How to properly make a blind area around a house with paving slabs: step-by-step instructions, nuances, mistakes

The waterproof coating that surrounds the house and is closely adjacent to the base is an important component of a residential building. It is customary to think about the construction of a protective structure that simultaneously performs a decorative function at the design stage. Therefore, the owner can only choose the type of finishing material. Most often it becomes a blind area made of paving slabs, which looks elegant, delicately playing with the landscape and design of the area.

Why do you need a blind area - main functions

The blind area is a complex structural element, the main purpose of which is to protect the base of the building from moisture that can penetrate inside from the external environment. At the same time, this design performs a number of other, no less important functions:

1. Improves temperature conditions in basements, since the layered “pie” includes thermal insulation material.
2. Protects the foundation from waterlogging, increasing the service life of a residential building.
3. Provides drainage of storm or melt water into the sewer system.
4. Prevents the destruction of the foundation, especially in winter due to soil heaving due to freezing.
5. Replaces the pedestrian path, providing unhindered movement along the walls of the house and facilitating cleaning of the local area.
6. Improves the appearance of the building, giving it an attractive appearance that is in harmony with the surrounding landscape.

Features of the layer structure

The structural advantages of a blind area made of paving slabs lie in the construction of a “pie”, which consists of the following components:

1. A dense base is a compacted trench bottom made of clay, sand or a mixture of these materials.
2. Cushion - drainage from any non-metallic bulk material. Pebbles, crushed stone, medium or fine gravel, and coarse sand are suitable.
3. Waterproofing is a waterproof separator made of geomembrane or polymer film.
4. Insulation is a heat-insulating layer that prevents soil freezing and heaving in the immediate vicinity of the basement structure of the house.
5. Decorative finishing - paving slabs, curb stones, elements of the drainage system. Installation is carried out using a cement-sand mixture or concrete mortar.

Why choose paving slabs?

When choosing a material for decorative finishing, blind areas around the house most often involve common paving elements: clinker, natural or artificial stone, paving slabs. The latter is valued because it has the shape of not only a beam, but also a more complex geometry.

As practice shows, performance qualities depend not on the type of element chosen for the decorative finishing of the blind area, but on the material used for its production.

Useful: How to make a blind area around the house with your own hands

Preparation of tools and materials

To install a tile blind area you will need to prepare:

• plain gray or colored paving slabs;
• waterproofing profiled material or high-density PVC film;
• geotextiles;
• curb stone;
• ordinary soil clay;
• cement grade not lower than M300;
• fine-grained crushed stone (gravel);
• river or quarry sand;
• collectors and other elements for the construction of drains.

If the work will be carried out independently without the involvement of an installation team, you will need the following set of tools:

• 5-meter metal tape measure for taking measurements;
• pegs and nylon cord for marking;
• construction level;
• shovels - bayonet and shovel;
• mallet - a rubber or wooden hammer for leveling laid paving slabs;
• Master OK;
• vibropress;
• containers for mixing the solution;
• grinder with diamond discs for trimming decorative stone.

Step-by-step instruction

After completing the preparatory stage, they invite craftsmen or begin constructing the protective strip themselves. Since the blind area with paving slabs is a soft-type structure, its installation requires a high-quality base.

Taking into account the characteristics of the soil and the size of the paving slabs, the thickness of each layer of the “pie” can be changed, but it is not recommended to completely eliminate it.

How to put it on the sand with your own hands

In order for a blind area made of paving slabs to not only beautify the house and the adjacent area, but also serve as reliable protection, its construction should begin after careful preparation of the so-called bed. In this case, the coating will last a long time, will not crack, sag or swell.

Creating the Foundation

The construction of a protective strip around the house begins with digging a trench. If there is an old blind area, it is removed and the area is thoroughly cleaned.For a new “pie”, a layer of soil is removed. If you plan to install a drainage system, provide a recess for laying drainage trays and pipes at a sufficient distance from the walls of the base. Instructions for creating the base:

1. Since the width of the bed must be at least 60 cm, the required distance is measured from the foundation walls, another 5 cm is added (for installation of curb stones), after which wedges are driven in and the cord is fixed. The outlined area will be the site of the new blind area.
2. Next, a layer of soil is removed, the resulting ditch 40-50 cm deep is thoroughly cleaned, the bottom is leveled, while simultaneously forming a slope of 2-3° to the outer edge of the future strip.
3. Next, a layer of soft, homogeneous, moistened clay is poured, constructing a clay “hydraulic lock”. It will serve as a waterproof barrier, preventing moisture from penetrating the basement walls.
4. After waiting for the clay to dry completely, lay a waterproofing profiled material or polyethylene film. Sand 5 cm high is poured on top and, after thorough compaction, a 10 cm layer of crushed stone is poured.
5. At the next stage, curb stone is laid, but using CPS - a cement-sand mixture, which ensures high structural strength. Before installation, install the required number of drainage trays so that the side of the drainage gutter is at the same level as the paving slabs. The cracks are sealed with mortar.
6. After the border is formed, another layer of geotextile is laid on the crushed stone drainage pad, making sure that the fabric completely covers the space from the wall to the edge of the blind area. The edges of the material are turned outward, one is coated with bitumen sealant and secured to the foundation wall using metal strips.The other edge is hidden in a gap on the inside of the curb. All gaps, even small ones, are covered with sand.

Installation of paving slabs

Activities for decorative finishing of the blind area with paving slabs are always planned to be carried out in dry weather and they do it like this:

1. On top of the laid sheet of waterproofing material, a backfill of CFRP is made to a height of 2-4 cm. The dry mixture is prepared from sand and cement grade M400 (1:5). The cushion is compacted tightly and carefully leveled, since the paving slabs will need to be laid in a set and without pressure.
2. The installation of the bars begins from the base side: a cord is pulled to align the row. A gap is first left for laying an expansion joint between the foundation and the blind area, which will be filled with cement mortar after the work is completed.
3. Each tile is laid as follows: a small amount of wet mixture is applied to the lower ribs, laid in place, maintaining the pattern, and adjusted using a rubber mallet.

When all the elements of the paving slabs are “planted” in place, they begin to seal the seams. To do this, the cracks are filled with a dry cement-sand mixture, but in a ratio of 3:1, after which the finished blind area is generously watered with water from a garden hose. Under the influence of moisture, the “grout” will become more durable, and the remaining solution will be washed away from the surface of the decorative coating.

You can also fill cracks with quartz sand, which gives the grout strength, stability and attractive appearance. However, to save money, you can take regular, but pre-screened, quarry sand.

How to lay on the mortar with your own hands

Before laying paving slabs on the mortar, as in the previous case, prepare the base:

1. For the future blind area, an area is determined, the boundaries are marked with pegs and nylon cord.
2. A layer of soil is removed taking into account the slope in the direction opposite to the foundation. Since the top layer of soil is always saturated with organic matter, subsidence is inevitable. Therefore, the fertile layer is removed completely (to a thickness of 20-40 cm) - it can be used in other areas.
3. The bottom of the dug trench is cleaned and compacted, the outer walls are strengthened with formwork.
4. Geotextiles are laid on the compacted substrate, which will protect the “pie” from plant germination.
5. Next, backfill is made from any non-metallic inert material: sand, gravel or crushed stone. The last two are reliable cutoffs of ground moisture, and therefore are more expensive. The backfill is made with a thickness of at least 15 cm, observing the degree of slope and compacting it with a vibrating plate until it is as dense as possible.
6. This is followed by a layer of cement-sand mixture (in a ratio of 1:3). Since the solution hardens quickly, it is prepared in small portions.
7. Before mixing the above-mentioned composition, the paving slabs are correctly laid out around the perimeter in strict accordance with the chosen pattern.
   
8. When everything is prepared, several rows of paving slabs are removed from the base, a cement-sand mortar (at least 10 cm thick) is distributed over its surface, and only then the removed row of bars is laid.

After all the paving slabs are laid on the mortar, the joints are grouted with a cement mixture, or better yet, bitumen. Sand is not used for this purpose because it absorbs moisture well. It is also not recommended to lay tiles on a concrete base.

Healthy: Do-it-yourself insulated blind area around the house.

What nuances need to be taken into account

Having the ability to work with the chosen material, having familiarized himself with the technical requirements, even a novice developer can build a blind area from paving slabs. But for the successful implementation of the project, some nuances should be taken into account:

1. The angle of inclination of the surface of the paving slab blind area, directed in the direction opposite to the foundation, should be 1-10°.
2. The width of the path should be 25-30 cm greater than the eaves of the roof, then the water will flow onto its surface, as intended.
3. The blind area of ​​paving slabs should form a closed loop around the entire perimeter of the building. Otherwise, moisture will be able to reach the foundation in places where there is no coating.
4. Installing a curb along the outer edge of the strip will help prevent the roots of trees and shrubs from penetrating deep into the layered “pie” of the paving slab blind area.
5. To prevent flooding during heavy rains, melting snow or other adverse weather conditions, the paving slab area is constructed in such a way that the lower outer edge remains raised above ground level by 5-8 cm.
   
   
6. To reduce the cost of finishing materials, select a suitable sample of paving slabs and an economical installation method in which the amount of residue will be minimal.
7. The thickness of paving slabs is determined taking into account operating conditions. To move people, a relatively thin material is chosen; for high loads, preference is given to thicker bars.

Common mistakes

When choosing the option of how to make a blind area from tiles with your own hands, novice developers, and sometimes inexperienced craftsmen, make a number of inaccuracies or violate laying technology, as a result of which the paving slabs quickly collapse or serve less than their intended life.

Main mistakes:

1. “Blind area - a little later!” Due to a misunderstanding of the role of the site bordering the building in protecting the foundation, the construction of the blind area is constantly postponed until later or not done at all. As a result, moisture penetrates into the backfill area, which leads to soaking of the foundation base.
2. Lack of required slope. Moisture will stagnate on the surface of the blind area, destroying the paving slabs, or accumulate at the junction with the base of the building.
3. No expansion joints between the foundation and the protective strip. Filling the blind area with a single monolithic belt leads to the appearance of cracks on its surface, violating the integrity of the decorative layer of paving slabs even with slight movements of the soil. To avoid cracking, the concrete base is separated from the walls of the base by deformation gaps.
4. Saving on a cushion made of pebbles, crushed stone, gravel. Disrupts the functioning of the drainage layer. The minimum backfill thickness is 100 mm, recommended is 150 mm.
5. Lightly compacted base. If the soil under the blind area is not compacted tightly enough, it will gradually subside, causing part of the concrete structure to turn the slope in the opposite direction or crack. The decorative finishing of the blind area with paving slabs will also be damaged.
6. Insufficient number of gutters for water drainage, lack of drainage trays.Leads to the accumulation of water flows at the lower outer edge of the blind area, which is already considered a problem area due to frequent waterlogging.

The construction of a blind area around the house is available to anyone who seeks to qualitatively protect the foundation of a country house or dacha. The main thing is to be patient, reserve time, purchase tools and materials, and act in accordance with the step-by-step instructions.

Discreet paving stones or bright paving slabs around the house look much more attractive and organic than dull gray concrete. In addition, this decorative finishing material is not inferior in strength and reliability, since it eliminates errors in preparing the solution, which subsequently cause cracks to appear.

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What do you think: is it necessary to finish the blind area with paving slabs or is it better to leave a concrete base? If the article turned out to be useful, add it to your bookmarks and share a link to it on social networks and on thematic forums. Write in the comments whether you have a dacha or a country house and what methods you used to solve the issue of protecting its foundation.