People learned to build cellars a long time ago - when there were not only refrigerators, but even electricity. Natural conditions favoring a good microclimate, constant temperature - all this contributes to the long-term preservation of vegetables and fruits (both their presentation and taste). Owners of suburban housing, especially those who are engaged in the cultivation of their vegetables and fruits, simply can not do without it, and therefore, anyone living in a private house sooner or later will have to think about how to build a cellar. Under the house or garage, cellars are usually built before the construction itself begins. Therefore, we will consider the creation of this utility room on a garden (summer residence) plot.
How to build a cellar with your own hands
First of all, you need to determine the place of construction, based on the level of groundwater. The easiest way to do this is to drill a hole at least two and a half meters deep at the site of the future cellar. After that, you need to deepen the pipe into it and make sure that water does not appear in it. If there is no water - you can begin to work. Otherwise, you will have to find another place, preferably on a small elevation.
After that, they start digging a pit. Usually its optimal size is 2.5 meters in width and length and the same in depth. The pit can be dug either manually or with the help of an excavator.
The bottom of the pit must be carefully tamped, and then pour a gravel pillow 30 cm high, of which 20 cm is sand and 10 cm is gravel. Metal reinforcement with rods 8 mm thick is laid on top of the pillow, after which it is poured with a layer of a mixture of sand and concrete in a 1: 3 ratio.
How to build a cellar with your own hands in compliance with all technologies? To do this, it is necessary to provide waterproofing to protect the floor and walls from moisture. For this purpose, any waterproofing materials are used . Typically, roofing material is used, which is laid on hardened concrete, and then coated with tar. If the width of the roll is less than the width of the cellar, it is overlapped, and the edges are lifted so that the roofing material is then glued to the walls.
The material for the walls can be concrete or brick. And how to build a cellar with your own hands using the monolithic construction method? To do this, first of all, it is necessary to install a reinforcing frame of rods with a diameter of 10 mm, and then build the formwork on both sides of the reinforcement. The width of the future wall should be at least 10 cm. After this, you can proceed to fill the mixture, which should be tamped to avoid the formation of voids. Drying time of the mixture in dry sunny weather is about ten days. Formwork can be dismantled no earlier than three weeks later.
After gluing the roofing material to the outside of the walls, you need to fill them with a layer of clay to improve protection against dampness and tamp. Overlapping can be done either with reinforced concrete slabs or with wood. The latter option is much simpler both technically and financially.
Now it remains to install the roof (single or double) with a manhole and build a ladder. The roof must be insulated. This can be done with turf or artificial insulation (natural material is still preferable). On top of it you need to cover with slate.
But how to build a cellar with your own hands so that the products in it are stored for a long time and dampness does not form? Naturally, this requires ventilation. For this purpose, you can use any pipe with a diameter of about 10 cm. You can even install two at different ends of the cellar. The lower edge of one pipe is 20 cm from the ceiling, and the other 20 cm below the floor. From the outside of the cellar they should rise above the roof by about 30 cm. For interior decoration it is best to use hardwood.
Cellar Care
Knowing how to build a cellar (in a house or on a garden plot) is not yet a guarantee that the products in it will be stored for long enough. The cellar must be cleaned, aired and disinfected annually. The easiest way to disinfect a cellar is to whitewash it with lime mortar, prepared on the basis of: 1 bucket of solution in 5-6 buckets of water with copper sulfate added (per 1 bucket of solution - 1 kg of vitriol). All disinfection work must be completed at least a month before laying the next crop.