Drawing of a cellar with full depth. Various options for a do-it-yourself cellar for a summer residence. Things to consider

The cellar is an important element of any suburban area, it is indispensable for storing vegetables, fruits and canning. The article contains information on how to build a cellar at your dacha with your own hands: step by step description will help to take into account a lot of nuances, starting from the right choice places and ending with the installation of waterproofing and. The external arrangement of the building also has great importance, and the construction of shelving and drawers will help to use the space efficiently.

Do not confuse the cellar and the basement. Building a cellar at your dacha with your own hands can come down to simply digging a hole and minimally arranging it. The choice of the type of structure depends on many parameters, for example, on its intended purpose, on the climatic conditions of the region, financial capabilities, etc. Also, when choosing the type and materials for building a cellar in a country house with your own hands, you need to take into account its location.

It is easier to build a separate building than, for example, to build a cellar under the house, but this option will require more materials, and therefore more finance. Make storage for residential building or an outbuilding will be cheaper, but this option is limited in space.

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

Another good option for this building is a storage unit with two sections. As a rule, this type is used when it is necessary to avoid mixing the odors of various vegetables and fruits that are simultaneously stored in the cellar. To build such a storage facility, you need less materials than for a glacier.

A separate type of cellar is a wine cellar. It is used for storing wine products and has its own design features and nuances that must be taken into account in order to properly build the cellar. As a rule, in such storage you can store not only wine, but also various preserves.

The nuances of arranging a cellar with your own hands at a high groundwater level

When choosing a location for storage, it is very important to take into account factors such as total soil moisture and groundwater level. The lower it is, the easier it will be to build the structure, and the less often repairs will be needed. If we're talking about about a free-standing structure, then you should choose the highest place on your site. It is best to determine the groundwater level when it is at its maximum, that is, in spring or autumn. If there is a well or borehole on the site, then you can determine the maximum elevation using them, otherwise you will have to drill a well separately.

It will be somewhat more difficult to build a cellar if it is close groundwater. How to do this as efficiently as possible? First of all, it is necessary to pay great attention to the waterproofing of the structure. Also, with high soil moisture, it is worth using for better waterproofing of the cellar from groundwater. Construction Materials, characterized by increased resistance to water. In this case, you should not use wood or plywood, but rather give preference to concrete and brick.

Helpful advice! You can check the groundwater level by folk signs. To do this, you need to leave a piece of wool and a chicken egg at the construction site, and cover them on top clay pot. If in the morning there is dew on both the wool and the egg, then groundwater is close, but if there is only dew on the wool, it is far away.

Recommendations for building a cellar with your own hands: how to do it as efficiently as possible

Regardless of what type of construction you choose or what materials you plan to use, there are a number of general recommendations, which should be followed when step by step construction DIY cellars:

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

• special attention should also be paid to thermal insulation, then the optimal 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 familiarize yourself with the advantages and disadvantages in advance various types. The construction itself must be carried out in a clearly recommended order.

Features of using various materials

Most often, materials such as brick or concrete blocks are used in construction. They tolerate it best 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 operational characteristics of each type of this material:

• cinder block or foam brick is characterized by increased fragility, so these varieties are not recommended for use in the construction of underground storage;
• sand-lime brick is more durable, but reacts very poorly to high humidity. This means that a building made from it cannot boast of a long service life;

• red brick is an ideal option for a cellar in a private house. How to make a building from this material as efficient as possible can be learned from numerous step-by-step instructions from specialists.

If you decide to use concrete blocks in construction, then you will definitely need specialized construction equipment, since they are characterized by heavy weight. A cellar made from them will last a long time and maintain the temperature well.

Also, when building a cellar in a house with your own hands, you can use bricks that have already been used, if its condition allows it. And if you are simply going to line an earthen pit with wooden boards, they must be thoroughly treated with antiseptics to prevent rotting.

Note! Usage concrete slabs, reinforced with metal, is also possible. But in this case it will be quite difficult to maintain the desired temperature, so this material should not be used for a building in which you are going to store food.

Do-it-yourself cellar at the dacha: step-by-step construction guide

Strict adherence to the sequence of actions is the key to a proper cellar. How to make the construction as efficient as possible, spending a minimum of time and effort on it? For this installation work must be done in a certain order.

Arrangement of the pit

The turf is removed from the selected area, after which the ground is leveled and markings are made. Many photos of a do-it-yourself cellar show that specialized construction equipment is often used to build a pit, but if this is not possible, then you can use shovels and spades. The advantage of working with hand tools is that it allows you to maintain the structure of the soil. If the soil in the selected area is loose, then the walls of the pit should be sloped to avoid crumbling.

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 building a cellar with your own hands, the excavated fertile soil can be distributed throughout the summer cottage. After finishing the work, the evenness of the bottom should be measured with a level and corrected if necessary.

Construction of the foundation

Although you can do without this stage (by simply filling the bottom of the pit with crushed stone or filling it with bitumen), the arrangement of the foundation will increase the level of waterproofing of the cellar from groundwater. How to make the foundation as efficient as possible, but not too expensive? To do this, you can use a reinforcing frame, on top of which a concrete mixture is poured. The recommended foundation height is about 40 cm. Installation of the foundation is prerequisite when building a cellar in a country house with your own hands, if groundwater is close. Thematic videos on the Internet will tell you how to make the foundation correctly.

Walling

If you use bricks to build a cellar under your house with your own hands, then you will need a number specialized tools. These include a trowel, mortar line, mason's hammer, mortar level and mortar bucket. For greater work efficiency, you should use the help of another person.

A mixture of clay and sand or cement can be used as a mortar connecting the bricks. When building an underground or above-ground cellar with your own hands, laying should begin from the corners, and the first row should be laid without using mortar in order to more accurately plan the position of the wall. The bricks of the next rows must be sunk into the mortar until the seam thickness is approximately 12 mm.

Helpful advice! Be sure to use a building level and plumb line when laying walls. Using the first, you check how evenly the brick is laid, and using the second, the correctness of the angles.

DIY cellar floor installation

When constructing a ceiling, it is best to use wooden boards. If the structure is being built under a house, then beams can be used as a ceiling, and the ceiling of an above-ground cellar at the dacha is made with your own hands step by step from PKZh slabs or slate. In this case, the surface can be flat or gable.

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

Types and features of floor installation in the cellar

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

Dirt floor- the simplest and cheapest option. There is a misconception that the correct floor in the cellar should only be earthen, but this is not so. Even well-compacted soil will not protect the room from dampness and mold.

If you nevertheless decide to make a dirt floor in the cellar, then the base must be carefully leveled and compacted, after which a layer of gravel about 10 cm thick is poured. The advantage of this option is zero installation cost, but there are many more disadvantages. These include a high risk of flooding of the premises and a high probability that metal elements will rust, and wooden ones will rot.

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 the installation of other materials.

To build a concrete floor, it is very important to level the surface, after which a cushion of crushed stone and sand 15-20 cm thick is installed. The sand must be thoroughly moistened and compacted, and bitumen must be poured on top. In order to concrete base was as durable as possible; a metal grate can be installed on top of the bitumen layer. After this, you can begin pouring concrete.

You can install 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- a reliable, but very labor-intensive option in terms of installation. 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 a base of crushed stone 10-15 cm thick, which can be impregnated with bitumen. Under the clay, it is worth installing a layer of waterproofing made of roofing felt or other material, and cracks that may form after drying are sealed with a clay-lime mixture.

Brick covering– strong, durable and attractive in appearance. In addition, the material is quite cheap and easy to install. The brick floor is laid on a bed of fine crushed stone or gravel, and a clay mortar is poured on top. The bricks are slightly sunk into the mortar close to each other. You can also hammer cement mortar into the seams between the bricks using a stiff brush.

Wooden floor– used in above-ground cellars or where groundwater is very deep. Before installation, wood must be treated with special impregnations to extend its service life. Wooden boards are mounted on top of timber logs, which, in turn, are laid on a base of crushed stone and clay. It is best to fasten the boards using self-tapping screws, but you can simply nail them.

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

Design and installation of a ventilation system

If you are building a ground-based structure, then the flow of air into the cellar can occur naturally through small openings. For underground structures, ventilation must be supply 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 do-it-yourself photos of a cellar in a country house show that the ventilation outlets are equipped with special curtains, this allows you to more accurately control the temperature in the room.

Installation of stairs and doors

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

Doors are mounted in ground-based design options; in other cases, a hatch is used. Making a cellar hatch with your own hands is quite simple.

Making a hatch

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

• a location for the future entrance is selected. It is very important that access to it is as simple as possible and not cluttered with shelves, drawers and other objects;
• The dimensions of the hatch are determined. It all depends on your needs, but its parameters should not be less than 75x75 cm. In order for the room to be airtight, side faces the hatch must be covered with a sealant;
• a cellar hatch cover is being made. How to make it light and durable? For this, it is best to use wooden boards impregnated with drying oil. They are connected to each other with slats, and a sheet of plywood is nailed to one side of the lid. If we are talking about a cellar in a residential building, then the top of the hatch cover can be sheathed with the same floor covering as the floor around it. It is worth considering that if you plan to install a cellar hatch under tiles, its design must be made of sufficiently durable materials that can withstand all the ceramics. If you prefer to use steel, then for the lid you will need a sheet with a thickness of at least 3 mm, which is welded onto a metal frame;

• a handle is attached. The best option would be a special hidden or folding design. If the cellar is in non-residential premises or there is a need to save money, then you can use a regular door handle;
• the hinges are screwed on. These can be regular door hinges or car hinges with springs. The latter option will make it easier to open the lid and fix it in any position.

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

Wiring and lighting

Due to the fact that the design of the cellar provides for high humidity, the wiring in it must be reliably insulated. The best option for wiring is copper wires with a double layer of insulation. Light bulbs should be placed in the driest places and additionally equipped with protective caps. It is strictly forbidden to make sockets when building a cellar. How to properly make wiring as safe as possible can be seen in training videos from specialists.

Installation of waterproofing in the cellar

As already mentioned, insulation from moisture is a very important point when building a cellar in a country house with your own hands. How to make waterproofing most effective - there are many options, and the choice of the optimal one depends on the level of soil moisture and design features the buildings.

Waterproofing can be external or internal. The external one is done during the construction stage, while the external walls are sheathed with insulating materials, and gutters, drainage wells and other structures are installed. Internal insulation is done after the cellar is built. In this case, before using insulating materials, groundwater must be drained, otherwise the work will be ineffective.

Types of materials used for internal waterproofing

If you made a cellar in your country house with your own hands from waterproof concrete, then you are unlikely to need additional cladding with insulating material. But for a brick structure you can use the following waterproofing options:

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

• – 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 seals all cracks and micropores, is characterized by a long service life and is quickly installed;
• Cement-based polymer mortar is one of the most reliable and easy-to-apply waterproofing materials. It fits tightly to the walls and reliably protects them from mechanical damage;
• membrane-type moisture insulation - 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 a cellar in a country house with your own hands. How to build a ventilation system so that excess moisture does not condense in the storage? The installation of a supply and exhaust system is best suited for this.

Procedure for installing waterproofing

Numerous photos of a cellar in a private house show that waterproofing can be hidden under 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 a cellar under a house, as a rule, is not easy to do with your own hands. special labor. To do this, the walls must first be plastered, and the waterproofing itself is best applied in two layers. Before the coating dries completely, it is recommended to sprinkle it with 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 the insulation layer for several days, it also needs to be constantly moistened. Before installing penetrating waterproofing, concrete walls are treated with a wire brush.

To apply liquid rubber, the walls must be leveled and cleaned. After this, the surface is primed and applied to it using a brush, spatula or roller. waterproofing material. Finishing materials can be mounted directly on a layer of liquid rubber after it has dried. Photos of wine cellars, for example, show that the walls are lined with wood panels.

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

DIY installation of shelves in the cellar: photos and instructions

Shelves and racks are integral elements of any cellar and basement. There are several types of cellar racks, which can be bought in specialized stores, but it is much easier and more economical to make them yourself. The most popular options are the following:

• Wooden shelving is one of the most common answers to the question of what to make a shelf from in the cellar. The material is environmentally friendly and easy to use, and for shelving it is best to use timber with a cross-section of 100x100 mm and boards 3-4 cm thick. The installation scheme is very simple - racks are made from timber, in which sockets are cut to secure the shelves. In order for wooden shelves to last longer, they are impregnated with special compounds;

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

Helpful advice! When wondering 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 the cans and boxes that will be stored on the racks. Concrete can easily withstand even very heavy loads, but plastic cannot boast of this.

From the same materials you can make boxes for potatoes in the cellar. As a rule, they are equipped with removable covers, which are installed if necessary. Regardless of what material you choose, in the warm season it is recommended to take shelves and drawers outside to dry. This will prevent the occurrence of mold and the proliferation of pathogens.

When the construction and interior arrangement of the cellar is completed, you can think about the exterior decoration of the above-ground structure. Its option depends solely on your preferences - you can simply pour an earthen hill, or you can decorate it with turf or ornamental grass, turning it into an element landscape design. During the process of building a cellar with your own hands, use video and photo instructions that will help you take into account all the nuances and arrange a practical and functional room.

It is difficult to replace a cellar in a country house with a refrigerator: only a special room can accommodate vegetable supplies and dozens of jars of salads, jams and pickles, which were lovingly prepared by zealous housewives. One of the popular options is not to use the basement of a residential building, but to build a cellar with your own hands not far from the house, making original exterior decoration and equipping the interior to your liking.

It is necessary to distinguish between two concepts - cellar and basement. The room that is located in a house under the first floor, that is, below ground level, is usually called a basement. Its area is most often equal to the area of ​​the house, so it can easily accommodate several utility units. There can be storage rooms (including a cellar), a boiler room, a laundry room, and with thoughtful thermal insulation - extra room or swimming pool. A common option is a spacious garage combined with a workshop.

The cellar has a more specific purpose - it serves only for storing food: seasonal garden harvest or canned supplies. The premises are equipped with a large number of convenient shelves, racks, stands, as well as ventilation system and planned thermal insulation, creating the most suitable storage conditions fresh vegetables. For some products there is a glacier (natural freezer). The cellar can be located either in the basement of a residential building or in a separate area, in a dugout or above-ground building. Building a cellar in a country house with your own hands is no more difficult than building a gazebo or a bathhouse.

A detached cellar is an opportunity to decorate your backyard with an original building of the most incredible design, reflecting the style orientation of the entire site

Stonework, unusual shape, heavy doors with iron hinges and bolts - and this is not a simple village cellar, but a fragment of an ancient castle

Self-construction of a semi-buried cellar

The most common type of country cellar is semi-buried. It makes it possible to kill two birds with one stone: decorate the territory with an original building and create optimal conditions for storing vegetables and fruits.

Design features of this building

The entire structure is divided into two parts of different sizes, one of which is above the ground, the second is completely in the ground. The depth of the lower part largely depends on the groundwater level. If it allows, the depth of the storage reaches 2.3-2.5 m. The height of the upper part depends on the purpose. If this is just a decorative vestibule, then it is small in area and limited in height front door, equal to the height of a person. If the above-ground part plays the role of a summer kitchen, dining room or guest house, then the ceiling height can be 2.5 m.

The desire to build a semi-buried cellar usually arises when the basement of the house is not intended for storing food, and there is also a need to build an additional building, for example, a summer kitchen. Of course, we need a detailed work plan and a diagram of the future structure. You can use any materials for the walls of the cellar, since its construction is similar to the construction of an ordinary house with a basement. As a rule, brick, concrete, stone are used, and wood is excellent for the above-ground part.

An excellent example of a semi-buried country cellar: a small stone vestibule with wooden roof rises above the ground, and the storage is underground

Semi-buried cellar: a – top view; b – in section; 1 – thermal insulation layer; 2 – finishing whitewash; 3 – upper layer- tile; 4 – bitumen coating; 5 – fixation with a clay lock; 6 – base

The floor in the underground part is poured with concrete, sometimes they stop with compacted clay. Wooden beams are ideal for floors. All parts of the structure: walls, floors, ceilings are covered with thermal insulation from available materials, for example, clay grease. The ideal option is to use modern waterproofing: mineral wool, bitumen and polymer coatings.

A convenient hatch connects both tiers, the dimensions of which are determined taking into account the transported containers - bags, boxes, buckets, cans.

The staircase leading to the cellar usually looks like an ordinary stepladder. If the ground room is not additionally heated, the upper part is equipped with a hatch

General rules for building an independent cellar:

• Construction is carried out during the warm season.
• Elevation is ideal for building a cellar.
• A prerequisite is to equip the cellar premises with ventilation.
• Wooden parts are additionally treated with an antiseptic.
• The entrance door is located on the north side.

Underground part - cellar

First you need to dig a pit, which is half a meter in each direction larger than the cellar. A spare 50 cm will come in handy when you need to waterproof walls or install communications. The walls are made of bricks, concrete blocks or stones. If they go wooden logs or timber, then each part should be processed special means from rot and mold. Often a monolithic concrete structure is made in the form of a plinth: they prepare the formwork, construct a kind of mesh from reinforcement and fill it concrete mortar. To protect corners and joints, roofing felt is used. After dismantling the formwork, the walls on both sides are plastered with cement mortar.

There is a solution to avoid waiting for the concrete to dry for a long time. Instead of monolithic pouring, you can use asbestos-cement sheets fixed on a wooden sheathing. From the outside installed structure should be covered with bitumen mastic.

Plaster for waterproofing a wall on the outside differs from the usual: it contains bitumen mass, which is an excellent water-repellent material

A drainage layer serves as protection against groundwater, which can not only increase indoor humidity but also destroy walls. It can communicate with a drainage well dug near the cellar. Gravel, broken bricks, small stones, and crushed stone are used as drainage materials.

If the cellar is built on a slope or in a trench, you must take care of water drainage by digging small grooves higher up the slope

The base of the building is protected with a moisture-proof cushion: a layer of broken brick or crushed stone is poured out, compacted and filled with heated bitumen.

Ventilation installation

To prevent dangerous gases from accumulating in the underground room and excess moisture from condensation appearing, it is necessary to install ventilation - a primitive system consisting of just one pipe. An inexpensive galvanized pipe with a diameter of 10-15 cm will do. One end goes into the room where vegetables are stored, the other goes outside. A more advanced solution involves the presence of two pipes: one, located under the ceiling, is intended for exhaust, the second, above the floor, for fresh air.

Aboveground structure – burial chamber

The above-ground part is constructed last, when the work on equipping the cellar is completely completed, a clay castle and backfill are made. It should be wider than the lower part in order to protect the underground from the upper side from low temperatures, rain and melting snow.

There are several options for building a burial vault - from a miniature vestibule to a spacious room. If its main purpose is to protect the hatch leading underground, then it is enough to make good waterproofing and a tight-fitting door. If you plan to make a full-fledged room suitable for frequent stays, for example, a summer kitchen, then you will have to take the improvement more seriously. Special attention You need to pay attention to the arrangement of the roof, thermal insulation and wall cladding. The final stage The construction of the cellar concerns the interior decoration.

The cellar, located partially or completely underground, naturally maintains the temperature optimal for storing fresh harvests and canned goods.

The interior decoration of the cellar includes not only flooring and wall cladding or plastering, but also the installation of shelving, boxes and boxes for storing crops

Overhead design

There are many ideas for building a burial vault. Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish it from an ordinary gazebo or summer kitchen: not far from the house there is a neat house with windows, and no one will say that underneath there is a spacious basement with a dozen shelves.

Often, to build a cellar, they use not the basement of the house, but a spacious underground room under the summer kitchen - convenient and practical

Many buildings cannot be called anything other than a cellar. Their entire appearance suggests that behind the door are hidden rich food supplies for the winter, and perhaps even wine cellars. Such buildings are distinguished by their original design: deliberately rough stonework, unusual roof configuration, powerful oak doors.

A cellar surrounded on all sides by earth is easiest to build in an area crossed by a small ravine, ditch or artificially dug trench

Earthen cellars with the so-called embankment are the easiest to identify: they are surrounded on all sides by an earthen embankment covered with turf or a flower bed.

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

Types of cellars

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

The depth of such storage can be different:

• deep-seated: are completely underground to the entire height of the cellar; maintaining a comfortable temperature for vegetables and preservation at any time in such rooms is not difficult - a layer of soil reliably protects them from heat and cold;
• top (ground) cellars: they can be erected on any type of site, but most often such structures are used when groundwater is 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 (embankment);
• semi-recessed: something between high and deep storage; its lower part is buried in the soil, and its upper part is located above the ground.

When choosing the type of cellar, you need 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 groundwater level on your own, without the help of specialists. You can navigate to neighboring areas. Go around your 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.

Based on their location, all underground storage facilities can be divided into 2 types:

1 Freestanding

2 Wall mounted: in order to save free space, it is allowed to attach the 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 the cellar to heated rooms.

Selecting a location

The safety of products and the durability of the structure itself largely depend on the location chosen for construction.

You should not build a cellar on:

• in an open area illuminated by the sun - it is better to choose a place in the shade
• near large trees that can damage the structure with their roots

The highest possible location for the building is selected. In this case, the likelihood of flooding by groundwater when it rises in the spring is reduced. Plus, rainwater or melt water will not accumulate on such a site.

The vegetable storage facility is located on an elevated area

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

When building a vegetable storage facility under an unheated room, you will not only save space on the site, but also ensure ease of use - you will no longer have to clear 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.

When building a ground cellar, the exit is located on the shady side. If this is not possible, you will need more thorough thermal insulation of the vestibule and the entrance door.

Construction of a deep cellar

The construction of any type of underground storage facility should not be carried out 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 film.

1 After choosing the storage location, they begin digging a pit. The depth of a full cellar should be 2-2.5 m.

2 When 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 from moisture. The thickness of this layer is 25-30 cm.

3 The optimal size of vegetable storage is 8-12 square meters. m. For small family 4-5 sq. is enough. m. 0.5-1 m is added to the estimated length and width for equipping walls, waterproofing and arranging a clay castle.

4 Digging a pit is done manually - an excavator can damage the edges of the pit, and the thermal insulation of the storage facility will be damaged. The earth is removed in layers, carefully leveling the edges.

5 In case of loose soil, it is better to make a hole 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.

6 In the corners it is better to immediately hammer in supports from the channel. Floor beams will be laid on it in the future.

7 Part of the earth will be needed to fill the top of the cellar, so do not carry the soil too far.

8 After reaching the required depth, the pit must stand for some time - you need to make sure that it will not fill with groundwater. If water has slightly seeped into the hole, the points of its penetration are sealed with clay. In case of severe flooding, further construction, unfortunately, will be impossible.

There is no point in hoping that water from a flooded cellar can be pumped out every spring. You will only wash out the channels, constantly expanding them, and every year more and more water will arrive. If the dug pit begins to flood, it is better to cover it with earth and build an above-ground cellar.

Preparing a clay castle

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

To this day, the clay castle is one of best options foundation protection even during construction residential buildings. By the way, leaks in the basements of buildings erected in the 18th and 19th centuries arise only after the laying of new modern communications and the destruction of adobe surfaces.

A clay castle is a layer of clay 20-25 cm thick, laid along the contour of the building, covering the perimeter of the walls. Ideal option may be a combination of modern and traditional methods of protection.

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

The clay must first be soaked in sufficient water for several days. If there is an excess of sand, 10-20% lime is added to it. It is better to compact the clay in the formwork, filling it in small layers. To compact it, it is trampled with feet, turning it over with a shovel from time to time.

If a natural layer of clay is found at the bottom of a hole prepared for a cellar, it must be dug up with a shovel, including an area slightly wider than the intended walls. Then the floors are thoroughly crushed with feet, dug up again with a shovel and trampled down.

The walls are also insulated with a clay lock. 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 built.

It is compacted using a piece of log or a special tamper in the form of a flat, heavy base and a handle attached to it.

An ordinary sand bedding (pillow) that absorbs water well, with adobe floors undesirable. It is better to replace it with a layer of crushed stone, spilled with bitumen, which is covered with compacted clay on top.

Ventilation

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

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

When located above the cellar of an outbuilding (garage, shed, etc.), the exhaust duct is led to the roof of the building above the ridge. The pipe should rise 0.5 m above it.

The second supply channel, which serves to supply fresh air, is installed at a distance of 20-25 cm from the floor. The 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 during the construction of walls. To do this, special holes are provided in the masonry or concrete into which pipes are inserted. The channels are equipped with canopies on top that protect against precipitation and the penetration of rodents.

Too large, as well as a small diameter, is undesirable. In the first case, the room will be too cold, in the second, the small size of the channel will not provide sufficient air exchange. Ideally, the pipes should not have any bends. Any expansion or contraction is unacceptable.

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

To prevent water vapor escaping from freezing, the channels are insulated at the exit points with soil. You can put on a casing lined with heat-insulating material on the outside.

In large vegetable storehouses it is arranged forced ventilation. In the simplest systems, for this purpose, a electric fan low power. In more complex options it is installed in both the supply and exhaust ducts.

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

Wall decoration

The most popular materials for their finishing are concrete, brick or concrete blocks. To pour concrete, formwork is prepared into which a reinforcement cage is built. All concrete works must be carried out within one day.

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

When erecting brick walls, the masonry is laid in one brick. The solution used is clay-sand or cement mixture. The outside walls are waterproofed with a double layer of bitumen and roofing felt. The remaining space between the soil and the wall is filled with earth and compacted.

The walls can be finished with asbestos-cement slabs. It is not advisable to use wood. Its service life in a damp room will be short. If there is a need for this, you can use the method that was used by our ancestors. Pegs are driven into the corners of the walls, into which boards or slabs, cut to length and dried for 1-2 years, are laid.

Cellar cover

To make the floor, you can use concrete, wood, or a combination of both. Fixing a plank ceiling and laying insulation in the gap between wooden beams is much more convenient and simpler.

In this case:

1 Roofing felt is laid on top of the walls.

2 Then, at a distance of 0.5 m from each other, logs or beams from 150x100 mm timber, pre-treated with an antiseptic, are laid.

4 The wooden flooring is covered with a layer of waterproofing. You can use thick polyethylene as it. The film is spread so that it lies on the ground.

5 Now we lay the reinforcement in the form of a lattice, prepare the formwork and fill it with concrete 4-5 cm thick.

6 After the concrete has completely dried (you must wait at least a week), a double insulated, tightly fitted lid is attached to the hatch. Brick is laid around its perimeter or concrete is poured.

7 When using concrete slabs as floor coverings, they are laid on metal beams. The seams between the slabs are sealed with cement mortar; then this overlap is filled with bitumen. Roofing felt is spread on top of it, and then a layer of insulation.

8 It is not advisable to use mineral wool as insulation - in a damp room, over time it will clump into clumps and completely lose its thermal insulation properties. The best option is polystyrene foam. The joints between its sheets are sealed with sealant or adhesive tape.

9 If the underground storage facility is built separately, for protection from the sun in summer and snow in winter time It is better to provide a small building with a gable roof (cellar) above the cellar. Its door is installed on the north side. Such a room can be used as a place to store gardening equipment.

For reliable heat protection, the walls of the cellar are buried 60-70 cm into the ground, and a blind area of ​​clay and crushed stone is made on the outside.

Ceiling insulation

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

To do this, a lattice structure (lathing) made 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 beams.

1 The earthen backfill (embankment) must reliably retain cold in summer and heat in winter. Her optimal thickness– 35-45 cm.

2 Before embankment ceiling covered with a 5-centimeter layer of clay-straw mixture. A thick film of polyethylene or roofing felt is laid on top of it.

3 The ground, especially at the top of the floor, may settle over time. To avoid the need for additional embankment, it is necessary to provide a special fence to protect against soil sliding along the slopes.

4 To strengthen the embankment, it must be immediately covered with turf or sown with low-growing grass, for example, lawn grass. The intertwined roots of the plants will prevent the soil from sliding down.

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

The main stages of building a cellar without embanking walls

Horse cellars with full embankment take up too much space on the site. In recent years, land owners have found another solution. Instead of embankment, they began to build cellars with double walls.

Outwardly, they look like ordinary buildings. However, due to the massive walls lined with insulation, such a storage shed maintains a comfortable temperature for vegetables.

Only the one- or two-slope roof of such a vegetable storage facility is insulated with earth using embankment.. The thickness of the layer of backfilled soil is up to half a meter. Just as in the previous case, a vestibule is provided in such a storage shed.

The door leading to the storage room is carefully insulated.

A cellar in a homestead is simply necessary - it will help preserve a large amount of food stored for the winter, which simply cannot fit in a regular refrigerator. This room may be located under the house, or it may be located near it, on the site. To know how to build a cellar on the street, you need to study all stages of this process, starting with digging a pit and ending with installing a roof.

Very an important condition is the choice of time of year for building a cellar. Recommended do work in summer in dry weather, so that the pit remains dry and dense during the construction process.

Types of cellars

An outdoor cellar can be arranged in three main ways:

- completely located underground, in a dug pit, and having a roof over the entrance;

- dug out in an elevated area of ​​the site, on top of which an embankment is made;

- a ready-made insulated body, which is installed in a pit and covered with soil.

By purchasing ready-made option cellar body, you don’t have to worry about the process of building walls and waterproofing them, you just need to prepare the foundation pit and strengthen its bottom.

To determine which one existing options to the maximum extent suitable both for the conditions of a particular site and for the volume of upcoming construction work, we need to consider each of them in more detail.

Cellar on a flat area

This option for building a cellar is quite labor-intensive, but if it is not possible to purchase a ready-made building, and the site area does not have a pronounced elevation, then it will be the only one that is applicable in this case.

When resorting to this method of constructing a cellar, you need to take into account the height of groundwater in the given area and in the specific area where the pit will be dug. If the area is not enough, then soil water can ruin all the work done or, appearing later, render the products stored in the cellar unusable.

The approximate water level is determined by looking into a nearby well in the spring, when abundant snow melts. In summer, in places where groundwater runs high, moisture-loving grass grows, such as horse sorrel, horsetail, sedge and other similar varieties - there it is juicier and taller.

If you want to more accurately determine this parameter, you can call a specialist who will professionally calculate the best place to dig a pit and its possible depth. In any case, there is no need to choose a place in the lowlands where water can stagnate.

When arranging a cellar in this way, the pit must be planned at least two to two and a half meters deep. The work needs to begin with the process of digging a pit.

Pit preparation

The place chosen for the cellar must be thoroughly cleaned by removing the fertile turf layer, thereby marking the area for digging. The work is carried out manually, since the equipment will disturb the edges of the pit, which is undesirable for this particular option for constructing a cellar. To make digging easier, it is better to remove the soil in layers, loosening each of them and carefully leveling the edges of the hole as much as possible.

If the soil on the site itself is loose, then the pit is dug with a slope - then the earth will crumble less. In this case, the top of the pit is marked 30-50 cm in each direction more than its bottom should be.

If the groundwater level is sufficiently high, the pit is also made wider and deeper by 40-50 cm, and this space is filled with waterproofing material that will protect the walls from dampness. The walls and floor of the cellar can be waterproofed using clay extracted from the pit; it is poured into the bottom of the pit after digging is completed and around the already erected walls. The top fertile layer of soil is suitable for transferring to the beds of a vegetable garden or flower garden, and the rest of the soil can be used, for example, to fill the bottom layer of an “alpine hill”.

Materials for building a cellar

To build cellar walls, it is best to use natural materials that will not emit harmful fumes. The explanation for this is simple - in such a room there will be not only canned closed products, but also vegetables and fruits in special open boxes. They are capable of perceiving and absorbing odors and various substances unnecessary for the body. Metal in open form It is also not recommended to use it in the construction of a cellar, since it will serve as a conductor of cold, violating the optimal temperature required for storing food.

Therefore, for arrangement you need the following:

- choose brick, foam blocks or concrete slabs for the walls;

— for the floor you need cement and sand to make the mortar, reinforcement to strengthen the screed being poured, sand and crushed stone for the “cushion”;

- the floor requires ready-made concrete slabs or boards for formwork and a base for pouring concrete, as well as reinforcement to create an appropriate reinforcing belt;

— on the outside, clay waterproofing can be supplemented with roofing felt, securing it to the walls using mastic;

- for the roof you will need wooden blocks and boards, roofing felt for waterproofing, roofing material;

- will be required plastic pipes for ventilation;

— for the manufacture of hatches and doors, lumber is prepared;

- interior wall decoration involves the use plaster mixture or boards for sheathing.

All wooden parts of the building must be treated with antiseptic agents so that they last a long time without rotting, damage by insects or microorganisms.

Foundation

In order for the cellar to be reliable and dry, it is best to make it concrete, but before pouring it, you must make a good base for it. waterproofed basis.

• A sand cushion with a thickness of 100 ÷ 120 mm is poured into the bottom of the pit; it must be well compacted. To do this, the sand is slightly moistened and compacted.
• Crushed stone, 60 ÷ 80 mm thick, is poured on top of the sand, leveled and compacted.

• Next, it would be good to make a boundary around the perimeter of the pit and lay reinforcement. The height of the foundation floor can be from 70 to 120 mm.
• The next step is to pour concrete into the formwork and level it.
• After it hardens and the formwork is removed, the sides of the foundation can be coated with tar, which well insulates it from moisture coming from the ground.

It should be noted that the floor of the cellar is sometimes left earthen. This is possible if the groundwater is deep enough. An earthen floor will allow natural ventilation and soil temperature at a given depth to be maintained in the cellar. In this case, to erect walls at the bottom of the pit, a strip foundation is poured around the perimeter.

Construction of walls, ventilation and waterproofing

• Walls can be erected on the prepared foundation. For laying brick walls of a cellar, a mixture of clay and sand is most often used, but the usual cement mortar can also be used.
• If the ceiling of the cellar will rest on the masonry walls, then their thickness should be equal to one brick.
• When using not only walls, but also the soil surrounding the cellar to support the ceiling, then their thickness of half a brick is sufficient.
• If space is left between the earthen walls of the pit and the brickwork for waterproofing, then, as it is carried out, this space is filled with clay, spilled with water and thoroughly compacted.

• Between the clay backfill and brick wall a layer of roofing material can be fixed.
• After laying one or two rows of bricks, in the opposite corner from the entrance, in the wall to the entire height of the basement, a niche is cut in the ground for the ventilation pipe.
• In the second or third row of masonry, opposite the niche, install a ventilation pipe with a corner outlet, which is built into the wall. Later, this hole should be closed with a fine grate to prevent rodents from getting inside the cellar.
• The pipe above the surface of the cellar covering should rise no less than one and a half meters.
• The walls are erected to the top of the pit, with constant monitoring of their verticality and horizontality using a plumb line and a building level.

An important note - if the groundwater comes close to the foundation-floor, then it is worth building around the brick walls. It is usually filled with crushed stone or broken brick. It will drain moisture from the cellar into a specially constructed container or pit near the cellar.

Cellar cover

Covering a basement can be done in different ways. The simplest of them is to lay concrete slabs on top of it, which should, in addition to the walls, rest on the ground around the cellar by 400 — 500 mm. But not every site can be visited by equipment capable of lifting the slab and placing it in the intended place, so very often you have to do the flooring yourself. In addition to ready-made concrete slabs, a home-made concrete, wooden or combined floor can be installed. The latter is convenient because it is convenient to lay insulation between the wooden beams from the inside of the cellar, as well as to secure the ceiling boards.

• If this option is chosen, then roofing material is laid on top of the walls and on the ground around them, on which processed bars measuring 150 × 100 mm are laid - they will act as beams. The distance between them should be no more than 500 mm.
• A flooring of boards is placed on top of the beam bars, and a hole is provided for the hatch.
• Then, waterproofing made of dense polyethylene film is laid on top of the wooden boards. The film should be placed on the ground, around the cellar.

• A reinforcing grid is laid on top of the film, a boundary formwork is installed, and then the resulting space is filled, which is leveled and left to dry. The thickness of the concrete floor poured on wooden base should be 40 ÷ 50 mm.
• After the concrete has hardened, the hole for the hatch, if necessary, is raised to the required height and a cover is installed on it.

When constructing such an entrance, the staircase can only be the simplest.

Roof over the cellar

A gable roof will be installed above the hatch, and the rest of the space above the cellar will be covered with the film remaining on the surface and sprinkled with soil.

Since the concrete area will be larger than the cellar room, a gable roof is installed over its entire width. Thus, a small triangular shed is formed above the hatch, in which you can even stack some firewood.

The roof structure is assembled from quality lumber. The rafters of the slopes are fastened at the bottom with bars, which will become a reliable basis for the roof. They need to be secured to a concrete base with anchor elements.

You can do it another way. Along the perimeter of the concrete site, it is necessary to build a low wall in two or three rows of bricks, and install a roof structure on top of it. The brick part of this mini-shed must be covered with waterproofing.

The front part of the roof is sheathed with boards, and roofing felt can be laid on the slopes, and slate or metal tiles on top. Some people prefer to cover the slopes with plywood and then lay soft roof. On the one hand, the pediment is completely sewn up, and on the other, an opening is left for installing the front door.

When the cellar is no longer affected by precipitation, you can light the interior and finish the walls and ceiling.

Cellar lighting

The interior decoration of the room can, of course, be done before installing the ceiling, but there is no guarantee that it will not be spoiled by sudden rain. Therefore, it is better to conduct electricity and make lighting after the hatch is closed with the roof.

Lighting should be done not only in the basement, but also at the entrance to it under the roof.

Copper wires in reliable double insulation are pulled from the house to the roof above the hatch into the cellar, from this entrance room they are already being escorted downstairs. The lamps must be placed so that under no circumstances can they be touched when going down to the basement. It is best to cover the light bulbs with a protective cap.

The wiring must be done in such a way that the light bulbs turn on simultaneously - under the roof and in the cellar. The switch should be placed under the roof at the entrance, on comfortable height, approximately 1.2 ÷ 1.5 m from the floor. It is prohibited to install sockets in a cellar or basement due to safety precautions.

If you do not have experience with conducting and connecting electricity, then it is better to entrust this to qualified specialists, since, without knowing the wiring system, best case scenario, you can leave the whole house without light.

Finishing walls, floors and ceilings

If the cellar is good waterproofed, then any material can be used for finishing. If the ceiling is built on bars, then it is worth laying insulation in mats between them - this will maintain an even temperature in the cellar both in winter frosts and in summer heat.

To strengthen the insulation to concrete ceiling, you can mount a lattice structure that can press the mats to the surface. From below it will not be difficult to sheathe the ceiling with boards or moisture-resistant plasterboard, screwing it to the bars.

Roofing felt and mastic can be replaced with liquid rubber or liquid silicate glass, which will also create a waterproof layer.

Many people leave the walls brick, without additional covering, but it is better to finish them plaster mortar, rubbing to perfect evenness. They can be soaked liquid waterproofing, which is able to penetrate deep into the plaster and, having crystallized, make it waterproof. After the waterproofing has dried, you can whitewash the walls with lime - this will make the cellar room neater and brighter.

After all the finishing of the cellar is completed and dried, you can think about where and how many shelves to place and where to organize boxes (boxes) for storing root vegetables.

There is one trick that will help site owners naturally remove excess moisture from the cellar. To do this, you just need to plant around the cellar berry bushes, which will actively absorb moisture from the soil. Trees of any species should not be planted close to the building, as their roots can destroy the waterproofing, and over time, even the walls of the cellar.

Prices for various types of thermal insulation materials

Thermal insulation materials

Video: stages of construction of one of the cellar options

Cellar with an inclined entrance and an earthen embankment

The second version of the cellar is located on a small hill, if there is one on the site. If the groundwater is high and there is such a place on the territory, this is exactly the kind of cellar that will become the best option. However, such an “elevation” can also be created artificially.

The peculiarity of this approach is that all the soil that is removed from the pit is used for embankment on top of the roof and entrance. A thick layer of soil will not allow summer time warm up the cellar room, and in winter it will maintain the desired temperature inside to preserve food.

When building such a cellar, a door is used for entry, and not a hatch, as in the first option. The staircase leading down is made of mortar, brick or treated boards, and has wide, steep steps rather than simple rungs.

The most important advantage in building such a cellar is that the pit for it does not need to be made too deep, since the embankment of soil built on top creates all the necessary conditions. The floors and walls are arranged in the same way as in the first case, but the work of the corridor leading down also complicates the work.

• The first thing they do is, as in the first option, they dig a foundation pit, but not so deep, since the walls will be raised above it.

• Then, on the other side, where it is planned to install the door, steps are cut into the ground leading to the surface. They are subsequently necessarily strengthened by one of the options mentioned above.
• The optimal solution would be to strengthen the steps reinforcement mesh and pour concrete with a layer of 40 — 60 mm, having previously made enclosing formwork. Steel corners are built into the edges of the steps - they will allow the stairs to last longer. If the steps are securely reinforced, they can serve as a foundation for the walls of the corridor leading upward.

• When the walls are removed, you can move on to installing the ceiling. It can be folded in the form of an arch or have a flat surface running parallel to the direction of the stairs.
• The brick walls of this cellar option rise higher above the pit than in the first option, so much so that the ceiling height is at least two meters.
• After raising the walls to the required height, a ceiling is placed on top. It must be strong enough to support a thick mound of soil. Waterproofing the walls is carried out in the same way as in the first option, but in this case it will also have to be done from above, under the roof.
• There is no need to insulate the ceiling or screed the cellar roof. There are enough floor beams for which flat or regular slate is laid on which and a mound of soil is made.

• The exit to the surface can be designed in different ways, but in any case it should be a brick wall in which the door is installed. The upper and lower doors will reliably close the room from external cold or summer heat. Doors are usually made of thick boards, which themselves are natural insulation.

Such a cellar is sometimes made not in a dug pit, but by digging downhill. This method is more complicated in that the soil is removed from closed space not as easy as from a pit.

When making a cellar in this way, as you go deeper down the walls, you install supports that will hold the vault. At the end of the dug room it is necessary. For it, a hole is drilled from above into which the pipe is installed.

The interior is usually finished with bricks or stones, which are laid along the walls in concrete or clay mortar. Raised walls can turn into an arched ceiling or be covered with massive, impregnated with antiseptic compounds logs, which can be covered with boards on top.

But this method of building a cellar is rarely used today, since it is quite labor-intensive, requires careful calculations and, it must be said, is quite unsafe due to the risk of the vault collapsing during the digging process.

Installation of a finished structure for a cellar

Currently industrial enterprises ready-made housings are produced cellars from different materials, which eliminate the labor-intensive processes of wall construction and waterproofing during their installation. If you purchase such an insulated cellar, then you do not need to do additional thermal insulation for it.

A very good solution - a ready-made barrel cellar

This structure can be installed on the street or even under the house. The entrance to the cellar is a hermetically sealed hatch, which means that there is no need to build a massive staircase.

For example, a cylindrical body is presented, the side parts of which are made in the form of hemispheres - this is exactly what geometric shape will withstand external dynamic impact well when the soil swells during freezing.

Barrel cellar it is quite compact: its diameter is only 2.2 m, the length of the room inside the case is 3.3 m, and the total volume is 10.40 m³. In fact, it is a small cozy underground room with shelves arranged on the walls and ventilation.

The walls of the barrel are reliably insulated and absolutely sealed. They are multi-layered and consist of polyurethane foam and carbon steel, and the outer shell is made of fiberglass. The surfaces inside the barrel are primed and coated with enamel.

The ventilation system is made according to all the rules, and consists of two pipes - exhaust and supply. They are located on opposite side walls of the barrel and maintain optimal humidity conditions indoors.

The floors, shelf system and stairs are made of well-dried, varnished wood, which creates a favorable atmosphere for storing workpieces, fruits or vegetables.

In addition, inside the cellar there is a lighting system that uses a reduced voltage of 12 V, which is safe for working at depth and in wet conditions.

Installation of the cellar barrel is quite simple. Considering the size of the structure, a pit is dug under it. A reliable base is arranged in it, on which the container is lowered, and then buried with soil. If the cellar is made in street conditions, then it is recommended to build a shed or at least a canopy with a roof over the hatch, which in winter will not allow the entrance to be covered with snow.

The installation of such a cellar is usually carried out by a manufacturing company, whose specialists during this process take into account all the available nuances of the technology, so the owner of the site is tasked with only the simplest work.

Video: installation of a finished insulated cellar

Which of the presented cellars located on the street should be chosen by the owner of the site depends on the available capabilities and characteristics of the territory. Some people prefer to do everything themselves from start to finish in order to be confident in every stage of the work done. Others trust the construction of the cellar to qualified craftsmen who know all the intricacies of the technological process. Still others opt for ready-made structures that will cause a minimum of hassle during installation.

Read interesting information on how to do it in our new article.

The absence of a cellar at the dacha can lead to the loss of a significant part of the harvest. For this reason alone, it is worth building such an important object with your own hands. Let's look at this process step by step in our review and video.

Cellar in the basement

Often in country house There is a basement with an area equal to the area of ​​the house. This is convenient because... it can be used as a workshop, a storage room for storing tools and equipment, but in most cases it is a garage. You can’t call it a cellar, the temperature and ventilation system in it are not at all what is needed for storing crops collected in the garden, but some part can be equipped as a cellar by taking several steps:

Having a basement, of course, simplifies the work of building a cellar, but if it doesn’t exist, you’ll have to create it from scratch. In the next section, we’ll look at how to build a cellar in a country house with your own hands, step by step.

What types of cellars are there?

Cellars, as separate structures, come in 3 types:

1. Entirely located in the ground. Their depth usually exceeds 2 m.
2. One part of the cellar rises above the ground, and the second is buried a meter and a half into the ground.
3. The structure is buried no more than 1 m, and the rest rises above the ground.

When choosing the type of cellar, you should know at what level the groundwater is located. When they are very close (from 0.5 to 1 m), then there is only one option - a ground-based project, and when their depth is more than 2 m, you have to choose between a buried and half-buried cellar. If there is a hill on the site, then this is the best place for construction.

Advice: if conditions and funds allow, build a deep cellar. It is the most reliable, because... it always maintains the temperature at the same level.

Construction of a semi-buried cellar

The cellar construction work consists of several stages:

• site preparation;
• foundation device;
• walling;
• waterproofing;
• installation of the ceiling;
• sprinkling;
• final design.

Preparation, installation of the base and walls

To carry out all construction work, we first stock up on tools and materials:

• shovels - bayonet and pick-up;
• tamping;
• tape measure;
• level;
• bitumen mastic;

• roofing felt;
• crushed stone;
• sand;
• cement;
• rolled metal;
• wood.

Preparation consists of clearing the area where it is planned to build the cellar from vegetation. Next we make markings and dig a hole. Professionals consider the following parameters to be the best:

1. The maximum width of the pit is 4 m.
2. The length is optional.
3. Depth - 1.8-2 m.

Where there will be a staircase, we select the soil at a slope, thus forming steps. Having dug to the required depth, we level the floor and walls. Next, we follow the following technology:

Important: to concrete walls no air gaps were formed; while pouring the solution, stir it constantly. This will increase the density of concrete.

The walls in such a unique food safe can be lined with other materials:

• stone, concrete blocks, bricks;

• wooden beams, logs, pre-treated with an antiseptic, otherwise they will simply rot after a while;
• asbestos cement sheet fixed on a wooden sheathing.

1. Do not use metal for wall cladding; it does not make it possible to maintain the required temperature regime.
2. In order not to make racks for storing products separately, you can immediately insert a corner or profile pipe at a distance of about 0.7 m horizontally and vertically. Then boards are laid on these embedded parts and convenient racks are ready.

Cellar cover

The simplest option is to make a frame of 5 x 5 cm timber around the perimeter of the pit and attach a lid to it on hinges. Insulate it and the ceiling with the door is ready. The most reliable overlap It is made of reinforced concrete slabs, but this is both a considerable cost and the need to attract construction equipment, because there is no way to move them manually. There are more economical and less labor-intensive options - using metal profile or logs, slabs, strong blocks of wood.

Let's consider the case when this important element of the cellar is performed from rolled metal. Since the ceiling rests on the walls, its perimeter must exceed the area of ​​the base. The design algorithm is as follows:

If the overlap is performed from wooden beams or logs, after appropriate processing we wrap them in roofing material, securing the latter with a stapler. We lay the wood with emphasis on long walls, in which special grooves are left for this purpose and do not forget about the entry hole. The next step is to secure the ends of the beams by pouring concrete.

The principle of constructing a half-buried and completely buried cellar is the same, only the depth of the underground part remains different. To build an above-ground cellar, we go deep just a little - first we select 40 centimeters of soil around the perimeter, then we go a little deeper, simultaneously increasing the size of each side of the perimeter by 0.3 m. Then, using familiar technology, we arrange the floor, strengthen the walls and build an above-ground compartment.

Construction of the above-ground part

The above-ground part or cellar can be quite simple in the form of a small vestibule protecting the hatch, but sometimes it is a full-fledged room that performs certain functions - summer cuisine, gazebo. We set up a primitive cellar as follows:

1. We make the frame from logs or boards, previously protected from rotting with an antiseptic.
2. We glue roofing felt on the outside.
3. We arrange the same wooden floor. Mix clay with straw and coat the structure.
4. We lubricate the clay-straw surface with bitumen mastic, wrap it in roofing felt, and cover it with soil.
5. We sow flowers or lawn grass.

Interior improvement of the cellar

To go down to the cellar you need a ladder. You can knock it out of wood and lower it down, but this is not very convenient, especially if you visit this place often. It is much more comfortable to go down the stationary stairs. When the earthen base for this structure was left at the preparatory stage, the steps are lined with brick, while it is laid flat on the tread and vertically on the edge. The side walls are also covered with bricks, carefully sealing the seams. They also make steps from concrete using a reinforcement frame. Masterfully executed metal staircase It can also be convenient, but the cost is not always satisfactory.

Walls, ceilings, and floors require additional treatment. If the surface is flat, then simply whitewash the walls twice with lime. If the brickwork is not completely smooth, then before whitewashing we plaster it with a mortar containing cement and sand. We carefully inspect the ceiling; if there are cracks, we seal them. Wall joints must also be sealed. If possible, we lay linoleum or boards on the floor. We paint the shelves.

Another job that needs to be done is to prevent the cold from getting into the cellar through the door. We line it from the inside with insulation, and to ensure the necessary microclimate in frosty winters, we install an additional door separating the room from the stairs.

We manufacture or purchase special caps for ventilation pipes so that snow or raindrops do not get inside.

Attention: do not block the ventilation openings with anything, this will disrupt the air exchange and condensation will appear in your storage.

Building a cellar in a country house is a difficult task, but with a strong desire, any owner can do it; the main thing is to choose a project that you have enough strength, skill and money to implement.

How to build a cellar: video

Country cellar: photo