For many years, millions of our compatriots have been using cellars. This is simply an ideal place in which autumn harvest and canned products are stored almost in their original form. average temperature in cellars, as a rule, it varies from +2 to +4 degrees, which has a beneficial effect on food supplies. A cellar on the street is simply necessary for all those who have a private country house and reap a rich harvest from their garden. You can make all-season storage for fruits and vegetables yourself and without the involvement of specialists. Moreover, the cellar can be located either under the house or as a separate structure on the street.
The cellar, located under the house, occupies the basement of the building and can be accessed directly from the building. Storage facilities built outside have their own entrance. By by and large, the options for constructing a cellar are very similar in technology, regardless of its location, and the differences lie only in the construction of the entrance.
Where does the construction of a cellar begin?
The first step is to correctly determine the depth of groundwater, because how to make a cellar correctly can only be done by knowing this indicator. It will help you understand how much to bury the structure into the ground. Find the lowest place on your site and make a deep hole there, 200–250 cm deep. In fact, this will be a well. A pipe is placed in it. This pipe can be used to monitor the presence of water. If after some time water appears in the pipe, this indicates that groundwater located above the recommended indicator for underground construction. It must be taken into account that when it is hot outside, the groundwater level is at its minimum.
Before starting to build a cellar, you need to clarify at what level the groundwater lies.
Before building a cellar, one cannot help but pay attention to such a phenomenon as soil heaving. It can occur when moisture-saturated soil freezes. The ice begins to melt closer to spring, as a result of which the density of the soil is destroyed and it becomes porous. When soil heaves, all work must be carried out with extreme caution.
If the groundwater level is above 2.5 m, then the problem can be solved using the device drainage system. Drainage refers to a pipe that is laid in a trench underground and is designed to drain all moisture from the cellar into a special container or a nearby reservoir. Here it is also important to provide for the drainage slope, which should be 5–10 cm for every 10 meters. In addition, the installation of a drainage system will be required when there is high water on your site.
What can be highlighted from the basic rules for building a free-standing cellar?
- It is worth starting to make a cellar only in the warm season. It is advisable to plan construction for July and August.
- The best place to build a cellar on the street is a small hill on the site, if there is one, of course.
- Each storage room (if there are several) must have effective ventilation.
- Each wooden part that will be used in the construction of the cellar must be impregnated with a special antiseptic composition.
- The entrance door, if possible, is best placed on the north side.
Digging a pit
The standard dimensions of a cellar on the street are 2.5x2.5x2.3 m. To construct a storage facility, you must choose the highest place on the site, which will reduce the likelihood of flooding. You can dig a pit for a cellar with your own hands, but, if possible, you can use the services of excavator equipment. The length and width of the pit should be larger than the cellar being created, because then the walls will need to be waterproofed.
The dimensions of the pit must be larger than the planned dimensions of the storage facility.
When the pit is dug, the soil at the bottom should be compacted, and then gravel should be poured. The size of the gravel layer is 30 cm, of which 20 cm is sand. The gravel is thoroughly compacted into the bottom of the pit. Then reinforcement with a rod diameter of 8 mm is laid. Then concrete is poured, which is prepared traditional way: sand and cement are taken in a ratio of 3:1. After pouring the concrete, you need to wait until the cement has completely dried, and only then lay the waterproofing material.
Floor waterproofing
To build a cellar correctly, we must not forget about waterproofing the floor and walls with special materials. Inexpensive ones are simply ideal for cellar floors. roll materials, which have the proper level of water resistance. For example, traditional roofing felt.
Roofing felt is laid on hardened concrete, after which it is coated with tar. If the transverse size of the cellar exceeds the width of the roll, the latter can be laid overlapping, and the upper edges raised along the walls and glued securely. At this stage of the work, the walls of the cellar have not yet been erected, therefore, roofing felt should only be glued to the concrete, after which the next stage should begin.
Walling
For the walls, you can choose brick or ordinary concrete. The construction of a wall must begin with the laying of a reinforcing frame, the width of which should not be less than 10 cm. When the work is done manually, the concrete should not be poured completely immediately. It is best to mix in several portions, given that it will last for 1-2 hours of construction work.
Reinforcement frame for concrete walls.
The reinforcing frame is made of rods with a diameter of 10 mm. They are laid vertically, after which they are tied with wire. The formwork is mounted along the walls of the pit on both sides of the frame, after which concrete is poured. To prevent the formation of voids, it is recommended to compact it with a concrete vibrator. The mixture will dry completely only after 8–10 days, so it is best not to remove the formwork for 2–3 weeks.
If the walls are made of brick, it is necessary to use M200 cement for the mortar. For a cellar, the best option is to use two layers of solid red brick. If the groundwater level is low, one layer will be enough. External insulation of walls is done by coating with mastic, and it is necessary to do 2-3 layers and no less. Then you need to glue the waterproofing material onto the mastic.
The outer side of the walls must be lined with soft clay. This approach will allow you to build a cellar with the highest quality protection from water and condensation. The clay layer should be about 10 cm, but only if the groundwater level exceeds the level of the bottom of the cellar. In addition, it would be correct to backfill the soil, thoroughly compacting it. The inside of the walls should ideally be plastered and whitewashed with lime. It's affordable and natural remedy from mold and germs.
Entrance to the cellar
Entrance from the street should be convenient and safe. That is why it is recommended to make a monolithic and preferably wide staircase, so that it is convenient to load food into the cellar.
Option decorative design entrance to the storage.
In addition, it is very important to ensure high-quality ventilation of the cellar. A wide pipe is suitable for this, part of which will be placed in the cellar, and part of which will be located on the street.
The door can be made of wood, but using some kind of waterproofing material.
In some cases, a hatch acts as a kind of door. In this version, the ladder can be attached: it is welded to the hatch frame. This is not only inconvenient, but also extremely dangerous (for example, for moving food). Cellars with hatches were made during the USSR, when there was no free access necessary materials to create a normal input. Today such a problem does not exist, so you should not skimp on your convenience and safety.
Roof structure
A free-standing cellar must have a roof (it doesn’t matter whether it’s a single-pitch or a gable roof). The top of such a roof can be insulated with turf. In addition, the use of synthetic insulation is allowed, however, the use of natural materials guarantees a good microclimate.
Gable roof of the storage facility.
For air circulation, you need to install an exhaust pipe, which should go outside and not reach the cellar floor by about 30 cm. Ideally, you need to make two pipes, the second in this case will be a supply pipe.
The inside is laid out with boards flush with the surface of the ground. In most cases, croaker is used. Such boards have a smooth edge on one side, but a rounded edge on the other. WITH inside The slab must be plastered with clay and whitened with lime. The top can be covered with roofing felt and coated with a mixture of clay and straw. After which the coating should be covered with damp soil with moss or grass. This type of roof arrangement is especially convenient and effective if the rear top part The cellar is located slightly above the ground surface.
For free-standing cellars, it is best to use a roof with two slopes, which would be correctly built from a board that overlaps the pit by 50 cm. This is necessary to ensure that rain and snow do not get inside. The roof ridge is made of 50 mm timber, roll insulation is laid on the slopes, and straw is placed on top. If possible, you can lay slate or soft tiles.
Design verification
At the final stage, it is necessary to carefully check each structure of the constructed cellar and, if necessary, make timely adjustments. If the presence of any defects is discovered after several years of operation of the cellar, it will be much more difficult to eliminate them.
You can also improve the roof of the cellar by decorating it with beautiful turf, plants, artificial stone etc.
309 ViewsA cellar (storage) in a country house is a necessary and obligatory room, the construction of which can be done with your own hands, and the main condition is to carry out all the steps step by step, according to the instructions.
What requirements must the cellar meet?
The direct purpose of a cellar at the dacha is to store the grown crops and various products conservation. This is why many people confuse it with a basement.
Although there are many similarities between these premises, there is also a significant difference - their placement. The basement is located in ground floor a private house, while the cellar is a separate building. It can be arranged in such a way that it will be invisible on the site, but there are also varieties that, after construction, will become an integral part of the landscape design.
In order for the storage shed to fully correspond to its intended purpose, this building in the country should be built taking into account certain features:
- enough low temperature– within the range from +4℃ to +7℃;
- high air humidity – 80%–90%;
- no windows to prevent sunlight from entering;
- natural circulation of fresh air.
Thanks to the constant maintenance of such conditions, vegetables and fruits in the cellar will retain their beneficial properties for a long period.
Types of storage
Depending on the location on personal plot There are several types of cellars. In this case, the type of future construction will have to be chosen not only based on the personal preferences of the owner, but also on how close to the soil surface the groundwater passes.
Ground storage facility
Cellar sketches.
Above-ground (in some sources – above-ground) is the most common type of cellar, since such a structure can be erected even in an area subject to frequent waterlogging or located in a lowland. In addition, the ground storage facility has distinctive feature– this building does not provide for an overlap, which makes it simple and quite economical to build with your own hands.
Some cellar owners still install a gable wooden roof on the building. You can often find an above-ground cellar, built with your own hands, which looks like a small wooden house.
For reference! Most often, the structure is camouflaged under a thick layer of earth, where only a door remains for entry. Lawn grass or other types of plants are planted on top, the roots of which keep the soil from crumbling.
Semi-recessed design
This type of structure is the most optimal for constructing a storage facility for vegetables and fruits. Outwardly, it is similar to a ground structure, but differs in that only part of the structure protrudes above the soil surface, and the other is located below it. As a rule, the depth of the pit into which the structure goes is no more than 1.5 meters.
The door to a semi-buried storage shed is installed below the surface of the soil and carefully insulated. In addition, when choosing this type of storage shed for construction, it is necessary to provide a system for draining melt and rain water.
Recessed storehouse
This type of cellar is most suitable for construction on a plot with small in size. In this case, the main condition is the low location of groundwater. This type The structure is built at a depth of about 2 meters from the surface of the earth, but before starting construction it is necessary to invite specialists to inspect the area chosen for the cellar.
Stages of construction of a warehouse
In order to understand how to build a cellar with your own hands, you should disassemble phased construction The most complex type of storage shed presented is the recessed one. At the same time, materials and individual structural elements, depending on the preferences of the owner, can be changed, but the very essence of the construction will be the same.
Construction of a pit
The construction of a cellar should begin with the preparation of a pit, the size of which will depend on the dimensions of the future room. Additionally, approximately 0.5 meters are added to them on each side for the construction of walls.
To properly dig a pit, you must first set a marking. To do this, wooden stakes are driven into the corners of the future recess, onto which the cord is pulled.
Then the markings are removed along the entire perimeter upper layer turf, which may later be useful for masking the storage shed, and a hole is dug required depth. Then all the sides of the pit should be leveled, and its bottom should be thoroughly compacted.
Laying the foundation
Bottom waterproofing.
Depending on how close the groundwater flows to the future building, the question of how to cover the bottom of the pit will be decided. If they are located much lower than the cellar, compacted sand or gravel can serve as the base of the room.
Attention! If the danger of flooding the storage shed still exists, it is necessary to cover the inner sides of the pit with a layer of waterproofing material, on top of which the foundation base is laid.
In order to make it, you need to knit a frame from reinforcement rods, which is raised with the help of bricks. Next, beacons are installed along the entire perimeter of the lower part of the pit, and its bottom is filled cement mortar, the thickness of which should be approximately 0.04 meters. After which you should wait several weeks until the foundation is completely dry.
Construction of warehouse walls
After the foundation has hardened and the sides of the pit have been previously covered with a layer of waterproofing material, you can begin building the walls of the future cellar. Most often, brick, cinder blocks or concrete blocks are used for this.
The walls begin to fold from the corners to the sides. For fixation, cement mortar or clay is used, and the thickness of the seams should not exceed 12 mm. To ensure that the walls are smooth and strong, steel rods are embedded into the solution every 3 rows of material and measurements are taken using building level and plumb line.
If the building provides for entry not through a hatch hole, but through a door, then space is left in one of the walls for a doorway.
Construction of the floor
One of the common covering options for a country storage shed is wooden frame. It can be assembled from boards (section 50x00 mm) and pieces of plywood (thickness 10 mm) so as to obtain a dome-shaped shape.
The finished frame is installed on the walls of the building and covered with plywood sheets. A mesh of reinforcement rods is knitted on top of them, which is raised with the help of small bars. After which the entire floor area is filled with concrete mortar, and no work is performed until it has completely hardened.
Arrangement of entrance and exit
To arrange the entrance to the storage facility, two brick walls are laid out from the doorway left during construction in such a way that they rise. The result should be a descent resembling a corridor. After this, you can begin construction.
Important! Since a high level of humidity must be constantly maintained in the room, it is not entirely suitable for its intended use. In this case, it is better to give preference metal structures or lay out concrete steps.
Most often, cellar doors are made from wooden planks, having previously treated them with an antiseptic. They are installed on metal hinges, which are fixed to the frame built into the doorway.
Insulation and waterproofing from the outside
After the concrete on the shed floor has completely hardened, it is necessary to thoroughly insulate it. Sheet polystyrene foam is most suitable for this, but you can choose more cheap option, for example, clay with sawdust or straw.
Before insulating a concrete floor, it should be covered with sheets of waterproofing material. Then a layer of clay mixture is tightly applied to the entire surface of the roof, preferably at least 0.1 meters thick.
After the solution has hardened, the ceiling should be covered again with water-repellent materials - roofing felt or thick film- in several layers. Then the entire structure is covered with fertile turf on top, on which you can plant lawn grass or ornamental plants.
Interior decoration
A self-built cellar must be finished from the inside. The material for this should also be selected taking into account the location of groundwater. Most often, the walls and floor of the room remain untouched after construction, but it is necessary to ensure the circulation of fresh air and conduct electricity in the storage shed.
Ventilation in the cellar.
So that it is always present in the storage Fresh air and there was no dampness, 2 pipes are installed - supply and exhaust. At the same time, in an above-ground cellar-house built with your own hands, the supply pipe is located at the bottom, and the exhaust pipe is at the top of the building. In a recessed storage facility, the entire ventilation system is installed at the top.
Regardless of the type of cellar, electricity is supplied to the room with additional measures precautions.
Attention! All wiring must be wrapped in two layers of insulation, and light sources must be covered with special caps. At the same time, it is highly undesirable to install sockets inside the storage facility.
Visual aid for building a cellar with your own hands
As practice shows, building a cellar yourself is not difficult. In this case, the material can be selected from available means, which will significantly reduce construction costs.
For example, you can build a cellar with your own hands from bricks that were left after the dismantling of a building. Also, many owners of summer cottages build above-ground storage sheds from old boards.
How to build a cellar with your own hands, you can watch the video:
2018-03-14
Everyone who has plot of land vegetable garden or garden, you probably wondered about the need to build a cellar in the yard. After all, this structure has been serving people as a natural refrigerator for thousands of years. Due to the fact that the temperature in the cellars in summer does not exceed 4 - 5 degrees, and in winter does not fall below 2 degrees, it is difficult to imagine a place more suitable for storing vegetables and fruits. Making such a useful structure is not so difficult. This article will discuss how to build a cellar on the street yourself.
Important measurements and calculations for cellar construction
Before you begin building a cellar on your summer cottage, it is necessary to carry out certain geological surveys. To do this, it is not at all necessary to involve professionals. The first thing to do is to determine the level of groundwater rise. The depth of the cellar itself depends on this knowledge. To conduct such a study, you need to drill a well or dig a hole 2.5 m deep in the lowest place of the site. You need to lower a pipe into it, which you want to monitor. If water appears in the pipe soon, then any underground construction will be problematic due to the high groundwater level. To ensure that the indicators are correct, observations are not made during the hottest period of the year. If there is a well or borehole on the site, then you do not need to do anything; it is enough to know their depth in order to make an adequate decision.
If the study reveals that groundwater lies above 2.5 m from the surface or there is so-called high water in the ground (upper water), then the construction of a full-fledged cellar will require the installation of a drainage system. For this purpose, a trench is dug along the perimeter of the site where the cellar is planned to be built to a depth below the groundwater table. They put her in it drainage pipe, which is taken to a special container or to the lowest place on the site. Crushed stone or expanded clay is poured around the pipe, covered with geotextile on top, and then buried with permeable soil. The slope of the pipe must be made at the rate of 5 - 10 cm for every ten meters.
In addition to the depth of water, it is necessary to note the presence of such a phenomenon as soil heaving. It manifests itself as a result of severe freezing of moisture-saturated soil. As this ice melts, the soil is destroyed. It becomes covered with a huge number of pores and loses its density. Construction on such a site must be done with great care.
Based on the above, we can identify several basic rules for building a cellar on a personal plot:
- It is necessary to plan the construction of a cellar in advance in order to make all the necessary observations.
- Construction should only be done during the warm period of the year, preferably in July or August.
- If the site has uneven terrain, then it is better to choose the highest place.
- All cellar rooms must be equipped with a good ventilation system.
- Wooden elements of the storage structure must be impregnated with antiseptic agents or molten bitumen
- If the cellar is made with a full entrance vertical door, then it must be installed on the north side of the structure.
If these rules are clear and well understood, then you can proceed directly to the construction itself.
Excavation
Typically, a street cellar is made with dimensions close to 2.5x2.5x2.3 m. To do this, choose the highest place on the site where the pit is being dug. They do this with shovels, but if possible, it is better to use earth-moving equipment. The length and width of the pit should exceed the dimensions of the cellar by 30 - 40 cm. This is necessary for the construction of waterproofing and for the convenience of constructing walls.
The bottom of the pit is carefully compacted and sand and gravel are poured onto it. The layer of sand should be 20 cm, and gravel 10 cm, for a total of 30 cm of drainage cushion. After this, the gravel is compacted so that it penetrates the sand as deeply as possible. Reinforcement with a diameter of 8 mm is laid on top of the resulting pillow and the rods are tied with wire or used welding machine. Then they do concrete screed in the usual way, diluting cement and sand in a ratio of 3:1. After waiting for the concrete to dry, which is about a week, waterproofing is laid.
How to properly waterproof
In a structure such as a cellar, high-quality waterproofing has a very important. It is done both on the floor and on the walls. Even the cheapest will work well for underground storage roll covering- roofing material. To apply it, ordinary tar is melted and sheets of roofing material are glued in several layers crosswise. Each layer is glued with tar. If waterproofing is done after the walls have been erected, then the edges of the roofing material must be folded over them. In our case, there are no walls yet, so we cover only the floor with roofing felt.
Construction of walls
In order to make walls, there are various materials. The most simple option There are boards, but they will quickly rot, so we won’t even consider such a project. It is best to make walls from brick or concrete. You can also bury a ready-made metal container, but in this case, no special instructions are required. Therefore, consider the option with brick and concrete. Before erecting the walls, a reinforcing frame 10 cm wide is laid. For this, reinforcement rods 10 mm thick are needed. They are installed vertically around the entire perimeter and connected to each other using knitting wire.
After installation, the reinforcement is assembled wooden formwork along all the walls. When it is ready, they begin to fill it with solution. Concrete should be mixed as needed so that it does not have time to harden. One serving should be enough for 1 – 2 hours of work. During the pouring process, concrete should be shaken with a construction vibrator. This will eliminate problems with the formation of voids inside the monolith. The poured formwork should be left for 2 - 3 weeks. Only during this period will the concrete completely harden.
If we start making walls from brick, then we use M200 grade cement for masonry mortar. The best option for the cellar - these are walls made of 2 layers of solid brick. If the soil is dense enough and the groundwater is deep, then you can get by with just one layer. Be it concrete or brick, they require waterproofing. For this purpose, a coating type is used. All walls are coated with waterproofing mastic in 2-3 layers, after which a roll of waterproofing material is glued on.
The outer side of the walls is lined with soft clay. This allows you to create high-quality protection against moisture and condensation. The clay layer is made more than 10 cm, after which all voids are filled with soil. Inner surface The walls are whitewashed with lime. This cheap material, which in addition to the coloring effect also has antiseptic properties. Lime is a good protection against fungus, germs and mold.
What could be the entrances to the cellar?
The simplest option for entering a cellar is a regular manhole or hatch that has a horizontal lid. It is laid out of brick or cast from concrete. This option is most often used in completely buried cellars. The hole is a channel with a square cross-section. There should be a distance of about 1 m from the lid to the ceiling of the cellar. In addition, this structure should act as a gateway in winter period. To do this, install another cover at the bottom of the hole or simply place planks, which are removed in the summer. The space between the lids is filled with bags of straw or sawdust for the winter. To descend into the cellar in this case they use an ordinary staircase with horizontal bars.
The option with a hatch is simple, but not very convenient, since lowering bags of vegetables down such a ladder is problematic. In addition, it is also very dangerous. To create maximum convenience, you need to make a full-fledged door with a sloping, gentle staircase to the storage room. Such an entrance can even become a decoration for your site, if you apply a little design imagination.
The doors to the cellar are made of wood, but they must be lined on the inside waterproofing material. With such a device, it is also advisable to arrange a vestibule, which will prevent the penetration of cold air from outside. The staircase with such an entrance device is made with full steps. Its tilt angle should optimally be 45 degrees. If the angle is greater, then handrails must be provided. The steps of the stairs need to be covered with some non-slip material. Otherwise, in winter it can pose a danger due to the appearance of frost.
Various roof options
Any cellar on the street must be equipped with a roof. It can be single or double slope. Completely buried cellars are covered with a layer of soil on top, so the roof is not visible, but there should be one. A partially buried cellar can also be covered with a layer of soil and turf, which creates additional thermal insulation. The roof is made in the usual way for all buildings. First, the floor beams are laid, after which the floors themselves are arranged, on top of which they are made rafter system, sheathing and the roof itself are made of waterproof material.
To install a floor without a visible roof, it is better to use a slab, which is placed with the flat side down. The bottom is plastered and whitewashed with lime. The top of the slab is covered with roofing material, after which it is coated with a straw-clay mixture. After this, the entire surface of the ceiling is covered with moist soil and turf, on which there is moss or grass. This technique is often used when the upper part of the cellar is located at a slight elevation above the ground.
A gable roof is made of boards that cover the entire pit by about half a meter. Then the precipitation will flow away from the walls of the cellar. The horse is arranged from wooden beam with a cross section of 50 mm, and roofing material is laid on the slopes, on top of which ordinary straw is placed. You can use any more modern roofing material; slate, metal tiles, corrugated sheets.
Ventilation device in the cellar
For ideal air circulation in the cellar, it is necessary to properly arrange ventilation in it. For this you need 2 pipes with a diameter of 100 mm. One pipe is installed so that its lower end does not reach the bottom 30 cm. The second pipe is made under the ceiling. This will ensure the inflow and outflow of air in constant circulation mode.
Internal structure and quality control of construction
Inside the cellar, shelving is made from boards or metal corner. There will be jars with various preparations on them. Boards must be treated with antiseptic agents to avoid the appearance of fungus on them. Metal parts painted with red lead or a special primer.
Separate boxes are made for potatoes, beets or carrots. Some owners store them in special boxes, which is very convenient. It is advisable to install electricity in the cellar to provide lighting there. The outer part of the cellar and its roof can be landscaped in accordance with the concept chosen for the design of the entire site.
At the end of the entire construction, the strength of all installed structures. They must withstand a fairly large mass, since in winter a large amount of snow will be added to the soil poured onto the floors. It is necessary to eliminate shortcomings immediately, since doing this later will be problematic.
Today, the cellar is called upon to perform not only its unitary function of storing vegetables and winter preparations, but must also fit into the overall design of everything summer cottage. Its visible parts must be independent decorative elements, which can be decorated very beautifully using artificial or natural finishing materials.
The simplest way to preserve the harvest is to build a cellar or icehouse. Despite the invention of electricity and refrigerators, cellars remain extremely popular due to their simplicity and low cost. They allow you to maintain a constant temperature level and the food in them does not spoil or dry out over a long period of time, while maintaining its taste and smell.
A cellar is a structure buried in the ground designed for year-round storage of food. It can be dug separately from other buildings and structures or located under a house or outbuildings. The choice of cellar design depends on its location, and the size depends on the needs of the owners.
Perhaps your jars with homemade preparations are collecting dust on the mezzanines in your apartment, and the lids on them swell and bulge from the heat? If so, then it’s time to seriously think about how to build a cellar with your own hands that will comfortably accommodate harvested, jars of pickles and jam and other winter supplies.
First, let's discuss what a proper, good, solid cellar is. And it would also be good to understand what we are actually talking about when we talk about the cellar, so as not to confuse it with the basement and other outbuildings and premises. Here are the definitions of some of these premises:
- basement- a room located below ground level. A basement can have many functions. It can accommodate a boiler room and a sauna, a garage or even an office, etc. It may also contain a cellar;
- cellar – basement, used for specific purposes: for storing foodstuffs at a certain combination of temperature and humidity;
- technical underground– this is also a basement room in which communication systems are located: heating boilers, electrical panels, ventilation system wiring, etc.
What you need for a good cellar:
- blackout;
- clean fresh air;
- low temperature: +2-5 o C;
- relative humidity: 85-95%.
Types of cellars
The construction of a cellar does not require permission from regulatory authorities, but in any case, at the initial stage the developer will need to think about where the building will be located and what its design will be.
Place: for a free-standing cellar, choose a dry place away from trees and places where moisture accumulates. Please note that when orienting front door“facing” north, the storage room will be a little cooler even in the hot season.
Types (types) of cellars: When choosing a vegetable storage structure, it is advisable to take into account the land plot, since the floor level must be at least 0.5 meters above the groundwater level (GWL):
- with a groundwater level located below 2.5 meters from the ground surface, the walls can be buried 2 m. Such a cellar is completely ;
- when the groundwater level is closer than 2.5 meters from the ground surface - only partial deepening is possible ();
- at a groundwater level of 0.5 meters, deepening the structure is impossible. In such cases, they erect;
- on a low-lying, waterlogged plot of land, it is necessary to install artificial cushions - sand and gravel bedding, with the help of which the cellar is raised, thereby separating it from groundwater.
Construction stages
Below is a description of the main stages of cellar construction. Depending on the type and design of your vegetable storage facility, some steps may look slightly different or be absent altogether. More details about the features of cellar construction different types can be read in separate articles on our website.
1. Pit
General rules for digging a pit:
- the depth of the pit depends on the design of the building;
- the foundation is buried at least 0.3 m from the surface;
- the foundation pit is being made larger area than the area of the cellar under construction;
- to avoid soil falling off the walls of the pit, they are made at an angle or constructed;
- The top layer of earth will be useful in the future for embanking and decorating the building, so do not carry the earth far away.
2. Floor/foundation
It should be noted that the stage of constructing the floor (foundation) must precede the stage of erecting walls. Therefore, the option of building a cellar, when the walls are first put up and then the floor is made, can lead to the fact that the floor will not adhere to the walls airtightly, and the storage will be flooded.
There are the following options for the floor in the cellar - adobe or concrete. Clay floors are warmer. Concrete base- colder than adobe, but at the same time much stronger. When choosing a floor installation method, they are guided by the proximity of groundwater; if they are located close to the surface, then installing a concrete floor is preferable. Sequencing:
- removing waste from the pit;
- leveling and compacting the surface of the earth at the bottom of the pit;
- adobe floor installation: The base of the floor is laid out in a layer of clay at least 10-12 cm thick. The crushed stone and clay are well compacted. After the first layer of crushed stone has dried, the same second layer of 6-8 cm is laid. After the floor has dried, the resulting cracks are sealed, for example, with lime-clay;
- concrete floor installation: First you need to prepare the base. Next, make an underlying layer of crushed stone or gravel. Then the base is leveled and compacted. Fill the floor with cement mortar 1:5. After 3-4 days, as the solution hardens, a final filling is performed with a more liquid solution, which will eliminate all flaws.
3. Walls
The walls of the cellar can be either monolithic or made of individual elements: concrete, wood, individual concrete blocks, etc., and in some cases, for example, in dense soil, there may be no walls at all. Monolithic walls resist moisture better, but when making walls from individual elements you need Special attention pay attention to the tightness of the joints between the walls and the floor.
Please note the following:
- if the soil lies high, then to build a deep cellar you will need to make a “concrete bath” (first pour the floor, then place it on it) monolithic walls, connecting the walls to the floor with reinforcement). But building such a concrete bathtub doubles the cost of construction;
- if during the process of digging a pit they find a swamp or a swimmer, it’s bad. In this case, the depth of the wall should be below the “wet” place. The wall must rest on a solid foundation. Otherwise, the entire structure will crack at best, or shift at worst. It is better not to build a cellar in such soil at all - it is risky.
4. Staircase arrangement
The width of the stairs should allow one person to go up and down into the cellar. The minimum width is 35-40 cm, and a 60 cm wide staircase already allows you to do this without discomfort and the risk of loss of balance. At the same time, if you plan to carry large loads into and out of the cellar, then it is better to build a staircase 80-90 cm wide, which will allow two people to go down the stairs.
The permissible slope of the stairs is 75 degrees, but it will be a very steep staircase, which cannot be climbed down by two or alone with busy hands. For comfortable and safe carrying of supplies and household utensils, the slope of the stairs is limited to 45 degrees.
The comfortable height of the riser (vertical part of the step) is 15-20 cm, the tread (horizontal surface) is 25-35 cm. However, in the case of a cellar, ensuring comfort will lead to a reduction in the useful storage space, which is already small. You may have to limit yourself to a more compact staircase design.
Staircase material – metal, wood, concrete . Cellar - room with high humidity, That's why metal stairs they are protected with primer and/or enamel (for example, alkyd PF-115 or PF-266), and wooden ones are impregnated with an antiseptic and drying oil at least twice.
5. Overlap
The ceiling must correspond to the entire structure of the cellar. It can be done:
- made of wood - for this, beams are initially made, and then covered with boards or beams. To prevent rotting everything wooden elements coated with an antiseptic. Lay on top of the ceiling thermal insulation material, for example, clay, and dry earth is poured on top. The thickness of the thermal insulation layer is at least 30 cm. Wooden floor have to be repaired and replaced frequently;
- concrete or reinforced concrete floor; from concrete slabs— special attention is paid here to sealing seams;
- made of slate - a solid base is laid under it. The seams of the slate floor are sealed with cement mortar, and the bulk soil is well compacted.
6. Waterproofing
A dry cellar is the key to the safety of the harvest. The vegetable storage area must be protected from soil and seasonal melt water, precipitation
7. Ventilation
Natural ventilation of the cellar will allow you to maintain the desired temperature and humidity conditions in the storage and relieve it of dampness and excessive humidity. To do natural ventilation DIY cellar you need:
- install 2 ventilation pipes: supply and exhaust;
- for better air exchange, ventilation pipes are located in two levels and, if possible, in different places, which will avoid sucking in fresh air;
- exhaust ventilation pipe placed at the top under the very ceiling of the cellar;
- the ventilation supply pipe, on the contrary, is at the bottom at a height of 50-60 cm from the floor;
- The pictures below show the correct and incorrect cellar exhaust system.
You can read more about the ventilation device.
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In the territory suburban area It wouldn’t hurt to build a cool room for storing pickles, fruits, vegetables and other food products. In this regard, it is worth considering how to make a cellar in the country with your own hands. By completing all the steps step by step, you can create reliable and durable storage.
Even the small design allows you to store a lot of food
The cellar is usually located in separate place on the street or under a residential building. Its main purpose is to store food supplies. Due to the device, shelves and other devices, it is possible to increase the functionality of the room.
Classification of cellars by depth level:
- underground structures are installed in dry places;
- semi-underground structures are erected in damp places with average groundwater levels;
- above-ground buildings are made when groundwater is too close.
Note! In an area with too high humidity, a special cushion of sand and gravel mixture should be installed. It will separate the structure from groundwater.
The construction of a cellar does not require obtaining permission from any regulatory authorities, however, the developer must in any case decide on its location, taking into account some nuances. You should choose a site that is as dry as possible, away from trees.
Important! Setting up a cellar with your own hands under the house deserves special attention. In this case, the need for laying floors is completely eliminated, since this function is successfully performed by the floors of the first floor.
Base structure in the form of a floor
Most suitable option is to fill the lower plane with concrete mortar. To do this, all debris is removed from the pit. The surface is leveled and compacted, after which it is covered with a 15-20 cm layer of sand. A waterproofing membrane and reinforcing mesh are laid on top, then concrete is poured.
Thus, when asking the question of which floor in the cellar is best to install, first of all you should pay attention to the concrete base.
Construction of the walls of the structure
The side parts of the structure must withstand soil pressure. Mainly used in their construction are:
- concrete mixture;
- building blocks;
- brick;
- wood.
Laying floors
The first version of the floors - wooden beams. The load-bearing elements are laid with their edges on opposite walls, after which they are sheathed with boards. A waterproofing membrane is spread on top.The second option is to use ready-made reinforced concrete slabs. They are durable, which is why they are popular. They are laid on the end parts of the walls, after which they are covered with earth.
Creating high-quality ventilation
Constant air exchange will make it possible to avoid the appearance of mold and rot in the room, and will also allow you to maintain optimal temperature regime. For ventilation, two pipes must be installed. One of them will be a supply, and the other will be an exhaust.
Suitable for ventilation plastic pipes medium diameter. However, their sizes depend on the volume of the room. The supply elements are usually located on one side, 20 cm from the floor, and the exhaust elements on the other, 30-40 cm from the ceiling.
Problem with high groundwater levels: do-it-yourself cellar
A certain category of developers may have the following dilemma: if groundwater is close, how to make a cellar? It’s worth mentioning right away that this is quite possible. To do this, first of all, it is necessary to make a ring drainage of the site where construction is planned.
Perforated elements are located below the depth of the soil along the perimeter of the pit. Their slope should be approximately 2 cm per linear meter towards the well or sewage pit. Pipes should be covered with crushed stone and wrapped with geotextile.
If the floor and walls are made of reinforced concrete, then high-quality waterproofing should be done from the inside and outside.
Can be used as a sealed room Plastic container large sizes. It is completely buried in the ground. By building a plastic cellar at your dacha with your own hands step by step, you can avoid mistakes associated with waterproofing the structure.
Related article:
Work after building a cellar with your own hands: photos + additional recommendations
Ensuring unhindered ascent and descent is carried out using. Its width should not be less than 40 cm, otherwise moving can be very difficult. It is allowed to make a slope of up to 75 degrees. The material can be wood, metal or concrete.
To store supplies, it is necessary to build special shelves or racks. Typically, 100x100 timber is used for their manufacture. The height of the structure depends on the height of the room itself.
