Previously, the blind area around the house was built mainly from cheap clay or monolithic concrete. Now there are many options to decorate the structure with decorative building materials, while ensuring maximum safety of the foot of the building from negative climatic factors.

What is the blind area around the house?

Outside, along the perimeter of any modern building, there is always a belt made of durable waterproof material. This building element is not just a narrow sidewalk for the convenience of maintaining a residential area, but performs certain protective functions. A high-quality blind area near the house is required for any type of foundation and basement, the design of the finishing coating significantly affects the appearance of the facade.

Paving around the house

Previously, during construction, they tried to save money by using the most common materials at hand. Now, to solve the problem of how to make a blind area around the house, it is more often not a clay mixture that is used, but strong and durable concrete mortars. Most of the recommended methods provide for the presence of a top layer that is durable and most water resistant, laid on a pre-prepared base.

Modern blind area pie around the house:

1. Base — crushed stone, compacted clay, carving, sand act as a bedding with a thickness of 20 cm or more. The type of building material is chosen depending on the design of the next layer.
2. The top covering of the blind area around the house — the usual concrete with asphalt or decorative varieties of material (tile, stone) are used. The main requirement is maximum moisture protection and the ability to resist erosion. Layer thickness — from 5-10 cm. The screed is always laid with a slope from the walls for normal water flow.

Why do you need a blind area around the house?

Inexperienced developers assume that the concrete path around the building is laid purely for decorative purposes. A beautifully laid out blind area around the house makes the facade more attractive, but its main purpose is to ensure the strength of the structure. When arranging it, not only the appearance plays an important role. Filling, thickness and pouring technology directly affect the durability of the erected structures.

Why do you need a blind area around the house:

1. For the formation of a protective zone around the perimeter of the building in order to prevent erosion of the surface layer.
2. A well-laid blind area around the house does not allow groundwater to pass to the base of the building.
3. Reduces soil freezing near walls.
4. Protects against swelling of the surface layer.
5. A durable pavement is an excellent pavement.
6. The hard layer prevents the growth of vegetation, reduces the risk of damage to walls and foundations by roots.
7. The blind area of ​​decorative building materials serves as a landscape decoration.

Types of blind area around the house

A waterproof protective strip located around the perimeter of the building can be laid in various ways. The blind area around the house is predominantly a multilayer structure. Depending on the type of base and external coating, the following varieties are conditionally distinguished:

1. Open monolithic blind areas — a concrete or asphalt path is poured from above.
2. Semi-rigid blind areas — the top layer is laid in separate segments (tiles, coarse gravel, decorative stone).
3. Soft (hidden) blind areas — along the perimeter of the house on top is a grassy lawn, a flower bed, small gravel. The waterproofing is laid underground.

Clay pavement around the house

In order to save money in the construction of buildings, cheap natural materials can be used. According to traditional technology, the material for the blind area around the house is a mixture of clay-sand or clay-crushed stone with a thickness of 10 cm or more. The top layer for hardening is recommended to be made of fine pebbles. Clay pavement can be considered as a type of waterproofing, but without an additional finishing layer, it has the following disadvantages:

1. The resulting coating looks unpresentable.
2. The top layer dries for a long time and erodes faster.
3. The clay path suffers from snow removal.
4. The clay pavement around the house often needs to be repaired.

Concrete pavement around the house

The protective tape encircling the building is poured onto a sand and gravel litter. Formwork and reinforcing bars are preliminarily exposed. The blind area made of concrete has a simple design and is made from available materials. The entire list of works can be done by hand. This design is famous for its high durability and reliability, provides excellent moisture protection, and can be used as the basis for tiles and stone.

Cons of concrete blind areas:

1. Relatively high financial costs.
2. High labor intensity of work.
3. Without finishing cladding, the design of the blind area looks unpresentable.

The pavement around the house of asphalt

Coating based on bitumen, mineral powder, crushed stone and sand is more often used in urban areas. It is relatively difficult to prepare and compact asphalt on your own without special equipment. The black beautiful blind area around the house looks beautiful and has a lot of advantages:

1. The cover does not sag.
2. Properly laid asphalt is resistant to cracking.
3. Compared to concrete and tiles, the arrangement of an asphalt blind area is less expensive.
4. Fast styling.
5. Good strength.

Disadvantages of asphalt pavement:

1. To prepare the mortar and lay the tape, you need to involve a specialized team with equipment.
2. It is extremely difficult to repair potholes and cracks in old asphalt, it is easier to completely replace the coating.
3. Over time, the black track acquires an ugly gray tint.
4. The declared durability of asphalt is 7-8 years.

Blind area around the house from paving slabs

In the modern landscape of a beautiful country house, concrete sidewalks and asphalt are increasingly being replaced with decorative pavement options. More often, depending on the style, a paving stone pavement around the house or different types of paving slabs are used. Consider the advantages of this choice:

1. High durability.
2. Fast installation.
3. Facing work can be done independently.
4. Large selection of textures and colors.
5. Good maintainability.

Disadvantages of a tile blind area:

1. The material is relatively expensive.
2. Requires skills to properly install.

Hidden blind area around the house

The main difference of this method is that the waterproofing layer is formed underground. In the work, a special membrane is used, which is inserted behind the basement, and geotextiles are laid on top of it. There are different options for the blind area around the house of a hidden type. The top layer can be formed from gravel of a fine fraction of a suitable color, sand or even black soil, planting a lawn or flower garden near the wall of the house.

Advantages of soft blind area:

1. The soft finish layer does not crack from deformation.
2. Easy shrinkage repair.
3. Lots of top coat options.
4. When arranging the blind area does not require large finances.
5. Suitable for lovers of eco-style.

Cons of hidden blind areas:

1. High risk of overgrowing with weeds.
2. Need constant care and mowing the lawn.
3. It is more difficult to clean when the finish layer is dirty.

Blind area of ​​rubble around the house

In order to save money, many owners prefer to lay out a protective strip around the building with fine gravel. Loose material is used to form the top layer, so the blind area with rubble around the house is considered a kind of soft protective coating. A multilayer structure is formed from waterproofing, sand, geotextile, crushed rock with a fraction size of 5-40 mm.

Advantages of this choice:

1. Resistant to temperature extremes.
2. The final layer is not afraid of soil shrinkage.
3. Simple repair.
4. Many options for decorative gravel.
5. Installation work can be done independently.

Disadvantages of crushed stone blind area:

1. Periodic leveling and backfilling of the material is required.
2. The surface is more difficult to clean from dust and dry leaves.
3. The top layer is often overgrown with weeds.

How to make a blind area around the house?

Poorly understanding the true purpose of this element, many owners postpone its construction for the future or make serious miscalculations. In order for the blind area around the house to keep moisture out and serve as long as possible, the following nuances must be taken into account:

1. The sinuses of the foundation, formed after the arrangement of the pit, should be covered with a suitable substrate, which is not inferior in density to the soil in the adjacent territory.
2. The arrangement of the blind area should be carried out on a rigid and homogeneous base.
3. Loose soil with impurities of organic matter or construction waste must be removed.
4. So that rainwater does not linger for a long time near the walls and a dry blind area around the house is obtained, make the finish layer with a slope of 10%.
5. The slope of the soil in the area adjacent to the blind area should be at least 2 cm / m.
6. The width of the drainage strip is from 2 m.
7. The width of the blind area is from 1 m.
8. So that the soil near the blind area does not erode, the overhang of the roof without a tubular drain must be made smaller than the width of the track.
9. When pouring a monolithic coating, it is recommended to divide it into sections with expansion joints.

Waterproofing blind areas around the house

With a strong wetting of the soil, the basement part is destroyed, often water penetrates into the lower floors of the building. There are several types of effective waterproofing:

1. clay insulation — removal of debris and other loose impurities, voids and the top layer around the perimeter of the building is filled with clay. The places of adjunction to the house must be sealed additionally with rolled materials.



2. profiled membrane — the material is in rolls, the density is high, rounded protrusions are formed on the surface.



3. Geotextile — flexible fabric, dense, waterproof. It is used for water filtration and drainage, increases frost resistance, prevents the top layer of crushed stone from falling through. You need to know which geotextile to use for the blind area around the house. The material is suitable with a density of 100-150 g/m².



4. Paint insulation — processing of the wall sections adjacent to the blind area with a primer and bituminous compounds.

How to strengthen the blind area around the house?

Over time, the protective strip cracks due to subsidence of the base, temperature fluctuations or improper installation. Complete dismantling and making a blind area around the house in a new way from scratch is expensive. If the percentage of damage is relatively small, then it makes sense to repair and strengthen the coating. The technology of work is relatively simple:

1. Remove loose fragments of the old finish layer.
2. Treat the top coating and cracks with a deep penetration primer.
3. Perform a leveling screed.
4. Lay waterproofing on top with an overlap on the base up to 8-10 cm.
5. Install formwork and reinforcing mesh.
6. Pour the mesh with concrete with a thickness of 8 cm.
7. The slope of the new coating from the wall to the outside is about 3 cm.
8. For long lengths, perform expansion joints at intervals of 3-6 m.
9. After removing the formwork, pour the soil flush with the new blind area.

Insulation of the blind area around the house

With strong temperature differences in the soil, twisting and bending loads occur. Thermal protection belt minimizes the risk of deformation. The insulated blind area around the house is made using modern materials. Cheap grades of foam absorb moisture and are poorly suited for these jobs. High density expanded polystyrene (XPS) is recommended. A film is placed below, and the thermal protection is poured with a concrete screed from above.

The thickness of the insulation layer depends on the region:

1. In the southern regions — from 30 mm.
2. In regions with frosts down to -28℃, the thickness of the insulation is from 50 mm.
3. In the northern regions with a harsh climate — 100 mm.