundation- the most common in private construction.

If a blind area is installed around the house, the effect of moisture is reduced - it is effectively removed from the foundation. And yet, water spreads throughout the earth, falling under the blind area, impregnating the concrete of the base. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce daily temperature fluctuations, preventing the foundation temperature from dropping to negative temperature. For this, a heater is used. Insulation can be a variety of materials. But, before you start work, you need to know exactly how to properly insulate the blind area around the house. Qualitative thermal insulation material allows you to keep warm, reducing the effect of cold outside air on the base of the house. The heat coming from the ground and leaving the walls is reliably stored - this is enough to prevent the foundation from freezing.

It is important that the insulated blind area can significantly reduce the heat loss of the house, saving you money. Thanks to the insulation, the foundation, and hence the ground under the house, retain a higher temperature. This ensures the reduction of heat loss - you do not need to constantly warm the ground under your house so that the rooms are warm and comfortable.

Is it always necessary to insulate the blind area?

Although insulation is a fairly simple and not too expensive procedure (if you do it yourself), it's worth considering - is it necessary? In some cases, it is quite possible to do without it. When can you stop using it?

If the house is located on solid ground, little subject to seasonal fluctuations;
If a shallow foundation is used, laid above the soil freezing depth mark;

In these cases, the insulation of the blind area can be abandoned, saving you time, effort and money.

What material to choose as a heater?

To insulate the blind area, different heat-insulating materials are used. But the most common are:

Extruded polystyrene foam.
Expanded clay.

Each of these materials has certain advantages and disadvantages. You need to know about both the first and the second in order to make the right choice.

Expanded polystyrene is one of the most common types of polystyrene used in the construction industry. It has extremely low thermal conductivity, is durable, has low moisture absorption and has high strength, it is not afraid of frequent and strong temperature changes. As a result of the research, it was established that the period of its operation is 60-80 years. To insulate the blind area, it is better to select a material with a higher density, it will be stronger, lower water absorption, hygroscopicity, vapor and air permeability.

Expanded clay is also a fairly high-quality material. It is cheap, it is simply poured into a pit near the foundation, it is not chemically active, it is not afraid of moisture and temperature changes. The only disadvantage is the relatively low efficiency - you need to pour thick layer to provide the desired level of thermal insulation of the blind area.

Having studied the basic properties of these materials, you can easily choose the one that is best for you. After that, you can safely get to work, having previously learned how to insulate the blind area with different materials.

Excavation

First of all, you need to prepare the territory for further work. Remove any items near the house that might interfere. The soil is also removed, along with the lawn, green spaces. Decide in advance how wide the future blind area should have. The width should not be less than the width of the roof ledges from which melt or rainwater will drain.

Be sure to remove any large roots encountered during excavation. Otherwise, the roots, developing underground, can damage not only heat-insulating materials, but also the foundation - everyone knows what strength an ordinary sprout has. If you use the soil on the site (to level holes or arrange graceful alpine slides), move it to a place where it will not interfere with you. Otherwise, remove from the site.

Preparation for laying insulation

To properly insulate the blind area, provide adequate drainage. Water should be drained away from the insulation as quickly as possible, with minimal impact on it. Therefore, crushed stone is poured to the bottom. The thickness of the layer depends on the soil at the work site. If crushed stone is poured on clay, the layer should be thick. If the ground or sand is soft, use a layer of a thinner thickness - the moisture will leave pretty quickly anyway.

Formwork is installed in the dug trench - along the entire perimeter of the outer wall. It provides a more even laying of subsequent layers.

To protect the lower layers from leaking water, ordinary clay is used. It is distributed along the bottom of the trench and carefully compacted. Clay layer - 15-20 centimeters. Be sure to give the clay layer a slope from the wall of the house - this will allow you to get rid of water if the waterproofing is damaged and water seeps onto this layer.

Sand is poured over the clay - a layer of 10-15 centimeters. It is carefully aligned and distributed. To ensure sand shrinkage, it should be poured with plenty of water.

Laying thermal insulation material

Now comes milestone- the very insulation of the blind area around the house. Material stacking depends on the selected material. Expanded clay is simply poured in a thick layer, extruded polystyrene foam is laid in sheets.

In any case, you need to proceed with extreme caution. Distribute the material evenly - even small gaps lead to a sharp increase in heat loss, and this should be avoided. There should be no sharp drops - thin and thick places. This reduces the effectiveness of thermal insulation.

It is also necessary to perform waterproofing of materials, since upon contact with moisture they absorb it, which reduces their thermal insulation qualities and destroys the material itself.

Waterproofing is not a difficult process. Lay waterproofing brand GI-G on top of the thermal insulation, the overlap should be at least 10-15 centimeters, we glue the joints so that there is no water seepage.

Can be installed over waterproofing finishing material- crushed stone, concrete or paving slabs.

If the work is done with high quality, this will allow you to get rid of problems in the future, reduce heat loss from heated rooms and increase the life of the foundation.

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Ecology of consumption. Manor: It will not be possible to completely protect the base of the house from negative factors, but building a blind area with your own hands will help to significantly reduce their manifestation.

The foundation of the building must be reliably protected from precipitation, as a result of which the base material is destroyed and the reinforcement rusts. If for the production of complex construction work it is recommended to hire craftsmen, then the owner can make a blind area around his house with his own hands. Following the step-by-step instructions that will help you insulate the blind area, create original cover from paving stones or build a structure from soft materials, it will be easy.

Protective functions of the blind area

Of course, it will not be possible to completely protect the foundation of the house from negative factors, but building a blind area with your own hands will help to significantly reduce their manifestation:

to maintain the strength of the reinforced concrete laid at the base of the foundation, rain, melt water is drained, and protection from precipitation is carried out;
the soil can swell, move, sag, in order to eliminate such manifestations, a frame is made to contain stress on the foundation from stresses;
to maintain a stable temperature in the soil part surrounding the foundation, insulation is performed in the body of the concrete environment;
the coating of this protective element can have a decorative value; stone, paving slabs, paving stones are used;
a smooth or tiled frame can be walked on, using it as a walkway.

Determination of blind area parameters

All indicators, the method of their selection, calculations of the concrete environment are described in various SNiP catalogs. Following these guidelines, technologically sound and durable structures are created. The concrete blind area, according to the rules, exceeds the width of the roof extension beyond the wall of the house by 200 mm. When determining this indicator, the presence of an organized drain from the roof area, the type of soil around the building is taken into account. The most typical blind area width is 1000 mm.

For the blind area, you should choose the correct amount of penetration into the ground, which is calculated from the value of soil freezing in the construction area. This indicator can be found in the department of local architecture or calculated according to the corresponding tables in the SNiP catalogs.

If the blind area works in conjunction with the earth, then its device is planned to perform all the technological functions indicated above. If this does not happen, then the concrete fence around the house solves only the problem of rainfall removal. The minimum depth value is 7 cm. If increased loads are provided for the foundation (for example, a garage), then the depth of the blind area is about 15–17 cm.

Technological features

The length of the blind area is taken along the entire perimeter of the building, no reinforcement is made under the porch. The slope of the surface in the direction from the house is taken in the range from 1 to 10 cm per meter. Such a scatter in the parameters is observed, since the soils are different and the calculated level of precipitation in the regions is different. Most often, the slope is arranged within 2–4 cm per meter.

The height above the soil level (near the low edge) is made no more than 5 cm. The height of the part of the blind area located at the basement of the building corresponds to 50 cm for a concrete fence and 30 cm for a soft structure. The border at the outer edge is placed at the request of the owner, it plays a decorative role. But the curb is shown in the case of growth near the edge of poplar, plane tree, raspberry or blackberry, the roots of which destroy the integrity of the blind area.

General rules for blind areas for all types

The design of the fence includes two main elements:

underlying layer;
decorative coating or finishing.

The underlying layer is made of materials that do not absorb moisture well and thus block the access of destructive moisture to the base of the building. Apply sand, geotextiles, clay, crushed stone of fine fraction. You can combine these materials to enhance the effect.

Decorative coating around the house is made for decoration, it is done by hand paving slabs, paving stones, brick, natural or artificial stone.

The sequence of creating a blind area

First, a ditch is dug in accordance with the selected dimensions in width and depth. Then a cushion is made of sand and gravel for cushioning, the materials are poured and carefully rammed. If the project provides for the creation of a reinforcing frame, then after the sand-gravel layer, the reinforcing mesh is boiled or knitted and laid. After that, do-it-yourself concreting by pouring concrete mix into the ditch. It is desirable after laying out the concrete to produce its proofing with an electric vibrator.

Three types of blind area depending on the material, function and service life:

hard;
semi-rigid;
soft.

The choice of materials for work

To significantly facilitate the work, you can purchase ready-made dry concrete mixes in the store. The solution is chosen depending on the brand, which is produced in the range from 100 to 1000 and expresses the quantitative composition of the cement in the mixture. In addition, the packaging indicates the strength of concrete, which is expressed in a class from B3.5 to B15. For the blind area, the best option is concrete class B15 grade 200.

Sand is needed for the device of backfilling under the crushed stone pillow. The use of quarry or sandy material is recommended, which must be screened before use. Crushed stone is taken with fractions of fine-grained composition with a particle size of 1 to 2 cm without impurities. Building clay or geotextile is used as a water lock.

For a do-it-yourself solution, per 1 m3, take the number of components:

crushed stone up to 1 cm 1.2 t;
cement brand 500 in the amount of 0.312 tons;
water requires 190 liters;
sand is needed in an amount of 0.8 tons
it is recommended to add a plasticizer in a mass of 2.4 liters.

The preparation of the concrete mixture should be done in the specified proportions. Special attention given to the addition of liquid. If there is an excess of water, then during the hardening of concrete, small particles of cement rise to the surface, and the bulk of the concrete loses strength due to this. Therefore, the ratio of water and cement should be within 1:2.

Step-by-step instructions for arranging a blind area of any type

Marking and earthworks

For marking, take a metal rod with a diameter of 8 mm or wooden stakes. Initially mark the corners and drive in the marking material. They pull the cord and put additional intermediate pegs around the entire perimeter of the house. The resulting line is used as a guideline. At the stage, you can put an airtight layer between the foundation and the high edge of the blind area made of polyurethane sealant and damper insulating tape.

At earthworks the slope of the trench must be set correctly. The slope parameters were mentioned above, but when constructing a pit, one should withstand accepted values. The bottom of the trench should be compacted using a standard rammer or log.

Formwork installation

The formwork structure consists of boards 3-4 cm thick, which are assembled to the height of the future thickness of the blind area plus another 5 cm. At the corners, the boards are attached to each other with bolts so that it is easy to disassemble the structure after the concrete has hardened. The boards are reinforced from bursting with concrete with special retaining elements, which are installed firmly from the outside.

Do-it-yourself formwork should be done in such a way that expansion joints are provided along the length of the concrete surface. If this element is neglected, then over time, cracks will appear on the blind area around the house, provoked by the natural movement of the soil due to temperature changes. Temperature joints are arranged in increments of two meters, for this, boards 2 cm thick are placed across the length of the formwork. concrete pouring, seams do not.

Pillow device

For all types of blind area, a shock-absorbing pillow is made according to one rule:

for a rigid structure, they make a backfill of clay, sand and gravel;
soft type combines the pillow of the previous type with an additional layer of crushed stone;
a semi-rigid base requires an additional layer of crushed stone and sand.

The optimal layer thickness is from 100 to 150 mm, tamping is necessarily done, for complete compaction the layer is shed with water. When arranging the bedding, the selected slope should be observed.

Reinforcement and concreting

For this, a ready-made mesh can be used or it can be cooked by hand at the installation site. Usually the size of the cells is made according to the size of 150x150 mm. Connections are made by welding or using a knitting wire; plastic clamps are commercially available. The mesh is laid on supports made of stones, pieces of brick. From the mesh to the top of the formwork, a gap of 1 cm is left.

The mixture is carefully poured into the formwork, carefully filling all the gaps in the grid cells. You can use deep vibrators. To release air bubbles, the mass is pierced with reinforcing pins. These holes are then sealed with mortar. The setting time of concrete comes on the second day, and concrete gains 100% strength on the 28th day.

Features of the soft type blind area

For the manufacture of this type, a multilayer backfill is made, which ends with a layer of crushed stone. Such a blind area is the most sparing in terms of costs, but its service life is about 7–8 years. positive quality is that this design is used in any climate.

In the body of the blind area between the layers, roofing material waterproofing is laid, recently rubemast has been used, which wins in terms of service life. The entire blind area consists of bulk layers of sand, clay, the last layer of crushed stone. For such a design, it is desirable to install a border around the house.

Making a rigid blind area with do-it-yourself insulation

The optimal width of this design is standardly 0.8–0.9 m. As a heater, it is allowed to use a variety of different materials, it is recommended to use foam or polystyrene foam. In this case, formwork panels are not removed, insulation is glued to them. For the formwork device, the remains of slate are used, which are easy to disguise after completion of work.

The step-by-step instruction recommends taking two layers for insulation, one of polystyrene foam, the second of polystyrene foam. The seams connecting the pieces are staggered, the gaps are closed mounting foam for outdoor work, the remains are cut off after drying, then concrete is poured.

The device of the blind area with paving slabs or paving stones

This group of structures provides for a rigid concrete base, made in accordance with all the rules, then the surface is finished with decorative small-sized elements. The fencing around the house of this type can be combined with insulation. Insulating semi-rigid and soft design options is inefficient.

The base for laying paving stones can be made by concreting (rigid) or consist of a composite complex bedding (semi-rigid). In addition to paving stones or paving slabs, other decorative materials are also used, for example, cobblestones, porcelain stoneware, small reinforced concrete slabs.

The technology of concreting was shown above, it should be noted that a rigid monolithic structure requires more labor and materials than a semi-rigid one. The technology of multi-layer bedding is simpler, but not recommended for use on soils with unstable behavior, for example, heaving. If you correctly make the base under decoration blind area, then this design will last about 20 years.

In conclusion, it should be noted that a house without a blind area will stand a short time, then the foundation will begin to dampen, after it the walls. It will be constantly humid inside the house, there will be dark spots on the walls and ceiling, a colony of fungi will develop, which will affect the health of the residents. To prevent this from happening, you need to remove moisture from the base of your house in advance. published

If you have any questions on this topic, ask them to specialists and readers of our project.

August 28, 2016
Specialization: Capital construction works(laying the foundation, erecting walls, constructing the roof, etc.). Internal construction works (laying of internal communications, rough and fine finishing). Hobbies: mobile communications, high tech, computer technology, programming.

When you talk about the thermal insulation of houses, apartments, attics, bathhouses and even dog kennels, no one doubts the need for such events. But when you start talking about the insulation of the foundation and the insulation of the blind area, for some reason everyone makes surprised eyes. Many do not understand why waste insulation on this strange path, laid both around the house and around other buildings.

So recently, I accidentally caught on this topic with a friend, arguing for a long time. I must say right away that we did not come to an unequivocal opinion on whether it is necessary to insulate the blind area and the foundation of a private cottage, everyone remained with his own.

I do not want to voice my position in advance. I'll just tell you everything I know about the insulated blind area. Well, for those who want to do it with their own hands - the step-by-step instructions below will help you do everything right.

Purpose and design features

Externally, the blind area is a path around the house made of paving slabs, concrete or asphalt. Some believe that it is needed only to make it convenient to go around the house in a circle, making an evening or morning exercise.

Others think that this design is part of the design of the facade of the house and landscape design site.

But I can tell you with confidence that the visible part of the blind area is just the tip of the iceberg. But in fact, the "track" is a multi-layer cake made of different materials, which performs several important tasks:

protects the buried part of the foundation from getting wet as a result of infiltration of atmospheric moisture;
prevents freezing of the base of the house in winter;
increases the life of important building structures (foundation and basement).

A properly designed blind area (with insulation) consists of several layers (they are indicated in the diagram).

I'll tell you more about each.

The bottom layer of geotextile. It is necessary for arranging a reliable foundation on which the entire future multilayer structure will be located. The second purpose is the separation of the loose fraction of the next layer and soil.
Sand filling. It is made from fine-grained river sand. The recommended thickness is 15 cm. This is enough to prevent movement and shrinkage of the base, which can lead to cracking of the blind area.
Heat insulator. We will talk about the choice of material in more detail, but now I can say that, for example, polystyrene foam or extruded polystyrene foam (polystyrene foam) are perfect here as a heater.
PVC film. It is necessary to protect the insulation from moisture and separate it from the next layer of sand.
Sand filling. Again, it is made from fine-grained sand. Layer - 15 cm. Purpose - uniform distribution of the load that will be exerted on the insulation during operation. If the sand is not poured, the foam may fail in some places and you will have to insulate the blind area again.
Geotextile. A separator between a layer of bulk material and small gravel, on which paving slabs will be laid.
Soft layer of fine gravel. It is necessary in order to correctly and evenly lay decorative paving slabs.

If you don’t want to spend money on decorating the blind area, you just need to concrete it.

The need for insulation

I think I explained that the blind area is not only important, but absolutely necessary element building structures. But whether it is necessary to insulate this path around the house is a rather controversial issue. The main purpose of the insulated blind area is to prevent the destructive effect of freezing soil on the buried part of the foundation.

The use of a heat insulator is not necessary in all cases. Insulation of the blind area with polystyrene foam or other suitable material is mandatory only when the cottage is built on heaving soil (as the norms enshrined in SNiP say).

However, I can name a few more additional points that speak in favor of designing exactly the insulated blind area:

This track reduces the consumption of energy carriers that are used to heat the building. According to heating specialists, during insulation, maintenance costs desired temperature are reduced to 25%.
A self-insulated blind area allows you to create a more comfortable microclimate inside the basement. Even without heating, the temperature below will be at + 10 degrees Celsius.
The track, during the construction of which insulation was used, will last longer, since the foam (or foam) protects other layers of the blind area from freezing. This means that the material will not collapse.

Therefore, we will take it as an axiom that the blind area around the house still needs to be insulated. Moreover, doing it around the house with your own hands is not so difficult.

But first you need to choose the right insulation, which I want to talk about in the next section.

Materials used

Probably, each master has his own point of view on what materials can be used to insulate the blind area. I will not argue with anyone and list the features of each of the heaters on the market. I will only talk about two options that I consider the most successful.

Extruded polystyrene foam. Personally, in my opinion - an ideal option for warming the blind area. Moreover, despite the fact that its price is higher than polystyrene, specifications so good that I would insulate with XPS boards almost everything that is possible.

It is perfect for thermal insulation of basements, buried foundations, walls, flat roofs, car bodies and so on. And all because it tolerates external mechanical stress better than other materials and does not change its operational properties when wet.

I will list only the main advantages of extruded polystyrene foam:

zero water absorption coefficient (the material has almost no capillaries through which water seeps inside, the water absorption coefficient is no more than 0.3% of the volume);
high mechanical strength - EPPS can be poured with a cement screed under the floor, it retains its shape and properties even under heavy load;
light weight - the material is easy to transport and store, after installation it practically does not exert additional load on the supporting structures of the building;
ease of processing - material can be cut hand tool, while, unlike polystyrene, it does not crumble;
long service life - the insulation laid in the blind area will last exactly as long as your entire country house;
environmental friendliness - the material does not harm human health, so it can be used both for warming the blind area on the street and for thermal insulation of residential premises.

For work, you can buy sheets of extruded polystyrene foam with a thickness of 100 mm. And it is better to purchase products with a thickness of 50 mm and lay them in two layers so that the joints run apart.

Despite the fact that EPPS has hydrophobic properties, waterproofing should not be neglected when constructing a blind area. The fact is that moisture can seep through the seams and have a destructive effect on the part of the foundation or basement buried in the ground.

Polyurethane foam. It is a polymer foam that is applied to insulated surfaces using a compressor. PPU can be used to insulate blind areas, foundations, interfloor and attic floors, walls, roofing, sewage treatment plants, engineering Communication etc.

The advantages of using this type of insulation are:

the possibility of thermal insulation of surfaces of any shape and size;
the minimum amount of time required to complete the work - once I witnessed the blind area being insulated with polyurethane foam, so it took no more than 2 hours to work;
homogeneous insulating layer - the foam is applied by spraying, therefore it forms an integral heat-insulating layer without seams and joints;
antiseptic properties - mold and fungus do not develop on the surface of the material;
low coefficient of thermal conductivity and water absorption - polyurethane foam will perfectly insulate the blind area and retain its performance properties when wet;
the service life of the material is at least 40 years;
polymer foam can be operated at ambient temperature from -60 to + 150 degrees Celsius.

Despite all of the above, I still prefer to use extruded polystyrene foam. And all because polyurethane foam has several, it seems to me, significant disadvantages:

To activate the composition, it is necessary to mix two components, one of which is dangerous to human health. You can work with polyurethane foam only in protective clothing and respiratory and eye protection.
The efficiency of the heat-insulating layer directly depends on how correctly the compressor was tuned. And for this you need to have some knowledge and experience.
The cost of the foam is comparable to the price of extruded polystyrene foam, but the hassle of installation, provided self-insulation, a lot more. Therefore, if you calculate, then the latter option will be cheaper with comparable efficiency.

Warming technology

For the convenience of presentation, I divided the entire process of creating a blind area into several stages. I’ll tell you about the technology for manufacturing a concrete blind area, that is, structures, upper layer which is filled with mortar, and not decorated with paving slabs. This option is more common, but less costly and time consuming (you still need to know how to lay tiles).

And I will begin my story from the preparatory stage.

Training

Starting work on the insulation of the blind area, first of all, it is necessary to remove excess soil. It is necessary to dig a trench around the foundation of the house to a depth of about 40 cm. As for the width, I advise you to make it equal to or a multiple of the size of the insulation you purchased.

For example, if a sheet of purchased extruded polystyrene has a width of 1 meter, then the trench must be dug 1 meter wide. In this case, there will be less insulation waste, and the work process itself will be easier.

By the way, I advise you to combine the process of warming the blind area with the thermal insulation of the foundation (if you are going to do this). Since after the installation of the blind area is completed, it will no longer be possible to do this from the outside of the house.

Having finished digging a ditch to the required depth, then proceed as follows:

the bottom of the trench should be carefully leveled and tamped;
lay geotextile down, which will separate the soil layer from the backfill layer;
geotextiles should be poured with fine-grained river or quarry sand layer of 10-15 cm, it must also be carefully leveled and compacted.

On this I consider the preparation stage completed. You can proceed to the direct construction of a multilayer cake of insulated blind area. This will be discussed in the next section.

Assembling the pie

Heat-insulating material is laid on the prepared sand layer. We have decided that it will be extruded polystyrene.

As I said, it is better to purchase 50 mm thick boards and lay them in two layers. So the seams will be located apart, which will protect the entire structure and the foundation of the building from water penetration. But nothing bad will happen if you use twice as thick insulation and put it in one layer.

After that, a PVC film is laid on the polystyrene foam, which will serve as a separator and waterproofing. This is especially important if you will be using a single layer of insulation. In this case, the film will not allow seeping moisture to get further into the ground and penetrate to the foundation of the building.

Additionally, the joints between the thermal insulation, as well as the junction of the EPS with the foundation or basement of the house, can be blown out with mounting foam.

We pour another layer of river sand. It will evenly distribute mechanical loads over the surface of the extruded polystyrene foam. As a result, the blind area will not sink down, even if they often walk along it.

We lay geotextile on top. This material will serve as a layer separator. Its use is optional, but desirable.
We build formwork. It is necessary in order to give shape and hold in right place poured concrete. It can be constructed from boards or plywood. Recommend to wrap wooden details plastic wrap so that later it would be easier to dismantle the enclosing structures.

The formwork can only be built above the soil surface, as in the trench the concrete will be held in place by a rim of soil.

We pour small gravel on the geotextile. If you continue to lay tiles, then nothing else needs to be done. By the way, the formwork in this case does not need to be designed. It is enough just to install a curb, which will indicate the area that needs to be paved.
We install a reinforcing mesh. It is advisable not only to put it on a crushed stone bed, but to prop it up with pebbles so that it rises a couple of centimeters above the level of crushed stone. Metal rods can also be used, but then they will have to be connected to each other with a thin metal wire.

After that, you can safely proceed to pouring the blind area with concrete.

Pouring concrete

In principle, the process of pouring concrete into the installed formwork is unlikely to present special difficulties for anyone. What to do there, mix the solution and pour it into the right place.

However, one person advised me combined method concreting. Its essence is that concrete is poured in two layers:

first (lower) - in this case, expanded clay will serve as a filler for concrete (it will become another heat insulator);

the second (upper) - classic concrete with crushed stone aggregate (needed to give strength to the surface of the blind area).

So, the instruction on how to concrete the blind area in a combined way:

Preparing concrete. To do this, mix one part of M400 cement, two parts of sand and four parts of expanded clay granules. After thoroughly mixing the dry ingredients, you need to add water to them so that a solution of medium density is obtained.
Fill the blind area with the resulting mixture so that the solution fills only half of the required space.
After we prepare concrete with crushed stone aggregate. The proportions are the same, but instead of expanded clay, crushed stone must be used.
It is necessary to pour the second part of the concrete immediately, without waiting until the first one dries or at least hardens a little. Otherwise, separation of two types of concrete is possible, which is undesirable.
After pouring concrete with crushed stone, it is necessary to carefully level the surface so that the blind area forms a slope away from the foundation of the house. Then rain and melt water falling on the path around the house will drain from the building and will not destroy the foundation.

On this, the construction of the blind area can be considered completed, if not for one thing. It's about on the arrangement of drainage - a system that will remove water further from the blind area. In this case, your foundation will be protected as much as possible, and the blind area itself will last as long as possible.

Arrangement of the drainage system

I offer a choice of two methods. The first is the arrangement of a drain ditch, which will collect water and divert it to a place of accumulation, disposal or processing. In this case, the workflow is as follows:

First of all, a small ditch should be dug along the outer edge of the blind area made.
Its bottom should be carefully leveled and tamped, and then laid out with a stone, reinforced with concrete or laid with waterproofing corrugated board.
Inside the resulting reinforced ditch, asbestos-cement or plastic pipe, sawn in half (or buy special drainage grooves). The parts should be positioned so that they form a certain slope in the direction where the collected rainwater will accumulate.

In the case described above, the drainage will be open. But you can also make it hidden. To do this, you need a perforated pipe. The scheme of work is as follows:

a trench comes off along the edge of the blind area;
a layer of sand, geotextiles and gravel is laid on its bottom (the thickness of the cake is about 20 cm);
a pipe is laid on top, which is also covered with gravel;
then geotextiles, coarse sand and soil are laid again.

In this case, drainage will effectively remove not only atmospheric moisture, but also groundwater.

Output

As you can see, there are no particular difficulties in the manufacture of a concrete insulated blind area. If, after finishing work, you came up with the idea to decorate the resulting structure, I suggest watching the video in this article, which tells how to put paving slabs on concrete.

What do you think, is it still necessary to insulate the blind area? Or am I wrong? And if so, how do you do it? I will be glad to hear your answers and get advice from you in the comments to the material.

August 28, 2016

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