How to make a cellar in a private house or in the country with your own hands: diagrams, step by step guide, proper ventilation (55+ Photos & Videos) + Reviews

How to make a cellar in a private house or in the country with your own hands

The basement under the house is not the best place for long-term storage of blanks. The temperature there is elevated, and closer to spring, the vegetables in it will flake. Therefore, sooner or later, novice homeowners have a reasonable question: “How to make a freestanding cellar with your own hands?”

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Types of cellars

In fact, the cellar is a fairly deep hole in the ground with a reinforced ceiling and walls.

The degree of deepening of such a storage can be different:

  • deep buried: are completely underground to the entire height of the cellar; it is not difficult to maintain a comfortable temperature for vegetables and preservation at any time in such rooms - a layer of soil reliably protects them from heat and cold;
  • riding (ground) cellars: they can be erected on any type of site, but most often such structures are used when groundwater is located close to each other, when it is not possible to deepen the cellar too much; to protect such structures from heat and cold, they are thermally insulated by backfilling with soil (bunding);
  • semi-embedded: something between a top and deep storage; its lower part is buried in the soil, and the upper one is located above the ground.

cellar types

When choosing the type of cellar, it is necessary to focus on the depth of groundwater. They should not rise higher than 50-60 cm from the bottom of the cellar.

It is not easy to determine the level of groundwater on your own, without the help of specialists. You can focus on neighboring areas. Go around the neighbors and ask them what types of cellars are used in this area. More accurate measurements can be made by drilling test wells. Before measuring the water level, the finished well should stand for 1-2 days.

According to the location, all underground storage facilities can be divided into 2 types:

1Freestanding
2Wall-mounted: in order to save free space, it is allowed to attach a cellar to the walls of sheds, garages and other outbuildings; cellars can also be located inside such premises; but in order to avoid excessive heating of the air, it is not recommended to attach a cellar to heated rooms.
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Location selection

The safety of products and the durability of the building itself largely depend on the place chosen for construction.

Do not build a cellar on:
  • in an open area lit by the sun - it is better to choose a place in the shade
  • near large trees that can damage the structure with their roots

For the building, the most elevated place is selected. In this case, the probability of flooding with groundwater during their rise in the spring is reduced. Plus, sewage rain or melt water will not accumulate on such a site.

Vegetable store

The vegetable store is located on an elevated site.

To avoid the collapse of buildings, the cellar pit should be located no closer than 0.5 m from the foundation of buildings.

When building a vegetable store under an unheated room, you will not only save space on the site, but also ensure ease of use - you no longer have to clear the snow every time you go for food supplies.

The walls and roof of the building will create additional protection from cold winds and scorching heat.

During the construction of a ground cellar, the exit is located on the shady side. If this is not possible, more thorough thermal insulation of the vestibule and front door will be required.
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Construction of a deep cellar

The construction of any kind of underground storage should be carried out not in the spring, when groundwater rises too close to the surface, but towards the end of summer, in August. All work must be carried out in dry weather. When it rains, the pit must be covered with a film.

Pit preparation

1After choosing the location of the storage, they begin to dig a pit. The depth of a full-fledged cellar should be 2-2.5 m.
2When preparing the pit, it is necessary to take into account the thickness of the floor, as well as the height of the bedding (cushion) of crushed stone, which serves as protection against moisture. The thickness of such a layer is 25-30 cm.
3The optimal size of a vegetable store is 8-12 square meters. m. For a small family, 4-5 square meters are enough. m. To the estimated length and width, add 0.5-1 m for equipping walls, waterproofing and arranging a clay castle.
4Digging the pit is done manually - the excavator can damage the edges of the pit, and the thermal insulation of the storage will be broken. The earth is removed in layers, carefully leveling the edges.
5With loose soil, it is better to make a pit with a slope (between the floor and the top, the difference in each direction should be 30-50 cm). In this case, the earth will crumble less.
6In the corners, it is better to immediately hammer the supports from the channel. Floor beams will be laid on it in the future.
7Part of the earth will be needed to fill the top of the cellar, so do not carry the soil too far.
8After reaching the desired depth, the pit should stand for some time - you need to make sure that it will not be filled with groundwater. If the water has slightly seeped into the pit, the places of its penetration are sealed with clay. With severe flooding, further construction, unfortunately, will be impossible.
Pit preparation

Pit preparation

He hopes that it will be possible to pump out water from the heated cellar annually in the spring, it is not worth it. You will only wash out the channels, constantly expanding them, and every year more and more water will come. If the excavated pit began to flood, it is better to fill it with earth and build a ground cellar.

Preparing a clay castle

The best floors in the cellar are adobe. Our ancestors also knew about the peculiarity of clay to retain moisture and not let it into the room.

To this day, a clay castle is one of the best options for protection. foundationeven in the construction of residential buildings. By the way, leaks in the basements of buildings erected back in the 18th-19th centuries appear only after the laying of new modern communications and the destruction of adobe surfaces.

Clay preparation

Clay preparation

A clay castle is called a layer of clay 20-25 cm thick, laid along the contour of the building with the capture of the perimeter of the walls. The ideal option would be a combination of modern and traditional methods of protection.

First, rolled bituminous material (for example, roofing material), glued with heated bitumen, is laid on the floors, they are poured with cement, and a clay castle is built on top.

Sufficient clay must first be soaked with water for several days. With an excess of sand, 10-20% lime is added to it. It is better to ram the clay in the formwork, filling it in small layers. To compact it, they trample it with their feet, turning it over with a shovel from time to time.

If a natural layer of clay is found at the bottom of the pit prepared for the cellar, it must be dug up with a shovel, capturing a section slightly wider than the intended walls.Then the floors are well washed with their feet, dug up again with a shovel and trampled down.

The walls are also insulated with a clay castle. To do this, the space between a brick or concrete wall is filled with carefully compacted clay. The thickness of such a lock is from 25 cm. It is more convenient to fill the space with clay as the walls are erected.

It is rammed with a piece of log or a special rammer in the form of a flat heavy base and a handle attached to it.

The usual sand bedding (pillow), which absorbs water well, is undesirable with adobe floors. It is better to replace it with a layer of rubble spilled with bitumen, which is covered with compacted clay on top.

Ventilation

Regardless of the type of cellar, it must be provided with ventilation. After all, in addition to moisture coming through the capillaries from the soil, vegetables and fruits stored indoors will also release water during breathing.

There are two ventilation ducts in the cellar. The first exhaust is located above the ceiling itself with an output to the outside to a height of 10-15 cm (see photo). The end of the pipe, located outdoors, should rise above the ground by 0.5 m.

When located above the cellar of an outbuilding (garage, barn, etc.), the exhaust duct is displayed on the roof of the building above the ridge. The pipe should rise above it by 0.5 m.

Cellar ventilation scheme

Cellar ventilation scheme

The second supply channel, which serves to supply fresh air, is equipped at a distance of 20-25 cm from the floor. Supply and exhaust pipes are mounted only on opposite walls. Their minimum length is 2.5-3 m. In order for the circulation of air masses to be uniform, the diameter of the channels must be the same.

They are laid already in the process of building walls. To do this, special holes are provided in masonry or concrete, into which pipes are inserted. From above, the channels are equipped with visors that protect against precipitation and penetration of rodents.

Too large as well as a small diameter is undesirable. In the first case, it will be too cold in the room, in the second case, the small size of the channel will not provide sufficient air exchange. Ideally, pipes should not have any bends. Any extensions and contractions are not allowed.

The size of the pipes is calculated depending on the dimensions of the room. For every 1 m2 of a cellar with a standard 2-meter depth, 26 cm2 of the channel section should be provided. If the storage depth is large, the diameter of the pipes is increased proportionally.

So that the water vapor coming out does not freeze, the channels are insulated at the exit points with soil. You can put on a casing from the outside, lined with heat-insulating material.

Forced ventilation is installed in large vegetable stores. In the simplest systems, an electric fan of low power is installed in the hood for this. In more complex versions, it is installed both in the supply and exhaust channels.

In winter, the inlet openings must be carefully plugged with a cloth.

wall decoration

The most popular materials for their finishing are concrete, brick or concrete blocks. A formwork is prepared for pouring concrete, into which a reinforcing cage is built. All concrete work must be carried out within one day.

Otherwise, cold bridges will form at the joints, through which heat will escape. Such joints are also dangerous due to an excess of surface stress - the wall will turn out to be fragile.

Brick wall decoration

Brick wall decoration

When erecting brick walls, laying is carried out in one brick. As a solution, a clay-sand or cement mixture is used. Outside, the walls are waterproofed with a double layer of bitumen and roofing material. The remaining space between the soil and the wall is covered with earth and compacted.

You can finish the walls with asbestos-cement slabs. Wood is undesirable. Its service life in a wet room will be short. If this is necessary, you can use the method that our ancestors used.Stakes are hammered into the corners of the walls, into which boards or slabs cut to length and dried for 1-2 years are laid.

Cellar ceiling

For the manufacture of floors, you can use concrete, wood, or a combination of both. Fixing a plank ceiling and laying insulation between the wooden beams is much more convenient and easier.

In this case:

1Ruberoid is laid over the walls.
2Then, at a distance of 0.5 m from each other, logs or beams from a bar 150x100 mm, pre-treated antiseptic.
3Next, a flooring is prepared from boards (croaker), in which space is left for a hatch (manhole) measuring 80x80 cm. After laying, it is coated with a layer of clay, and then covered with soil.
4Wooden flooring is covered with a layer of waterproofing. As it can be used thick polyethylene. The film is spread in such a way that it is on the ground.
5Now we lay the reinforcement in the form of a lattice, prepare the formwork and fill it with concrete 4-5 cm thick.
6After the concrete has completely dried (it is necessary to wait at least a week), a double insulated, tightly fitted cover is attached to the hatch. A brick is laid out along its perimeter or concrete is poured.
7When used as a floor, concrete slabs are laid on metal beams. The seams between the plates are sealed with cement mortar; then such an overlap is poured with bitumen. Roofing material is spread over it, and then a layer of insulation.
8It is undesirable to use mineral wool as a heater - in a humid room over time it will clump and completely lose its thermal insulation properties. The best option is foam. The joints between its sheets are glued with sealant or adhesive tape.
9If the underground storage is built separately, it is better to provide a small building with a gable roof (cellar) above the cellar to protect it from the sun in summer and snow in winter. Its door is equipped on the north side. Such a room can be used as a place to store gardening equipment.
wooden floor

wooden floor

For reliable thermal protection, the walls of the cellar are buried in the ground by 60-70 cm, and outside they make a blind area of ​​clay and rubble.

Ceiling insulation

To ensure the optimum temperature in the room, the ceiling must be thermally insulated.

To do this, a lattice structure (crate) of timber is attached to the beams, between which foam plastic or any other heat-insulating material that does not absorb moisture is laid.

To secure it, it is sheathed with boards or fiberboard, which are screwed to the bars.

Ceiling insulation with foam

Ceiling insulation polystyrene

Before installing the insulation on the ceiling, a plastic film is overlapped. This can be done with simple double sided tape. All joints in the insulation are carefully sealed. Then it is again covered with a film. As a finishing coating, plaster or boards can be used.

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Construction of the upper cellar

The cost of such a design compared to the underground option is quite low. Yes, and it is more convenient to use such a storage - it is equipped with an ordinary door, and you no longer have to climb the stairs down. However, it is not easy to maintain the optimum temperature without deepening into the ground. For this, a special design of the building is provided.

Types of riding cellars

By type of riding cellars are divided into:

  • storage sheds with bunding: the simplest structures made of boards or logs, resembling a hut; to maintain a comfortable temperature, such buildings are covered with a sufficiently large layer of earth from above
  • upper cellar without embankment: its design is similar to the design of a conventional outbuilding; to maintain a comfortable temperature, the walls of such a building are made double with a layer of thermal insulation between them

Types of cellars with bunding

Types of cellars with bunding

Construction of a cellar with an embankment

Unlike the deep-seated cellar, most of the upper cellar rises above the surface. To maintain the required temperature in the room, it will require additional thermal insulation.

1Such a structure is erected in the form of a hut, the roof of which is supported by strong log supports.
2At the first stage, a pit is prepared with a depth of 0.5-0.6 m. The excavated earth is left nearby - it will be useful for bunding. The floors are covered with rubble and compacted tightly. A clay castle is arranged on top (more on this a little higher).
3When choosing land from a pit, it is better to immediately cut out a ladder of several steps from the ground. In the future, it is finished with reinforced concrete, brick or a wide solid board. It is desirable to mount steel corners at the edges of concrete steps so that the concrete does not spill out.
4Floor supports are installed in advance. To protect the tree from moisture, part of the logs that will go deep into the ground are covered with bitumen or burned.
5After digging log supports into the ground to a depth of 50-60 cm, they are tied up in the upper part with long poles.
6At the stage of building walls, it is necessary to take care of ventilation. The principle of its device is similar to ventilation, equipped in deep cellars. The exhaust duct is equipped near the ceiling, and the supply duct is located on the opposite wall just above the floor.
7The wall from the end is sheathed with two rows of boards, smeared twice with bitumen and interleaved with a layer of roofing material.
8The ridge of the roof is prepared from edged boards of sufficient thickness, covered with roofing material. All cracks are caulked with moss.
9The ceiling slab must be as strong as possible so that it can withstand the earth embankment. Do not forget that in addition to the pressure of the soil layer, a significant snow load will also fall on the roof in winter.
10The entrance must be equipped with a small vestibule, which serves as additional protection against heat loss. The door leading to the vegetable store is carefully insulated.
11To drain water around such a storage, a ditch with a depth of 0.5 m is made. Along the perimeter of the cellar, a blind area 1 m wide with a slope from the cellar is also provided.
If the water passes close to the surface of the earth, a ground cellar can be erected on a sprinkled area.

embankment

Preparatory process before bunding

Preparatory process before bunding

1Earthen backfill (bunding) must reliably retain cold in summer and heat in winter. Its optimal thickness is 35-45 cm.
2Before bunding, the ceiling is covered with a 5-cm layer of clay-straw mixture. A thick film of polyethylene or roofing material is laid on top of it.
3The earth, especially in the upper part of the floor, may settle over time. In order not to have to make additional bunding, a special fence must be provided to protect against soil sliding along the slopes.
4To strengthen the embankment, it must be immediately covered with turf or sown with low-growing grass, for example, lawn. The intertwined roots of plants will not allow the earth to slide down.
Ready storage

Ready storage

Like any other building, a horse cellar can be made visually attractive by finishing it to your liking. The design of the site will only benefit from this.

The main stages of the construction of a cellar without wall embankment

Riding cellars with full bunding take up too much space on site. In recent years, site owners have found a different solution. Instead of embankment, they began to build cellars with double walls.

Outwardly, they look like ordinary buildings. However, due to the massive walls laid with insulation, a comfortable temperature for vegetables is maintained in such a storehouse.

In the literature, it is recommended to insulate the space between the walls with foam, sawdust or expanded clay.

Building without embankment

Building without embankment

With earth, with the help of a bunding, only a one- or two-pitched roof of such a vegetable store is insulated. The thickness of the layer of soil to be filled up is up to half a meter. Just as in the previous case, a vestibule is provided in such a storehouse.

The door leading to the vault is carefully insulated.

During the construction of such a vegetable store:

1The earth is taken out to a depth of 0.5 m.
2The floors are covered with rubble, spilled with bitumen, and then a clay castle is prepared.
3Bricks are sunk into wet clay in such a way that a minimum gap is formed between them.
4The lower part of the walls is also laid out with bricks. The masonry should rise above the surface to the height of the shovel bayonet. Sand, clay and lime are used as mortar for masonry. Its proportions are 3:1:0.3. Double walls can be completely laid out of brick or stone.
5The ceiling and walls are sheathed with 2 rows of thick-walled 40- or 50-mm boards, the earth is filled up and tightly rammed in the gap between them.
6The walls are coated twice with bitumen. A layer of roofing material is fixed on top of them.
7The roof can be single or gable. Before backfilling, it is covered with roofing material.
8The cellar must be ventilated.
9A drainage ditch is laid around the cellar.

Semi-buried cellar

Such a structure goes into the ground to a depth of about a meter with a wall height of about 2 m. The entrance is through the vestibule, and the door is flush with the ground. Second, insulated the door provides access directly to the cellar, where they go down the stairs.

Such structures are erected on sites with a groundwater level of no more than 1.5-2 m.

 

Semi-buried cellar

Semi-buried cellar

The procedure for performing work is in many ways similar to the stages of building a ground cellar:

1To create a layer of thermal insulation, the roof of the building and the upper part of the walls rising above the surface are also collapsed with earth.
2The overlap is made of a slab aligned on the sides, which is covered with clay. Roofing material glued with hot bitumen is laid on top.
The walls are built of brick and concrete. It is undesirable to use slag concrete in wet areas - it will quickly become unusable.

Cellar of reinforced concrete rings

The maximum diameter of reinforced concrete rings is 2-2.5 m, so they can only be used to build a small vegetable store. But for a small family, such a room will be quite enough.

1For the construction of the cellar, 2-3 rings will be enough, which are placed one on top of the other in the pit. The height of the rings can vary - it can be equal to 0.4 and 0.6 m, and the higher ones are made with a height of 0.8 and 1 m. was able to stand up to his full height, and there was little space above his head.
2It is better to buy rings with locks. Such a connection will be stronger, plus it will be easier to seal. A reinforced concrete cover with a manhole is also better to buy ready-made.
3Before immersing the rings in the waterproofing pit, they are treated twice with bitumen from the outside.
4To install them, it is better to use a loader or winch.
5After lowering the rings into the pit, all joints are smeared with concrete, and then waterproofed with bituminous mastic.
6Another option is the gradual excavation of soil under the rings. After removing the earth, they will gradually sink down under the weight of their own weight.
7If groundwater is close, it is better to purchase one lower ring with a bottom or concrete the floor, after filling and tamping an clay castle at the bottom of the pit with the perimeter of the walls.
8A hole is being prepared in the well cover for the outlet of ventilation pipes.
9It would be wiser to make a small cellar above the storage - it will protect it from extreme heat and winds.
10To drain water around the perimeter of the cellar, prepare drainage - a ditch 0.4 m deep, filled with rubble.
Sealing joints in a concrete cellar

Sealing joints in a concrete cellar

If groundwater passes close, the cellar of concrete rings can be made shallow. That is, bury only part of the rings in the ground. The top and side walls of the vault, as in the case of the upper cellars, are covered with soil (mounded).
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Ready-made structures for cellars

The industry produces ready-made hermetic structures for cellars from a variety of materials: from plastic to metal. It is undesirable to use metal containers - they do not store heat well.

Plastic Cellar

Plastic Cellar

Installing this design is easy. Under it, a pit of the required size is being prepared, into which a sealed container is lowered. The space between it and the ground is covered with earth and compacted tightly.

If desired, a complete installation of such a cellar can be carried out by the manufacturer.

With a high rise in groundwater, light structures made of plastic or metal can easily be squeezed out to the surface. Therefore, they must be made heavier, falling asleep on top of a sufficiently thick layer of soil.

You can see with your own eyes the process of laying a plastic cellar in the following video:

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Plastic cellar with side vertical entrance

How to make a cellar in a private house or in the country with your own hands: diagrams, step by step guide, proper ventilation (55+ Photos & Videos) + Reviews

 

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1 comment
  1. Described in detail, thank you for practicing everything, because it is described by a practitioner. Found everything you need in one place. I will be building this summer. Too bad you don't have to think!

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