Finishing the basement of the house: natural stone (flagstone and chipped), cobblestone, PVC panels (basement siding)

The basement of the house performs not so much a decorative function as a practical one. In many cases, it serves to reduce heat loss (it is specially insulated), and also prevents the spread of atmospheric and underground moisture to the walls of the house. It also transfers the load from the walls to the foundation – if the foundation is tape or slab. Therefore, the lining of the basement of the house should be not only beautiful, but also functional. In accordance with this task, the finishing material is also selected.

When to start finishing the basement

It is best to finish the base after the blind area around the house is made. In this case, the finishing material will hang over the track. As a result, even the most oblique rain or streams of water flowing down the walls will not be able to get between the wall and the blind area – water enters the path at a distance of several centimeters from the junction. Namely, through this joint, water penetrates to the foundation, bringing dampness and other problems.

One more moment. Many people think about whether to insulate the basement or not. If you want to save on heating, the answer is to insulate it, as well as the blind area. The knot of insulation and lining of the basement – one of the options – is shown in the photo below.

When using the basement as a residential floor, there are no issues with insulation, since the answer is unambiguous – of course, to insulate. But even if you do not have a subfloor, heating costs will be much lower, and the floor in the house will become much warmer.

How to veneer the basement of the house

There are a lot of materials for finishing the basement. The main requirements: moisture resistance, frost resistance, strength. These requirements are met by the following materials:

• Natural stones sawn into plates (flagstone) or chipped, the so-called “torn stone”:
  • sandstone (layer);
  • granite;
  • marble;
  • slate;
  • dolomite;
  • shugnit.
• Small cobblestone.
• Large river pebble.
• Clinker tiles (clinker brick).
• Paving slabs.
• Porcelain stoneware.
• Finishing brick.
• Facade panels, plinth siding, PVC panels (these are all names of the same material).
• Plaster (decorative and “under a fur coat”).
• Professional flooring

Some of them cost a lot, some are negligible, but they can all be used. The material is chosen based on financial capabilities and previously used finishing materials – the aesthetic component also plays an important role. The technologies for finishing the socles with different materials will be discussed.

Preparation and warming

First of all, if the existing plinth is uneven, its surface is leveled with plaster. A cement-sand mortar is used for plastering the basement: for 1 part of cement (Portland cement M 400), 4 parts of pure building sand, preferably river sand, are taken. For greater plasticity, you can add a little lime or liquid soap (50-80 g per bucket of solution). The solution should be of medium density: so as not to crawl from the wall. There is another option – to use a special composition. For example, such as in the video.

If the laying of tiles, stone or other similar material then follows, after leveling the mortar on its surface, notches are made with the tip of a trowel (trowel). They are applied in the form of a grid over the entire surface. These shallow grooves will give the necessary support for the finish.

If the base is insulated, notches are not needed. EPS (extruded polystyrene foam) or foam boards are glued directly onto the plastered surface. They are lightweight and adhere well to glue. Their surface is smeared with diluted tile adhesive and pressed against the plaster. Finishing materials are then attached to the surface prepared in this way.

Painting, plastering and “fur coat”

In principle, if the plaster is well leveled, after the mortar has dried, the surface can be painted and stop there. This is an inexpensive but viable option. If you took the facade paint, which is intended for outdoor use, the basement will look good for a couple of years. Then you have to remove the old paint and paint again – to maintain the appearance.

The next way is to apply a layer of decorative plaster on top of ordinary plaster. And again, choose those formulations that are intended for external use. They can be tinted in the desired color or take colored ones. The only negative is that plasters are often porous and it is necessary to clean off splashes of dirt that fall on the walls during bad weather with a brush, and sometimes with detergent.

Until now, in some areas, the method of finishing the base “under a fur coat” is popular. This is when the solution is applied not in an even layer, but in small fragments. Previously, this was done with a broom of twigs. They dipped it into a liquid solution, hit the stick with the handle so that the spray flew onto the wall. This is how they made a “fur coat” – a finish with a torn surface. Today there are special devices for applying plaster, powered by a compressor. With their help, such a finish is easier to do.

Finishing the basement of a house using materials in the form of slabs or tiles is technologically more difficult. So that it does not fall off, you need to know some subtleties.

How to overlay a house with bricks read here. 

How to fix porcelain stoneware or clinker tiles

If heavy materials such as porcelain stoneware or clinker bricks are simply put on glue, on a plastered surface with grooves, they will probably hold up normally. And they can even stay for a while. Even a few years. But then they will begin to fall off along with the solution. Especially in those places where there are no grooves or they have insufficient depth. To improve adhesion, you can apply an impregnation layer that improves adhesion (adhesion), but this is not a guarantee, especially if the material is heavy.

The same picture will be if you glue the materials directly on the insulation. Surface is smooth and easy to apply. But after a while, the finish will fall off. Faster than with a plastered surface. About this video.

To prevent this from happening, it is necessary to fix a metal painting grid, preferably galvanized. It is fastened with dowels, putting on a dowel-nail a piece of galvanized steel, the size of which is larger than the size of the cell. Fasten at the top, bottom and in a checkerboard pattern in the middle. It turns out a reliable basis for material of any severity.

Glue is applied to the plinth and to the tile. On the tile, they are removed with a notched trowel, put in place, tapping the trowel handle, put in place, leveling the plane. The distance between the tiles is maintained with the help of crosses, only their thickness is taken to be significant 3-5 mm.

In general, laying technology is similar to laying tiles. The only difference is that the glue must be special for outdoor use. The second difference: finishing materials for the base begin to be laid from below: they are heavy and they need support. You lean on the blind area the bottom row, on it – the second, etc.

Finishing the basement of the house with natural stone (shell rock, granite, dolomite, slate)

No matter how attractive artificial shiny surfaces seem, for some reason a rough stone causes great sympathy. But laying a foundation from rubble is difficult and not everyone can do it so well that a house can stand on it. But anyone can finish a finished monolithic or prefabricated foundation with natural stone with their own hands, especially if at least some of the work on building a house is done personally.

It is clear that no one will fix the whole stones: the finish will be too heavy, and very voluminous. Therefore, they came up with a stone to slab or chop. Depending on the technology, either an even “flake stone” is obtained – with almost even surfaces, or a “torn stone” with an uneven front part. Sometimes these materials are cut into identical rectangles, sometimes they are left in the form of uneven plates, but in any case, it is a natural stone and the decoration of the basement of the house from it turns out to be beautiful and waterproof.

There is this material from expensive stones, for example – marble, there is cheaper – slate, dolomite, shugnite, lemezite, granite, etc. They look very impressive. Especially if it is a torn stone, although flagstone sometimes looks no worse.

Surface preparation will be exactly the same: it is best to stuff a paint grid on a plastered plinth, and lay stone plates on it with glue. If they are even – natural stone with processed edges – the laying technology will repeat one to one described above.

If the stone has torn edges, finishing the basement of the house becomes more difficult: it is necessary to select plates of such a shape that the seams are not too large. When using this option of finishing stone, you will need a grinder with a stone disk: most likely you will have to file the plates of the lower and upper rows. Correction will also be required when making corners. See the video for an example of this technology.

There is a second way. The plastered surface of the base is first smeared with a composition to improve adhesion (adhesion), then fragments of the finish are installed on it with glue. They are fixed in a predetermined position with the help of scraps of the same stone or pieces of materials of the desired size. The seams are left unfilled. After the glue has “grabbed”, the seams are filled with a thin solution from a construction syringe, rubbing and leveling as necessary.

In any case, the glue that has got on the finish must be removed in a timely manner. It will be very difficult to do this with a frozen one, and the look of the glue is far from attractive.

Sometimes, for a clearer pattern, the seams between the stone plates are drawn with dark paint. Then the surface is coated with a protective impregnation. It gives the stone a slight sheen, and often increases water repellency.

An example of facing the basement with natural stone using the second technology, see the following video.

Learn more about siding your home here.

Facing with boulder or small cobblestone

Boulder or cobblestone is not necessary to buy. It can be dialed on a river or on a pebble beach on the sea. Run-in stones are chosen flatter – round ones are more difficult to “mount”. The order of work and all other subtleties are almost the same as in the case of natural stone trim. The only difference is that these stones must be washed in water with detergent before use. Firstly, the water in our ponds may have oils that need to be removed, and secondly, they may be in clay or algae, which can cause the finish to fall off.

To make everything look organic, you can first lay out a “picture” of cobblestone cladding on the path next to the place where you will veneer the basement. They have different shades and their random combinations are far from always attractive. Having laid out everything side by side, you will have an idea of ​​uXNUMXbuXNUMXbwhat will happen as a result.

Watch the video about the features of finishing the plinth with cobblestone.

How to install plastic (PVC) plinth panels

This type of finish is called differently: basement or facade panels, basement siding. They have a varied appearance: for different types of stone, tile, brick.

To install PVC panels on the plinth, it is necessary to assemble the frame. It is made from a wooden beam 50 * 50 mm. Since the finish will be outdoors, the wood must be protected with impregnations that prevent decay and protect against pests.

The sequence of actions is as follows:

• With the help of a level (laser or hydraulic level), the required finishing height is marked at all corners of the house.
• Nails are nailed in these places (self-tapping screws are screwed in), a marker (lace) is pulled between them, which marks the height of the base finish.
• A bar is nailed along this cord around the entire perimeter of the house. Its upper edge should be exactly directed along the cord.
• If the height of one panel is not enough, you will need to make another row of timber, on which two sheets will be joined, and you will also need the same strapping under the lower end of the panel.
  

• After about 50-60 cm, short transverse bars are stuffed – they will not allow the PVC panels to sag.
• Begin installation from one of the corners. There are special elements for decorating the corner. They are fixed on the crate with wood screws.
• The edges of the sheets of plastic facade panels are uneven – with ledges. The edge of the first from the corner must be cut evenly. This can be done with an electric jigsaw or a grinder, a hand saw with a metal blade (less teeth, you get a smoother edge).
• The cut edge is inserted into the corner piece. There are perforations for fasteners at the top and bottom of each panel. This is where the self-tapping screws are fixed. Only they do not need to be tightened to the end: a backlash is needed for thermal resizing. Therefore, the perforation is made in an oblong shape, and it is better to install a self-tapping screw in the middle: when resizing, the panel will move freely and will not burst.
• The next element is joined with a special lock, and fixed in the same way.

Assembly is easy. Only after fixing, it will be necessary to make ebbs from above: the crate and panels have a fairly decent volume and a gap remains on top. You can close it with roofing iron, as in this video. Immediately look at the technology for finishing the basement with plastic panels.

In the same way, the plinth can be finished with corrugated board. There is only one remark: it is desirable to lay insulation in the voids between the crate. It will be much warmer in the house.

Finishing the base of the pile foundation

As you know, the pile foundation does not have a base. But if you do not block the space, drafts walk under the house, the floor will always be cold, and all living creatures like to settle under the house. Therefore, the base, although decorative, is necessary. It can be done in two ways.

1. A trench is dug along the perimeter between the supports, removing the fertile layer of earth and 10 cm deeper into the soil, the bottom of the trench is rammed, gravel bedding is laid, and compacted again if possible. Then 2-3 bars of longitudinal reinforcement (10-12 mm) are placed and everything is poured with concrete. After 10-14 days, a half-brick wall is placed on a concrete base. You can use a finishing brick right away, or you can fold it from a used one, and then finish it with any of the methods described above.
2. This method is suitable for finishing the basement with facade panels (basement siding) or corrugated board. A frame made of impregnated timber is attached to the piles. The rest of the finishing process is no different from the standard. Is that the fact that this option is very desirable to insulate.
   

There is one subtlety if the house is installed on screw piles or TISE piles. Such foundations are often placed on highly heaving soils. So that when the soil is raised, the finish does not collapse, it is not brought to a certain distance from the ground. To prevent animals from crawling into the gap, a metal mesh is fixed at the bottom.