Cellar in the country: we build it with our own hands. Do-it-yourself cellar - step-by-step guide to construction and design (110 photo ideas) Proper do-it-yourself cellar

It is hard to imagine modern house or a personal plot without a cellar. This structure allows you to preserve the harvest and preserve it until spring. A typical cellar design involves its exterior design. This free-standing building creates a unique atmosphere of a rural house and adds coziness to the site.

The following two concepts are distinguished:

  • cellar;
  • basement.

The basement is located in the house under the floor and can serve as both a storage room and any other room. The cellar has a very specific purpose - to be a storage facility for agricultural products and preservation.

To ensure reliable food safety, the cellar must meet the following requirements:

  1. Maintain optimal temperature conditions at any time of the year.
  2. Create a microclimate, preventing drying out and waterlogging of products.
  3. Constant influx fresh air to remove the smell of gases.
  4. Reliability and spaciousness of racks and shelves.
  5. Prevent rodents and insects from entering the premises.
  6. Reliable waterproofing system.
  7. Free access to provisions, easy accessibility.

The following requirements also apply to materials and design:

  • structural strength;
  • durability of materials;
  • weather resistance;
  • good waterproofing;
  • reliable supply ventilation system.


Types of cellars

The method can be divided into three types:

  • recessed;
  • semi-recessed;
  • ground.

Based on their location relative to the house:

  • underground;
  • wall;
  • separate cellar.

A free-standing structure is usually built into a natural hill. If the personal plot is located on a plain, the cellar is partially or completely dug into the ground, artificially creating a mound above it.



The building must be equipped with a vestibule. This requirement is due to the fact that cold air can damage the safety of provisions. Protection from drafts is also necessary. In the cellar, supplies are arranged in accordance with storage temperature, according to the principle: the lower the shelf, the colder.

Important! A good location for a home cellar would be shaded areas. Entrance door It is recommended to face the north or northeast side. This technique will help avoid overheating of the room from the scorching sun in summer.

For a standard family of four, 7 square meters of storage will be sufficient. The cellar can be larger. It all depends on the needs and financial capabilities of the owner.



Deep cellar

Buried structures include structures that are completely below the surface of the earth.



If a buried structure is built under the floor of a house, it is a basement. A typical project includes:

  • waterproofed walls and floor;
  • shelves and racks;
  • ventilation vents;
  • stairs;

The interfloor ceiling of the basement must have increased strength, therefore, most often, it is concreted. The entrance to the storage can be arranged both from inside the house and from outside. In the second case, a recessed platform with a staircase is additionally equipped. The walls are made of brick, cinder block or wood. But monolithic poured structures are quite acceptable. This arrangement method is the most common.



A free-standing deep cellar is built as a separate building. The design scheme is quite simple. A pit is being prepared on the site, about two meters deep. Then the floor is drained and the walls covered with waterproofing are installed. The ceiling is made of fairly light materials: beams covered with a mixture of clay and straw. The thickness of such a shelter is 40-50 cm. The floor is protected by a layer of clay up to 15 cm high. A drainage system 50 cm thick must be installed along the perimeter of the cellar. The design of a cellar with a cellar is the most complex design. This structure consists of underground and above-ground parts. The recessed part is used directly as storage for products. The above-ground part (house) can be used to store household equipment. A cellar equipped in this way very well protects the basement from precipitation and temperature changes.



Semi-buried cellar

The semi-buried cellar design can be built on both flat and hilly terrain. The basement part is deepened into the ground by 75-150 cm. The walls are laid from brick, cinder block or concrete. The ceiling is covered with beams and filled with clay coating, on top of which a waterproofing layer of roofing felt is laid. The surface of the semi-buried structure is covered with earth. This allows you to maintain approximately the same temperature in the cellar both in winter and summer.

Above ground cellar

An above-ground food storage structure is erected in cases of high groundwater. The entire structure must be above the ground surface, or with a slight depression of up to 50 cm.



The most important task when constructing this type of structure is to achieve the effect of a thermos. Most often, a layer of earth up to 1 meter high is poured on top of the cellar. The height of a cellar built above the ground is usually 2 meters.

Important! The facade of the above-ground cellar is carefully insulated so that the temperature inside the storage always remains the same.

An interesting type of ground basement is a glacier. A special feature of its construction is that it is 40-50 cm deep into the ground for storing ice. Hence the name. It is very important to provide high-quality ventilation in the glacier.



Wine cellar

A wine cellar is usually built in basement Houses. The area of ​​such storage can be 7-10 square meters. Very an important condition is compliance with temperature and humidity conditions. The temperature in the wine cellar should be between 12-16 degrees. Humidity should be maintained at 70%.



Such a cellar should be located away from workshops and garages to avoid exposure to vibration. An equally important condition is the cladding. All materials must be safe and environmentally friendly, and must not emit odors. The walls must be carefully covered with thermal insulation materials. The space is equipped with shelves with cutouts for bottles or kegs. The best material Brick is used to build walls, and sand is used to fill the floor.



Construction of a cellar

Before proceeding directly to the construction of the storage facility, it is necessary to select a location for the construction of the cellar. The location for the construction of a food storage may well be an area with a hill where atmospheric moisture cannot enter and accumulate. If groundwater is high, it is necessary to build an above-ground cellar.



Advice!It is recommended to equip a semi-buried building with a groundwater height of 1.5 m.



The construction of the cellar is carried out in stages:

  1. Preparing the pit.
  2. Laying a drainage cushion made of gravel, expanded clay, crushed stone, sand.
  3. Laying a waterproofing layer.
  4. Reinforcement and concreting of the floor.
  5. Preparation of formwork for the construction of walls.
  6. Installation of fittings.
  7. Concreting walls.
  8. Vibrator compaction.
  9. External waterproofing.
  10. Internal waterproofing.
  11. Plastering ceilings and walls, cladding.
  12. Arrangement of space with racks and shelves.
  13. Ventilation equipment.
  14. Ceiling arrangement.

Basic principles when laying a cellar

Laying the foundation

  1. The size of the pit around the perimeter must be increased by 30-40 cm from the actual dimensions.
  2. The minimum foundation depth is 30cm.
  3. The perimeter is strengthened with formwork to prevent the soil from collapsing.
  4. Posts 10 cm high are installed in the corners.

After installing the foundation, they proceed to waterproofing and pouring the floor with concrete. Waterproofing is achieved using a layer of crushed stone, gravel or construction waste. For greater effect, dry mixtures are poured with heated bitumen. Sheets of roofing material are laid on top. On top of the waterproofing layer, the basement cellar floor is covered with sand.



Walling

If the site has wet soil, the walls of the cellar are mounted from reinforced concrete grade 350. The most suitable replacement for concrete is brickwork or stone. But the use of these building materials is recommended on dry soils. Basement wall installation steps:

  1. Installation of formwork.
  2. Installation of reinforcing mesh.
  3. Layer-by-layer pouring of concrete with careful compaction.
  4. The top of the reinforcement sheet is attached to the ceiling.
  5. After thorough and lengthy drying, the formwork can be disassembled. Dismantling should be done after 4 weeks.


Arrangement of the vestibule

In front of the storage room there is a vestibule with two doors. The air that accumulates in the vestibule acts as thermal insulation. Thanks to it, the necessary microclimate is created in the storage facility. When creating a cellar layout, you need to carefully consider the number of steps in the staircase. The width of each tread is at least 200mm. A well-designed space will provide access and accessibility to any shelf and storage rack.



Ceiling

The basement ceiling is made using permanent formwork. Concrete grade 250 is used as the main material. Stages of installation of the ceiling:

  1. From wooden beams a transverse frame is performed.
  2. A reinforcing mesh with 20cm cells is laid on top of the frame.
  3. The wall fittings are connected to the ceiling fittings using tying wire.
  4. The formwork is being constructed.
  5. Pouring concrete occurs in several stages. Each layer must be thoroughly compacted and allowed to dry.

Complete hardening of the ceiling fill occurs after 3 weeks.

Waterproofing

The basement requires careful waterproofing. The installation of a moisture-protective layer in the cellar is carried out using mastic and bitumen liquid mixtures.



Sheets of roofing material are fused over the walls, which are carefully connected to the floor covering, additionally coating the seams with mastic. External walls and ceiling are protected polystyrene foam boards. The ceiling is insulated double layer roofing felt A layer of crushed stone and sand is poured on top. Then, geotextiles are laid. The final covering is a land rampart. Soil is a natural thermal insulator. To strengthen the earthen embankment it is necessary to plant ground cover plants with a developed root system.

In the garage

Cellar ventilation

Without constant air exchange, products will not be stored indoors. Therefore, a very important step in arranging a cellar is the installation of a ventilation system. Principle of ventilation arrangement:

  1. The exhaust pipe is fixed. It must be fixed in the highest place under the ceiling.
  2. The supply pipe must be placed slightly higher than the floor covering.
  3. The ends of the pipes are brought out.
  4. The resulting vents in the walls between the pipes must be insulated with polyurethane foam.
  5. Moisture canopies and a mesh to prevent rodents and insects are hung on the outer ends of the pipes.

Ventilation vents can be made of concrete. Using formwork, mount the pipe and insulate it with mastic and roofing felt.



Facade decoration

The facade of the external cellar must meet increased requirements for the durability of the material. In addition, the door must fit tightly to prevent drafts.



A cozy cellar mound fits perfectly into the landscape of any personal plot. By laying out a beautiful path to the basement and lining the façade of the storage facility with natural natural stone, an ordinary cellar will turn into the most beautiful part of the site.

Owners are showing increasing interest in building cellars, in particular above-ground ones. summer cottages And country houses. When a city dweller hears the word “cellar,” he certainly imagines a deep hole in the ground. While in rural areas it is not at all uncommon to find an above-ground cellar - an excellent alternative to traditional storage buried in the ground.

Such a structure is distinguished not only by its large capacity, but also by an optimal microclimate, which allows you to keep food fresh for several months. And building it with your own hands is quite simple. The cost of construction is also quite low compared to the underground option.

An above-ground or above-ground cellar can be built on any site, including one with a high groundwater level. At the same time, the cellar, like any other outbuilding, can be beautifully decorated, and thereby make your site even more attractive. But first things first.

Choosing a location on the site

The durability of an above-ground cellar and the safety of the products in it depend precisely on the correctly chosen location of the building. Construction should be carried out in a dry (preferably elevated) place so that the groundwater level is 50-60 cm below the bottom of the storage facility.

It is better to choose a place for construction on a hillock.

If the water is very close, you should first create a cushion of sand and gravel under the bottom of the storage. It's also easy to do it yourself. Due to drainage, it will be possible to avoid water leakage into the room.

Well, now it’s time to decide on the type of this very storage.

Features of above-ground storage facilities

The main difference between cellars from each other lies in a single indicator - location relative to the soil level. An above-ground cellar is constructed entirely on the surface, in contrast to underground ones, which are buried half or completely into the ground.

Ground cellars are:

  1. Free-standing, that is, erected as an autonomous structure.
  2. Wall-mounted. In this case, one of the walls of the cellar is the wall of an existing building: a barn house, etc. An above-ground wall cellar will not be discordant with the surrounding landscape.

Despite the external differences, both construction options have undeniable advantages:

  • They occupy a small area of ​​the site.
  • They completely eliminate flooding.
  • Excellent functionality at any time of the year with absolute energy independence.
  • Ease of use due to relatively large sizes cellars, unlike conventional household refrigerators.

But, of course, as in any other structure, you can notice some disadvantages here:

There are three main types of above-ground storage structures.

Regular storage shed with embankment

This is the simplest structure. It looks more like a hut, and boards or logs are used to build it. Moreover, it is not at all necessary to buy new ones, because on each site there will be previously used building materials.

Scheme of construction of a vegetable storehouse.

To build such a cellar with your own hands, you only need to perform a few operations:

  1. Sanded logs with a diameter of no more than 25 cm should be covered with bitumen or burned to a height of 50-60 cm, which will double their service life.
  2. Along the perimeter of the future building, dig the blanks with the processed edge into the ground. Tie the upper ends tightly together using long poles. Thus, a complete structure is obtained.
  3. Make a sheathing from a “slab” and a roof from boards.
  4. Cover the structure with roofing felt, that is, create the necessary waterproofing.
  5. Arrange thermal insulation: sew up the end side in 2 rows of boards and lay a layer of roofing material between them.
  6. To fall asleep (to embank) peat soil, perfectly retains heat. Sow any low-growing or trailing plants.
  7. On the north side, make an entrance with an insulated door and a canopy over it.
  8. Dig a not very deep ditch along the entire perimeter of the constructed cellar to create protection from the ingress of water.
  9. Arrange ventilation: the hood will serve wooden box, equipped with a control valve and a pair of pipes: exhaust (under the ceiling) and flow, located 50 cm above the floor level.

This is what a storage shed might look like from the outside.

The optimal dimensions of the storage shed are 4x8 meters. Its service life is about 10 years.

Important! The edges of the roof should hang almost to the ground. Thus, the constructed cellar should externally imitate a hut. And the snow that falls in winter will act as a natural insulation.

There is also a collapsible storehouse model - for those who do not want to clean out their vegetable storage every year. As a rule, it is erected in early autumn and dismantled in the spring. However, after this, the soil should be dug up to the depth of a spade bayonet and treated with a 5% solution of copper sulfate. That is, disinfect the soil. The service life of such a cellar can also reach 10-12 years.

Cellar without embankment

A cellar built entirely above ground level, like a conventional outbuilding.

It is quite simple to build such a storage facility with your own hands, having some construction skills. You just need to follow the sequence of work:

  1. Make markings for the future above-ground cellar and remove the turf. Dig a hole no more than 50-60 cm deep, and collect the earth in a pile (you will need it later). Then, level and thoroughly compact the prepared area.
  2. Arrange a drainage cushion of expanded clay, fine gravel or coarse sand, that is, equip the cellar with the necessary waterproofing.
  3. To create reliable protection against rodents: place a layer of 10-12 cm of well-soaked and kneaded clay on the prepared pillow.
  4. Lay (drown) red bricks flat into it. Moreover, the gap between them should be minimal.
  5. Lay out the side walls with bricks (place them on edge). The binding solution is a mixture of sand, clay and lime. In this case, the masonry should rise above the ground level by the bayonet of a shovel.
  6. Make the ceiling and walls: to build an above-ground cellar you will need fairly thick boards (forty or fifty gauge). They should be sewn in 2 rows, laying each thermal insulation material(expanded clay, polystyrene foam, moss, etc.).
  7. Cover with roofing felt finished walls- this will avoid the occurrence of unwanted drafts in the vegetable storage.
  8. With one of end sides In a self-built above-ground cellar, construct a crawl space with internal and external doors. When severe cold occurs, insulation must be laid between them. It is also necessary to build a small vestibule to promote more reliable thermal insulation of the storage facility. Install a ventilation pipe on the same side.
  9. Build a roof: it can be single or gable. The material for it will be any roofing material: slate or roofing felt.
  10. Along the perimeter of the above-ground cellar you built with your own hands, dig a drainage ditch up to 50 cm deep and equip a blind area (1 m wide) with a slight slope from the storage. This will protect it from flooding.

Ground wall cellar

A good solution that saves land area is to build a cellar near load-bearing wall Houses. Moreover, with minimal material costs (subject to doing the work yourself).

Scheme of construction of a wall storage facility.

The work order is as follows:

  1. Mark the perimeter of the future building (its size is selected individually).
  2. Lay out the walls of the storage facility: the material can be burnt brick or monolithic concrete; The masonry is done in 1 brick using sand-cement mortar in a 3x1 ratio. Internal and external walls must be thoroughly plastered with cement mortar.
  3. Apply 2 layers of bitumen grease outside the cellar, that is, create reliable waterproofing.
  4. To make the floor - thoroughly level the earthen surface, clean it and make a concrete base no more than 20 cm thick.
  5. After the concrete has completely hardened (after 7-10 days), pour cement-sand mortar 5-6 cm thick, that is, to finally create a floor in the cellar. At the same time, in order to avoid unnecessary stress on the building, all concrete work should be carried out in one day. This way the mass will harden evenly over the entire area.
  6. Build a multi-layer roof using slab, clay and 2 layers of roofing felt.
  7. Fill it with dry (preferably fertile) soil and sow it with low-growing perennials.
  8. Along the entire perimeter of a self-built above-ground cellar, make a blind area with a slight slope away from the building and dig a shallow (20-25 cm) groove to drain rain or melt water.
  9. Equip with shelves and all kinds of necessary containers for storing vegetables and home canning.

Important! You should not neglect any of the systems (waterproofing, ventilation, insulation, drainage), since they are all equally important, interconnected and support each other.

Any outbuilding can be beautifully decorated.

It should be remembered that the best time to build a cellar is summer, when the groundwater level is lowest.

Thus, an above-ground cellar built according to all the rules with your own hands will bring only benefit and satisfaction to its owners for many years.

Preserving a crop is sometimes more difficult than growing it. A generally accessible and virtually maintenance-free means for this is the cellar. When built separately, it is also the least labor-intensive and cost-intensive compared to other types of storage for agricultural products, except for pile and underground. But a cellar in an individual household is optimal in many respects:

  • Only 1-3 types of root vegetables can be stored in a pile, and in the cellar everything that they eat themselves and keep for sale, from potatoes to delicious smoked meats.
  • The loss of goods stored in the cellar is much less than in the pile.
  • The pile must be disassembled as soon as the heat has set in, otherwise it will all rot. In a well-equipped cellar, fruits and herbs can be kept fresh until summer, and root vegetables can be kept fresh until the next harvest.
  • The volume of excavation, construction and installation work during the construction of a cellar is much less than that of bunker-type storage facilities.
  • When building a cellar, you can do without expensive materials and complex technologies - a novice builder can make a good cellar with his own hands from scrap materials.
  • The labor intensity of the cellar is quite high, but comparable to laying a pile and much less than for bunker storages. Additionally, the cellar is built once, but the pile needs to be folded/disassembled annually.
  • Compared to an underground cellar, a properly constructed cellar is better ventilated, which reduces the likelihood of rotting to an insignificant amount, and is poorly accessible to pest animals.
  • The cellar does not require a constant power supply, filling with preservative gas, etc. costly receipts from outside.
  • The cellar, if necessary, without any alteration, can be converted into a storage shed for storing large quantities of fruits and vegetables.
  • The allocation of land for the cellar is minimal, even zero, as for bunkers.
  • The cellar fits quite easily into the landscape design of the site, see fig. Experienced and knowledgeable builders even manage to combine a cellar with a pond, right pos. right there.
  • The specific microclimate of the cellar gives some products a special quality.

You should dwell on the last 2 points. Firstly, you can build a pond in a cellar only if you are a builder and an ace hydraulic builder, because... In fact, having a cellar near bodies of water is strictly contraindicated. True, in our time the trick with a pond can be accomplished by a savvy amateur, if the pond is in a ready-made fiberglass or carbon bowl and is equipped with an overflow. But during the cellar it will give a lot of extra land; then you can build an ice cellar, see below, in which apples and cabbage will last until the new harvest.

Secondly, a person completely devoid of the makings of a taster, when tasting at the market, can easily distinguish between jar cucumbers or sauerkraut from barrel ones, in favor of the latter. But, if you give him a taste of tub-and-barrel pickles, not only vegetables, but also mushrooms, meat, fish, lard, aged in the cellar and home-basement, then he will also easily give preference to cellar ones. And smoked meats stored in the cellar acquire a particularly delicate taste and aroma.

Thirdly, only in the cellar (see below) do homemade kvass, syta, intoxicated honey and fruit and berry alcoholic drinks: liqueurs, beer, etc. ripen properly. And grape wine materials (wine, cognac) generally reach the required level condition only in the cellar with special conditions; We will also touch upon wine and cognac cellars in the course of our presentation.

What kind of cellar to build?

In any climate zone of the temperate zone it is possible to build a cellar of any of the 3 types according to the degree of depth: non-buried, pos. 1 in Fig. , semi-recessed, pos. 2, and recessed.

As for materials, the structure (box, chamber) of the cellar can be concrete, stone (brick), wood or earthen. We will return to the choice of material when we talk about construction itself, but for now please note: a cellar of any type must be surrounded by a drainage ditch with free flow. A damp cellar is not a cellar, but a rotten heap.

On the ground

A non-buried cellar is the least labor-intensive, but it “feels” soil movements well and stably maintains only the average seasonal temperature, i.e. It can freeze in winter and heat up in summer. The temperature in it can be brought to the average annual temperature (5-15 degrees within the Central Zone of the Russian Federation) by powerful earthen backfill. This execution is possible if there is a lot of soil left from other construction work, but then a larger land allocation will be required. A typical diagram of a non-buried cellar is shown in Fig. Mainly root vegetables are stored in it until spring or for winter sale. It’s easy to build a glacier in a non-buried cellar, because... drainage of melt water does not cause difficulties. In this case, you can store shelf-stable fruits: quinces, winter varieties of apples and pears until the new harvest. Material for construction – preferably wood or concrete, because the brick chamber may crack when the soil moves.

About the vestibule

The risk of the cellar heating up can be reduced or completely eliminated by equipping it with a vestibule with 2 tight doors. This is how they most often build; a cellar without a vestibule is, in general, a construction hack. The exception is cellars in very cold regions with short summers, where the cellar is more likely to freeze than warm up. The vestibule is made inclined inward, then cold air will not come out of it spontaneously, and warm air will not flow in. But in a non-deep cellar, like it or not, the vestibule will be horizontal, this is another disadvantage.

In the ground

How a semi-buried cellar is constructed is shown in Fig. on right. In the ground it sits above the standard freezing depth (NFD) in the area. This allows you to maintain the average annual temperature in the chamber almost all year round; at the height of summer it rises slightly. You can store everything in a semi-buried cellar, the allocation of land for it is close to minimal, and the excavated soil is almost always enough for sufficiently effective backfilling, so it is preferable to build a semi-buried cellar in the country.

Due to its depth and the presence of a slightly heaving cushion around the entire chamber, a semi-buried cellar is little sensitive to soil movements and can be built from any materials suitable for a cellar. As a result, a semi-buried cellar exists in the greatest number varieties. Unfortunately, it is only possible to supply a semi-buried cellar with a glacier if there is a drainage system on the site, because... draining melt water into periodically freezing soil can cause an emergency.

Dugouts

Earthen cellars are very cheap: construction requires very little material, and the appearance fits perfectly into the country landscape, see fig. on right. The structure of an earthen cellar is shown in Fig. below. Depending on the nature of the continental soil (see below), the slopes of the chamber are sheathed with boards; perhaps along stakes driven into the ground, or left bare. The floor will be filled with clay that has been dug from the surrounding areas. It is also advisable to cover the roof with sand from the surrounding area, on top of it with excavated soil, and also lay excavated turf over it. The upper structure of such a cellar will also be an excellent cellar.

Storehouses

Storage sheds are earthen cellars of shallower depth, without a top structure and with a thicker earthen backfill. Storage sheds are used to store fruits, vegetables and root vegetables for winter and spring sales, because... In the summer heat, they often warm up. Up to 8-10 types of products that are compatible during storage are loaded into bins. In a large storehouse for 1-2 types of root crops, they are sometimes piled on the floor.

A device large and small, with a camera 2-3 times narrower, is shown in Fig. The length of the chamber is practically limited by the size of the storage area. Ventilation of the warehouse is always exhaust and, highly desirable, with a fistula and catcher umbrellas over the bins, see below. When storing several types of products, their bins are each equipped with its own hood. The length of the support posts is 1.2-1.8 m, depending on the thickness of their logs or beams, 150-250 mm, respectively.

Cellar on the slope

An earthen cellar on a slope is very effective, see fig. on right. To be able to build it, the continental soil must be non-slipping, clayey or loamy, and dry. Advantages of a dugout cellar on a slope:

  • Minimum consumption of labor and materials.
  • Almost insensitive to ground movements.
  • It is possible to construct a glacier, because drainage of melt water is simple.
  • A sloping ceiling with a hood at the ridge allows you to store a variety of products, because... Gases released by vegetables and fruits during storage are lighter than air. In fact, the ceiling of the cellar on the slope is one large umbrella-catcher over all the bins at once.

Note: the construction of any earthen cellar is possible only if there is at least 1.7 m from the bottom of the chamber to the groundwater during the period of its highest standing (see below).

Underground

The deep cellar goes into the ground below the NGP, so the average annual temperature in the chamber is stable. It is possible to reduce it to almost zero with a glacier, because... melt water can be drained into permeable, non-freezing soil. This is almost a bunker, only without a layer of soil above the structure. A deep cellar is very expensive and labor-intensive and, unlike a bunker, removes land from economic use, therefore Middle Zone they almost never build these. However, in the southern regions with Mediterranean-type winters, you can sometimes find buried bottle cellars or tandoor cellars, see fig. They are built with adobe (in dry soil), brick or rubble. Thanks to the side sand filling and the top clay castle the temperature in the bottle cellar is kept 5-7 degrees below the annual average, i.e. up to 15 degrees. This is enough to store vegetables until spring, and melons and watermelons until the New Year.

About the cellar

The cellar is a wooden upper structure of the cellar, a kind of hut above the cell. Nowadays, a real log cellar can only be seen in the museum under open air(on the left in the figure), but in vain. Firstly, it serves as a thermal damper and stabilizes the temperature in the cellar at the average annual level with a much smaller depth of the chamber. This is already important, because There are few places suitable for building an earthen cellar, and the cost and labor intensity of a stone cellar with a cellar are reduced by an amount greater than the amount of labor and money spent on the superstructure. Secondly, the same smaller depth of the chamber allows you to build a cellar “on high water” instead of an expensive and complex caisson chamber or half-caisson with drainage. And finally, full ripening of home-made Russian drinks is possible only in the cellar. In general, if you decide to build such a cellar (the diagram on the right in the figure), and then take a sip of kvass from the cellar and compare it with a draft keg, not to mention a bottled one, the question can be considered settled.

Note: By the way, the production of some branded and foreign traditional drinks, alcoholic and non-alcoholic, includes an aging stage in conditions similar to those in a cellar. In addition to apple cider and Calvados, they ripen in the attic.

About ventilation

Ventilation in the cellar is necessary because... During storage, plant agricultural products emit gases, primarily ethylene and aldehyde vapors. Products affect each other with their evaporation, which reduces shelf life, so air must be removed from the cellar, accepting the loss of cold.

For vegetable storage it will be optimal exhaust ventilation, left in Fig. The hood is brought 0.5-0.8 m to the bin that emits the most gases: potato or apple, on the right in Fig. It is highly desirable, as already said, to have its own hood with an umbrella over each bin; in a small cellar they can be combined into one outlet pipe. The flow of outside air is ensured by openings with dampers in the doors.

Smart owners in vegetable stores make a hood with a whistle: instead of simple holes, they equip the doors with whistles, like a kettle boiling alarm, only bigger. The fact is that the release of gases from products decreases closer to the exhaustion of shelf life; this process spreads in the bin or pile from top to bottom. A vacuum occurs in the cellar chamber and the flow of outside air increases. That is, if the fistula “sings” in calm weather, it’s time to sort out what’s stored.

In universal cellars, with pickles and preparations in open containers, smoked meats and animal products, it is necessary supply and exhaust ventilation, see fig. on right. Its design is similar to basement ventilation, see below, but for a cellar, in order not to pull the pipes high up, the hood should be insensitive to the wind and work only on draft. To do this, its diffuser cap (diffuser) is equipped with a ring seal, as in industrial ventilation.

Glacier

In a cellar with a glacier, 9-10 months are possible. maintain a temperature of 3-7 degrees per year, and wait out the peak of the summer heat at 12-15 degrees. This ensures the storage of many types of products until the new harvest. At the same time, building a glacier in a cellar is not so difficult, see fig. The glacier bowl is made of waterproof concrete; You can use a bathtub with additional foam or foam insulation. The bath is convenient because the drain siphon does not allow unmelted sludge into the drainage, but in general its volume is small: for a good glacier you need more than 1 cubic meter. m. In a concrete bowl, slush is held by an inclined partition in a condensate collector.

Both ventilation pipes of a cellar with a glacier should not “catch” the wind pressure, for which they are equipped with wind-independent diffusers. During normal operation of the glacier, the mass of melting ice slowly sucks in outside air and cools it, cold air also slowly flows to the floor, gradually heats up and goes into the hood. If the spring wind blows properly into the inflow or through the hood, all the ice can melt in a day or two. In addition, the optimal air humidity for storing plant products is 80-90%; the same value is acceptable for livestock products. But without an exhaust hood and in the presence of a source of water vapor in the form of melting ice, the humidity can reach the condensation threshold, which is unacceptable for both.

When constructing a cellar with a glacier, special attention should be paid to drainage. If the cellar is on a dry hill, see below, there are no problems even with a non-buried one: the drainage is discharged to the ground below the slope. But dumping it into freezing soil, even the most porous one, is unacceptable: hidden ice may form, and in the summer this can lead to local suffusion of the soil, i.e. its sudden drawdown in the form of a hole. This hole can be anywhere, incl. and under a residential building.

We are building a cellar

The construction of the cellar in stages is as follows:

  1. Choosing a location;
  2. Soil research;
  3. Determining the depth of groundwater;
  4. Choosing the type of cellar and material for construction;
  5. Digging a pit;
  6. Foundation structure;
  7. Construction of the camera;
  8. Backfilling from above or erection of a superstructure;
  9. Equipment: hatch (manhole), doors, shelves, bins, etc.

Place

The best place for a cellar is on a dry slope or slope. A cellar on a hill would also be good. In both cases, if the continental soil is sandy loam, the construction of a glacier will not cause difficulties, see below. On other soils you will have to take care of drainage. A cellar without a glacier can be built on level ground, but an earthen cellar is undesirable.

Is it possible to make room?

Allocating land for a cellar is sometimes difficult, and building a bunker is extremely difficult and expensive. Hence a completely natural question: is it possible to place a cellar under existing buildings? If there is already a basement there, then the question of building a cellar disappears altogether, except perhaps as a storehouse in a commercial economy.

The first thing that comes to mind is home, it’s convenient, you don’t have to go far. However, firstly, the construction of a cellar under an existing house is superior in complexity and the risk of disrupting the stability of the building to repairing the foundation and possible only when the house has completely settled, i.e. no earlier than 3-5 years after completion of construction. Suddenly the foundation cracked, there’s no getting around it, but about the cellar you need to think and think, there’s plenty of time.

Secondly, a cellar cannot be built under a house on any foundation. For example, they definitely exclude the construction of a cellar. In fact, the only type of foundation for a house on which conscientious builder will undertake to develop a cellar project - buried, i.e. normal, below the NGP, depth. And then, if the size and layout of the house allows you to maintain a distance from the pit for the cellar to the inner sides of the tape of at least 1 m. But all the same, so much land will have to be allocated for the entrance to the cellar, and its construction will be so complicated, see Fig., that it will be easier to build separate cellar close to home. And this is not counting the manual, and no other way, digging of the foundation pit under the building and the mandatory resettlement of residents during construction. It’s another matter if there is no land for a cellar on the site, and the house is just being built. Then you need to include a basement in the project; it will be simpler and cheaper in every way.

Thirdly, the temperature in the cellar under the house cannot be kept below 13-15 degrees, because... winter heat loss the houses will be just right for him. If the temperature in it is forcibly reduced in some way, then there is a high probability that the floor of the house will become damp. Amateurs sometimes build cellars under houses, but this is a lottery: one is lucky, but how many don’t know what to do now? Naturally, they don’t brag about it on forums and don’t post videos.

In fact, the only case when building a cellar under a house is justified is if the wine cellar is in places with consistently sub-zero winters. Then the temperature in it will be just right for the maturation of wine materials. If the temperature in the cellar drops below about 10 degrees, the wine material may “catch a cold”, its taste and bouquet will deteriorate. By the way, it is not necessary to plant vineyards in frosty regions; young wine can be purchased; perhaps distill it and age it at home. The limestones near Moscow perfectly age cognacs, the wine spirit for which is purchased on the Don. But in this case, experienced professionals must design and build the cellar, because... There are no completely identical houses, just as there are no matching fingerprints. To take into account all the available circumstances and develop a project based on them, you need to be a very experienced and competent builder. Yes, amateurs also sometimes build wine cellars themselves, but this is already a double lottery. Even though the design turned out to be reliable, we still need to try what kind of wine is ripening in that cellar.

The garage is another matter. Even if it is heated, no one will keep it above +12, it’s ruinous. In the cellar then it will be +(7-8), which is just good. And in the summer, the garage will serve as a heat damper like a cellar. It’s better, of course, not to try kvass “from the garage,” but warming up the cellar in the summer can most likely be avoided. It’s a shame to break an existing screed, but it’s not a disaster.

In a standard garage of 7x4 m, a cellar of 2x (1.5-1.7) m is placed along the blank rear wall. Taking into account the fact that the edge of its box should be no closer than the same 1 m to the foundation of the garage, the inspection hole will have to be shortened. But, since you most often have to climb into it because of the transmission, this is not so scary: suddenly you need to look from below under the hood, the car can be rolled away. If the body is an ordinary sedan, then there are no problems at all, because There is no need for space in the back to lift the 5th door. In general, a cellar in a garage is somewhat more labor-intensive, but optimal if there is a lack of free land on the site. Let's see how to build it further.

Note: the cellar under the garage must be equipped with separate ventilation from the garage, the same as the basement, see fig. on right.

Priming

To determine the nature of the soil in an attractive location, humus is removed to the underlying (continental) rock in an area of ​​0.5x0.5 m. The ideal soil for a cellar is dry, slightly heaving; for a cellar with a glacier - permeable for the sake of ease of drainage, but not excessively, so that the runoff does not migrate where it is not needed, combining high heat capacity with low thermal conductivity. Load bearing capacity special significance does not have, the load is small, but ease of development is important, because You'll have to do a lot of digging by hand.

Rocky soil (item 1 in the figure) is not heaving and has a heat capacity, but is thermally conductive and is very difficult to dig. Clastic (semi-rocky) soil is close to ideal, pos. 2, because it swells little even when heavily moistened, but it is impossible to release runoff from the glacier directly onto it; water in such soils migrates far and unpredictably. Digging in clastic soils is also not easy.

The best soil for a cellar is sandy loam, pos. 3. It satisfies all the conditions of “ideality”, except for heat capacity, but it can be increased by filling the chamber from above; The slopes of the earthen cellar chamber in sandy loam must be strengthened with wooden panels. Loam, pos. 4, worse: conducts heat well and, being waterlogged, swells greatly. It is better not to build a cellar in loam on level ground.

Completely unsuitable for cellars as load-bearing soils, sand, pos. 5, and clay, pos. 6. But they will be great for backfill and pillow. Natural self-dug sand is good because it is not divided into fractions, and this is what is needed to build a cellar. If there is dry peat in the vicinity, pos. 7, it can (and should) be placed on the very first layer of top backfill, counting from the chamber; the clay with sand and turf is then “pushed apart” to accommodate a layer of peat. It is an excellent heat insulator and desiccant; food stored in a cellar with peat lasts much longer.

Silty soils, pos. 8. They can be recognized as dry by their dull gray, somewhat dusty color and putrid, musty, muddy odor, which intensifies when the sample is wetted.

Groundwater and material

An earthen cellar can be built at least 1.5 m above groundwater, a brick cellar - at least 1.2 m, and a monolithic concrete cellar at least 0.7 m. The depth of the aquifer surface is determined during the period of highest groundwater; in the central zone of the Russian Federation this is the end of April - the first half of May.

A test for water height is made on the same site where the soil type was determined. Conducting test drilling is difficult and difficult, but in this case an old “detector” made of wool with an egg will help out. They don’t need to look for drinking water, because... It “catches” first of all the dirty high water, but for the cellar you just need to “catch” the highest water.

The “detector” is prepared in the evening. To test, place a piece of clean new, unworn felt the size of a plate or a piece of wool of the same size 3-5 cm thick on a site without humus, and a fresh chicken egg on it. The best thing is freshly picked and warm. In this case, the egg checks the moisture absorption of the soil, because emits water vapor. The “device” is covered with a thick cap (cauldron, pan) and its edges are pressed to the ground; Covering them with soil won't hurt.

The next morning, preferably immediately after sunrise, they look at what happened there. The results are interpreted as follows:

  • The egg and wool are dry - you can build any cellar.
  • The egg feels damp to the touch, the wool is dry - you can build a brick or concrete cellar.
  • The egg is dry on top, the wool feels damp to the touch - the cellar is only concrete.
  • The egg is covered in dew, the wool looks damp, and when you squeeze it in your fist, even a little water is squeezed out - you can’t build a cellar.

Note: if the cellar has a door and not a hole, then the entrance is oriented to the north. It is also highly advisable to orient the door of the upper structure to the north.

About cellars on high water

It happens that a cellar is needed, but the water in the area is high underground. In this case, it is also possible to build a cellar by installing pressure-resistant waterproofing. But this work is by no means for an amateur: the insulation scheme is developed by specialists based on on-site survey data, and there are no universal standard solutions as such. Secondly, this work is difficult and expensive. For example, in Fig. on the right is one of the pressure insulation diagrams. We emphasize that there is only one, tied to specific local conditions. Successful amateur buildings should also be selected for the basis in consultation with specialists: there are no identical local conditions; What's dry there will get wet here.

Pit and base

It is better to rough-dig the cellar pit, of course, with an excavator, but the hole is brought into shape manually. They dig with their hands using a “plow”, scraping off the loosened soil with a shovel to a dense “matter”, i.e. continental soil. The shape of the pit is an overturned truncated 4-sided pyramid; so it is necessary that the bottom and side backfill counteract the forces of heaving. A cube box in a pit, especially a brick one, will have to be reinforced by reinforcing the seams and corners, which is expensive, labor-intensive and far from 100% reliable. The reserve for backfilling for stone and concrete cellars is approximately 0.7 m in depth, counting from the lower surface of the chamber floor; width - 0.5 m at the bottom and 0.7-1 m at the top. Enlarging it won't hurt in any way. For a wooden cellar, a hole is dug to size and stakes are immediately driven close to the walls, to which the lining will be attached. The depth of driving into the mat is from 30-40 cm.

Note: The pointed ends of the stakes are burned over a fire until charred to a depth of 0.5-1 cm, turning continuously. If it catches fire, extinguish it in the sand; Do not fill with water! Then impregnated with oil protective compounds for wood; you can use mining. A water-polymer emulsion, a lifesaver in many cases of working with porous materials, will not last long in the ground.

Next, the bottom of the pit is covered with sand to a depth of 20-25 cm and, after sprinkling lightly, tamps it down. You can use a tamper or hand roller to garden paths. A 1:1 mixture of sand, not sorted into fractions, with fine crushed stone screenings is poured onto the sand cushion, i.e. the backfill should contain all fractions from the smallest grains of sand to grains the size of a sunflower seed or pea.

The second backfill is leveled horizontally with a rake or scraper on the handle and compacted without wetting. Finally, very hot, almost boiling bitumen is poured over it evenly from above until a “mirror” is formed. But you can’t overfill it; the layer of bitumen above the backfill should be 3-4 mm. This is the base of the cellar; further depends on the material of construction.

Box

Earth and tree

If the cellar is earthen, then an adobe floor is formed over the hardened bitumen. When covering a chamber with wood, the panels are first installed, and then the floor is filled.

Brick and stone

For a brick cellar you need dense, dark, well-burnt iron brick. Bulging and warping (“propeller”) by 3-4 mm, i.e. no more than a third of the thickness of the masonry joint, not a hindrance; It is important that you draw less water into yourself. Even better, but more expensive, would be concrete foundation blocks or shaped blocks made of waterproof concrete, see fig.

The laying is carried out along a bitumen surface. The first row is placed with a poke, i.e. the bricks are laid crosswise, the corners are laid out along the short side, see fig. on right. The next rows are placed in spoons with a simple chain ligation of the seams. In a properly constructed pit, half a brick of masonry will be enough. If you want to lay the walls in brick for safety, then the scheme is usual: a butt row after 4-5 spoon rows. If a staircase opening is needed, its framing is placed with fence-style pillars, in a brick with an empty core, the same fig. It is advisable, if you have something, to reinforce the seams, as when building a cellar in a garage, see below.

After the finished masonry has dried, the outside of the box (preferably from the inside too) is soaked generously, twice. bitumen mastic. Modern primers for stone over deep penetration even better, but expensive. Primers that simply penetrate deeply are not suitable. Further work is carried out after the primer has completely dried; for bitumen it takes a week or two, depending on the weather. During this time, protect the box from rain by stretching a tent over the pit with a film with gaps above the ground.

Concrete

For a concrete box, it is better, of course, to order water- and frost-resistant concrete of medium plasticity, but you can get by with homemade one. The composition is also common: cement M400, sand of medium (1 mm) fraction and fine crushed stone 1:2:4. Water – 170-190 liters per cubic meter of finished solution; more on the floor, less on the walls.

First, the base is filled with 40-50 mm of concrete; It is good to add a plasticizer to the solution for it. When the footing has set, a reinforcement frame is assembled, common to the floor and walls. The reinforcement scheme is standard; floor 150 mm thick, walls 200-250 mm. It is very convenient to use plastic reinforcement; then the frame is pre-assembled at the top and simply placed in a hole on a hardened concrete base. This will make the entire monolith more reliable.

Having assembled/installed the frame, the formwork is installed. First the floor is poured; as soon as it grabs, the walls. You can’t delay, just like with the concrete base: the entire monolith must be poured long before the concrete gains strength, otherwise it won’t be a monolith. The walls are poured in layers, in the same order as when laying strip foundation. Since vibration compaction is not applicable in this case, the poured walls are bayoneted, the same as when building a foundation.

It is better to pour the monolith in spring or autumn: in hot weather, the concrete will “mature” too quickly and the monolith will turn out to be fragile. After setting, the monolith is moistened as required for concrete work. After gaining strength (20 days at +15 and 7 days at +25), they are treated with bitumen mastic, like a brick, or, better, with an ultra-deep primer, but on concrete. The final stage– formation of floor screed.

Wood work

The construction of any chamber is completed by the flooring of its upper floor. Most often, the cellar is covered with a slab in 2 layers crosswise; this is strong enough for a cellar and cheap. If provided for by the selected design, make a log floor in 1-2 rolls. All wood for the cellar must be treated with oil compounds or treatment; boards for the internal lining of a wooden cellar too.

Top fill

The hill above the cellar is poured according to the scheme of the selected sample. Clay in it is waterproofing and a cold accumulator; sand is a heat insulator. You don’t have to stand on ceremony with them: the thicker the better. The thickness ratio of the layers is approximately 1:2 or 1:3 (clay:sand). The role of peat has already been mentioned; 20-40 cm is enough. Turf directs surface runoff to the sides.

Arrangement

The cellar vestibule will be the simplest and cheapest, prefabricated panel with foam insulation. Suddenly, this part of the building is completely repairable. It is better to make a cellar made of logs or timber; other upper structures - according to the project or selected sample.

Special mention must be made, firstly, about stairs and hatches. The staircase to the cellar, if it is not an extension, must be made either in stringers, or between the walls of the vestibule, on the left in Fig. below. Stairs with hanging steps, on the right there, can be beautiful, but in the cellar they are very dangerous.

Cellar hatches with lifting mechanisms (see figure on the right) are available for sale. They open/close with a light touch. However, if you’re not too lazy to push yourself a little, you can make a cellar hatch yourself from leftovers and scraps. Its diagram is in Fig. left. Insulated cellar doors can be made in the same way.

Secondly, electrical wiring. The cellar, according to PTB, is a particularly dangerous room in terms of the degree of electric shock. The power supply in these is 12 V and not a volt more. In the basements apartment buildings The wiring is 36 V, but there are no sockets, there is a light switch outside a particularly dangerous room, and residents do not have access to electrical work in underground structures, but they have a utility electrician at their disposal.

The cellar must be powered from a 220/12 V isolation transformer wound with copper on iron. Electronic inverters do not provide proper separation of 220 and 12 V circuits. Between the windings of the transformer there must be a static screen (an open coil of copper or aluminum foil), electrically tightly, i.e. soldered or welded, connected to the magnetic core of the transformer. The magnetic core itself is also tightly connected to the house grounding bus or to a homemade grounding circuit; A couple of pins will be enough in this case. But grounding the transformer through a three-pole Euro socket is unacceptable!

Cellar in the garage and under the house

It's time to remember the promised cellar in the garage. In a similar way, a cellar under a house with a hole from the room is built, but then you will have to break the floor, break the ceiling, and carry out cubes of earth in buckets when digging a pit. The figure shows step by step how to build a cellar under a garage:

  1. Build a brick box as described above, because concrete work in such conditions is unrealistic;
  2. Masonry joints are reinforced with perforated steel strips 2-4 mm thick. It is convenient to use press and stamping waste. This is necessary because it is extremely difficult to construct a normal foundation pit with slopes and anti-heaving backfill under an existing building;
  3. Steel pins are embedded in the seams of the top row of masonry, and a strip of the same strip is welded to them. There is no point in placing stronger mortgages, because... there will be no wind or other operational loads tending to raise the ceiling. A center beam made of a tee or 2 welded corners from 60x60 to 100x100 mm and a hatch opening from the same or smaller, up to 40x40 mm, corners are welded to the tape;
  4. The frame of the concrete floor is assembled by welding. The frame stiffeners are assembled from the same strips connected by 12-16 mm reinforcing bars. At the same stage, ventilation and metal conduits for wiring are installed;
  5. From below, formwork is mounted from 40 mm boards on supports made of timber or logs from 150 mm. The installation pitch of supports is up to 600 mm. The formwork panel is covered with waterproofing in advance;
  6. The formwork should be 30-50 mm away from the stiffening ribs, as required, but the pipes and corrugations should sit tightly in it, for which purpose the gaps are coated with cement-sand mortar;
  7. Fill the ceiling 30-40 mm above the stiffeners. As they gain strength, 40-50 mm of foam plastic is laid, retreating from the edge of the slab by 50-60 mm. It is impossible to push the foam tightly; it will soon crumble due to temperature deformations. Sometimes mice are blamed for this, but what should they do in the garage? Insulation stabilizes the temperature in the cellar. Immediately assemble the reinforcing mesh of the floor screed using all the same strips laid flat; stripes fasten soft wire, install the hatch and fill the screed;
  8. The arrangement of the mesh under the screed is shown in more detail.

Note: The depth of the pit for the garage cellar is calculated so that the screed on the ceiling is level with the floor screed. Absolute accuracy, of course, cannot be achieved, so the floor screed is poured locally with a thickness of 30-120 mm. It is advisable to stay within 50-70 mm.

Just in case

No cellar is guaranteed against water. Subsurface runoff and perched water are insidious and capricious; they wander underground in the most bizarre way. What kind of repairs the cellar will need if it gets damp is another question. First you need to remove the water; Maybe after this it will be possible without repairs. Specialists charge a lot for draining a flooded cellar, so home handyman First, it’s better to try to drain the water yourself; it won’t make things worse. One of the available ways to drain a flooded cellar/basement is to discharge water into the underlying aquifer. How to make it, see video.

Cellar – important element any suburban area, it is indispensable for storing vegetables, fruits and canning. The article contains information on how to build a cellar at your dacha with your own hands: a step-by-step description will help you take into account a lot of nuances, starting from the right choice places and ending with the installation of waterproofing and. The external arrangement of the building is also of great importance, and the construction of shelving and drawers will help to effectively use the space.

Do not confuse the cellar and the basement. Building a cellar at your dacha with your own hands can come down to simply digging a hole and minimally arranging it. The choice of the type of structure depends on many parameters, for example, on its intended purpose, on the climatic conditions of the region, financial capabilities, etc. Also, when choosing the type and materials for building a cellar in a country house with your own hands, you need to take into account its location.

It is easier to build a separate building than, for example, to build a cellar under the house, but this option will require more materials, and therefore more finance. Making storage under a residential building or outbuilding will be cheaper, but this option is limited in space.

One of the most popular options is an ice cellar. It copes well with the function of long-term storage of food even in the hot season and is especially in demand in the southern regions. It is quite difficult and expensive to build this type of cellar in a private house with your own hands, but the result is characterized by high performance characteristics, durability and reliability.

Another good option for this building is a storage unit with two sections. As a rule, this type is used when it is necessary to avoid mixing the odors of various vegetables and fruits that are simultaneously stored in the cellar. To build such a storage facility, you need less materials than for a glacier.

A separate type of cellar is a wine cellar. It is used for storing wine products and has its own design features and nuances that must be taken into account in order to properly build the cellar. As a rule, in such storage you can store not only wine, but also various preserves.

The nuances of arranging a cellar with your own hands at a high groundwater level

When choosing a location for storage, it is very important to take into account factors such as total soil moisture and groundwater level. The lower it is, the easier it will be to build the structure, and the less often repairs will be needed. If we are talking about a free-standing structure, then you should choose the highest place on your site. It is best to determine the groundwater level when it is at its maximum, that is, in spring or autumn. If there is a well or borehole on the site, then you can determine the maximum elevation using them, otherwise you will have to drill a well separately.

It will be somewhat more difficult to build a cellar if it is close groundwater. How to do this as efficiently as possible? First of all, it is necessary to pay great attention to the waterproofing of the structure. Also, with increased soil moisture for better waterproofing groundwater cellars should be used Construction Materials, characterized by increased resistance to water. In this case, you should not use wood or plywood, but rather give preference to concrete and brick.

Helpful advice! You can check the groundwater level by folk signs. To do this, you need to leave a piece of wool and a chicken egg at the construction site, and cover them with a clay pot on top. If in the morning there is dew on both the wool and the egg, then groundwater is close, but if there is only dew on the wool, it is far away.

Recommendations for building a cellar with your own hands: how to do it as efficiently as possible

Regardless of what type of construction you choose or what materials you plan to use, there are a number of general recommendations that should be followed when step by step construction DIY cellars:

  • if you are going to use wooden elements, then they must be pre-treated with a special impregnation to protect them from the harmful effects of moisture;
  • It is best to start building a cellar in the summer, when the groundwater level is at the lower level. In this case, the soil will be the driest, and the risk of flooding of the structure will be minimal;
  • To ensure efficient storage of products, it is very important to consider a ventilation system;
  • if you want the structure to maintain the desired temperature, it is recommended that when building a cellar with your own hands, you make two doors separated by a vestibule;

  • special attention should also be paid to thermal insulation, then it will be ensured optimal temperature in the cellar at any time of the year;
  • The choice of tools and materials for construction is very important, so you should familiarize yourself with the advantages and disadvantages in advance various types. The construction itself must be carried out in a clearly recommended order.

Features of using various materials

Most often, materials such as brick or concrete blocks. They tolerate it best high humidity and low temperatures, and are also characterized by durability, reliability and relatively low cost. When building a brick cellar with your own hands, you should take into account the features performance characteristics each type of this material:

  • cinder block or foam brick is characterized by increased fragility, so these varieties are not recommended for use in the construction of underground storage;
  • sand-lime brick is more durable, but reacts very poorly to high humidity. This means that a building made from it cannot boast of a long service life;

  • red brick is ideal option for a cellar in a private house. How to make a building from this material as efficient as possible can be learned from numerous step by step instructions from specialists.

If you decide to use concrete blocks in construction, then you will definitely need specialized construction equipment, since they are characterized by heavy weight. A cellar made from them will last a long time and will maintain the temperature well.

Also, when building a cellar in a house with your own hands, you can use bricks that have already been used, if its condition allows it. And if you are simply going to line an earthen pit with wooden boards, they must be thoroughly treated with antiseptics to prevent rotting.

Note! The use of metal-reinforced concrete slabs is also possible. But in this case, it will be quite difficult to maintain the desired temperature, so this material should not be used for the building in which you are going to store food.

Do-it-yourself cellar at the dacha: step-by-step construction guide

Strict adherence to the sequence of actions is the key to a proper cellar. How to make the construction as efficient as possible, spending a minimum of time and effort on it? To do this, installation work must be performed in a certain order.

Arrangement of the pit

The turf is removed from the selected area, after which the ground is leveled and markings are made. Many photos of a do-it-yourself cellar show that specialized construction equipment is often used to build a pit, but if this is not possible, then you can use shovels and spades. The advantage of working with hand tools is that it allows you to maintain the structure of the soil. If the soil in the selected area is loose, then the walls of the pit should be sloped to avoid crumbling.

The dimensions of the cellar depend solely on your needs, but remember that the size of the pit should be 0.5 m larger than the size of the structure itself. In the process of building a cellar with your own hands, the excavated fertile soil can be distributed throughout the summer cottage. After finishing the work, the evenness of the bottom should be measured with a level and corrected if necessary.

Construction of the foundation

Although you can do without this stage (by simply filling the bottom of the pit with crushed stone or filling it with bitumen), the arrangement of the foundation will increase the level of waterproofing of the cellar from groundwater. How to make the foundation as efficient as possible, but not too expensive? To do this, you can use a reinforcing frame, on top of which you pour concrete mixture. The recommended foundation height is about 40 cm. Installation of the foundation is prerequisite when building a cellar in a country house with your own hands, if groundwater is close. Thematic videos on the Internet will tell you how to make the foundation correctly.

Walling

If you use brick to build a cellar under your house with your own hands, then you will need a number of specialized tools. These include a trowel, construction cord, mason's hammer, building level and a bucket for the solution. For greater work efficiency, you should use the help of another person.

A mixture of clay and sand or cement can be used as a mortar connecting the bricks. When building an underground or above-ground cellar with your own hands, laying should begin from the corners, and the first row should be laid without using mortar in order to more accurately plan the position of the wall. The bricks of the next rows must be sunk into the mortar until the seam thickness is approximately 12 mm.

Helpful advice! Be sure to use a building level and plumb line when laying walls. Using the first, you check how evenly the brick is laid, and using the second, the correctness of the angles.

DIY cellar floor installation

When constructing a ceiling, it is best to use wooden boards. If the structure is being built under a house, then beams can be used as a ceiling, and the ceiling of an above-ground cellar at the dacha is made with your own hands step by step from PKZh slabs or slate. In this case, the surface can be flat or gable.

Thermal insulation of the ceiling is done according to the same principle as the thermal insulation of a conventional roof - the gap between the wooden beams and roofing material filled with a layer of thermal insulation.

Types and features of floor installation in the cellar

There are many different options for arranging a floor in a cellar; which one is better depends on your preferences, the purpose of the building, the characteristics of the soil and other factors. You should also familiarize yourself with the specifics of each method in advance; this will help you quickly and efficiently build a cellar with your own hands. Both video and photo instructions can greatly facilitate the installation process.

Dirt floor- the simplest and cheap option. There is a misconception that the correct floor in the cellar should only be earthen, but this is not so. Even well-compacted soil will not protect the room from dampness and mold.

If you nevertheless decide to make a dirt floor in the cellar, then the base must be carefully leveled and compacted, after which a layer of gravel about 10 cm thick is poured. The advantage of this option is zero installation cost, but there are many more disadvantages. These include a high risk of flooding of the premises and a high probability that metal elements will rust, and wooden ones will rot.

Concrete floor– a good option to protect the room from high groundwater. Concrete screed can act not only as a floor covering, but also as a base for the installation of other materials.

To build a concrete floor, it is very important to level the surface, after which a cushion of crushed stone and sand 15-20 cm thick is installed. The sand must be thoroughly moistened and compacted, and bitumen must be poured on top. In order to concrete base was as durable as possible; a metal grate can be installed on top of the bitumen layer. After this, you can begin pouring concrete.

You can install the waterproofing layer either on a sand cushion or on top of concrete. In the second case, it is necessary to pour another concrete layer on top.

Clay floor- a reliable, but very labor-intensive option in terms of installation. Requires a large amount of high-quality material, so it is used quite rarely. Clay is considered one of the most environmentally friendly materials. It is laid on a base of crushed stone 10-15 cm thick, which can be impregnated with bitumen. Under the clay, it is worth installing a layer of waterproofing made of roofing felt or other material, and cracks that may form after drying are sealed with a clay-lime mixture.

Brick covering– strong, durable and attractive appearance. In addition, the material is quite cheap and easy to install. The brick floor is laid on a bed of fine crushed stone or gravel, and a clay mortar is poured on top. The bricks are slightly sunk into the mortar close to each other. You can also hammer cement mortar into the seams between the bricks using a stiff brush.

Wooden floor– used in above-ground cellars or where groundwater is very deep. Before installation, wood must be treated with special impregnations to extend its service life. Wooden boards are mounted on top of timber logs, which, in turn, are laid on a base of crushed stone and clay. It is best to fasten the boards using self-tapping screws, but you can simply nail them.

Note! For each of the materials you will need a separate set of tools, which it is better to purchase in advance.

Design and installation of a ventilation system

If you are building a ground-based structure, then the flow of air into the cellar can occur naturally through small openings. For underground structures, ventilation must be supply and exhaust. The outlet of the exhaust pipe should be located near the ceiling, and the suction pipe should be located near the floor. Many do-it-yourself photos of a cellar in a country house show that the ventilation outlets are equipped with special curtains, this allows you to more accurately control the temperature in the room.

Installation of stairs and doors

If the cellar is being built under the house or if you need to save space, it is worth doing practically vertical ladder into the cellar with your own hands. How to make it as safe as possible for descent? It is recommended to use handrails. Photos of a do-it-yourself cellar staircase show that it can be built from wooden planks fixed directly into the ground, as well as from brick or other materials.

Doors are mounted in ground-based design options; in other cases, a hatch is used. Making a cellar hatch with your own hands is quite simple.

Making a hatch

If the cellar is located under a house or outbuilding, then a hatch is used as an entrance partition. You can buy a cellar hatch, or you can make it yourself. The second option will allow you to get a design that exactly suits your needs. Self-installation includes the following steps:

  • a location for the future entrance is selected. It is very important that access to it is as simple as possible and not cluttered with shelves, drawers and other objects;
  • The dimensions of the hatch are determined. It all depends on your needs, but its parameters should not be less than 75x75 cm. In order for the room to be airtight, the side edges of the hatch must be sheathed with a sealant;
  • a cellar hatch cover is being made. How to make it light and durable? For this, it is best to use wooden boards impregnated with drying oil. They are connected to each other with slats, and a sheet of plywood is nailed to one side of the lid. If we are talking about a cellar in a residential building, then the top of the hatch cover can be sheathed with the same floor covering as the floor around it. It is worth considering that if you plan to install a cellar hatch under tiles, its design must be made of sufficiently durable materials that can withstand all the ceramics. If you prefer to use steel, then for the lid you will need a sheet with a thickness of at least 3 mm, which is welded onto a metal frame;

  • a handle is attached. The best option would be a special hidden or folding design. If the cellar is in non-residential premises or there is a need to save money, then you can use a regular door handle;
  • the hinges are screwed on. These can be regular door hinges or car hinges with springs. The latter option will make it easier to open the lid and fix it in any position.

There are many answers to the question of how to make a cellar hatch with your own hands, so you should choose the option that is most suitable in your particular case.

Wiring and lighting

Due to the fact that the design of the cellar provides for high humidity, the wiring in it must be reliably insulated. The best option for wiring is copper wires with a double layer of insulation. Light bulbs should be placed in the driest places and additionally equipped with protective caps. It is strictly forbidden to make sockets when building a cellar. How to properly make wiring as safe as possible can be seen in training videos from specialists.

Installation of waterproofing in the cellar

As already mentioned, insulation from moisture is a very important point when building a cellar in a country house with your own hands. How to make waterproofing most effective - there are many options, and the choice of the optimal one depends on the level of soil moisture and design features the buildings.

Waterproofing can be external or internal. The external one is done during the construction stage, while the external walls are sheathed with insulating materials, and gutters, drainage wells and other structures are installed. Internal insulation done after the cellar is built. In this case, before using insulating materials, groundwater must be drained, otherwise the work will be ineffective.

Types of materials used for internal waterproofing

If you made a cellar in your country house with your own hands from waterproof concrete, then you are unlikely to need additional cladding with insulating material. But for a brick structure you can use the following waterproofing options:

  • mastic or bitumen - used in cases where the groundwater level is below floor level. The solution is heated and applied in a thin layer to the walls, resulting in the formation of a reliable waterproof film;

  • - the most expensive, but also the most effective option. It is good because it increases not only the level of resistance of walls to moisture, but also their frost resistance. Also, penetrating waterproofing reliably seals all cracks and micropores, is characterized by a long service life and is quickly installed;
  • Cement-based polymer mortar is one of the most reliable and easy-to-apply waterproofing materials. It fits tightly to the walls and reliably protects them from mechanical damage;
  • membrane-type moisture insulation - consists of various polymers, among which liquid rubber based on bitumen is very popular.

Note! It is very important to have effective ventilation for reliable waterproofing of a cellar in a country house with your own hands. How to build a ventilation system so that excess moisture does not condense in the storage? The installation of a supply and exhaust system is best suited for this.

Procedure for installing waterproofing

Numerous photos of a cellar in a private house show that waterproofing can be hidden under decorative wall panels. This is not a prerequisite, but only affects the appearance of the walls. The nuances of installing a waterproofing layer depend on the type of material chosen.

Waterproofing using bitumen or mastic for the walls of the cellar under the house with your own hands, as a rule, is not difficult. To do this, the walls must first be plastered, and the waterproofing itself is best applied in two layers. Before the coating dries completely, it is recommended to sprinkle it with fine dry sand.

Before installing penetrating moisture insulation, the surface of the walls must be thoroughly cleaned of dirt and dust, and then moistened with water. After applying the insulation layer for several days, it also needs to be constantly moistened. Before installing penetrating waterproofing, concrete walls are treated with a wire brush.

For application liquid rubber, the walls must be leveled and cleaned. After this, the surface is primed and a waterproofing material is applied to it using a brush, spatula or roller. Decoration Materials can be mounted directly on a layer of liquid rubber after it has dried. Photos of wine cellars, for example, show that the walls are lined with wood panels.

The cement-polymer mixture is applied to well-moistened walls using a notched trowel or brush. It is best to do this in several layers.

DIY installation of shelves in the cellar: photos and instructions

Shelves and racks – integral elements any cellar and basement. There are several types of cellar racks, which can be bought in specialized stores, but it is much easier and more economical to make them yourself. The most popular options are the following:

  • Wooden shelving is one of the most common answers to the question of what to make a shelf from in the cellar. The material is environmentally friendly and easy to use, and for shelving it is best to use timber with a cross-section of 100x100 mm and boards 3-4 cm thick. The installation scheme is very simple - racks are made from timber, in which sockets are cut to secure the shelves. In order for wooden shelves to last longer, they are impregnated with special compounds;

  • Concrete shelving is a good option if you want to know how to make your cellar shelves as durable and moisture-resistant as possible. To create concrete shelves, you can use reinforced concrete slabs or niches in the walls that are filled with concrete screed;
  • shelves made of steel angle – used in rooms with low level humidity, otherwise the structures can very quickly begin to rust. In order to make a shelf in the cellar for cans, as a rule, it is used welding machine, but you can get by with simple self-tapping screws. First from metal slats frames are made, then shelves are attached to them;
  • plastic shelving is one of the most economical and simple options, which is distinguished by its attractive appearance and resistance to moisture. However, plastic does not tolerate low temperatures quite well, so it cannot boast of durability.

Helpful advice! When wondering how to make a shelf in the cellar with your own hands, and what material to choose for this, consider the level of humidity in the room, as well as the average weight of the cans and boxes that will be stored on the racks. Concrete can easily withstand even very heavy loads, but plastic cannot boast of this.

From the same materials you can make boxes for potatoes in the cellar. As a rule, they are equipped with removable covers, which are installed if necessary. Regardless of what material you choose, in the warm season it is recommended to take shelves and drawers outside to dry. This will prevent the occurrence of mold and the proliferation of pathogens.

When construction and interior design the cellar will be completed, you can think about exterior decoration ground structure. Its option depends solely on your preferences - you can simply pour an earthen mound, or you can decorate it with turf or ornamental grass, turning it into an element of landscape design. During the process of building a cellar with your own hands, use video and photo instructions that will help you take into account all the nuances and arrange a practical and functional room.

The cellar is a room that is simply necessary for summer cottage, especially if you have to store a lot of products and even equipment here. How to build a cellar at the dacha with your own hands step by step? First you need to understand how a cellar and a basement differ, then think through the drawings of the future room and choose materials. After these issues are resolved, construction can begin.

Cellar or basement?

Typically, a basement is a room located below the first floor. That is, it is located below ground level, has the dimensions of a house, so it is possible to locate utility rooms in it, which may include a pantry, boiler room, laundry room and even a swimming pool, if you think through the thermal insulation system.

Having decided to build a cellar at your dacha with your own hands step by step, remember that you can only store food in it - from autumn harvest to canned food. This room has a large number of convenient shelves and racks, equipped with a ventilation system, and has planned thermal insulation, which ensures optimal storage of products. The cellar can be located either in the basement of the house or next to it, in a separate area.

Features of construction

It’s enough to just build a cellar in your country house with your own hands—thoughtful drawings will help you with this step by step. Most often, a noticeable hill on the site is chosen for construction. This is required in order to avoid the impact of groundwater on the contents of the cellar. When you find such a point, you can begin to draw up a project, which will indicate the dimensions and depth of the room, and also calculate the estimate. When you build a cellar at your dacha with your own hands, the drawings play an important role - they will help you complete the work correctly.

What do the experts say?

There are several rules to follow when building a cellar:

  1. Construction should be done in the summer.
  2. Construction must be carried out using high-quality materials.
  3. Walls and anti-talus structures must be erected correctly.
  4. This building cannot be built without high-quality ventilation.
  5. It is necessary to build exclusively on a hill - this applies to those who do not know how to make a cellar in the country with their own hands if groundwater is close.

Waterproofing - pay close attention!

When building a cellar, its waterproofing plays an important role, which, with high-quality installation, will increase the service life of the room. Materials for waterproofing should be selected depending on the level of groundwater. If they are lower, then non-pressure waterproofing will be required; if higher, anti-pressure waterproofing will be required. To build a cellar at your dacha with your own hands step by step and without problems, you need to carefully consider the choice of materials.

Since the main pressure will be on the walls, they need to be built from concrete with high waterproof properties. If the construction is carried out from brick, then it will have to be treated with special compounds, then a high-quality cement screed on both sides, and at the end of the work the walls will have to be finished with protective materials, for example, roofing felt.

Construction algorithm: digging a pit

How to make a cellar at the dacha with your own hands step by step? First, we need to dig a pit, and this is done clearly in accordance with the plan or the finished project. There should be approximately one and a half meters left on each side of the cellar - they are necessary for the convenience of construction work. And it is best to dig by hand - this way the integrity of the soil layer will be preserved.

If the soil on the site is loose, you should dig a pit with a slight slope - this will reduce the amount of crumbling sand. When the groundwater level is high, the pit is made wider and deeper by about 50 cm, and this space must be filled waterproofing material. At the base of the cellar you need to lay a cushion of crushed stone and broken bricks, and then fill them with bitumen: this will provide reliable protection from moisture.

Stage two: building walls

High-quality materials are the main requirement if you decide to build a cellar in your country house with your own hands. The photo shows that any materials can be used for construction - from brick to concrete slabs. Experts advise to proceed from the following rules:

  • the most reliable walls for a cellar are made of brick, foam blocks or concrete slabs;
  • the floor is equipped with the addition of reinforcement, and sand and gravel are used for the “cushion”;
  • floors are made from ready-made concrete slabs or boards for formwork, as well as from reinforcement, which is needed to strengthen the structure;
  • external waterproofing can be made of roofing felt, which is secured with mastic.

Follow the instructions

Here's how to build a cellar at your dacha with your own hands (step-by-step instructions):

  1. The cellar must be dry, so before pouring the floor with concrete, you should consider its high-quality waterproofing. The bottom of the pit is covered with a cushion of sand and gravel and thoroughly compacted. Crushed stone is poured on top and compacted as well. It would be good to make formwork around the entire perimeter of the pit, pour concrete into it and level it. After the concrete has hardened, remove the formwork. The sides of the cellar can be coated with tar - it will protect the walls from moisture. By the way, if the groundwater is deep, then the floor can be left earthen.
  2. Now we are constructing the walls. When using brick, masonry can be done either with cement mortar or a mixture of clay and sand. An important role in the construction of walls is played by the arrangement of waterproofing, if it will be used as a layer between earthen walls and masonry.
  3. You can lay roofing felt in one layer between the wall and the backfill - it will become reliable protection from moisture.
  4. After a couple of rows of masonry have been completed, you need to leave it so that it will go up. It should be covered with a grill on top to prevent rodents from getting inside.
  5. The walls are erected to the very top of the dug pit, and their horizontal and vertical positions must be leveled.

Creating floors

Installation of floors is one of the key moments when building a cellar in a country house with your own hands. A photo of this stage of work shows that the ceilings can be mounted in different ways. The easiest way is to lay it on top of the cellar concrete plates, which will rest on the ground around the entire perimeter. That is why many people prefer a simpler option - the use of combined floors, which are easy to install and process. With this option, the following work is performed:

  1. First, roofing material is carefully laid on the walls and the soil itself, on which bars are placed on top. They are needed as floor beams.
  2. It is nailed onto the beam bars in which you must remember to leave a hatch.
  3. We lay it on top of the flooring and it should extend beyond the ground.
  4. We lay a reinforcement grid on top of the material (most often it is a polyethylene film), and the resulting space is filled with concrete, which is leveled.

What about the roof?

The roof is another important point that should be paid attention to when deciding how to make a cellar in the country with your own hands step by step. The instructions will help you complete the work as efficiently as possible. Most often the cellar is covered gable roof, which is installed above the hatch. In this case, the roof must extend to the entire perimeter of the cellar in order to protect all materials from external influences. The front part of the roof should be covered with boards, and the slopes should be equipped first with roofing felt, and then with any roofing material.

Cellar made of concrete rings: construction features

Concrete rings are durable and reliable reinforced concrete products that are widely used in the construction of cellars. Since making a cellar at the dacha with your own hands from concrete rings is not an easy task, you should do it correctly:

  1. First a hole is dug. It must be deep enough so that all structural elements fit in it without problems. In order for the rings to be laid firmly, you need to add fragments of bricks to the soil.
  2. The bottom, as in the case of a conventional cellar, is first arranged using a mixture of sand and crushed stone, and then covered with concrete.
  3. The rings are installed in the right place. To do this, you will most likely have to use special equipment due to the heavy weight of the structures.
  4. The roof is being built. The easiest way is to make it from thick boards and cover the top with roofing felt. It is important to leave a hole that will provide ventilation.
  5. If the cellar was built from more than two rings, waterproofing of the joints will be required. Internal insulation should be done using liquid glass or mastic, and the outer one - with roofing material or again with mastic. After the materials are laid, the voids between the rings and the ground are filled with ordinary soil, or even better - with a more reliable method of fixation - with a concrete mixture.

Interior arrangement of the cellar

The inside of the cellar can be decorated the way the owner wants it. In the case of the concrete ring option, the difficulty lies in the fact that the shelves must be semicircular in shape. An important attribute of this room is the staircase. It is better to weld it to the top of the storage, or you can make it removable. As for finishing the cellar, it all depends on the features of the waterproofing. If it was done with high quality, then the finishing can be done with any materials. For ceilings on bars, insulation with the help of mineral slabs, which is convenient to work with.

Many people leave brick walls unfinished, but you can make them at least smooth with plaster. Experts recommend treating such a surface with liquid insulation, which will penetrate into the material, crystallize there and provide resistance to moisture.

Or maybe a finished cellar?

You can also buy a ready-made structure if you don’t know how to make a cellar in your country house with your own hands. The photo of such a structure below shows that it is small and can be installed anywhere on the site. A compact solution is a cellar in the form of a barrel, which takes up little space and is spacious at the same time. The walls of such a barrel are sealed, strong and reliable, and they are also waterproofed, which eliminates the risk of corrosion and other negative impacts. Installation is simple: a pit is dug to suit the dimensions, where the base is carefully processed, and a barrel is placed on it.

Whatever cellar you build, you need to take care of it: keep it clean, ventilate and dry it. In addition, you cannot store flammable substances in it that violate fire safety Houses. It’s quite easy to install it with your own hands; the main thing is to think through the drawings and choose the right materials.