The construction of a private house or summer house is most often accompanied by the creation of a blind area. What is it and why is it necessary? The blind area around the house is a kind of foundation protection. From what? From moisture, naturally. Excess water is dangerous in that it erodes the soil under the foundation, because of which the latter "sits down". And because of its shrinkage, the shrinkage of the whole house also occurs. Most often it is uneven. That is why many houses become rickety and a little crooked over time.
Before making a blind area around the house, it is necessary to take a number of important preparation measures:
- determine the type of soil (shrink or not);
- measure the width of the future blind area according to the type of soil (minimum 100 cm for the first type; 60 cm for the second);
- choose the underlying layer (crushed stone, sand, clay);
- choose the type of coating (tile, paving stones and others);
- dig the first layer of soil under the blind area (about 25 cm deep);
- put the formwork.
Formwork can be a simple board, which will be shaped into a coating. If the soil is shrinkable, then you can not use a concrete solution for the blind area. It must be mobile. An important condition: the blind area around the house should be inclined. This is necessary so that rainwater can drain down the slope from the foundation without seeping into it.
In addition, there is no need to make a bunch of blind areas and the foundation. The fact is that these two objects carry different loads, and therefore do not need to be tied. So that precipitation does not fall into the outlets of the house, you can make special "fungi" on the blind area. They are pipes closed on top with a special awning. Holes for air circulation are naturally preserved.
The blind area around the house with paving slabs will better fulfill its purpose if it is done not only at an angle, but also on a moving basis. It's simple:
- all materials are stacked in layers;
- no concrete mortar required.
Necessarily need waterproofing material. A ruberoid or a dense oilcloth is suitable. After digging a hole under the blind area around the house, you need to lay a layer of clay, tightly tamping. Then a layer of waterproofing. After a small layer of sand that is not rammed. Crushed stone, which will be laid on top, should not be too small, but not very large. After that, another layer of sand is made. Here it can be slightly tamped.
If it is desirable to use exactly paving slabs or pavers, then it is driven exclusively with a rubber hammer into the sand. No mortar or concrete. The seams between the tiles wake up with dry fine sand.
Such a blind area around the house will protect the foundation not only from moisture, but also from cracks in the winter. The fact is that this blind area is mobile, which means that moisture can penetrate into itself and go into the soil, in the opposite direction from the house. Moreover, in the off-season the blind area does not crack from freezing, thawing, expansion and narrowing of water. She is moving. All that is needed in the spring is to slightly correct the tile if it has moved.