If the house has a cellar, you must enter it. It can be a door or a hatch. As a rule, in private homes the choice is made in favor of the second option. Next, consider how to equip the hatch in the cellar with your own hands. A design drawing , more precisely, how to compose it, will also be described in this article.
Relevance of the issue
It is pointless to argue about the benefits of a cellar in a house. It not only acts as a utility room, increasing the area of the house, but also provides always a dry and warm floor of the first floor. Its arrangement, however, requires considerable investment. In addition, you must have certain skills and knowledge of building codes.
Those owners of private houses who have enough funds trust the arrangement of the cellar and its entrance to professionals. Other owners prefer to do the work on their own.
As a rule, the basement is provided by the project. Accordingly, at the design stage, the location of the hatch in the cellar is determined. It should be equipped so that the lid does not interfere with walking and does not touch the furniture. It is important to consider the appearance of the hatch in the cellar. The cover should be made of a material that is in harmony with the surroundings. Before starting work, you need to think through the details and take into account the nuances.
Features of drawing a hatch in the cellar
When drawing up the scheme, you should determine:
- The place where the hatch will be located. As mentioned above, the lid should not interfere with moving around the room and do not touch surrounding objects.
- The optimum size of the hatch in the cellar . The minimum internal parameters are 75x75 cm.
- The material from which the hatch will be made. It should be lightweight but durable.
- Materials for thermal insulation and ensuring the tightness of the structure.
The floor hatch in the cellar is often equipped with a smooth opening / closing system. In houses where there are small children and animals, an additional locking device is also provided.
To prevent unauthorized access to the cellar, the hatch can be equipped with an electric drive.
Material selection
It depends on a variety of factors. When choosing, the material from which the walls of the house are made is taken into account.
For example, in wooden structures for the hatch in the cellar , boards, sheets of plywood are used. According to the drawing, the required dimensions are cut, treated with special impregnations. Within a few days, the composition should be completely absorbed into the tree. After that, they begin the direct installation.
The hatch in the cellar can be metal. To install it you will need:
- Steel sheets with a thickness of 0.5-1 and 3-4 mm.
- Corner 40 or 50 mm.
- Door hinges.
- Styrofoam.
- Rubber compressor.
- Grinder and cutting wheels.
- Primer.
- Welding machine.
- Self-tapping screws.
- Drill with drills.
How to install a cellar hatch with your own hands?
As mentioned above, the first thing to do is draw up a drawing. Everything must be precisely calculated so as not to redo the work.
Before you make a hatch in the cellar , you need to prepare the material and tools. According to the drawing, blanks are cut off, a support is arranged. It is attached to the floor.
Then the floorboards are sawn. It is necessary to leave a small gap (0.5 cm) around the perimeter of the lid. After this, the workpieces are connected by transverse bars. Next, set the loop.
The edge of the shield must be treated with longitudinal rails. Insulation (mineral wool or polystyrene) is laid in the crate.
After the main activities have been completed, the external decoration begins. As a rule, the material from which the floor is made is used.
Nuances
If you have materials and tools, you can make blanks yourself. However, as a rule, owners turn to metal depots. In workshops, you can order blanks for individual sizes.
When choosing a steel sheet for a metal hatch, it must be borne in mind that its size should be larger than the size of the manhole and slightly overlap it.
Corners must be placed at a distance of 5-10 mm from the edge. Stiffeners should be installed in the center of the structure.
Welding parts do without omissions. The finished cover is cleaned and primed.
It is necessary to lay a heater in internal voids. It is covered with plywood or another steel sheet.
The hatch is mounted on hinges using anchors.
Do not forget about the seal. It will provide floor protection and additional insulation.
For installation, you can use door hinges if the hatch is made of light material (wood, for example). For heavy metal construction it is better to choose more reliable hinges.
Smooth running
It greatly facilitates the operation of the hatch in the cellar. With shock absorbers, the cover will close smoothly, which eliminates injuries. When mounting the mechanism, it is necessary to keep the cover open.
There are many ways to make the cover move smoothly. One of the most popular is the use of spring loops used in the hoods of cars. This option is suitable for light metal or wooden hatches. The fastening must be carried out so that the lid can be opened perpendicular to the floor.
Another option is gas shock absorbers. They are used if the manhole cover is heavy. In stores you can find various shock absorbers of different capacities, suitable for any design.
A pen
It is made, as a rule, folding or secret. Some craftsmen carve a recess in the lid. Also common are removable handles. They have one important advantage: small children cannot open the hatch.
When making a hatch with your own hands, it is advisable to use simple, inexpensive options that do not involve working with metal products.
Electric drive
As mentioned above, this mechanism prevents unauthorized access to the cellar by strangers. There are several ways to install an electric drive. Consider the simplest option.
For installation are necessary:
- Electric motor
- Duralumin pipes.
- Sheets of steel.
- Welding machine.
- Grinder with cutting wheels.
- Cable.
- Current source.
- Three position switch.
The mechanism is mounted directly on the cover. At the same time, it is recommended to leave some margin for opening the hatch (i.e., the lid should open a little less than 90 degrees.).
The mechanism is simple enough. A signal is sent using the remote control, rotation begins in the system, respectively, the lid comes into motion. Lifting is provided by the rod. You can also close the hatch using the remote control.
Retractable system
For its installation you will need:
- Steel sheets 5 mm thick.
- Two electric motors.
- Metal rollers.
- Three position switch.
- Current source.
- Cable.
This design is more complicated than described above. However, the retractable mechanism makes the hatch almost invisible. The whole mechanism is located under it and does not take up much space.
Tiled sunroof
As in all previous cases, a drawing is developed. The following parameters are reflected on it:
- Box dimensions (width, length).
- The thickness of the opening and frame.
- Loop placements.
Before mounting the hatch for the cellar for tiles , an even base is created. A screed is used for this. Alignment is carried out in several stages:
- The level of flooring is determined. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the thickness of the tile (about 8 mm), as well as the adhesive layer (about 4 mm).
- A solution is prepared, beacons are set.
- The opening of the future hatch is flanged. At the same time, 10 cm should be left around the perimeter to support the cover.
Screed is performed according to standard technology. After the solution has hardened, a hatch is tried on. It is applied to the opening. At this stage, it is recommended that the tiles be laid out first.
The cladding starts from the corner of the wall, which is located in plain sight. Trimming and laying tiles when finishing the opening begin after mounting the frame for the manhole cover.
Finish
The ends are drawn up in a certain order. The following steps must be completed step by step:
- Attach a frame to a niche and align it with a building level.
- Existing gaps between the metal frame and the screed must be filled with mortar. For its preparation, cement of the M-500 brand is used. The solution should solidify completely.
- Cut the tiles and close the remaining area around the opening.
- Niche slopes must be leveled. To do this, beacons are installed, cement mortar is applied and leveled.
- Slopes are tiled.
- Before the glue dries, it is recommended to fix the tile with scotch tape and put delimiting crosses.
Cover installation and lining
The hatch can be mounted on hinges or any of the mechanisms described above can be used. After fixing the cover, you can begin to finish it. If the flooring is tile, then it can also be laid on the hatch. In general, as practice shows, a variety of materials can be used for decoration. The main thing is that the appearance of the hatch is in harmony with the interior design. In this case, of course, one should not forget about the technology of laying this or that material.
In wooden houses, hatches are usually not finished. They are simply covered on top with linoleum or another coating.
Conclusion
In general, it is not difficult to make a hatch in the cellar on your own. The main difficulties may arise at the design stage and in the calculation of dimensions. At these stages, many nuances must be taken into account, including the estimated load on the lid, the frequency of visiting the cellar, its purpose, the features of the items that will be there, and much more. To store large items you need a large hatch.
It should be remembered that when facing the hatch with tiles, its weight will increase significantly. Therefore, in preliminary calculations, it is necessary to determine the most suitable hinges or closing mechanism. We should not forget about stiffeners. Their number will depend on the dimensions of the cover. In standard hatches of the minimum size (75x75 cm), 1-2 ribs are provided.
Particular attention must be paid to safety. It is not only about operation, but also about the installation of the structure. The door will have to be kept open during installation of the hatch. In this regard, if the house has small children or animals, access to the place of work for them needs to be limited.
Do not forget about the insulation. If it is not laid in the structure, heat will escape through the cover. A rubber seal also helps prevent heat loss . In addition, it will soften the contact of the cover and frame.