Playground for the car in the country: the choice of materials and features of the device

Those who often have to drive to the cottage in their own car, sooner or later have to decide on the place of permanent parking of the car during summer work. Where is the best place to park a car? The option to park it on the street (outside the site) is not too attractive - the car will interfere with the neighbors, which naturally will cause complaints. And no one will vouch for its integrity. If you drive a car into the territory of the site, sooner or later, deep furrows will arise from the wheels, requiring constant alignment. What is the best way to overcome this serious problem?

Park the car correctly

The optimal solution that can facilitate a country life and remove several questions at once is a device at the dacha of the platform for the car. Having organized one, you will end your worries for the safety of your iron friend, in addition, you can protect it from the sun (the upholstery material will not fade), precipitation (the city will not be able to damage the car surface).

How to make a platform for a car in the country? Where to start the arrangement? Of course, first of all, you should choose a suitable place that meets all the necessary requirements. It must be smooth, without significant bias. If there is one, then each time you have to put the car on the handbrake and substitute the stops under the wheels. And constant worries - whether these precautions work - do not add optimism.

It is best if the slope of the parking lot is very small. This will facilitate the entry of the car there and at the same time prevent stagnation in the rainwater area. To prevent rainfall accumulating on it, the parking should be located just above the level of the site.

Prior to the immediate construction of the site, you should determine its size. When you have only one car, you can limit yourself to a site measuring 5x2.5 meters. If the car is large enough (minivan or jeep), plan 6.5x3.5 m. When your personal fleet is a couple of cars, you will need twice as much land.

Choose a parking option

The next moment - decide on the type of parking for the car in the country. What can she be? There are two main options: closed (in the form of a garage) or open (fully or with a canopy).

Let's talk about the open type of parking. It can be attributed to the most budget options. Making such a parking in the country with your own hands is not at all difficult. All that is required is the preparation of a predetermined place, the supply of material and the actual work. In time, this option is also the most economical. Do not have time to look back - your car will already be neatly in the country yard.

Speaking of a closed type of parking, we mean a real garage. To build it, you will need much more resources - finance, strength and your personal time. The tasks facing the owner are digging a pit, thinking over and drawing up a construction plan, importing all the necessary building materials. In the case when there are no construction skills, you will have to resort to a team of craftsmen, which leads to additional (sometimes quite considerable) expenses.

And what is a semi-closed type of parking? By such is meant a carport. This decision can be considered an intermediate option between the construction of a full garage and a normal outdoor area.

Parking preparation

As already mentioned, a slight slope is necessary to ensure that the parking lot always remains dry and clean. Take care of the longevity of your parking lot - prepare the base for it correctly. What is the sequence of actions when constructing a site for a car in the country at home?

• Throughout the territory of the place for future parking, we remove the soil with a layer of about 10-20 cm.
• We build the so-called pillow - we pour a layer of rubble or sand into the foundation pit, which we then ram down.
• We lay out drainage pipes along the edges of the future site. This is done so that the water flowing to the ground during the washing of the car (or just rain) does not stagnate, but is diverted to the side.

Having prepared the base, you can begin to cover. First, you should decide on its composition - based on your own financial capabilities and taking into account the practical qualities of each option. We should not forget about the need for a competent aesthetic solution - the site design must organically be combined with the general style of the site and the country house.

Defined with a coating

What are the quality requirements for the material chosen for coating? The main ones are:

1. The coating must withstand the expected weight load.
2. The strength and durability of its material is one of the most important criteria when choosing. For example, an asphalt pad meets all the requirements and is not too complicated in the device.
3. Aesthetic qualities are no less important, because you have to admire the mentioned object for more than one day.

Lawn grate

What is eco-parking? This concept has become very popular these days. It looks like a tough, durable plastic grill laid on the ground and sown with special lawn grass. This option is one of the easiest to build. Additional care for such a parking, as a rule, is not needed.

The grille can withstand the weight of the car perfectly, does not bend, it has excellent properties with respect to water disposal and resistance to low winter temperatures. Speaking about the durability of this option of parking, the term is called about 25 years.

Device technology

What needs to be done to make such a nice parking lot appear on your site? The sequence of actions is as follows:

• All vegetation from the parking place should be removed.
• The next step is to lay the prepared lawn grates with their high-quality fixing.

• Fill each of the lattice cells in 1/3 of the turf.
• Sow lawn grass, and should choose perennial varieties. Their advantages are the ability to independently regenerate in the spring.

It should be noted that in an arid summer, your eco-site will need periodic watering.

Ground of crushed stone

This option for a summer residence is one of the most economical. Especially practical would be a similar solution in the case of soil subject to periodic swelling. Which rubble is the best for parking? After all, he is known to be different. For example, you should not choose limestone gravel in any case - the lower layer will soon be crushed into powder, and after rain it will turn into real dirt. A place filled with such gravel is very quickly overgrown with weeds and takes on a sloppy appearance.

It is best to choose river gravel. Its advantages - it does not cake, is not subject to crumbling, and easily passes water. The lower layer should be arranged from a fraction of 30-60, the upper 5-20. The fine gravel laid on top will fill all the voids remarkably and level the surface.

We build a platform for the car at the cottage of gravel

What is the procedure for constructing such a parking space? The algorithm of actions is as follows:

• Eliminate the soil layer at a thickness of 10-20 cm at the entire selected parking location.
• The resulting plot is covered with sand.

• In order for the platform to better keep its shape, it is necessary to fill the curbs along its edges.
• We are waiting for the curbs to freeze.
• The site is covered with a layer of crushed stone 10-15 cm thick.
• For convenience, a few concrete tiles can be laid in the center of the site.

The main advantage of such a parking from gravel in the absence of water, which will flow through a layer of small pebbles. The disadvantage of this design is the need for periodic cleaning it from fallen leaves, which are clogged into the space between the gravel.

Paving slab

If the soils on your site are subject to swelling, a parking space made of paving slabs is even more suitable for them . Water will easily leave and evaporate thanks to the gaps between the tiles. Such parking compared to the rest of the site will warp much less.

The tile chosen for these purposes exists in a wide variety of colors and textures. Its size is from 30x30 to 50x50 cm, thickness is about 4-5 cm. Granite pavers can be an excellent option in this case.

Going to the store, calculate in advance the number of necessary units of the purchased material, based on the area of ​​future parking. Tiles should be purchased with a margin of about 3-5 pieces in case it is damaged during the work process.

In addition to granite paving, you can use natural stone or clinker bricks. The increased density of such paving slabs is given by the addition of a vibration compactor.

Stacking Guide

Here is a brief technology for laying paving slabs at the chosen parking spot:

1. Excavation of the soil layer throughout the site to a depth of 10 to 20 cm.
2. Tamping a sand or gravel pillow or laying out a layer of sand-cement mixture. This is done in order to tile more tightly.
3. To seal, the substrate is spilled with water. You can use a watering can.
4. The tile is laid with a mallet - a rubber mallet. In order to avoid damage to the coating, it should be tapped very easily and accurately, without significant effort. Thanks to such taps, the tile adheres to the pillow. An additional ligament is not required.
5. The edges of the parking lot should be edged with a curbstone.

Concrete screed

If the soil of your site is quite calm and is not subject to swelling, then a concrete platform for a car in the country can be a good option. This material is quite durable, but the work is performed in the following order:

• Before you pour concrete under the car at the cottage, we arrange a recess along the entire width of the proposed parking lot. Its size depends on the weight of the car. If your car is small and light enough, the thickness of the concrete layer can be 10 cm. For a heavy brand, the layer must be no thinner than 15-20 cm.
• Along the entire perimeter of the territory we arrange formwork from boards with fixing pegs. Its height should correspond to the thickness of the coating.
• The next step is backfilling and tamping of the sand cushion.
• On the prepared base, pour concrete mortar 5-6 cm. If you plan to use the finished mixture, you will have to attend to the order of a special machine. If you can’t drive a dimensional vehicle to your summer house, you will have to mix the concrete mixture yourself using a concrete mixer.

To get the working material you have to buy cement, the right amount of sand and sand and gravel. The mixed concrete with an shovel shovel is laid out in an even layer on top of the sand cushion.

• Without waiting for setting, reinforcement or reinforcing mesh should be laid on top of freshly poured concrete.
• On top of it, a second layer of concrete is poured.
• Using a grater, we level the surface. For convenience, you need to set beacons. From the center to the edges, a slight slope should be provided for water to drain from the parking lot.
• After a day, the beacons are removed. The remaining recesses from them are sealed with cement mortar.
• We make the final surface treatment - with the help of a wet broom we sweep away all the irregularities from the concrete that has not yet hardened, fill up a thin cement layer and evenly distribute the same broom over the entire surface.
• Formwork can be removed after 3 days.
• Concrete will finally gain strength after 3 or 4 weeks. Then he will be able to support the weight of the car. Before the set time, entry to the parking lot is undesirable.

Canopy construction

If for any reason you decide to refuse the device of a full-fledged garage and plan to limit yourself to an open area for a car in the country, it is advisable to provide it with a canopy, thanks to which your car will be protected from rain, ultraviolet rays, hail and snow. It is most convenient when the parking is planned next to a building, for example, a barn or a country house. The continuation of the roof of this building will be an excellent carport.

First of all, several pipes are installed to form the structure. After that, a roof is erected from a variety of materials - awning, film, tarpaulin. A good solution would be sheets of slate or sheet metal left over from the roof.

In the event that the site is located separately, for the canopy it will be necessary to erect a capital arch. Remember that too high a height does not contribute to the stability of the structure that the wind will shake, and oblique jets of rain fall on the machine. The optimal growth of such a canopy can be considered 2.3-2.5 m.

How to organize work

What is the procedure for self-construction of a carport?

• Foundation pouring.
• The coating device of the pre-planned material according to the scheme described above. In the case when you chose the option with concrete pouring, the support posts should be installed immediately, then pour concrete all together. In the case of the device platform for the machine in the country of tiles in the first place should be concreted all the support pillars. And only after that make tile laying. In this case, the frame can only be started a week after the concreting process.
• The formation of the frame from profile pipes (in some places they will have to be bent as necessary). Such bent beams are fixed on racks with the help of scarves and bolts, for which you should first drill holes in the right places.
• When the structure is assembled, it is advisable to paint it in order to protect it from corrosion.
• The minimum number of supports installed on the site is 4 (but may be more), their depth should not be less than 90 cm.
• We insert a three-meter asbestos-cement pipe into each of the supports.
• We fix all racks.
• We build logs from the profile pipe. For the rigidity of the entire bond we link the beams with them.
• Putting the whole frame together. Racks are concreted or fixed using anchors. Beam tilt is checked using a level.
• We are building the cover of our canopy. A great material for this is polycarbonate. It can be replaced with plastic slate, corrugated board or metal tile. Having cut the pieces of the desired format, we fix them with self-tapping screws or special rivets. Polycarbonate is cut with the most ordinary hacksaw, and it should be cut along the length. When assembled, the grooves should be perpendicular to the ground for the rainwater to drain completely.

In each of the cut pieces of polycarbonate we drill holes for fasteners. Their diameter should be slightly larger than the selected screws. This is due to the ability of polycarbonate to expand in hot weather. With a tight fit of self-tapping screws, such a roof can burst at the fastening points. Starting to fix the sheets with self-tapping screws, each hole for fasteners should be covered with a rubber gasket.