In landscape design, perhaps the most functional and conspicuous element of the infield is garden paths. To make a concrete path in the country with your own hands is quite realistic without resorting to the help of numerous companies specializing in such products. The complexity of laying will depend on the features and characteristics of the materials used, the nature of the tracks being laid, and the structural features of the soil on the site. It is necessary to ensure that the paved paths fulfill not only practical, but also decorative purpose, give the site territory an ordered appearance, be its decoration and enable it to move without risk of falling and getting dirty in any weather.
In this article we will consider how to make concrete paths in the country with your own hands, possible options for their manufacture and features of the work.
Plan development
This is a very important stage of work that should not be missed. Before you make concrete paths in the country, you should develop a project where and how they will run. At this stage, it is necessary to study the features of the natural landscape, the general style of garden decoration and your needs for convenient and appropriate movement around the site. High-quality planning at this stage allows you to optimally lay routes, develop forms and select the required width and strength of the tracks.
Necessary tools
Before you begin to build concrete paths in the country with your own hands, you need to prepare the tools for work: a container or concrete mixer for mixing concrete, pegs, cord, shovel, level, tape measure, rubber hammer and a certain number of wooden boards. Naturally, you should prepare the material itself, which constitutes the main structure of the coating, and the components for the preparation of concrete: cement, sand, gravel of various fractions, water. It will not be superfluous to prepare pigments for coloring the concrete mixture.
Material Options
How to cover concrete paths in the country? As a material, you can choose concrete, artificial or natural stone, brick, wooden dies or cuts of tree trunks, paving slabs. More specific materials include, for example, glass bottles, plastic corks and much more - it depends on your imagination, acquisition opportunities and aesthetic feeling. Each type of material has its own characteristics that affect the technology of work. To the extent possible, we will focus on the basic materials and their inherent features.
The main stages of the work
To build concrete tracks in the country with your own hands, you must go through the following steps:
• choice of design and material of tracks;
• marking the site;
• deepening the soil surface to the width of the track;
• preparation of the base of the track;
• preparation of formwork and reinforcement;
• fill the track;
• leveling and decorating the surface;
• waiting for hardening of concrete;
• final design of the track.
Choice of design and material
Before a practical solution to the problem of how to make concrete tracks in the country with your own hands, a photo of such products will not be superfluous to see, for example, in this article. You should choose the design of the tracks from the pictures or develop your own. Not all paths need to be the same in width and design. First of all, it is necessary to determine which of them will be used most often and intensively, for example, for transporting various goods on a trolley. They should be wider and made using the most durable and durable coating. The paths should generally be wide enough to move around the site without effort and harm to the surrounding vegetation. Experience shows that a width of 80 cm is sufficient for a garden plot.
Land marking
For straight tracks, marking is simple - with the help of pegs at the ends of the sections and the cord. For sinuous-shaped tracks, a larger number of pegs located across a smaller distance are required.
Excavation
The device of concrete paths in the country does not do without soil preparation, which consists in removing soil along the entire length of the path. The depth of the removed soil layer depends on its composition. If it is rocky or sandy, then it is enough to remove 20 cm, if clay, then at least 30 cm of soil should be removed. The bottom of the resulting ditch should be filled with drainage materials, which can be used as a gravel layer, first a large fraction, then a smaller one, and finally a layer of sand. This is necessary so that moisture does not linger on the track and next to it.
Formwork preparation
In order to make concrete paths at the cottage with your own hands, formwork should be installed on the sides. To do this, use boards with a width of at least the depth of the cast concrete layer and a thickness of at least 15 mm. It is necessary that the upper cut of the boards is even in order to level the poured concrete layer along it.
The formwork is set to level so that the track is even. But for the independent removal of rainwater, you need to make a small slope (1-2 degrees) from one edge of the path to the other. To increase the structural strength, it should be noted that when the temperature of the soil and air changes, concrete, like any other material, changes its linear dimensions. Therefore, it is necessary to fill the track not with a continuous strip of concrete, but separate it by inserting 1-2 cm thick transverse spreader bars after 1-2 m. To facilitate subsequent removal, they should be greased with used machine oil. The side boards of the formwork are fastened together by means of rails. This is necessary so as not to violate the integrity of the formwork when pouring.
Reinforcement
Before pouring concrete paths in the country, it is advisable to reinforce them. For this, a mounting grid or just pieces of reinforcement laid out on a prepared pillow in 10-20 cm both along and across the track is suitable. It is desirable that the reinforcement does not lie at the very bottom of the prepared base. To do this, under it, for example, bottle caps, pieces of tile or brick.
Pouring
Next, a concrete solution is prepared using cement of at least M400 grade , sand (preferably washed, river) and gravel (it is advisable to use granite to enhance the strength of the coating) in a ratio of 1: 1.5: 2.
When kneading, water is added to the density of sour cream or thicker. The smaller the liquid solution, the stronger the track is, but more effort or a special vibrating tool is required to ram the concrete layer. On the other hand, it is more convenient to work with a liquid solution and level it. Therefore, choose the density yourself.
It is important to consider that the prepared solution must be used entirely within one hour after mixing it. Experts categorically do not recommend adding water to the cooked mass, since this greatly deteriorates the strength of the resulting coating.
So that the tracks do not turn out gray and nondescript, they are painted. This can be done already on the finished coating, but such painting is short-lived. It is better to add pigment dyes when mixing concrete. Then the whole layer is painted. At the same time, however, the pigment consumption is greater, but the resulting effect is worth it. You can choose any colors for painting, but yellow, blue, red shades, as well as ocher color, are better suited for the garden plot .
Alignment of the concrete layer is carried out by the rule on the upper layer of the formwork. So that the surface was not just smooth, but patterned, you can apply a drawing on it. Often, special matrix stencils (the so-called printed concrete) are used for this. This design can be done in a few hours or the next day, when the concrete sets a little, but does not harden at all. Before performing such an operation, a tinting fixative is applied to the surface of the track. It helps after embossing to give the surface a surprisingly beautiful texture that imitates various natural materials (paving stones, stone, plank flooring, etc.). The pattern applied to the surface of the concrete track depends only on your imagination.
To protect the paint and texture of printed concrete from mechanical and weathering, acrylic impregnation is applied to its surface. After one to two days, carefully remove the transverse gaskets in the concrete tape.
Hardening wait
After pouring concrete, its surface is covered with plastic wrap so that it hardens gradually. On hot summer days, it is advisable to periodically moisten it, spraying it with water. Final readiness can be determined by the color of concrete. If it has not dried yet, it is shiny and dark. You can use the tracks only after complete drying (5-6 days after pouring).
Final track design
At this stage, the formwork is removed. Next, fill the transverse seams with sand or soil, trim the soil along the edges of the track.
Other coating options
- Brick path. Its peculiarity is a pleasant appearance, the ability to withstand a certain distance between bricks to fill with colored sand, cement-sand mortar or soil for the germination of grass. Bricks are laid on the mortar layer so that their surface is 10-15 mm higher than the surrounding soil, giving a slight slope from the center to the edges of the track. In this case, water from precipitation will not linger on the track. Preparation of the base does not differ from the previously considered case, except that the depth of the base must correspond to the thickness of the bricks used.
When laying out bricks, they use a level and a rubber hammer, deepening the brick by tapping it, if necessary. If the brick needs to be raised, then it is taken out, a little mortar is placed under it and inserted back. Instead of mortar, it is convenient to use a dry cement-sand mixture. After laying, the track is watered with water, and gradually this mixture sets and hardens. Naturally, you cannot use the track until the final hardening of the mortar or mixture on which the brick is laid.
For the strength of the resulting coating, it is desirable to use not ordinary brick, but clinker (paving), obtained at an increased firing temperature from special grades of clay. Silicate white brick is suitable only for interior or wall work, and red is gradually destroyed under the influence of precipitation. At the edges of the track, it is advisable to install a curbstone. Otherwise, the design becomes unusable over time, starting with extreme bricks.
- Path from paving slabs. The arrangement is no different from a brick one. An exception is the ability to use tiles of the most diverse (commercially available) shapes and colors. The peculiarity is that it is impossible to use the tile for internal work - it is short-lived and collapses under the influence of adverse atmospheric conditions in a short time.
The thickness of the paving slabs should be at least 6 cm. The peculiarity of the laying is that the tiles are selected in shape and color, starting from the center of the track to its edges. Edges are laid out last, since they often require cutting tiles in accordance with the configuration of the border of the track. For cutting, you can use a grinder with cutting discs for concrete. To achieve the long-term strength of such a track, it is also desirable to install curb stones.
- Paths made of wood cuts. They are perhaps the most budget-friendly to manufacture and look very attractive. For their manufacture, saw cuts of old trees of different diameters with a thickness of 10-15 cm are required. To give strength to this material, it must be processed in order to prevent decay processes. To do this, saw cuts are pre-treated, for example, with drying oil or a solution of copper sulfate and dried. That part of the saw cut, which will be located inside the base of the track, is additionally processed by immersing in molten bitumen.
The difference between the technology and the previously given is to prepare a deeper base in accordance with the thickness of the cuts. They can be laid directly in a sand cushion, but better - in a cement-sand mortar, recessed to a depth treated with bitumen. The gaps between the protruding parts of the saw cuts are subsequently filled with sand, stone chips or fine gravel. You can also fill them with soil and sow grass for lawns. It is desirable to grind the outer surface of the saw cuts and varnish them in several layers for outdoor work. This will make the wood texture look better.
DIY concrete track repair at a summer house
Over time, under the influence of mechanical and atmospheric phenomena, the tracks begin to deteriorate. This is more or less characteristic of any materials used, especially if manufacturing technology is not maintained. It is important to carry out their repair without waiting for a complete transition to an unusable condition. To do this, use the same materials that were taken for their arrangement. Damaged parts are removed and replaced with similar ones without flaws. Therefore, it is advisable when arranging the tracks to stock up in advance with a certain amount of coating material in order to carry out timely and full-fledged repairs.
Conclusion
We examined how to create concrete paths in the country with your own hands. We hope that the material presented will help you in the implementation of design plans for the arrangement of the site.