Making blind areas for the home is an important task. This element not only completes the architectural appearance of the building, but also protects the foundations from melt and rainwater. The blind area made of paving slabs is one of the design options that will look quite spectacularly in a summer cottage or adjoining area.
Comparison of blind areas made of tiles with concrete
Most often around the house you can see a standard concrete or asphalt pavement. It is typical for apartment buildings, administrative and public buildings. Putting such a strip is not difficult and the cost will not be high, but the appearance leaves much to be desired. In the absence of severe constraint in funds, it is better to make a choice in favor of a more expensive, but reliable and having an attractive appearance option.
Laying blind areas from paving stones gives the following advantages:
- Reliability of waterproofing. The material does not allow moisture to penetrate into the soil in the immediate vicinity of the foundation.
- Thermal insulation. The paving area due to the presence of several layers is able to provide good protection against freezing. If this is not enough, the insulation is laid additionally.
- Durability. The pavement of paving slabs does not crack over time, as is the case with concrete or asphalt. The stone is able to last longer and guarantee reliable protection of the building.
- Maintainability. In case of damage to individual sections of the strip around the house, the paving structure allows the replacement of piece elements without dismantling the entire coating. The work is quite simple to do.
- No need for special equipment and tools. To make a strip around the house of concrete, you need to order at the factory or make your own mix of cement, sand, gravel and water. The technology is simple, but if the mixture is ordered at the factory, its transportation with a concrete mixer is additionally paid. If the solution is prepared manually, you need containers for mixing sufficiently large volumes, buckets for transferring the solution to the place of work, shovels for leveling. For paving stones this is not necessary.
- The paving structure can be operated almost immediately. If it is decided to fill the concrete blind area, it is important to consider the brand strength concrete gains after 28 days. Formwork can be removed with a set strength of 70%, which will take at least 2 weeks. In addition, for at least one week, concrete will require maintenance in the form of moisture every 2-3 hours, otherwise the surface will become covered with cracks. All these measures increase construction time and increase labor intensity.
- The concrete structure requires the installation of formwork from boards, when using paving stones this is not necessary.
- Possibility of access to storm sewage and drainage. To inspect or repair communications, it is enough to remove several elements of the blind area, and after completion of work lay them back.
- An assortment of colors and shapes of tiles. Laying blind areas around the house made of concrete does not give space for imagination and creating unique looks of houses.
From this list it can be seen that the paving of paving slabs surpasses concrete in many respects. Its only drawback, as mentioned earlier, is a higher cost.
Necessary materials
To make a protective strip around the house, you will need to prepare:
- pavers and curb stones;
- waterproofing material (films, ruberoid, linocrom, hydroisol);
- clay for a hydraulic lock;
- sand of medium or large fraction for leveling the base;
- crushed stone or gravel (along with sand it provides a drainage layer, levels the base and improves soil characteristics);
- geotextiles, to prevent debris from entering the drainage system, which will lead to clogging;
- cement-sand mortar to fill the joints of the pavers.
Everything necessary for the blind area around the house needs to be prepared in advance so that in the process of work you do not have to tear yourself away from it, spend additional funds on the road to the hardware store and time to buy the missing materials. To make the strip for water drainage right, you should pay attention to the quality of the starting elements.
Tile for the blind area must have all the necessary quality certificates and passport.
Step-by-step installation instructions
The stone is laid according to a fairly understandable technology. The blind area from paving slabs with their own hands can be made subject to the following procedure:
- Determination of the geometrical dimensions of the blind area (width about 90-100 cm, slope of at least 5%). Staking out the area, creating markings using pegs and a cord.
- Soil development. The depth of the trench excerpts is determined by the characteristics of the soil. In the general case, they dig out the blind area to the thickness, which takes into account: a clay castle, a layer of sand (30-50 cm, if the soil has increased heaving or water saturation), a layer of crushed stone for drainage and leveling (about 30 cm), a sand bed under the tile, the thickness of the pavers . Properly choosing the thickness of each layer and calculating the amount, proceed to the passage of the trench.
- The soil base is compacted. A clay layer is poured into the pit, which is carefully tamped with water. A clay castle must be arranged with a slope. Layer thickness 150-200 mm.
- A layer of waterproofing is placed on the claywhich will provide additional protection against penetration of moisture. Laying is done with an overlap, ensuring that the film enters the foundations of the house.
- Lay a sand pillow. When laying, it is important to seal it in layers. You can perform work by vibrating, spilling with water or weights.
- Laying gravel and its leveling. The technology provides that the curbstone is installed at the same stage of work.
- Further instructions require laying geotextiles.
- The finishing layer before laying the tiles for the blind area of the house is another layer of sand. Bulk material is laid with a thickness of 70-100 mm, providing a seal during operation. At the same stage, a bias of the future design is created, which, as mentioned earlier, should be at least 5% for piece materials.
- Elements are laid on the sand, which are aligned with a mallet - a special hammer. Further, the technology involves sealing joints, without which the work cannot be considered finished.
To make a blind area with your own hands is a feasible task. The main thing is to treat the process responsibly, because this design, although it does not look significant, but performs a very important function - protecting the foundation. Basement walls are usually treated with bituminous mastic, but it is extremely difficult to check its condition when operating a house, as well as repair it. That is why it is important not to load vertical insulation whenever possible. A well-made blind area copes with the removal of atmospheric moisture from the foundation structure, which increases their service life.
If necessary, you can provide an additional layer of insulation in the blind area. This design protects the supports of the house not only from moisture, but also from the cold. Namely, the simultaneous influence of these two factors leads to frost heaving, which destroys the foundation and causes deformation of the base. As a heater use extruded polystyrene foam (foam). Expanded clay is less expensive, but less effective.