Do-it-yourself formwork for the foundation: step-by-step recommendations on how to make formwork. What to make formwork from: the most effective solutions How to make formwork for a finished house

Around any building, or rather along its perimeter, a blind area is necessarily arranged. This coating protects the building from the destructive effects of melt and sedimentary waters, which can wash away the soil under the base of the house and lead to its subsidence, as well as destroy the foundation structures. This important protective element around the house is made of concrete or asphalt concrete. In order to complete the blind area, you need to build a formwork. At first glance, this is not difficult to do, but there are some nuances that must be observed so that the blind area has the correct slope from the walls of the building. In our article we will tell you how to make formwork around the house.

Features and functions of the blind area

Outwardly, the blind area looks like an ordinary concrete or asphalt path, which tightly adjoins the walls of the building and surrounds it around the perimeter. The width of this coating is normalized by SNiP and can be at least 1 m. At the same time, it is worth remembering that the outer edge of the blind area should protrude beyond the boundaries of the roof overhang by at least 200-300 mm.

Important: the installation of this protective coating is carried out after finishing facade work has been done on the house.

The blind area performs several functions at once:

1. During snowmelt or rainfall, precipitation can soak into the ground near the house and cause the destruction of foundation structures or flooding of the basement. Much more precipitation collects around the house, as it actively drains from the roof of the building and its walls.
2. Due to the blind area, the soil around the building does not freeze to such a great depth as in places of open soil. Thanks to this, the basement or basement becomes warmer, which affects the temperature throughout the house.
3. In addition, frozen soil can also adversely affect foundation structures. This path near the building protects building structures from the forces of frost heaving, which can lead to movement of the base and cracking of the walls of the building.
4. The presence of a neat blind area around the house increases its aesthetic qualities.

The following materials can be used to make this coating:

• Concrete is the most commonly used because it is the most affordable material that you can prepare yourself. For pouring concrete, you need to properly equip the formwork. That is why in our article we will consider the subtleties of this process.
• You can also make a blind area from paving slabs.
• Around large public, multi-apartment residential buildings and shopping centers, the blind area is made of asphalt.

Rules for the execution of formwork and blind areas

Before you get to work and start making formwork near the house with your own hands, you should remember a few simple rules that will allow you to do everything at the highest level:

1. If the work will be carried out in hot weather, then the surface of the formwork and concrete (after pouring it) must be periodically moistened with water. Due to this, dried wood will not absorb moisture from concrete, thereby reducing its strength. Wetting and covering the concrete cover in the first few days after pouring will avoid too rapid and uneven evaporation of moisture, which can lead to cracking of the surface.
2. In order to correctly determine the width of the blind area, the slope, the depth of its laying and design, it is important to take into account the geological and climatic features of the construction area. By following this rule, you will make a high-quality and durable blind area.
3. The arrangement of this coating around the building is best done before the onset of cold weather.
4. This protective concrete product should encircle the entire house with a continuous strip. That is, the coating should not have gaps and areas of unprotected soil. Otherwise, through such uncoated gaps, water will easily seep into the ground and cause the destruction of the foundation structures.
5. A deformation seam is necessarily made between the blind area and the basement of the house, since these structural parts cannot be connected to each other. The width of the temperature gap is 2 cm. The seam must be closed with a sealant so that water does not seep into it.
6. When making formwork, it is worth making sure that there are no significant gaps in its structure through which uncured concrete mixture can flow.
7. The slope of the coating must be at least 10 ppm from the walls of the house, that is, 1 cm of slope per meter of width.

Necessary materials

For the manufacture of formwork, you can use different materials, which are selected depending on the complexity of the design and its purpose:

• unedged or edged board;
• shield formwork can be made of chipboard (chipboard);
• moisture-resistant plywood or oriented strand board (OSB) is also suitable for these purposes;
• some types of formwork that take heavy loads are made of steel and aluminum alloys;
• fixed formwork is made of expanded polystyrene reinforced with fiber additives.

To perform the formwork of the blind area, an unedged board or plywood sawn in strips is suitable. Since the poured concrete can slightly expand the formwork structures, bars with a section of 30x30 are used as supports and a supporting frame, from which a solid structure is made.

Important: for the manufacture of a protective coating around the house, a removable formwork is usually used, which is dismantled after the concrete has hardened.

It is equally important to correctly determine the material for the manufacture of the blind area. The coating can be made of rammed gravel, but in this case it is necessary to equip a good drain from the roof so that the flowing precipitation does not erode the fragile gravel coating.

A little better and more durable than crushed stone coatings will be a cement mortar pavement laid on top of rammed gravel. This option provides better protection of the base of the house from destruction by melt and sedimentary waters. And it is this option for arranging the blind area that provides for the execution of formwork.

A more expensive and high-quality version of the blind area is the laying of monolithic concrete slabs or reinforced slab products. But such materials cannot be used on heaving and clayey soils, as well as at high groundwater levels, since the structure can quickly deform.

In the case of a concrete blind area, you will need the following tools and materials for work:

• crushed stone, sand and cement;
• polyurethane sealant for insulation of expansion joints between the coating and the house;
• reinforcing mesh;
• nails, screws;
• roofing felt or polyethylene film;
• edged (unedged) boards or strips of plywood along the height of the poured coating;
• level, rule;
• spatula, bayonet shovel;
• container for mixing concrete.

Formwork technology

After you decide on the material for the blind area, calculate its width and the required slope, you can get to work:

1. First of all, it is necessary to mark the future coverage around the house. To do this, the estimated distance recedes from the walls, pegs are hammered in the corners and a fishing line or cord is pulled.
2. After that, within the markings along the perimeter of the building, a fertile layer of soil 20 cm thick is removed. The soil at the bottom of the resulting recess is carefully leveled and rammed.
3. Now proceed to the assembly of the formwork. First, a frame is made from a bar. To do this, at the corners of the recess in the soil, bars are fixed with a height slightly higher than the thickness of the coating being performed. Further along the stretched fishing line, the same bars are installed in increments of 50-100 cm. For greater rigidity, the bars are fastened together with longitudinal bars. Wooden elements are connected with nails or self-tapping screws.
4. After that, we attach an unedged or edged board to the frame from the timber so that the timber is on the outside of the structure, that is, on the side of the concrete pouring there is a continuous flat surface of the boards. We fasten the boards to the frame with nails.

Attention: so that concrete cannot seep between the boards, the gaps between adjacent elements should not be more than 0.3 cm.

1. So that after pouring concrete, the formwork structure does not burst and deform, oblique struts are attached to the frame from the outside. The installation step of such spacers is 50 cm. We fasten the spacers to the frame bars using self-tapping screws or nails.
2. To make it easier to remove the formwork after pouring and hardening of concrete, its inner surface can be covered with a dense plastic film or one layer of roofing material. This material will perform other additional functions:
   • will not allow moisture from concrete to be absorbed into the formwork boards, thereby reducing the strength of the concrete coating;
   • if there are significant gaps between the formwork boards (especially if unedged boards are used), the coating will prevent concrete from flowing into the gaps.

1. Along the walls of the house, it is necessary to install an edged board 2 cm thick and slightly higher than the height of the coating in this place. It is not necessary to firmly fix the board, because after the concrete hardens, it will be removed. With the help of this board, we will create the necessary temperature gap between the coating and the walls of the house.

Covering

After the formwork is assembled, you can start making concrete pavement around the house. In this case, the following sequence of actions is followed:

1. First, a sand cushion 10 cm high is made. The sand layer is leveled, wetted with water and rammed.
2. After that, a layer of crushed stone 10-15 cm high is made. It is also carefully rammed. At the same time, one should not forget about the necessary slope of the blind area from the walls of the building, therefore, already at the stage of performing the crushed stone cushion, you can take care of creating a slope.
3. A reinforcing mesh is laid over the rubble.
4. Now you can start pouring the concrete solution. You can use a factory mix or make your own.

Important: in order for the coating to have a sufficiently high strength and not crack over time, concrete must be poured at a time, without long interruptions in work.

1. The mortar to be poured must be thick enough so that it can be laid in a thicker layer against the walls of the house, thereby creating the necessary slope. The correctness of the filling is checked using a level. The surface is leveled by the rule.
2. In the process of hardening in the first days, the concrete surface is wetted with water and covered with a plastic film.
3. After removing the formwork and removing the board, which is laid along the walls of the house, the formed temperature gap is filled with polyurethane sealant.

The pouring of the foundation is carried out in a pre-equipped formwork. This design must be mounted in compliance with a number of established rules and regulations. Familiarize yourself with the features of the existing varieties of formwork, the procedure for their calculation, instructions for the construction of the most common structures and get to work.

Of course, before erecting the formwork, you need to decide on the type of foundation that you will build. We recommend reading the following materials on our portal:

- first of all, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the step-by-step technology for erecting a strip foundation. In which, among other things, it is told about the method of erecting timber formwork.

Formwork materials

Foundation formwork can be made from different materials.

Metal

The most versatile and most expensive formwork option. To assemble the structure, steel sheets 1-2 mm thick are used.

Metal formwork is perfect for arranging tape and monolithic foundation structures. can be welded directly to the formwork sheets, which will increase the rigidity of the foundation.

The main advantage of the metal is the simplicity and convenience of its processing - the sheets can be bent without any problems to the required shape of the concrete base.

The main disadvantage of metal formwork is its very high cost when compared with other existing options.

Reinforced concrete

Relatively expensive type of formwork.

Such formwork is equipped with concrete slabs. Depending on the thickness of the slabs used, when pouring the foundation, it will be possible to somewhat reduce the consumption of concrete mixture, which will save on the construction of the foundation without compromising the strength and other important characteristics of the structure.

Among the shortcomings, it should be noted the large weight of the plates, which requires the involvement of special equipment for their installation.

At the same time, if the formwork is made from ready-made slabs and the dimensions of one element are not enough, additional spacers will have to be installed, which will also not have the best effect on the final cost of the structure.

Styrofoam

Very good quality and practical. The formwork is assembled from ready-made individual blocks of expanded polystyrene. Formwork elements are extremely easy to install. They can be processed without any problems to the required shape.

The main disadvantages are the difficulties at the stage of selecting certain structural elements (usually these are roundings and corners) and the relatively high cost.

improvised materials

In the process of arranging the formwork, make sure that its walls are installed exclusively vertically.

It is important that there are no large gaps in the structure. Seal gaps with suitable improvised materials. In this case, a gap with a width of more than 4-5 mm is considered large - such a gap will be quite enough for the concrete solution to leak.

Additionally, to prevent small leaks of the solution, you can attach a plastic film to the inner surface of the formwork walls.

Removable formwork is recommended to be dismantled only after the foundation has gained the necessary strength. On average, it takes 3-5 weeks. The gaps left after the dismantling of the formwork are usually covered with soil. In some situations, they are poured with concrete or cement

Successful work!

Prices for different types of building boards

Building boards

Video - Do-it-yourself formwork for the foundation

Absolutely exactly from an engineering point of view, no specialist can calculate the formwork: too many variable objective and subjective factors affect the design.

We will name just a few of them.

1. lumber quality. In nature, there are no two completely identical boards. The strength of lumber depends on malformations, quantity, nature and specific location of knots, etc.
2. indicators of concrete. Concrete can have a different consistency in terms of viscosity, it depends on the proportions and characteristics of the fractions used during the preparation. In addition, the loads on the formwork vary depending on the speed of pouring concrete, the method of tamping and the presence of reinforcement.
3. Climatic conditions. At sub-zero temperatures, boards have one physical strength indicators, others in summer. Dry boards can withstand higher forces, while in rainy weather their strength decreases.

There are building standards that regulate the maximum deflection of the formwork. For the above-ground part of the foundation, the deflection should not exceed 1/400 of the length; for the underground part, the standard has been increased to 1/250 of the length. It is difficult for non-professionals to achieve such values. What should ordinary developers do? When creating formwork, you need to be guided by the advice of experienced builders and your intuition. And remember the main rule - it is better to do any formwork with a clear margin of safety, not to rely on “maybe it will withstand”. It must be remembered that it is very difficult and expensive to correct violations of the linearity of concrete.

First, you should know for what purposes you need formwork. If it is planned to be used repeatedly, then you should use a special laminated waterproof plywood or knock down standard boards from high-quality edged boards.

Laminated plywood formwork

If the formwork is one-time use, then low-quality materials will be used; under certain conditions, you can use pieces of chipboard, ordinary plywood, or even unedged boards. As a rule, for the construction of a bath, you can choose the cheapest formwork option.

According to the design features, the formwork can be:

Production of removable formwork for strip foundation

Initial data: the formwork will be made of a removable type along the entire height of the foundation, the material of manufacture is edged boards of the second grade with a thickness of 25 mm.

There is no one universal formwork manufacturing algorithm, each master makes his own changes, taking into account the specific material, foundation characteristics and personal preferences. We will cover only one of the many options.

Step 1. Prepare shields. Measure the trench in length and depth. Do not make shields large - it will be very difficult to work with them, they should not exceed 3-4 meters in length, depending on the height. Hammer shields from edged boards; you can use the same boards or slats as vertical racks. If your slats are thin, then nail them with an edge.

Practical advice. Never use self-tapping screws to assemble formwork.

1. Firstly, it takes a long time and you need to have a special electric tool to screw them in.
2. Secondly, disassembling shields on self-tapping screws is one torment. The holes for the sprocket are clogged with earth or concrete, “picking out” them from there is a very ungrateful and “nervous” job. Yes, and self-tapping screws are much more expensive than nails, and for formwork they will need more than one kilogram.
3. Thirdly, not a single formwork element works in rupture; all have a load only in bending or compression. Nails in this case are not pulled out of the boards, use them calmly. By the way, it is not necessary to take long nails and then bend “by a meter” from the front side of the shield.

Step 2. Formwork installation.

Carefully lower the shields into the trench. Prepare pegs for driving into the ground and corner supports. In our case, supports must be made on both sides approximately every 50–70 cm.

To prevent the lower part of the shields from moving during fastening, fix it with small pegs or insert spacers of the appropriate length between opposite shields. Then you don’t need to take them out, let them remain in concrete.

The photo shows the supports of the shields

Step 3 Drive in the pegs at the corners of the trench and pull the rope between them. The height of the rope must be greater than the height of the above-ground part of the foundation. The fact is that you will not be able to accurately set the formwork along the horizon at a given height, you will have to manually align the foundation tape after pouring.

Step 4 Under the level or plumb, drive the pegs into the bottom of the trench, the driving depth depends on the characteristics of the soil, but in any case, it should exclude their horizontal movements.

Step 5 Set up one row of shields, temporarily grab them to the vertical pegs. Expose the second row and grab it too. Check all markups.

Step 6 Install horizontal spacers between the shields. These can be pieces of metal bars, wooden slats, plastic tubes, etc. The distance between the spacers is about a meter, they are not affected by the bursting force of concrete, they only serve to facilitate the installation of formwork.

Step 7 Measure the desired width of the formwork in the upper part, connect the two rows of panels to each other with wooden slats in size. This connection will protect the formwork from deformation during concrete pouring. The distance between the rails is approximately 50 centimeters. If you have an above-ground part of more than 50 centimeters, then you need to tie the boards in two with a wire to prevent the shields from swelling under the weight of concrete. The wire from the outer sides is fixed to the vertical crossbars, twisted with a slight tension - the walls of the basement part of the foundation will turn out to be even. During the dismantling of the formwork, the wire is simply cut off and remains in the concrete.

Step 8 Place the supports of the shields in turn, in the lower part they should rest against the pegs, in the upper part a small piece of board should be nailed to the shield for support. Constantly check the position of the shields on the rope. If you have correctly installed the internal formwork braces, then it will not change its position during installation and fixing. If you see errors, correct them immediately. It happens that some pegs stagger in the ground - you no longer need to rely on them. Drive in new ones nearby and fix inclined struts to them. At the junction of the shields, you need to put a board and be sure to support.

Step 9 In the upper part of the formwork, you need to insert pieces of plastic pipes for ventilation products and technological holes in the strip foundation. There are no pipes at hand - make ordinary wooden boxes, then they will be removed, and the holes will get better.

Step 10 Once again check the correct position and strength of fixation of the foundation formwork, problem areas should be corrected immediately. The formwork should stand firmly, should not stagger even under great effort.

Everything, you can pour concrete. It is recommended to remove the formwork no earlier than two weeks after pouring the concrete. If the weather is hot and dry, the concrete should be watered abundantly daily. The fact is that the strength of cement depends on the humidity and drying time of the concrete. If the water evaporates quickly, then the chemical reactions will not have time to end, the reliability of the foundation tape will decrease significantly.

As for the formwork for columnar foundations, the work on its manufacture is almost no different from those described above. It is only necessary to immediately make the dimensions of the shields according to the dimensions of the columns. Of course, the small width and height of the columns greatly simplifies the technology of fixing the formwork in the desired position.

Foundations made of reinforced monolithic slabs are made for baths built on waterlogged soils or soils with very low bearing characteristics. In most cases, the dimensions of the bath do not exceed 4 × 4 meters. It is rather difficult to pour a large monolithic slab on your own, it is unlikely that you will be able to achieve its ideal horizontal performance.

Step 1. Level the surface of the earth as much as possible, fill and compact a sand cushion with a thickness of at least 20 centimeters.

Step 2 Prepare lumber, you will need edged boards and slats. The height of the formwork depends on the thickness of the monolithic foundation, in most cases it is no more than ten centimeters. This means that it is quite enough to have boards 20 cm wide and 20 ÷ 30 mm thick.

Step 3 Drive pegs into the corners of the future monolithic slab, pull the rope. Place boards under the rope, secure them with pegs. Drive the stakes firmly into the ground. Put the formwork with the letter “P”, so it will be much more convenient to feed and level the concrete, you won’t have to step over the formwork every time. During concreting, do not forget about reinforcement.

Step 4 When approximately one meter remains to the end of the concrete slab - install the last board, level it, fix its position and continue pouring concrete.

Video - Foundation box slab

Video - Marking and formwork for a monolithic slab

Video - Formwork and reinforcement strapping of a monolithic slab

Now you can consider a few questions regarding the use of additional materials for the manufacture of formwork.

Instead, you can take roofing material, roofing felt, thick waxed paper or other materials. The use of these materials for upholstery of formwork panels is encouraged. Why?

The film must be installed from the inside of the formwork. To prevent sagging or slipping, secure it with a stapler.

plastic film prices

polyethylene film

Metal tie studs

If you have them - use them to your health, if not - you should not buy a bathhouse especially for the foundation. It is advisable to use metal studs on high foundations; they cannot be strengthened with side stops. The studs must be inserted into plastic tubes of the appropriate size; be sure to place large-diameter washers and pieces of boards under the nuts.

Prices for tie rods

tie rods

Fixed formwork

The new technology for pouring foundations and erecting walls is characterized by excellent performance and, unfortunately, the same high price. Significantly speeds up the construction process, acts not only as a formwork, but also as a heater. It is often used for the construction of monolithic earthquake-resistant reinforced concrete buildings. Bearing walls are not only durable, but also insulated.

Construction companies produce fixed formwork from various materials and with various linear indicators. The specific type of formwork should be selected taking into account the place of its use. There are several types of fixed formwork.

1. From the made foam especially strong expanded polystyrene. Represents flat plates or blocks, angular turns, spacers, reinforcement clamps, etc. The thickness of the sidewalls can be from 40 to 100 mm. The process of assembling formwork blocks is carried out in spikes, all dimensions must be checked with a level. Depending on the height of the formwork, concrete is poured in several layers around the entire perimeter of the foundation or wall. After pouring the previous layer, several rows of formwork are again assembled and the next one is poured.

   

2. Concrete permanent formwork. It is made of durable concrete, the side surfaces of the blocks have spikes and grooves for a strong connection to each other. The walls are held by jumpers. Such formwork can be used both for pouring foundations and for erecting monolithic reinforced buildings. The fittings do not fit, vertical rods are inserted into the holes, and horizontal ones lie on special stops.

   

3. Wood concrete. It can take the form of hollow blocks or flat panels, the front surfaces must be finished, it is used only for the above-ground part of the foundation or walls. The blocks are installed using the dry masonry method, there may be reinforcement inside. The panels are assembled on ties installed inside the concrete. The front surfaces of the screeds look like large flat washers, the surfaces of the panels are characterized by high adhesion to all building finishing materials.

   

It is not economically feasible to use such expensive formwork on strip foundations of a bath. For baths, an insulated foundation is not needed, and the basement visible part will be finished with ordinary decorative materials.

Expanded polystyrene prices

expanded polystyrene foam

Possible consequences of poor-quality formwork

Let's say right away - all the consequences of an incorrectly made, installed or fixed formwork are very sad, their elimination requires a lot of effort and money. In the most serious cases, pouring the foundation will have to start from scratch. Consider three possible options for the consequences of marriage during the construction of formwork.

Option 1. Swelling of the formwork became noticeable during the pouring of concrete. Stop work immediately and call all helpers for help. With shovels, recline the concrete at the place of swelling of the formwork. To prevent the concrete from floating back, nail the transverse boards at some distance across the entire width inside the formwork. Keep in mind that the concrete will gradually fill the recess, the work must be done quickly. Throw concrete more than 1.5 meters from the emergency site.

The pressure on the formwork has noticeably weakened - try to level it. It is very good if you manage to adjust the jack and use the beams to slowly level the formwork. It is possible to stretch the wire in a place free from concrete and use it to level the bulge. Very important: do not knock on the formwork with a sledgehammer, in this way you will make it even worse. Concrete from vibration will float down and further violate the straightness of the formwork. Align the shield gradually, without excessive fanaticism. Excessive force can completely break the shield or individual fasteners. The consequences will be very sad. As soon as you managed to align the shield - immediately fix its position. This time, check the reliability of the props with particular care.

This case is the easiest, all the others cause much more trouble.

Option 2. Formwork displacement was noticed only on the second day.

What to do if the formwork has shifted

Important. Not everything that is written on construction forums, however, think with your own head before believing the first advice of an “expert” that caught your eye. Many of these "specialists" advise to remove the formwork, and while the concrete has not yet gained strength, cut down the hillock with a shovel. This is not advice, but mockery. Do not under any circumstances remove the formwork! It is very likely that the entire foundation will crack. It may not crumble before our eyes, but give almost imperceptible cracks that will reduce the strength of the structure to almost zero. We noticed trouble the next day - that's it, the train left. Wait until the concrete has completely hardened, disassemble the formwork, pick up a hammer drill and work "by the sweat of your brow."

Option 3. The formwork or part of it fell during the pouring of concrete. The most embarrassing situation. What to do? Scratch "silently and with a smile" a smart head, remove the concrete, clear the site and start all over again.

We hope that from the second time you will understand how the formwork is installed correctly. And to prevent this from happening, read the article again carefully. You can and should make your own improvements, but only if you have experience in building at least three different formworks.

Video - Possible consequences of poor-quality formwork. Gap

Conclusion

Many articles on the Internet begin with the words "the foundation has a great influence on the strength of the building." It's true. But then you can read that "everyone can do it", that "there is nothing complicated", etc. This is not true. Don't waste your time reading these tips. Think about why the earnings of professional experienced builders are several times higher than the earnings of engineers? Because a professional builder has not only theoretical knowledge, he has tried all the "scientific" recommendations with his own hands.

Starting the manufacture of formwork, you need to follow two rules.

1. First, you need to know the job. You should not think that everything is very simple, you can “blind somehow” and it will “somehow stand”.
2. Second. Any work should not be feared, but it must be respected. You must constantly have a vision of operations several steps ahead in your head, you must be able to choose the most optimal from several possible options.

Video - Reinforcement and formwork of a shallow strip foundation

Video - Installation of braces for formwork

Hello dear visitor!

This material will be devoted to the beginning of the construction of the blind area around the cottage. Now I’ll tell you how I made the blind area cheaper in terms of investment, and then I’ll show in detail how I did it in the pictures.

So, go…

About the blind area around the house, my wife and I thought for a long time, but everything rested on the materials - sand, gravel and cement. How to minimize cash costs in order to fill the blind area, and, at the same time, save the family budget to the maximum?

I started with the preparation of rubble and luck smiled at me. In our garage cooperative (next to my garage) there was a “temporary” metal garage. He stood "temporarily" for several years and finally he was taken away.

And under it was a small layer of rubble, which filled up the recess in the soil. A few years ago, when I was removing the soil from the basement of my garage during its construction, I poured the soil in buckets into this corner.

And you yourself understand that this soil we had to take out. But it turned out that when, hired by us for a certain amount, an excavator (a Belarus tractor with a bucket from a nearby organization), loaded the soil from this corner to KamAZ, it overdid it a little and deepened below the general level of the soil.

Subsequently, when a metal garage was placed for "temporary" storage into this corner, then the owner had to thump ZILok of rubble into this pit. Well, I had no choice but to choose clean gravel and take it to the dacha.

Previously at the dacha I naturally, he made a box for storing rubble - knocked down a box from old window shutters. As far as possible, he collected crushed stone in buckets and drove it to the dacha in the Largus. For one trip he took away 10-11 buckets of rubble. So I made 4 or 5 walkers, I don’t remember exactly, but the crushed stone box in the country house was filled to the top.

Now, of course, it's empty...

Now about the sand?

There weren't many options here either.- or carry from an abandoned children's sandbox, or from somewhere else. We collected the first batch of sand from the sandbox, but then, to be honest, I spat. Because there was so much clay in this sand that every bucket of sand had to be sifted through a metal sieve, and this was a waste of time and effort.

next batch of sand we were already recruiting with my wife on the shore of our backwater (backwater from the Matyr reservoir). The sand is clean and ready to use immediately. They brought sand as needed, because there was no point in making a box for it (as well as for crushed stone). You need sand - go, pick it up and use it right away.

Needed thin reinforcement or thick wire for reinforcing the blind area itself and coupling this blind area with the foundation of the house. Piles were laid as the foundation of the house. It was for them that it was necessary to “cling” the blind area so that later it would not move away from the house.

A coil of old wire with a diameter of 7-8 mm. given to us in the village. She was already a little covered with rust, but for the blind area it fit perfectly and even very much. In fact, what difference does the wire reinforce concrete or reinforcement - the structure is not load-bearing. Therefore, the wire fit with a bang!

Now about cement...

I did not have the opportunity to steal cement, so I had to buy it - 240 rubles. for a bag of brand "M 400". It turns out that I spent money only on cement, and, of course, on gasoline, in order to bring crushed stone, sand and cement to the dacha.

Now about the blind area itself ...

The wife washed one leaf with water from dirt, using a regular foam sponge, I cut it into strips 100 mm wide. (along the width of the sheet - across the waves). Then the wife missed these strips with impregnation for plaster surfaces. Then I painted each strip with chocolate-colored paint to match the color of the roof and gutters.

Before exposing the formwork from slate strips, I pulled the lace (kapron thread) at a distance of 400-420 mm. from the wall and already adjusted the strips under it. The formwork could not be wider, because the pipes of the grape trellis interfered with it.

I set up the formwork of slate strips ahead of time, about a week before the start of concreting. I fastened the strips with what was at hand - slats, pieces of reinforcement, bricks, etc.

In the pictures below, the situation initially looked like exactly…

Then I drilled holes in the piles with a diameter of 8 mm. at an acute and obtuse angle relative to the vertical plane of the pile so that the direction of the holes themselves are located towards each other or in opposite directions.

Drill holes for wire (or rebar) at right angles it makes no sense, because later (during some natural disaster - flooding the house, washing out the soil from under the blind area with rain or something else), the wire would be pulled out along with the concrete from the foundation of the house. And so the wire is located in the piles at an angle and now only an atomic bomb explosion can pull it out of the piles, and even then it is unlikely.

I cut pieces of wire from a skein about a meter long and inserted them into the holes of the pile and, of course, then he arched them along the future blind area and leaned them on pieces of bricks so that the wire itself did not touch the soil ... in short, so that it would not get dirty.

And, of course, these separately inserted wires connected at the intersection with each other, with a piece of aluminum wire, so that when pouring concrete, the reinforcing wire does not spring and flutter from side to side.

On the first photo the end of the wire is inserted at an angle into an oblique hole in the concrete curb stone, which lies at the entrance to the door of the house.

June 20, in the evening, we made the first batch of concrete, and from this historical moment, the construction of a beautiful and reliable blind area began.

The first layer of concrete was thin and served to so that the formwork of slate strips is fastened to the concrete itself and stands securely, despite the supports from the outside.

To reduce the consumption of concrete, laid on the soil pieces of old concrete, taken from the other side of the house (from the groan of the forest)

Two photos below you can clearly see the interweaving of reinforcing wires with pieces of aluminum wire ...

The next day, June 21st, on the first layer of concrete, I poured the second layer of concrete in such a way that its surface was 15-20 mm lower than the slate formwork. - this is a layer for finishing the surface of the blind area with an ordinary solution.

Before pouring the second layer of concrete I pulled a string (rope) along the wall of the house in order to roughly see the level to which the second layer of concrete can be raised. The lace was stretched above the upper edge of the slate formwork in such a way that there was a slope from the wall of the house to the formwork.

If it rains then a lot of water will drain from the wall towards the formwork. If you make the surface of the blind area strictly horizontal, then the water will absorb into the wall of the house, but do we need it? We make a blind area in order to protect the walls from moisture, so we unambiguously exclude the horizontal surface of the blind area.

In the photo below, you can see that the concrete near the wall is poured below the laces by 15-20 mm.

Well, I put money in the concrete at the suggestion of his wife, however, I don’t know why. Is there any hint, can you tell me?

Then my wife and I took a smoke break for a week. During this time, I sprayed all the plants in the country with my Elixir infusion, because it rains almost every day with a break of half a day or less. You understand that such a humid state of the environment is favorable for the development of diseases, and my infusion with a set of beneficial microorganisms effectively suppresses these diseases.

The condition of the plants speaks for itself. Neighbors are already starting to grieve - tomatoes are turning black, cucumbers are turning yellow, onions and garlic are turning yellow, well, and so on ... but our vegetables do not care.

Just in case anyone is interested in my Elixir infusion, which does not allow infection to spread and suppresses most diseases of country crops, then I give a link to the site where this material can be ordered - http://elicsir.dacha7.ru/

Its effect on the health of garden plants is really phenomenal, I myself didn’t expect such an effect from the infusion, but you can’t argue against the facts - Elixir, it is also Elixir in Africa ...

On June 27, we continued concrete work, but already under the kitchen window of the house. There was a problem with a protruding pile. What to do with it, my wife and I did not think long. She suggested cutting a strip of slate sheet wider than she cut earlier and using it as formwork, but first...

But first, I again drilled holes in the pile(at different angles) and inserted the tighter wire. For reinforcement, even old rakes and other utensils went, for example, a mesh from a gas stove oven. In short, all the metal debris that could be used to reinforce the concrete of the blind area, and which I collected specifically for these works, went into action.

Filled this part of the blind area quickly, but I had to go for sand to the shore of the backwater. You yourself understand that it will still not work to calculate all the materials according to the norm, something will definitely not be enough, and oddly enough, at the most inopportune moment.

In the photo below, a piece of a protruding pile ...

Then we rested a little again and on July 1 we started the final part of the construction of the blind area - the top surface finish. I made the screed with a simple solution of sand and cement - 3 to 1. But before kneading the solution, I put the string along the wall a little higher than the surface itself would be - by the thickness of the trowel.

I bought a "ironer" in the store, but it was long (600 mm.) and did not pass between the wall of the house and the pipes of the grape trellis. As you remember from the material above, the blind area was 400-420 mm wide, so I didn’t have to think for a long time what to do with the length of the trowel - I sawed it off to a length of 450 mm. Moreover, it is made of polypropylene, and cutting this plastic with a cloth for metal is a pleasure.

The thickness of the trowel was 18-20 mm., so I raised the lace along the wall exactly to this thickness, in such a way that when smoothing the mortar, one part of the trowel will touch the laces (located under the lace), and the other part of the trowel will fidget along the slate formwork.

In the bottom photo, you can see how the upper edge of the front part of the “stroke” is located under the cord, and the back edge fidgets along the formwork ...

In this case it turns out And Smooth surface at the same level along the entire wall, and predetermined slope surfaces from the wall to the slate formwork. You yourself understand that in the fall it can rain for weeks - this slope will divert excess rainwater from the wall down the blind area.

In short, this is such an ideal surface turned out. Well, our favorite dog Gayka left her mark on history - she updated the blind area with her paws ...

Then it started to rain again and there was no point in dealing with the solution. But in order not to waste time, I went, took a sprayer, poured an infusion of Elixir into it and sprayed tomatoes, grapes, currants, gooseberries, honeysuckle, cabbage, cucumbers, apple trees, etc.

In short, I redeemed all the melts in the Elixir, and the rain did not stop even towards evening, and spurred all night, as if it were falling for the last time. Yes, dear visitor, this season turned out to be too "snotty", and even very much so. But we don’t have the tropics and there were still breaks between showers.

On July 2, in the morning, the rain stopped a little, and I filled in the surface of the blind area under the kitchen window. And the wife on this day between the rains washed the slate formwork from mortar and concrete drips in order to renew the paint layer on the formwork once.

Remember the sticking pile? Now she is beautifully disguised!

Out of place would say the place between the two hosts in front of the kitchen window was immediately chosen by Gadget - now this is her rookery!

This is a temporary drain. to the street...

The blind area under the kitchen window in the sun...

Same place just before the rain...

And one more thing that I would like to draw the attention of those who will make their blind area or concreting other places - cover the place of concreting or masonry with some kind of sackcloth. After all, the fact is that in a day or two garbage or something else will fly into this place.

In the photo below You see a place that I will concrete later (this year or next, I don’t know yet - the rubble is over), so I covered the concrete pad with a metal pipe on which the vertical drain pipe is fixed, with rags.

When it's time to concrete this place then I will remove these rags, and the surface of the concrete pad will be clean of debris. And therefore, it will not need to be swept with a broom and scrape the soil with a metal brush from the bumps.

You know yourself if it is possible to do so in order to minimize subsequent labor costs during some work, then this must certainly be done. In general, I do everything according to the principle - do or at least try to immediately good, it will turn out badly ...

Well, here, perhaps, about the work on the construction of a blind area near the two walls of the house and that's it. On this, allow me to take my leave until the next post.

If this article helps you in the construction of my blind area, I will be very glad that my work was not in vain!

I'm waiting for your comments on the topic of the post.

Goodbye!

Ouch, one more minute...

I almost forgot to tell you about the main advantage slate formwork…

Such formwork will subsequently not allow the edges of the blind area to crumble and gradually collapse over the entire area, as is the case when using conventional boards for formwork.

And the point here is that after pouring the formwork itself and its hardening, the formwork boards are removed and the edges of the blind area can, or rather, begin to crumble. Slowly, little by little, over time, the destruction of the edge of the blind area leads to the fact that it is necessary to constantly repair it - grease it with mortar or add concrete.

In the event that slate strips are used as formwork or other similar material (but not boards), then this formwork will permanently connect with concrete and mortar and the destruction of the edges of the formwork will be excluded. In addition, it will be not only practical, but original and beautiful!

Now that's all for sure.

See you!

With best regards,
Sergey Dyakov.

A house starts with a foundation. It is not difficult to make it with your own hands, experts say and give their advice on the step-by-step installation of formwork - a key element of the future foundation of the house. The article, as well as photos and videos, will help to understand the recommendations.

How to choose formwork

In order for the concrete support of the building to become strong and monolithic, the builders came up with formwork.

It can be temporary or permanent, made of wood or polymers, but its main tasks remain the same:

• create and maintain the shape of the above-ground part of the concrete strip foundation;
• be as smooth as possible from the inside in order to minimize subsequent finishing work on the ground part of the structure;
• cope with the loads when pouring and compacting the concrete solution;
• quickly mounted and disassembled;
• if necessary, isolate the concrete from the ground and other negative factors.

To ensure that the installation goes smoothly and you do not have to deal with unexpected problems, before starting work, you need to make sure that five main conditions are met:

1. The soil on which the base is poured must be completely cleaned of debris and various impurities.
2. Boards on the inside should have as flat and clean a surface as possible in order to reduce finishing work.
3. The formwork fastening must withstand the pressure of concrete and not be deformed.
4. Maximum contact of the components of the shield is necessary to prevent leakage. For this, the clarity of the geometry of the edges of the structure is important.
5. If the formwork panels are reused, the entire working surface must be cleaned from the residues of the previous mortar.

Attention! Modern formwork is classified into two categories: removable and fixed. In addition, it differs in the type of material used: wood, plywood, metal, polystyrene foam, etc.

Removable formwork: time-tested installation

Mount, pour, withstand and remove - this is a short recipe for installing removable formwork. Its most popular variety - wooden - is as old as the concrete foundation. It is easy to make such a formwork. Shields are made outside the construction pit from boards and lumber of the required dimensions. The boards are edged, as it will be necessary to fit them tightly to each other.

Attention! Slots up to 3 mm in timber formwork are considered the norm. As a result of pre-wetting, the boards will swell and the distance will decrease. If the gaps are larger, up to 10 mm, they must be closed with tow, and very large ones should be hammered with slats.

The structure is fastened with the help of vertical racks (most often from a bar). It is recommended to place them at intervals of about 1 m. The bars can be placed more often if the boards are thin. In addition, it is important that the length allows them to hold tight.

It is better to sharpen the bars from one end, then they will easily enter the ground. To fix the formwork panels at the same distance, twists of wire, struts, frames, wooden ties are taken.

Advice. Instead of nails during installation, it is better to use self-tapping screws. The structure assembled on them is easier to disassemble, because it will be enough just to unscrew them, and not unbend them, as is the case with nails. It is necessary to knock down the boards so that the heads of the nails (self-tapping screws) are on the inside of the formwork.

The final step in the installation of wooden formwork is to secure the panels in the trench with spacers: wooden stakes or bars. After pouring and tamping, the concrete is kept in the formwork for up to two weeks, until it hardens and gains strength. After the structure is dismantled. Plywood formwork is installed according to a similar principle.

Attention! It is desirable to isolate the removable formwork from concrete with special compounds against the adhesion of materials.

Fixed formwork for the foundation: a new word in construction

In recent years, the removable structure has been replaced by a structure using polymer formwork, which, after pouring concrete, becomes part of the future foundation. It gives it additional properties, protecting it from water and retaining heat. Additional properties of fixed formwork made of such material: ease of assembly (somewhat reminiscent of a designer or a puzzle) and, as a result, the geometric harmony of parts. Certain types of polymer formwork have a reinforcing mesh that reinforces the foundation.

Of the minuses - the cost of such a foundation is higher than that built using boards. However, the game is worth the candle when it comes to what is being built for decades and for oneself. Fixed formwork can also be made from a galvanized profile sheet - in the finished foundation it will protect the concrete surface, and its waves will serve as stiffeners. Such a metal structure additionally requires a removable "belt" of stakes made of timber.

Foundation formwork: video

Do-it-yourself foundation: photo