Since ancient times, people have used cellars (basements, underground, etc.) for long-term storage of food. IN modern world they have not lost their relevance.
But when the need arises, the question arises: how to make a cellar with your own hands?
Types of cellars
Nowadays there is a large number of types of cellars. Their types are distinguished mainly by the type of construction material, depth level and location.
So there are:
- earthen cellars, brick cellars, stone, wooden, concrete and metal cellars;
- by level above the ground: ground, buried cellars, semi-buried, bulk and on a slope;
- balcony basement, cellar in the house, under the terrace, basement under the garage or kitchen, or free-standing storage.
But all these types of storage facilities can most often be built only on summer cottage. That’s why photos of cellars in dachas are so common – as an example of their use.
Some people may be confused by the idea of a balcony cellar, but this is the only opportunity for those who do not have their own plot to store large quantities of food cheaply.
The essence of such storage is in a wooden box with a tight lid, lined with a heat insulator. To ensure that it has the same temperature, an incandescent lamp is used, which is turned on by a relay and a contact thermometer.
An underground space under a building is erected during the construction of the main structure. This is the cheapest and quality option with this type of cellar. Its walls are the foundation of the building, and the ceiling is the ceiling of the basement floor.
According to the construction method, the cellar under the building is built like an ordinary basement.
However, it happens that for various reasons the storage facility needs to be built separately. It is these types of cellars that we will dwell in more detail.
Where to build
Choosing the location of the future cellar is very important. It depends on the number of people in the family (than more people, the larger the cellar), from the level groundwater(if the glacier is in the water, it is unlikely that anything will be preserved), from accessibility (the more convenient the approach to it, the better).
To answer the question of how to build a storage facility, the most the best option for a family of 4-5 people there will be a room 2 by 2 meters, up to 3 meters deep, located at the highest point of the site.
Under such conditions, a cellar at the dacha can be built slowly and efficiently so that it lasts for many years.
How to build
There are exactly 2 ways to build a cellar: pit and sink. With the lowering option, the basement box is built on the surface and only then is gradually buried into the ground, removing the soil.
The pit method is the most common. In this case, first a foundation pit is created to fit the dimensions of the future cellar with an increased tolerance of half a meter, and the cellar is assembled in it.
Work in the pit
Having chosen the pit option and dug the pit itself, the problem arises - how to build the cellar next?
To do this you need to do the following:
Note!
- prepare the base;
- build walls;
- plaster them;
- make waterproofing;
- perform interior finishing;
- build a ceiling;
- arrange ventilation.
Base structure
The base is prepared by leveling the bottom of the pit. Then it is covered with crushed stone, sand and broken brick in a layer of at least 20 cm. The resulting layer must be filled with heated bitumen.
It is necessary to lay reinforcement with a diameter of 6 mm on top and pour concrete mortar. The thickness of the resulting layer should be 10-15 centimeters. Then, when the concrete hardens, a box is laid on the base.
Wall installation
The walls are made of bricks. Its thickness is 1 brick.
To make the masonry strong, it is necessary to use wire with a diameter of 4 mm at intervals of 4 rows. Its use in corners is especially important.
Plastering
The walls are plastered on both sides (outside and inside). In order for the plaster solution to stick better, laying the wall needs to be empty.
Note!
After plastering, you need to wait a month until the solution dries. This period is most desirable for the further strength of the plaster.
Creating waterproofing
To protect the cellar from moisture, you need to cover the walls hot mastic made of bitumen and glue 2-3 layers of roofing material. Ruberoid is laid overlapping, the first layer is vertical, and the second is horizontal.
When reaching the base, it is necessary that sheets of roofing material be placed on it and carefully glued. Having carried out this work, the space between the wall of the pit and the box can be filled up.
Cellar interior decoration
After all the work has been done, it’s time to start working on the internal contents of the underground. Everyone decides for themselves - you can whitewash the walls, or you can cover them with tiles.
It is advisable to cover the bottom with roofing felt bonded with bitumen, and lay tiles on top.
Note!
Cellar cover
The resulting box can be covered with either a concrete slab or wood (timber, log, board).
The type of overlap depends entirely on financial capabilities and availability of material.
Ventilation installation
Ventilation in the cellar - important element its normal performance. To create ventilation, 2 pipes are used (exhaust and air intake). One of them is placed at floor level, and the other is closer to the ceiling.
The diameter of the pipes depends on the volume of the cellar; it must allow air to circulate.
The material of the pipes can be different (metal, plastic, asbestos cement). For the winter, the pipes must be covered with burlap both outside and inside.
If your cellar is a separate building and there are no other rooms above it, it is advisable to build a cellar - a roof that performs protective and design functions. It will protect the cellar from precipitation and can be harmoniously integrated into the landscape of the site.
DIY cellar photo
A do-it-yourself cellar at the dacha is a good opportunity to ensure long-term, high-quality storage of food. And since, if the cellar is built correctly, it all year round The same temperature is consistently maintained; it is simply indispensable for storing not only canned goods and pickles, but also vegetables and fruits. A cellar at the dacha is an absolutely necessary thing for those who have a vegetable garden or orchard at the dacha.
Cellar in the country: main types
Despite the structural features of construction, cellars can be divided into three types (diagrams of cellar construction, depending on type, are shown in Fig. 1):
- ground - arranged in the case of a very high (0.5 m) groundwater level. It could be simply an insulated box made of wood, a wall cellar (attached to the main wall, in fact - another room, only with embankment, the diagram is shown in Fig. 2) or a brick storage with embankment (Fig. 3)
- semi-buried cellar– arranged in places where the groundwater level is located within 1.5-2 m from the ground surface. A diagram of a semi-buried cellar is shown in Fig. 4.
- To build it, you will need to dig a pit 0.8-1 m deep. The base is erected from brick or concrete, raising the walls to a height of 2-2.2 m. The ceiling is made of wood, concrete or slate. The entire structure is sprinkled with soil on top. The entrance to such a cellar is arranged at ground level, with a vestibule, a staircase and a second, necessarily insulated, the door. In principle, all construction operations, including waterproofing, ventilation and insulation, are similar to those carried out during the construction of a deep basement.
- deep cellar– the most common type, it can be either separate (having its own cellar, Fig. 5) or located under the house, summer kitchen or a garage. Therefore, we will consider in detail below how to build a cellar with your own hands at the dacha.
For the construction of a semi-recessed, and especially a recessed cellar, it is very important to accurately determine the location of construction, and more precisely, to determine the level of groundwater. To do this, you can use the help of professionals (expensive, but reliable), or you can try folk method, which gives a fairly accurate result. To do this you will need a glass cap, a piece of wool and fresh egg. In the place where you planned to build a cellar, place a piece of wool on the ground, an egg on top of it and cover them with a glass cap. Leave this “construction” overnight, and evaluate the results in the morning:
- wool and egg in dew– the level of groundwater is insignificant, here you will have to limit yourself to an above-ground cellar
- there is dew on the wool and the egg is dry– groundwater lies deep enough for the construction of a semi-buried cellar
- dry egg and wool- an excellent place to build a deep cellar.
Advice! The best time to build a cellar is in the summer, when the groundwater level is lowest.
If the construction of a cellar is planned in a house (more precisely, under the house), then it is better to place it under non-residential (unheated) premises, ideally under a veranda (the temperature there is lower than in the rest of the house, it is easier to arrange ventilation, and in winter the veranda will protect from frost). If the layout of the house allows you to arrange a cellar only in the heated part of the building, additional thermal insulation of the ceiling will be required (for example, lay foam plastic 5 cm thick on the ceiling) and good ventilation, otherwise provide optimal mode food storage is impossible.
After this, you can begin the practical part of construction.
Digging a pit
The construction of a cellar at the dacha with your own hands begins with marking the foundation pit, while adding from 0.5 to 1 m to the planned dimensions - this will make it easier to waterproof the cellar. First, the top fertile layer of soil is removed - it can later be used to create flower beds, terraces, alpine slides etc. After this, the pit itself is dug (Fig. 6).
Advice! To prevent the earth from crumbling down and the soil to hold stronger, the walls of the pit are made not vertical, but with a slight slope, and the steepness of the slope is selected depending on the type of soil (the harder it is, the smaller the slope).
To make sure that water is not seeping through the walls somewhere, the pit is allowed to stand for some time. Places where water has appeared are sealed with so-called “clay tampons” - they dig out a ditch (up to 50 cm deep) and trample it with crumpled fat clay, while compacting it tightly.
Cellar base
To obtain the base, the bottom of the pit is leveled and compacted, after which a sand and gravel cushion is made and the first layer of concrete 5-10 cm thick is poured. Ruberoid is laid on top of the first layer in 2-3 layers or melted bitumen is poured (waterproofing layer, Fig. 7) , after which they are concreted again, pouring a layer 10-15 cm thick. If walls are built from brick (half a brick thick), then this base will be quite enough as a foundation. If the walls are made of concrete blocks or some walls of the cellar will be continued as load-bearing walls home, you will need to pour a separate foundation.
Walling
You can use different materials to build cellar walls. Most often, brick is used for this, concrete blocks(Fig. 8, most often they are used to build load-bearing walls of a house on them), rubble, cinder block (Fig. 9). Another option is to pour monolithic concrete walls; in this case, the walls can be integral with the base, for which purpose the reinforcement for the walls is initially fixed in it (Fig. 10), then the formwork is installed and the mortar is poured (Fig. 11).
Floor installation
The choice of material for flooring is largely determined by what loads it will have to withstand during further operation. It can be produced:
- wood - beams or logs on which boards or beams are laid on top. Because in the cellar there is always high humidity, All wooden elements must be treated with an antiseptic
- metal beams on which concrete slabs can be laid. In this case, it is necessary to especially carefully process and seal the seams (joints of plates)
- monolithic concrete floor - poured in the same way as monolithic walls
Ladder
The simplest, but very inconvenient option is ladder, welded from pipes or knocked down from wood. It is advisable to provide in the project stationary ladder made of iron, concrete or metal, it is both more convenient and safer to use:
- the minimum width is 30-40 cm, but better order 50-60 cm, it will be convenient to climb
- if you plan to lower heavy, large-sized loads into the cellar that need to be carried by two people, then the width of the stairs should be at least 80 cm
- the maximum permissible slope is 75 degrees, but such a staircase will be within the capabilities of the young and energetic. To make the stairs comfortable, but not take up much space, the optimal slope is 45 degrees - it’s quite easy to climb (the flight is not very long) even with a load in your hands
- step height – 15 – 20 cm, width – 25-30 cm
Waterproofing basement walls
To ensure water resistance, concrete and brick walls are additionally plastered with cement mortar. After the layer has completely dried plaster With outside Bituminous mastic is applied to the walls, onto which roofing material is glued (Fig. 11), after which soil is backfilled.
Advice! To improve waterproofing, instead of backfilling with soil, you can do clay castle. To do this, clay is mixed with water and coarse sand until a plastic mass resembling plasticine is formed. The resulting mass is placed in a pit between the walls and the ground, compacting it very tightly.
Ventilation device
Properly organized natural ventilation will avoid excessive humidity and dampness, maintaining optimal temperature and humidity conditions in the cellar. To do this, two pipes are installed in the cellar (metal, ceramic, asbestos-cement, plank, etc.):
- exhaust - installed at the top, almost under the ceiling, and it must be insulated
- inlet - located at a height of 50-60 cm from the floor
To ensure maximum air exchange, the pipes should be located as far apart as possible. The cross-section of the pipe is selected in accordance with the size of the cellar, for example, for normal ventilation of a cellar with an area of 8 m2 and a height of 2 m, a pipe with a cross-section of 12X12 cm is required. The main signs of impaired ventilation: the appearance of condensation on the ceiling, dampness, signs of mold, musty, unpleasant air . Figure 12 shows a diagram of the organization of ventilation for a separate cellar
Figure 13 shows a diagram of the organization of ventilation for the cellar in the basement of the house.
It is worth noting that on supply pipe It is necessary to install a grate that will prevent rodents from entering the cellar.
Advice! If natural ventilation is not enough, to combat excess humidity, you can install boxes with substances that actively absorb moisture ( quicklime, salt).
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On the territory of a suburban area, it would not 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 being erected in damp places with an average groundwater table;
- above-ground buildings are made when groundwater is too close.
Note! On a site with too high humidity must be arranged special pillow from a sand and gravel mixture. 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.
DIY cellar at the dacha step by step: basic work
After selection suitable place for country storage you can start basic work. The listed stages are relevant for underground and semi-buried structures. As for above-ground structures, they have a slightly different construction technology.
Pit preparation
When digging a pit, the following points must be taken into account without fail:
- the depth of the pit is determined by the design of the building;
- the area of the dug pit should be somewhat larger, since a certain part of the space will be occupied by walls and floor;
- You can avoid shedding of earth from the side walls by installing formwork;
- the removed soil should be left for embankment and design of the structure.
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 the fill of the bottom plane 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. waterproofing membrane and reinforcing mesh, then concrete is poured.
Thus, when wondering 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 option for floors is 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 iron 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 you need to do ring drainage 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 inside and out.
A large plastic container can be used as a sealed room. 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.
A cellar in a household plot is simply necessary - it will help preserve a large amount of food stored for the winter, which simply cannot fit in regular refrigerator. This room may be located under the house, or it may be located near it, on the site. To know how to build a cellar on the street, you need to study all stages of this process, starting with digging a pit and ending with installing a roof.
Very an important condition is the choice of time of year for building a cellar. Recommended do work in summer in dry weather, so that the pit remains dry and dense during the construction process.
Types of cellars
An outdoor cellar can be arranged in three main ways:
- completely located underground, in a dug pit, and having a roof over the entrance;
- dug out in an elevated area of the site, on top of which an embankment is made;
- a ready-made insulated body, which is installed in a pit and covered with soil.
Having purchased a ready-made version of the cellar body, you don’t have to worry about the process of building walls and waterproofing them; you just need to prepare the foundation pit and strengthen its bottom.
To determine which one existing options to the maximum extent suitable both for the conditions of a particular site and for the volume of upcoming construction work, we need to consider each of them in more detail.
Cellar on a flat area
This option for building a cellar is quite labor-intensive, but if it is not possible to purchase a ready-made building, and the site area does not have a pronounced elevation, then it will be the only one that is applicable in this case.
When resorting to this method of constructing a cellar, you need to take into account the height of groundwater in the given area and in the specific area where the pit will be dug. If the area is not enough, then soil water can ruin all the work done or, appearing later, render the products stored in the cellar unusable.
The approximate water level is determined by looking into a nearby well in the spring, when abundant snow melts. In summer, in places where groundwater runs high, moisture-loving grass grows, such as horse sorrel, horsetail, sedge and other similar varieties - there it is juicier and taller.
If you want to more accurately determine this parameter, you can call a specialist who will professionally calculate the best place for digging a pit and its possible depth. In any case, there is no need to choose a place in the lowlands where water can stagnate.
When arranging a cellar in this way, the pit must be planned at least two to two and a half meters deep. The work needs to begin with the process of digging a pit.
Pit preparation
The place chosen for the cellar must be thoroughly cleaned by removing the fertile turf layer, thereby marking the area for digging. The work is carried out manually, since the equipment will disturb the edges of the pit, which is undesirable for this particular option for constructing a cellar. To make digging easier, it is better to remove the soil in layers, loosening each of them and carefully leveling the edges of the hole as much as possible.
If the soil on the site itself is loose, then the pit is dug with a slope - then the earth will crumble less. In this case, the top of the pit is marked 30-50 cm in each direction more than its bottom should be.
When enough high level groundwater, the pit is also made wider and deeper by 40-50 cm, and this space is filled with waterproofing material that will protect the walls from dampness. The walls and floor of the cellar can be waterproofed using clay extracted from the pit; it is poured into the bottom of the pit after digging is completed and around the already erected walls. The top fertile layer of soil is suitable for transferring to the beds of a vegetable garden or flower garden, and the rest of the soil can be used, for example, to fill the bottom layer of an “alpine hill”.
Materials for building a cellar
To build cellar walls it is best to use natural materials, which will not emit harmful fumes. The explanation for this is simple - in such a room there will be not only canned closed products, but also vegetables and fruits in special open boxes. They are capable of perceiving and absorbing odors and various kinds substances unnecessary for the body. Metal in open form It is also not recommended to use it in the construction of a cellar, since it will serve as a conductor of cold, violating the optimal temperature required for storing food.
Therefore, for arrangement you need the following:
- choose brick, foam blocks or concrete slabs for the walls;
— for the floor you need cement and sand to make the mortar, reinforcement to strengthen the screed being poured, sand and crushed stone for the “cushion”;
- the floor requires ready-made concrete slabs or boards for formwork and a base for pouring concrete, as well as reinforcement to create an appropriate reinforcing belt;
— on the outside, clay waterproofing can be supplemented with roofing felt, securing it to the walls using mastic;
- for the roof you will need wooden blocks and boards, roofing felt for waterproofing, roofing material;
- plastic pipes for ventilation will be required;
— for the manufacture of hatches and doors, lumber is prepared;
— interior decoration walls involves the use plaster mixture or boards for sheathing.
All wooden parts buildings need to be processed antiseptics so that they last a long time without rotting, damage by insects or microorganisms.
Foundation
In order for the cellar to be reliable and dry, it is best to make it concrete, but before pouring it, you must make a good base for it. waterproofed basis.
- A sand cushion with a thickness of 100 ÷ 120 mm is poured into the bottom of the pit; it must be well compacted. To do this, the sand is slightly moistened and compacted.
- Crushed stone, 60 ÷ 80 mm thick, is poured on top of the sand, leveled and compacted.
- Next, it would be good to make a boundary around the perimeter of the pit and lay reinforcement. The height of the foundation floor can be from 70 to 120 mm.
- The next step is to pour concrete into the formwork and level it.
- After it hardens and the formwork is removed, the sides of the foundation can be coated with tar, which well insulates it from moisture coming from the ground.
It should be noted that the floor of the cellar is sometimes left earthen. This is possible if the groundwater is deep enough. An earthen floor will allow natural ventilation and soil temperature at a given depth to be maintained in the cellar. In this case, to erect walls at the bottom of the pit, a strip foundation is poured around the perimeter.
Construction of walls, ventilation and waterproofing
- Walls can be erected on the prepared foundation. For masonry brick walls In cellars, a mixture of clay and sand is most often used, but the usual cement mortar can also be used.
- If the ceiling of the cellar will rest on the masonry walls, then their thickness should be equal to one brick.
- When using not only walls, but also the soil surrounding the cellar to support the ceiling, then their thickness of half a brick is sufficient.
- If between the earthen walls of the pit and brickwork space is left for waterproofing, then, as it is carried out, this space is filled with clay, spilled with water and thoroughly compacted.
- Between the clay backfill and brick wall a layer of roofing material can be fixed.
- After laying one or two rows of bricks, in the opposite corner from the entrance, in the wall to the entire height of the basement, a niche is cut in the ground for the ventilation pipe.
- In the second or third row of masonry, opposite the niche, install ventilation pipe with a corner outlet that is built into the wall. Later, this hole should be closed with a fine grate to prevent rodents from getting inside the cellar.
- The pipe above the surface of the cellar covering should rise no less than one and a half meters.
- The walls are erected to the top of the pit, with constant monitoring of their verticality and horizontality using a plumb line and a building level.
An important note - if the groundwater comes close to the foundation-floor, then it is worth building around the brick walls. It is usually filled with crushed stone or broken bricks. It will drain moisture from the cellar into a specially constructed container or pit near the cellar.
Cellar cover
The basement can be covered different ways. The simplest of them is to lay concrete slabs on top of it, which should, in addition to the walls, rest on the ground around the cellar by 400 — 500 mm. But not every site can be visited by equipment capable of lifting the slab and placing it in the intended place, so very often you have to do the flooring yourself. Except concrete finished slabs a homemade concrete, wooden or combined floor can be installed. The latter is convenient because between wooden beams It is convenient to lay insulation from the inside of the cellar, as well as to secure the ceiling boards.
- If this option is chosen, then roofing material is laid on top of the walls and on the ground around them, on which processed bars measuring 150 × 100 mm are laid - they will act as beams. The distance between them should be no more than 500 mm.
- A flooring of boards is placed on top of the beam bars, and a hole is provided for the hatch.
- Then, on top of the wooden boards, waterproofing is laid from dense polyethylene film. The film should be placed on the ground, around the cellar.
- A reinforcing grid is laid on top of the film, a boundary formwork is installed, and then the resulting space is filled, which is leveled and left to dry. Thickness concrete floor, poured onto a wooden base should be 40 ÷ 50 mm.
- After the concrete has hardened, the hole for the hatch, if necessary, is raised to the required height and a cover is installed on it.
When constructing such an entrance, the staircase can only be the simplest.
Roof over the cellar
A gable roof will be installed above the hatch, and the rest of the space above the cellar will be covered with the film remaining on the surface and sprinkled with soil.
Since the concrete area will be larger than the cellar room, gable roof installed over its entire width. Thus, a small triangular shed is formed above the hatch, in which you can even stack some firewood.
The roof structure is assembled from high-quality lumber. The rafters of the slopes are fastened at the bottom with bars, which will become a reliable basis for the roof. They need to be secured to a concrete base with anchor elements.
You can do it another way. Along the perimeter concrete platform it is necessary to fold a low wall into two or three rows of bricks, and install a roof structure on top of it. The brick part of this mini-shed must be covered with waterproofing.
The front part of the roof is sheathed with boards, and roofing felt can be laid on the slopes, and slate or metal tiles on top. Some people prefer to cover the slopes with plywood and then lay soft roof. On the one hand, the pediment is completely sewn up, and on the other, an opening is left for installing the front door.
When the cellar is no longer affected by precipitation, you can light the interior and finish the walls and ceiling.
Cellar lighting
The interior decoration of the room can, of course, be done before installing the ceiling, but there is no guarantee that it will not be spoiled by sudden rain. Therefore, it is better to conduct electricity and make lighting after the hatch is closed with the roof.
Lighting should be done not only in the basement, but also at the entrance to it under the roof.
From the house to the roof above the hatch into the cellar they stretch copper wires in reliable double insulation, they are already led down from this entrance room. The lamps must be placed so that under no circumstances can they be touched when going down to the basement. It is best to cover the light bulbs with a protective cap.
The wiring must be done in such a way that the light bulbs turn on simultaneously - under the roof and in the cellar. The switch should be placed under the roof at the entrance, at a convenient height, approximately 1.2 ÷ 1.5 m from the floor. It is prohibited to install sockets in a cellar or basement due to safety precautions.
If you do not have experience with conducting and connecting electricity, then it is better to entrust this to qualified specialists, since, without knowing the wiring system, best case scenario, you can leave the whole house without light.
Finishing walls, floors and ceilings
If the cellar is good waterproofed, then any material can be used for finishing. If the ceiling is built on bars, then it is worth laying insulation in mats between them - this will maintain an even temperature in the cellar room and in winter frosts, and in the summer heat.
To strengthen the insulation to concrete ceiling, you can mount a lattice structure that can press the mats to the surface. From below it will not be difficult to sheathe the ceiling with boards or moisture-resistant plasterboard, screwing it to the bars.
Roofing felt and mastic can be replaced with liquid rubber or liquid silicate glass, which will also create a waterproof layer.
Many people leave the walls brick, without additional covering, but it is better to finish them plaster mortar, rubbing to perfect evenness. They can be soaked liquid waterproofing, which is able to penetrate deep into the plaster and, having crystallized, make it waterproof. After the waterproofing has dried, you can whitewash the walls with lime - this will make the cellar room neater and brighter.
After all the finishing of the cellar is completed and dried, you can think about where and how many shelves to place and where to organize boxes (boxes) for storing root vegetables.
There is one trick that will help site owners naturally remove excess moisture from the cellar. To do this, you just need to plant around the cellar berry bushes, which will actively absorb moisture from the soil. Trees of any species should not be planted close to the building, as their roots can destroy the waterproofing, and over time, even the walls of the cellar.
Prices for various types of thermal insulation materials
Thermal insulation materials
Video: stages of construction of one of the cellar options
Cellar with an inclined entrance and an earthen embankment
The second option for a cellar is located on a small hill, if there is one on the site. If there are high groundwater levels and there is such a place on the territory, this particular cellar will be the best option. However, such an “elevation” can also be created artificially.
The peculiarity of this approach is that all the soil that is removed from the pit is used for embankment on top of the roof and entrance. A thick layer of soil will not allow summer time warm up the cellar room, and keep it inside in winter desired temperature for food preservation.
When building such a cellar, a door is used for entry, and not a hatch, as in the first option. The staircase leading down is made of cement mortar, brick or treated boards, and has wide, steep steps rather than simple rungs.
The most important advantage in building such a cellar is that the pit for it does not need to be made too deep, since the embankment of soil built on top creates all the necessary conditions. The floors and walls are arranged in the same way as in the first case, but the work of the corridor leading down also complicates the work.
- The first thing they do is, as in the first option, they dig a foundation pit, but not so deep, since the walls will be raised above it.
- Then, on the other side, where it is planned to install the door, steps are cut into the ground leading to the surface. They are subsequently necessarily strengthened by one of the options mentioned above.
- The optimal solution would be to strengthen the steps reinforcement mesh and pour concrete with a layer of 40 — 60 mm, having previously made enclosing formwork. Steel corners are built into the edges of the steps - they will allow the stairs to last longer. If the steps are securely reinforced, they can serve as a foundation for the walls of the corridor leading upward.
- When the walls are removed, you can move on to installing the ceiling. It can be folded in the form of an arch or have a flat surface running parallel to the direction of the stairs.
- The brick walls of this cellar option rise higher above the pit than in the first option, so much so that the ceiling height is at least two meters.
- After raising the walls to the required height, a ceiling is placed on top. It must be strong enough to support a thick mound of soil. Waterproofing the walls is carried out in the same way as in the first option, but in this case it will also have to be done from above, under the roof.
- There is no need to insulate the ceiling or screed the cellar roof. There are enough floor beams for which flat or regular slate is laid on which and a mound of soil is made.
- Reaching the surface can take different forms, but in any case it must be brick wall in which the door is installed. The upper and lower doors will reliably close the room from external cold or summer heat. Doors are usually made of thick boards, which themselves are natural insulation.
Such a cellar is sometimes made not in a dug pit, but by digging downhill. This method is more complicated in the sense that it is not as easy to remove soil from a closed space as from a pit.
When making a cellar in this way, as you go deeper down the walls, you install supports that will hold the vault. At the end of the dug room it is necessary. For it, a hole is drilled from above into which the pipe is installed.
The interior is usually finished with bricks or stones, which are laid along the walls on concrete or clay mortar. Raised walls can turn into an arched ceiling or be covered with massive, impregnated with antiseptic compounds logs, which can be covered with boards on top.
But this method of building a cellar is rarely used today, since it is quite labor-intensive, requires careful calculations and, it must be said, is quite unsafe due to the risk of the vault collapsing during the digging process.
Installation of a finished structure for a cellar
Currently industrial enterprises ready-made housings are produced cellars from different materials, which eliminate the labor-intensive processes of wall construction and waterproofing during their installation. If you purchase such an insulated cellar, then you do not need to do additional thermal insulation for it.
Very good decision- ready-made barrel cellar This structure can be installed on the street or even under the house. The entrance to the cellar is a hermetically sealed hatch, which means that there is no need to build a massive staircase.
For example, a cylindrical body is presented, the side parts of which are made in the form of hemispheres - this is exactly what geometric shape will withstand external dynamic impact well when the soil swells during freezing.
Barrel cellar it is quite compact: its diameter is only 2.2 m, the length of the room inside the case is 3.3 m, and the total volume is 10.40 m³. In fact, it is a small cozy underground room with shelves arranged on the walls and ventilation.
The walls of the barrel are reliably insulated and absolutely sealed. They are multi-layered and consist of polyurethane foam and carbon steel, A outer shell made of fiberglass. The surfaces inside the barrel are primed and coated with enamel.
The ventilation system is made according to all the rules, and consists of two pipes - exhaust and supply. They are located on opposite side walls of the barrel and maintain optimal humidity conditions indoors.
The floors, shelf system and stairs are made of well-dried, varnished wood, which creates a favorable atmosphere for storing workpieces, fruits or vegetables.
In addition, a lighting system is installed inside the cellar using undervoltage at 12 V, which is safe for working at depth and in wet conditions.
Installation of the cellar barrel is quite simple. Considering the size of the structure, a pit is dug under it. A reliable base is arranged in it, on which the container is lowered, and then buried with soil. If the cellar is made in street conditions, then it is recommended to build a shed or at least a shed with a roof over the hatch, which winter time will not allow the entrance to be covered with snow.
The installation of such a cellar is usually carried out by a manufacturing company, whose specialists during this process take into account all the available nuances of the technology, so the owner of the site is tasked with only the simplest work.
Video: installation of a finished insulated cellar
Which of the presented cellars located on the street should be chosen by the owner of the site depends on the available capabilities and characteristics of the territory. Some people prefer to do everything themselves from start to finish in order to be confident in every stage of the work done. Others trust the construction of the cellar to qualified craftsmen who know all the intricacies technological process. Still others opt for ready-made designs, which will cause a minimum of hassle during installation.
Read interesting information How to do it in our new article.
To ensure that the cellar always remains dry and the temperature in it is stable, its construction should be carried out in compliance with certain rules and requirements. The work ahead is quite extensive, but in the future it will pay off with interest.
The cellar can be located either away from other buildings or located under a house, garage, bathhouse or barn. A storage facility located under the building allows you to save space on the site, and it will be much more convenient to use in winter.
If you decide to build it in an open area, then you should choose a higher place - in a storage facility located in a lowland there will be constant dampness. It is advisable that a free-standing cellar be located in the shade. In this case, in the summer it will warm up less.
To avoid the collapse of buildings, in no case should a free-standing cellar be located closer than half a meter from their walls.
Types of cellars
The decisive factor when choosing the type of cellar is ground water level . If the aquifer is too close, spring floods will flood your food supplies every year. And no drainage system will not help - the more you pump out water, the faster the ducts will erode, and every year there will be more and more of it in the cellar.
To prevent it from being flooded during floods, it should be located 0.5 m above this level. To determine how close groundwater is to the surface, you can use:
- garden auger: 2.5 m long or more;
- spoon drill: it is used to drill wells under water, but it can also be used for similar measurements.
After drilling, the well should stand still for at least a day. Next, the water level is measured using a long rod lowered into the well. Depending on the result obtained, they decide which type of cellar can be built on the site:
- underground: a standard cellar located on a dry area, most often deepened by 2.5-3 m;
- semi-recessed; less demanding on the soil, its depth is on average 1 m;
- bulk: built on marshy soils, where the groundwater level is very high;
- a slope cellar, a type of bulk cellar, is used quite rarely.
To protect against frost heaving of the soil and preserve heat in storage cellar depth must necessarily be 0.5 m below its freezing level.
Construction of a cellar in stages
A cellar should only be built in summer – at this time the groundwater drops to its greatest depth. To prevent an open cellar from being flooded with water, work is carried out only in dry weather. If it does rain, cover the hole with polyethylene for a while.
Pit preparation
Construction of floors
It is not advisable to fill the floors in the cellar with concrete. The soil located below the freezing depth will be the main (and in the case of a cellar located outside the buildings) and the only source of heat in winter and cold in summer.
Clay castle
Our ancestors have long used compacted fatty clay to waterproof foundations and basements. Of course, it will not save you from rising groundwater, but clay is quite capable of protecting you from capillary moisture, which constantly penetrates through the thickness of the soil. This kind of protection is called clay castle
.
To create it, clay is laid in layers:
- at the bottom the height of the castle is 0.4 m;
- wall thickness 0.25-0.3 m.
To make the clay plastic, it is pre-soaked and left to soak for some time. Ideal option It will be harvested in the fall. Over the winter in the open air, it will gain enough moisture, and it will be easy to work with.
It should not crumble, but also not flow out of your fingers. Clay is laid using adjustable formwork in small layers. You can start working with a new layer if it has dried to the consistency of plasticine.
The quality of the clay will be much higher if 20% lime is added to it.
Wall decoration
The walls can be made of brick, concrete, rubble or asbestos cement sheets. Thickness concrete wall should be 5 cm, buta - 25 cm. To protect against capillary moisture, they are coated before finishing bitumen mastic, hot bitumen or paste over roll materials(roofing felt, roofing felt, etc.).
To pour concrete, vertical formwork is prepared. To create a waterproof film, the wall can additionally be plastered cement-sand mortar- iron. The ratio of sand and cement in this case is 1:1. To protect against cracking, lime is added to the solution (about 1/10 of the cement). 
Be sure to insulate the hatch or door leading to the cellar. They should fit as tightly as possible and have no gaps. They are made in two layers and edged with timber or metal corner filled with any heat-insulating material(for example, polystyrene foam or polystyrene foam).
Ventilation
Since most vegetables should be stored in dry, ventilated areas, the cellar must be equipped natural ventilation. To do this, perform the following work:
- Exhaust and supply pipes are installed in the cellar:
Pros and cons of free-standing cellars
Free-standing buildings have significant disadvantages:
- Such storage facilities must be equipped with a ground part - an entrance and a roof, which significantly increases the cost of their construction.
- Inconvenient to use winter period: the passage to them will need to be cleared of snow. Plus in very coldy To avoid getting cold, it is not advisable to open them often.
But there are also positive aspects of having a cellar located outside the house. The temperature in the underground under a heated building is always much higher than in the cellar. Therefore, vegetables and fruits are stored in it only until the end of winter - by spring, potatoes, carrots and other vegetables begin to sprout, and fruits begin to flake. In a separate cellar they are stored excellently until the end of summer. Plus, if there is a subfloor in the house, rodents infest it faster. If supplies are kept in a separate storage unit, they are less likely to come into the house.
If land plot is small and there is no space for building a separate cellar, you can use the advice of the author of this video and make a mini-cellar with your own hands: