How to properly make a blind area around a house on screw piles with your own hands?

Blind area for a pile foundation
The question of whether a blind area is needed for a pile foundation is asked by many owners of country houses. Recently, the use of screw piles as a foundation for the construction of a small country cottage, summer house or other real estate is becoming increasingly used, and there are a number of objective reasons for this. The blind area is necessary to protect against the harmful effects of groundwater and various precipitation.

Is it necessary for a building on a pile foundation?

Any building should have a blind area , including a house that stands on screw piles. Thanks to the path around the perimeter of the building, water will not be able to wash out the soil around the screw piles, and the load-bearing elements themselves will be protected from corrosion, which will certainly occur if rain and melt water penetrates under the house.

Purpose of the design

The blind area for a house built on stilts plays the role of an insulating belt that will prevent the foundation from collapsing as a result of surface water penetrating under the structure.

Such a protective path around the house serves as a kind of waterproofing, as well as a heat shield if it is insulated with special materials. A blind area made for a house on stilts will give the building a more attractive appearance and become a path along which you can move.

Consequences of absence

If you save money and do not make a blind area for a house on stilts, this can lead to several negative consequences:

• 
  corrosion and destruction of reinforced concrete piles;

  Read also:  Features of installing maintainable communications in a slab foundation
• freezing of the soil under the foundation;
• gradual washing out of soil under the building;
• increase in humidity in the house and, as a result, the spread of fungi and mold;
• deformation and subsidence of the structure.

The main advantages of a blind area made of paving slabs

Since we see that the blind area can be made from a large number of materials. Accordingly, we should immediately note the main advantages that a blind area around the house made of paving slabs will have.

1. Long service life compared to other materials.
2. All the work can be done with your own hands without professional skills and without the use of special equipment.
3. Does not require reinforcement of the base (reinforcing layer), which significantly reduces the cost.
4. A huge selection of shapes and colors of paving slabs, which helps to fit perfectly into almost any design.
5. If necessary, it is possible to partially dismantle the blind area to repair built-in communications. If necessary, you can completely disassemble the blind area and use paving slabs in another place.

Requirements for the blind area

The formula for calculating the width of the blind area is: the length of the roof overhang from the wall + 30 cm, but the width of the blind area cannot be less than 90 cm. Do not overdo it with the width, this will greatly affect the cost.

The blind area should be continuous, without interruption along the entire perimeter of the house.

The slope from the wall is formed at the stage of foundation formation; it should be 5-7 degrees.

A drainage system should be provided. This should be done in such a way that water does not penetrate into the layers of earth immediately behind the blind area.

Distinctive features and requirements for construction

Before making a blind area for a house with this type of foundation, the distance from the ground to the base of the building should be sewn up .

To do this, a false base is made, which will act as an additional barrier against the penetration of rainwater and snow under the house and thereby prevent corrosion of reinforced concrete structures. It is advisable to insulate the decorative base - this will help keep the house warm.

In order to ensure that the piles and grillages of a house on a pile-screw foundation are reliably protected from damage, and the house from dampness, ecowool, polystyrene foam or polystyrene boards are often used - materials that help retain heat and also have other useful qualities:

• the material must have the ability to repel water;
• have low thermal conductivity qualities;
• Rodents should be indifferent to it.

An important point for a house on a pile foundation is the isolation of the false base from the blind area. The insulation layer should be 3 cm thick; the material for it can be penoplex or board.

The decorative base should have ventilation windows 10 cm in size, which are closed with small bars to prevent rodents from entering under the house.

Requirements for the blind area for a foundation on piles:

1. The blind area should have a slope of 3-5° from the base of the house to the outside to drain water from the building.
2. The width should be 20-30 cm larger than the edge of the cornice so that water flows from the roof onto the path and not onto the ground.
3. There must be a cushion (drainage) made of clay, gravel and sand, at least 30 cm high.
4. The height of the upper final layer depends on the material (concrete layer - 13-15 cm, tiles or natural stone - 4-5 cm, asphalt - 3 cm).

A well-built path around the building will prevent moisture from penetrating under the house and damaging the foundation, protecting the basement and preventing weeds from growing.

Is a blind area necessary for a pile-screw foundation?

When asking professionals whether a blind area is needed for a pile foundation, you can get a definite answer: yes.

This protective design makes it possible to solve a number of problems:

• prevent erosion of the soil around the piles;
• prevent the development of corrosion processes;
• protect the house from moisture penetration from the outside, which leads to the appearance of fungus, mold and deterioration of the microclimate;
• minimize the influence of soil heaving.

Organizing a blind area around a pile foundation is an affordable and quick way to provide protection for a house and get an additional walking path.

Which one to build - soft or hard?

The blind area for a house on stilts can be hard or soft. The hard type has an integral, stationary top layer of concrete or asphalt, and the soft blind area is built from paving slabs or other decorative material, the elements of which are not fastened together with mortar.

Advantages of a soft blind area:

• 
  aesthetics;

• resistance to soil shifts, freezing and thawing;
• expansion joints along the foundation and at the corners are not necessary, since their role is played by a layer of gravel or crushed stone, compensating for ground movements;
• materials for a multi-layer cushion (pebbles, crushed stone, tiles or paving stones) make it possible to hide drainage elements, making them invisible.
• easy to repair by replacing some of the elements without disassembling the entire structure.

Its disadvantages:

• pebble or crushed stone surfaces must be cleaned frequently, as they quickly become dirty;
• grass, trees or shrubs can grow through the soft blind area.

Advantages of a rigid blind area:

• simplicity of the device;
• reliability;
• good protection from rain and floods.

Its disadvantages:

• when there are temperature changes in winter and when the ground moves, there is a high probability of cracking of the concrete layer, as a result of which the coating will begin to let water in;
• if technical or repair maintenance of underground communications is necessary, the concrete screed will need to be destroyed and refilled;
• It is necessary to have an expansion joint between the plinth and the contour of the blind area, as well as expansion joints along the entire perimeter of the path;
• simplicity of appearance.

Blind area device

Decorative paving slabs

The structure will be regularly tested for strength by streams of water. The blind area, which has no seams and is made of appropriate materials, ideally copes with the task. For a long time it was believed that paving slabs are one of the most unsuitable materials for blind areas. A large number of seams does not provide reliable protection from moisture. Hard work in this direction has made it possible to refute the prevailing opinion.

Considering that such a design can become an excellent finishing touch to landscape design, they try to make it somewhat wider than usual. In the future, garden paths made of the same material will rest against it. The beauty of the design largely depends on the quality of the work performed. Not only specialists from construction teams can install the blind area so that it does not suffer from seasonal temperature changes and performs its main function for more than one year. If you have the desire, patience and enough time, you can do all the work yourself.

Step-by-step construction instructions

It is not difficult to build a blind area for a house on a pile-screw foundation if you have basic construction skills and strictly adhere to the technology for performing this work.

To make the structure reliable, it is made of two layers:

1. The bottom layer is intermediate (drainage made of clay, crushed stone, coarse sand), which is carefully compacted.
2. The top layer is the finishing coating (cement, asphalt, tiles).

The construction of a protective path for a house on a pile-screw foundation is carried out in the following order:

• 
  Along the perimeter of the building, a depression is made in the ground of the required width and depth of 25-30 cm;

• Clay is poured into the bottom of the trench in a layer of 10-15 cm and compacted tightly;
• to improve waterproofing, roofing material or thick polyethylene film is laid on the clay;
• Gravel mixed with sand is poured on top of the roofing material.

The next stage is the formation of a drainage system. An additional ditch is dug along the edge of the trench perimeter, the bottom of which is also covered with gravel and sand. A pipe with holes for drainage is laid in the ditch, below the level of the blind area.

The next steps depend on what type of coverage is chosen. If it is concrete, then formwork is constructed from boards, a reinforcing layer is installed and concrete mortar is poured.

There must be a gap between the plinth and the concrete screed; for this, a damper tape is attached around the perimeter of the plinth. Upon completion of work, a curb is installed along the outer edge of the protective path.

If paving slabs are chosen as the finishing coating, then the curb is first fixed, and then the steps will be as follows:

• another layer of geotextile is placed on the layer of gravel and sand so that one of its edges goes to the base and the other to the curb;
• the edge of the geotextile that extends onto the base is coated with sealant for a better fit to the wall;
• a sand-cement mixture is poured on top in a ratio of 1 part sand and 5 parts M500 cement, which is thoroughly compacted;
• then the tiles are laid, starting from the base;
• the gaps between the tiles and between the covering and the curb are filled with a mixture of sand and cement or quartz sand;
• After laying the tiles, the protruding parts of the hydrotextile are cut to the same level as the finishing coating.

Why should you choose “lucky people”

• Long-term experience in the segment.
• Large base of satisfied customers.
• High quality of finished work.
• Prompt execution of all orders.
• Favorable prices for all services.

Order a blind area for a pile foundation and get a guaranteed result in the near future.

Also, it is worth adding that the installation of a blind area around the house is most often combined with the installation of storm sewers and the installation of storm water inlets, since it will no longer be possible to install them later.

Blind area around the house. Price per 1 sq.m.

Calculate the approximate cost of a blind area for a pile foundation

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Everyone knows that after building a house, cottage or dacha, a blind area of ​​paving slabs should be poured around the perimeter of the entire base. This is an important structural element of the entire building, which protects the foundation around the house from freezing (in winter) and excess moisture. In addition to its protective functions, the blind area is often used as a path around a building.

The blind area is made in the form of a strip 1-1.5 meters from the edge of the house. The material usually used is concrete or asphalt. Sometimes they finish with ceramic tiles, paving stones or paving slabs.

Today we will discuss the topic: How to properly make a blind area from paving slabs?

Possible mistakes

When building a blind area on their own, due to lack of experience, homeowners make a number of mistakes:

1. The blind area for the pile foundation is fastened to the base. When the ground moves, this can destroy the path and the decor of the base. To avoid this, you need to separate the blind area from the base using a suitable material (boards, polystyrene foam, damper tape).

2. 
   Insufficient width of the blind area.
   If the outer edge of the roof extends beyond the path, then water flowing from the roof will wash away the soil. To prevent this from happening, the path should extend beyond the edges of the roof by 20 cm.

3. Small slope angle or none at all.
   Water should not remain on the blind area, as this will lead to deformation of the path and seepage of moisture under the foundation, which should not be allowed. When laying the cushion and surface layer, you need to ensure that the degree angle is at least 3-5° from the base to the edge of the track.
4. Violation of the method of pouring concrete mixture. Inexperienced builders often violate the proportions of the components of the concrete mixture, the rules for mixing the solution, or use concrete with a low strength class. This leads to the fragility of the concrete coating. For a protective path around the house, you should purchase concrete of a grade not lower than M200. When making a solution, the dry ingredients are first mixed and then water is added.

Advantages of using piles

The use of piles in country construction has a number of positive aspects.

1. Significant reduction in the cost of building a foundation (by several times).
2. If the soils are simple, then work on this type of foundation can be carried out independently, with your own hands.
3. Screw piles are simply irreplaceable when the soil is highly fluid or flooded.
4. An ideal solution to the problem when building a house on a slope or plot with significant slopes.
5. Short time frame for laying out the foundation, just a few days.

All these factors contribute to the fact that an increasing number of our citizens are making their choice in favor of a pile-screw foundation, and after making a decision in favor of such a choice, the question arises about the need for a base and blind area.

The answer to the question regarding the need to build a blind area is definitely “yes”; a blind area for a pile foundation is needed.

Insulation of the pile-grillage base from the outside

Option for installing a pile foundation
As a rule, the design of a pile-grillage foundation provides only external insulation and waterproofing. The side edges here serve as the basement floor and it is precisely this that is insulated. For this you can use:

1. A layer of bitumen that covers the side edges of the grillage. This is good waterproofing. After all, bitumen forms a strong and reliable layer of protection.
2. Expanded polystyrene or polystyrene foam. This is polymer thermal insulation, glued to bitumen or directly to the leveled surface of the grillage.
3. Then all seams must be sealed with foam to prevent the formation of cold bridges. But when using penoplex in several layers, it is not advisable to do this, because the sheets of penoplex have a contour shape and are attached to each other.
4. As additional thermal insulation, reinforcing steel mesh is used. It is used to protect the insulation from rodents, and also as a basis for further plastering of the base.
5. As soon as the glue under the slabs has completely dried and the mesh is tightened. The top of the structure needs to be covered with plaster.

Technologies for insulation of pile-grillage foundations

Scheme of a pile-grillage foundation
At the moment, there are a large number of different technologies for insulating grillages, ranging from the use of polymer materials to the construction of a blind area. But the key task here is to choose the optimal technology that is suitable for a specific foundation and takes into account not only the climatic conditions of the given territory, but also the properties of the soil and the height of the water soil horizons. Therefore, popular technologies for insulating pile-grillage foundations are as follows:

• Adding expanded clay into the sinuses;
• Installation of modern polymer insulation;
• Blind area device;
• Combining all three techniques and using them simultaneously.

It is clear that all these are traditional insulation methods that are suitable in one climatic region, but cannot be used in another. The advantages of such methods are that they are relatively simple and easy to implement. And materials for insulation and waterproofing are available for free sale. But the key drawback of these technologies is their far from excellent efficiency in conditions of high groundwater content, as well as the unpresentable appearance of the base. It is clear that a blind area can eliminate such shortcomings, but this is more a waterproofing of the foundation than a decorative design.

Blind area: types and purpose

The blind area is a wide strip with a slope from the building made of durable materials that can withstand average mechanical loads (the weight of the human body, garden furniture, bicycles, strollers).

Purpose of the blind area

• 
  A blind area, combined with other decorative elements, can be an excellent decoration for the
  site. Decoration of the facade of a building - a blind area made in the same style with all the buildings on the site, tied in the same color scheme, serves as a real decoration of the building itself and the surrounding landscape.

• Protection of foundations and technical underground from dampness and moisture (ensuring reliable waterproofing) during precipitation. Foundations protected from dampness have increased strength and durability and can serve as reliable support for a building for many years.
• Ensuring thermal insulation of basements and foundations - insulation of the blind area, made with special materials, can significantly improve the thermal insulation of the technical underground or basement of the house. A warm basement allows you to increase the usable area of ​​the house; it houses bathrooms, saunas, kitchens and other rooms.
• Creation of a walking area around houses and other buildings. Such pedestrian zones around the house allow you to avoid dirty shoes on rainy days, which is very convenient. In winter, using the pedestrian area for walks is not at all safe - there is a threat of compacted snow or icicles falling from the roofs of houses.