Cellar in the country with their own hands: a step-by-step guide to the arrangement

The cellar is an important element of any country site, it is indispensable for the storage of vegetables, fruits and preservation. The article contains information on how to build a cellar in the country with their own hands: a step-by-step description will help to take into account a lot of nuances, ranging from the right choice of place and ending with the installation of waterproofing and wiring. The external arrangement of the building is also of great importance, and the construction of shelves and drawers will help to use space efficiently.

Cellar in the country with their own hands: a step-by-step guide to the arrangement

Types and features of the cellars

Do not confuse the cellar and basement. Building a cellar with your own hands at a cottage can be as simple as digging a hole and minimizing it. The choice of type of construction depends on many parameters, for example, on its intended purpose, on the climatic conditions of the region, financial possibilities, etc. Also, when choosing the type and materials for building a cellar in the country house with your own hands, you should take into account its location.

A detached building is easier to erect than, for example, building a cellar under the house, but this option will require more materials, and therefore finances. It will be cheaper to make storage under a dwelling house or an outbuilding, however this option is limited in space.

Cellar in the country with their own hands: a step-by-step guide to the arrangement

One of the most popular options is the cellar-glacier. It copes with the function of long-term storage of products even in the hot season and is especially in demand in the southern regions. Build this type of cellar in a private house with your own hands is quite difficult and expensive, but the result is characterized by high performance, durability and reliability.

Another good option for this building is the storage of two sections. As a rule, this type is used when it is necessary to avoid mixing the smells of various vegetables and fruits, which are simultaneously stored in the cellar. For the construction of such storage you need less materials than for the glacier.

A separate type of cellar – wine. It is used to store the products of winemaking, has its own design features and nuances that must be considered in order to carry out the proper construction of the cellar. As a rule, in such a storage you can store not only wine, but also various preservation.

Cellar in the country with their own hands: a step-by-step guide to the arrangement

When choosing a place for storage, it is very important to take into account such factors as the total soil moisture and the groundwater level. The lower it is, the easier it will be to build the structure, and less often you will need repairs. If we are talking about a detached structure, then you should choose the highest place on your site. It is best to determine the level of groundwater when it is at its maximum, that is, in spring or autumn. If the site has a well or well, then you can determine the maximum mark by them, otherwise you have to drill a well separately.

A little more difficult will be the construction of the cellar, if close groundwater. How to do it as efficiently as possible? First of all, you need to pay great attention to waterproofing structures. Also, when the soil moisture is high, for the best waterproofing of the cellar from groundwater it is worth using building materials characterized by increased water resistance. In this case, do not use wood or plywood, but rather give preference to concrete and bricks.

Cellar in the country with their own hands: a step-by-step guide to the arrangement

Helpful advice! Check the level of groundwater can be according to national signs. To do this, leave a piece of wool and a chicken egg at the construction site, and cover them with a clay pot on top of them. If in the morning both wool and egg will have dew, then the groundwater is close, and if it is only wool, far.

Regardless of what type of construction you choose or what materials you intend to use, there are a number of general recommendations that you should follow when stepping up the cellar with your own hands:

  • if you are going to use wooden elements, they must be pre-treated with a special impregnation in order to protect them from the harmful effects of moisture;
  • It is best to start the construction of the cellar in summer, then the groundwater level is at the bottom. In this case, the soil will be the driest, and the risk of flooding the structure is minimal;
  • to ensure the effective storage of food is very important to consider a ventilation system;
  • if you want the design to maintain the desired temperature, it is recommended that when building the cellar with your own hands, make two doors separated by a vestibule;

Cellar in the country with their own hands: a step-by-step guide to the arrangement

  • special attention should also be paid to thermal insulation, then the optimum temperature in the cellar will be ensured at any time of the year;
  • the choice of tools and materials for construction is very important, so you should get acquainted with the advantages and disadvantages of various types in advance. The construction itself must be carried out in a clearly recommended manner.

Most often, the construction uses materials such as bricks or concrete blocks. They best tolerate high humidity and low temperatures, and are also characterized by durability, reliability and relatively low cost. When building a brick cellar with your own hands, you should take into account the characteristics of the operational characteristics of each of the varieties of this material:

  • cinder block or foam brick is more fragile, so these varieties are not recommended for use in the construction of underground storage;
  • silicate brick is more durable, but it reacts very poorly to high humidity. This means that the construction of it will not be able to boast a long service life;

Cellar in the country with their own hands: a step-by-step guide to the arrangement

  • Red brick is an ideal option for a cellar in a private house. How to make the construction of this material as effective as possible, you can learn from the numerous step-by-step instructions from experts.

If you decide to use concrete blocks when building, then you will definitely need specialized construction equipment, as they are characterized by high weight. The cellar of them will last a long time and keep the temperature well.

Also in the construction of the cellar in the house with your own hands, you can use a brick that has already been in use, if its condition allows. And in the event that you are going to just sheathe the earthen hole with wooden planks, they must be carefully treated with antiseptics to prevent rotting.

Note! The use of metal-reinforced concrete slabs is also possible. But in this case, to maintain the desired temperature will be quite difficult, so this material should not be used for the building in which you intend to store the products.

Cellar in the country with their own hands: a step-by-step guide to the arrangement

Strict adherence to the sequence of actions is the key to the correct cellar. How to make the construction of the most effective, spending a minimum of time and effort? For this installation work must be performed in a specific order.

Sod is removed from the selected area, after which the land is leveled and marking is performed. On many photos of the cellar with your own hands, you can see that specialized construction equipment is often used to arrange the pit, but if there is no such possibility, then you can use shovels and spikes. The advantage of working with a hand tool is that it allows you to maintain the structure of the soil. If the land in the selected area is loose, then the walls of the pit should be sloped to avoid shedding.

Cellar in the country with their own hands: a step-by-step guide to the arrangement

The dimensions of the cellar depend solely on your needs, but remember that the size of the pit should be 0.5 m larger than the size of the structure itself. In the process of how you build the cellar with your own hands, excavated fertile land can be distributed over the dacha. The evenness of the bottom after completion of the work should be measured by the level and corrected if necessary.

Although it is possible to do without this stage (simply filling the bottom of the pit with rubble or filling it with bitumen), the construction of the foundation will increase the level of waterproofing of the cellar from groundwater. How to make the foundation as effective as possible, but not particularly expensive? To do this, you can use a reinforcing frame over which the concrete mix is ​​poured. The recommended height of the foundation is about 40 cm. Installation of the foundation is a prerequisite for the construction of the cellar in the country with their own hands, if the groundwater is close. How to make the foundation correctly – prompted themed videos on the Internet.

Cellar in the country with their own hands: a step-by-step guide to the arrangement

If you use a brick for building a cellar under the house with your own hands, then you will need a number of specialized tools. These include a trowel, a construction cord, a mason’s hammer, a construction level and a mortar bucket. For greater efficiency, you should use the help of another person.

As a mortar connecting the bricks, you can use a mixture of clay and sand or cement. When building an underground or above-ground cellar with your own hands, the laying should be started from the corners, and the first row should be laid without using a mortar in order to more precisely plan the position of the wall. The bricks of the following rows should be embedded in the mortar until the joint is approximately 12 mm thick.

Cellar in the country with their own hands: a step-by-step guide to the arrangement

Helpful advice! Be sure to use when laying walls building level and plumb. With the first one it is checked how smoothly the brick is laid, and with the second one – the correctness of the corners.

The construction of the ceiling is best to use wooden boards. If the building is being built under the house, then you can use beams as the floor, and the ceiling of the above-ground cellar in the country house is made step by step from PKZh slabs or slate. In this case, the surface may be flat or gable.

Thermal insulation of the ceiling is done on the same principle as thermal insulation of a conventional roof – the gap between the wooden beams and the roofing material is filled with a layer of thermal insulation.

Cellar in the country with their own hands: a step-by-step guide to the arrangement

There are many different options for arranging the floor in the cellar, which one is better depends on your preferences, the purpose of the building, the characteristics of the soil and other factors. It should also be familiarized in advance with the specifics of each method; this will help to quickly and efficiently build a cellar with your own hands. Both video and photo instructions will greatly facilitate the installation process.

Ground floor – The easiest and cheapest option. There is a misconception that the correct floor in the cellar should be only earthen, but this is not the case. Even a well-compacted soil does not protect the room from moisture and mold.

If you nevertheless decided to make a dirt floor in the cellar, the base should be carefully leveled and tamped down, after which a layer of gravel about 10 cm thick is filled. These include a high risk of flooding the room and a high probability that the metal elements will rust and the wooden ones will rot.

Cellar in the country with their own hands: a step-by-step guide to the arrangement

Concrete floor – A good option to protect the room from high groundwater. Concrete screed can act not only as a floor covering, but also as a base for mounting other materials.

For the construction of a concrete floor, it is very important to level the surface, after which a cushion of rubble and sand 15-20 cm thick is mounted. Sand must be thoroughly moistened and compacted, and bitumen must be poured from above. To make the concrete base as strong as possible, a metal grid can be installed on top of the bitumen layer. After that, you can start pouring concrete.

You can mount the waterproofing layer either on a sand cushion or on top of concrete. In the second case, it is necessary to pour another concrete layer on top.

Clay floor – reliable, but very laborious in terms of installation option. It requires a large amount of high-quality material, so it is used quite rarely. Clay is considered one of the most environmentally friendly materials. It is laid on the base of crushed stone with a thickness of 10-15 cm, which can be impregnated with bitumen. Under the clay, it is worthwhile to mount a waterproofing layer of roofing material or other material, and cracks that may form after drying are sealed with a clay-lime mixture.

Cellar in the country with their own hands: a step-by-step guide to the arrangement

Brick coating – durable, durable and attractive appearance. In addition, the material is quite cheap and easy to install. The brick floor is laid on a pillow of fine crushed stone or gravel, a solution of clay is poured in from above. The bricks are slightly buried in the solution close to each other. Also, cement mortar can be driven into the joints between bricks with a stiff brush.

Wooden floor – it is used in land options of a cellar or where ground waters are located very deeply. Before installation, the wood must be treated with special impregnations to extend the service life. Wooden boards are mounted on the top of logs of timber, which, in turn, are laid on the base of rubble and clay. It is best to fasten the boards with screws, but you can simply nail them.

Note! For each of the materials you will need a separate set of tools, the acquisition of which is better to attend to in advance.

Cellar in the country with their own hands: a step-by-step guide to the arrangement

If you build a ground structure, the air flow into the cellar can be carried out naturally through small openings. For underground construction ventilation must be forced-air and exhaust. The outlet of the exhaust pipe should be located near the ceiling, and the suction pipe should be located near the floor. Many photos of the cellar in the country with their own hands show that the ventilation outlets are equipped with special shutters, this allows you to more accurately control the temperature in the room.

If the cellar is built under the house or, if necessary, save space, it is worth making an almost vertical staircase into the cellar with your own hands. How to make it as safe as possible for descent? It is recommended to use handrails. Photo of the stairs in the cellar with their own hands show that it can be built from wooden planks, fixed directly in the ground, as well as from brick or other materials.

Doors are mounted in ground versions of the design, in other cases, the hatch is used. Making a hatch in the cellar with your own hands is quite simple.

Cellar in the country with their own hands: a step-by-step guide to the arrangement

If the cellar is located under the house or an outbuilding, then a hatch is used as an entrance partition. You can buy a hatch for a cellar, and you can make it yourself. The second option will allow you to get a design that exactly matches your needs. Independent installation of the hatch includes the following steps:

  • a place is chosen for future entry. It is very important that access to it is as simple as possible and not cluttered with shelves, drawers and other items;
  • determined by the dimensions of the hatch. It all depends on your needs, but its parameters should not be less than 75×75 cm. In order for the room to be airtight, the side faces of the hatch need to be sheathed with a compactor;
  • manhole cover is made in the cellar. How to make it light and durable? For this, it is best to use wooden boards impregnated with varnish. They are interconnected by rails, and on one side of the lid a sheet of plywood is nailed. If we are talking about a cellar in a residential building, then on top of the hatch cover can be sheathed with the same floor covering as the floor around it. It should be borne in mind that if the arrangement of the hatch for a cellar under a tile is planned, its design should be made of sufficiently strong materials capable of withstanding all the ceramics. If you prefer to use steel, then for the cover you will need a sheet with a thickness of at least 3 mm, which is welded to the metal frame;

Cellar in the country with their own hands: a step-by-step guide to the arrangement

  • attached pen. The best option would be a special hidden or folding design. If the cellar is located in a non-residential area or there is a need to save money, then you can use a regular door handle;
  • screwed loops. This may be the usual door hinges or automotive with springs. The latter option will make it easier to open the lid and fix it in any position.

Answers to the question of how to make a hatch in the cellar with your own hands, there are many, so you should choose the option that is most suitable in your particular case.

Due to the fact that the design of the cellar provides for increased humidity, the wiring in it must be reliably insulated. The best option for wiring are copper wires with a double layer of insulation. Bulbs should be placed in the driest places and additionally equipped with protective caps. It is strictly prohibited to make sockets when building a cellar. How to make the wiring as safe as possible you can look at the training videos from the experts.

Cellar in the country with their own hands: a step-by-step guide to the arrangement

As already mentioned, insulation from moisture is a very important point in the construction of the cellar in the country with their own hands. How to make the most effective waterproofing – there are lots of options, and the choice of the best of them depends on the level of soil moisture and design features of the building.

Waterproofing can be external or internal. The exterior is made even at the construction stage, with the walls outside being sheathed with insulating materials, and also drains, drainage wells and other structures are mounted. Internal insulation is done after the cellar is built. In this case, before using insulating materials, groundwater should be discharged, otherwise the work will be ineffective.

If you made a cellar in the country with your own hands from waterproof concrete, then you will hardly need additional covering with insulating material. But for the construction of brick, you can use the following options for waterproofing:

  • mastic or bitumen – used in cases where the groundwater level is below the floor level. The solution is heated and applied to the walls in a thin layer, resulting in a reliable waterproof film;

Cellar in the country with their own hands: a step-by-step guide to the arrangement

  • penetrating waterproofing – the most expensive, but also the most effective option. It is good because it increases not only the level of resistance of walls to moisture, but also their frost resistance. Also penetrating waterproofing reliably patches all cracks and micropores, is characterized by a long service life and is quickly mounted;
  • cement-based polymer mortar – is one of the most reliable and easy to apply materials for waterproofing. It fits snugly to the walls and reliably protects them from mechanical damage;
  • membrane type waterproofing – consists of various polymers, among which liquid rubber based on bitumen is very popular.

Note! It is very important to have effective ventilation for reliable waterproofing of the cellar in the country with their own hands. How to build a ventilation system so that excess moisture does not condense in the storage? For this purpose, the installation of a supply and exhaust system is best suited.

Cellar in the country with their own hands: a step-by-step guide to the arrangement

On the numerous photos of the cellar in a private house, it can be seen that the waterproofing can be hidden under the decorative wall panels. This is not a prerequisite, but only affects the appearance of the walls. The nuances of installing a waterproofing layer depend on the type of material chosen.

Waterproofing using bitumen or mastic for the walls of the cellar under the house to do it yourself, as a rule, will not be difficult. To do this, you need to pre-plaster the walls, and the waterproofing itself is best applied in two layers. Before the final drying of the coating it is recommended to sprinkle fine dry sand.

Before installing penetrating moisture insulation, the surface of the walls must be thoroughly cleaned of dirt and dust, and then moistened with water. After applying a layer of insulation for several days, it must also be constantly moistened. Concrete walls before installing penetrating waterproofing treated with a metal brush.

Cellar in the country with their own hands: a step-by-step guide to the arrangement

To apply liquid rubber, the walls must be leveled and cleaned. After that, the surface is primed and a waterproofing material is applied to it with a brush, spatula or roller. Finishing materials can be mounted directly on a layer of liquid rubber after it dries. In the photo of the wine cellars, for example, it is clear that the walls are covered with wooden panels.

Cement-polymer mixture is applied to well-moistened walls with a notched trowel or a brush. It is best to do this in several layers.

Shelves and racks are essential elements of any cellar and basement. There are several types of shelving for the cellar, which you can buy in specialized stores, but it is much easier and more economical to make them with your own hands. The most popular options are the following:

  • racks of wood – one of the most common answers to the question of what to make a shelf in the cellar. The material is environmentally friendly and easy to use, and for racks it is best to use a bar with a section of 100×100 mm and a board with a thickness of 3-4 cm. The installation scheme is very simple – racks are made from the bar, in which nests are made to fix the shelves. In order for the shelves of wood to serve longer, they are impregnated with special compounds;

Cellar in the country with their own hands: a step-by-step guide to the arrangement

  • Concrete racks are a good option if you want to know how to make the shelves in the cellar as durable and resistant to moisture as possible. To create concrete shelves, you can use plates of reinforced concrete or niches in the walls, which are filled with concrete screed;
  • steel corner shelves – used in rooms with low humidity levels, otherwise the structures can start to rust very quickly. In order to make a shelf in a cellar for cans, as a rule, a welding machine is used, but you can also do with simple screws. First, frames are made of metal slats, then shelves are attached to them;
  • Plastic shelving – one of the most economical and simple options, which is characterized by attractive appearance and moisture resistance. However, plastic does not tolerate low temperatures quite well, and therefore cannot boast of durability.

Helpful advice! When asking how to make a shelf in the cellar with your own hands, and what material to choose for this, consider the level of humidity in the room, as well as the average weight of cans and boxes that will be stored on the shelves. Concrete perfectly withstands even a very large load, but plastic can not boast of it.

Cellar in the country with their own hands: a step-by-step guide to the arrangement

From the same materials can be made in the cellar boxes for potatoes. As a rule, they are equipped with removable covers, which are installed if necessary. No matter what material you choose, in the warm season shelves and drawers are recommended to be taken out to dry outside. This will prevent the occurrence of mold and the multiplication of pathogens.

When the construction and internal arrangement of the cellar is completed, you can think about the exterior decoration of the ground structure. Its variant depends solely on your preferences – you can simply fill an earthen hill, or you can decorate it with turf or decorative grass, turning it into an element of landscape design. Use in the process of building a cellar with your own hands video and photo instructions that will help to take into account all the nuances and to equip a practical and functional room.

Like this post? Please share to your friends: