How to make a cellar for a summer residence

It takes a lot of effort to grow a good crop. However, it is not so easy to save vegetables and root crops in winter if there is no equipped storage in the yard. Now we will look at how to build a cellar in the country with our own hands step by step, and also analyze all the nuances of its arrangement.

Varieties of country cellars

There are three types of cellars. Their scheme is shown in the photo. The choice of one of the types of storage for your site is determined by the location of groundwater. Here, according to these criteria, they determine which option is suitable for giving:

• With a high occurrence of groundwater layers, only a ground type of cellar is erected. It cannot be buried in such a site, otherwise water will always be present in the basement.
• For a site with groundwater at a depth of 2 m, a semi-buried type of storage is selected. It is undesirable to build a completely buried basement in such conditions, since in the spring there is a possibility of raising the water level.
• If the underground layers of water are located deeper than 2 m, then you can safely dig a buried cellar in a summer cottage. To choose the right type of country cellar, you will have to independently conduct research on the site. This should be done in early spring or late autumn. There are various folk methods for determining the depth of groundwater. We will look at one of them:
• In the evening, a ball of wool is placed on clean ground without grass, a raw egg is laid on it, and all this is covered with an earthen vessel.
• Further research is carried out in the early morning. If the inner walls of the vessel, egg and wool are wet, then the groundwater is high. If only the wool pulled moisture under the vessel, it means that the water lies low. If the egg, wool and the inner walls of the vessel are dry, then you can safely dig a deep cellar. The water in this area is very deep.

When choosing a storage type, one more important truth must be taken into account. Vegetables and root crops last longer at a positive temperature 5–7^оC. Only a deep cellar can provide such conditions.

What to consider when building a country storage

To make it possible to make a cellar in the country with your own hands without any problems, take note of a few important recommendations:

• Construction work is carried out only in the summer. At this time of the year, groundwater goes deep into the ground.
• On the summer cottage choose the highest place. Even if the groundwater is deep, in the lowland the basement will be flooded during rain or snow melt.
• On a site with wet soil, a sand and gravel cushion is poured under the ground cellar.
• In storage of any type, a constant microclimate must be maintained. To do this, be sure to equip natural ventilation.

And finally, it should be noted the unpleasant news for the summer resident. If the site is located in a swamp or quicksand, the construction of a cellar will have to be abandoned.

The process of building a cellar at their summer cottage

So, now we will take a closer look at how to make a cellar in a recessed country house. The instructions given cover the general construction steps. In each individual case, structural elements can be changed.

Pit preparation

The size of the pit is determined by the dimensions of the cellar, plus it is increased by 0,5 m. The reserve is needed for laying out the walls of the storage. What size it is necessary to build a cellar is a personal matter, and there are no special requirements here. It all depends on the expected amount of stored crop.

First, markup is installed on the site. To do this, wooden stakes are driven into the ground at the corners of the future pit, and a cord is pulled between them. Now the contour of the country storage has loomed, and you can start earthworks. First you need to remove all the fertile soil with a shovel. It can be placed on a summer cottage. The lower barren soil is used as an embankment over the vault, so it is temporarily thrown off in a heap to the side. It is easier to dig a pit with an excavator, but for this there must be free access to the place of work.

The final arrangement of the pit is leveling the bottom, as well as its thorough tamping.

Arrangement of the bottom and the construction of a concrete base

Sometimes summer residents build a cellar with their own hands in the country without the obligatory concreting of the bottom, but simply pour a pillow of sand and gravel. There are even vaults with an earthen bottom. That is, they dug a pit in the country, they simply tamped the soil, and the floor turned out in the cellar. You can also do this if the groundwater in the country is not even close.

If there are fears of raising groundwater layers, then waterproofing is needed in the cellar, on top of which the foundation slab is concreted. To do this, the bottom of the pit is covered with a sand and gravel cushion 150–200 mm thick. Any waterproofing material is spread on top, wrapping 400 mm of edges on the walls. A reinforcing frame is connected from the reinforcement bars. From the bottom it is raised with brick linings. An example of arranging the bottom with waterproofing and a reinforcing frame is shown in the photo.

Next, beacons are installed, and then the entire site is poured with concrete 400 mm thick. The solution is prepared from a mixture of cement and sand in a ratio of 1:3. Until the foundation is completely solidified, no work is performed.

Masonry walls

When the concrete base is completely frozen, they begin to build the walls of the country storage. Immediately you need to take care of waterproofing. To do this, the walls of the pit are hung with strips of roofing material. They build a cellar in a summer cottage from red brick, cinder blocks or concrete blocks. Silicate brick is not suitable for these purposes, as it decomposes in dampness.

The layout of the walls starts from the corners. To make the masonry even, periodically make measurements with a level and a plumb line, and a cord is pulled over each row. It is possible to increase the strength of the walls of the cellar if, after every 3-4 rows, steel bars 6 mm thick are embedded in the solution. It is especially important to make such a bunch at the corners. For masonry, cement or clay mortar is used. At the same time, a maximum joint thickness of 12 mm is adhered to.

Variants of manufacturing the floor of the country basement

So, a recessed cellar for giving 50% has already been built. The walls of the vault are ready, now it remains to make the floor. For general information, we note that the storage can be located under the house, garage or other building. In this case, the buried cellar is covered with beams, sheathing is made from the bottom and top with a board, and the void is filled with insulation. The upper skin in this case will play the role of the floors of the room. In such a ceiling, a hatch is equipped to enter the basement.

If the cellar in the country house is not located under the building, it can be blocked using a different technology. For these works, you will need to make a wooden frame, and then concrete it. The photo below shows the sequence of manufacturing the floor:

• From a board with a section of 50×100 mm and plywood 10 mm thick, an arched roof frame is knocked down.

  

• The finished structure is fixed on the walls of the cellar. By the way, in such an arrangement of the storage, it is appropriate to make the entrance not through the hatch, but to put normal doors. To do this, in one of the walls, even during laying, a doorway is provided. In the photo, the entrance to the dacha storage can be seen in the center of one of the side walls.

  

• The finished frame is sheathed with plywood sheets. In order for the wood to last longer, the entire structure is treated with a protective impregnation. A mesh is knitted on top of a wooden floor made of reinforcement, and lifted with linings of small blocks. In the final, you should get the same design as in the photo.

  

Now it remains to fill this structure with concrete, and wait until it hardens. The ceiling of the country cellar is ready, and now it needs to be insulated. And for this we will use infertile soil, which remained after digging the pit.

Arrangement of the tomb and the entrance to the vault

The basement ceiling is already ready, now it’s time to bring the cellar to mind. First you need to sign in. To do this, from the left doorway in the storage box, two walls are laid out of brick, going up. The result is a corridor with a doorway, but already above ground level.

Now you need to make a ladder to descend into the cellar. When using the hatch, the option that is indicated by the letter “A” in the photo is suitable. That is, for a country basement under a building, an ordinary ladder is used. Under the designation “A-A” is a diagram of an improved staircase with inclined wide steps. It is suitable for a recessed type of cellar. The letter “B” indicates the scheme of one stage. Such stairs can be equipped with handrails.

Doors are knocked down from a board 25 mm thick. A wooden frame is installed in the doorway. Hinges are attached to the side rack, and ready-made doors are already fixed to them.

Further, we have only a tomb left. The concrete has hardened, you can begin to arrange it. It is easier to insulate the storage floor with expanded polystyrene sheets. However, many summer residents are accustomed to using improvised materials. So, for our cellar we will use a mixture of clay and straw. But first, the concrete ceiling of the cellar is covered with waterproofing sheets. An ordinary roofing material or a black film in several layers will do.

Clay is kneaded with straw or sawdust, after which the entire concrete floor of the storage is tightly covered. It is advisable to apply insulation with a minimum thickness of 100 mm. When the clay dries, it is covered with sheets of waterproofing on top. Now you can use the soil left after digging the pit. This earth fills the entire overlap of the storage, forming a ground burial. By the way, it can be used in landscape design. Fertile soil is added to the earthen cellar and flowers or ornamental plants are planted. Together with the cellar in the country, you will get a beautiful flower bed in the yard.

Interior arrangement of the cellar

So, we examined how to build a cellar with our own hands in our summer cottage. Now it needs to be arranged inside.

There are several options for arranging the floor inside the country cellar:

• A cellar with an earthen floor is easy to arrange and does not require any costs. For the hardness of the coating, a layer of crushed stone 10 mm thick can be compacted into the ground. Earthen floors are suitable for a cellar located in a summer cottage, where groundwater is deep.
• The most reliable are concrete floors with waterproofing. They will 100% protect the cellar from flooding and dampness.
• The clay floor is laid on a layer of waterproofing and a gravel cushion 150 mm thick. This is a very reliable coating for a country cellar, but it requires high-quality material and a lot of labor.
• The floors in the country cellar can be laid out with pieces of broken brick. To do this, you first need to pour a sand and gravel cushion 100 mm thick. The gaps between the bricks are filled with wet clay.
• It is better to leave a wooden floor for a ground cellar, or use it if the groundwater is deep. Wood must be well impregnated with protective solutions.

In order for the products in the cellar to be well preserved and there was no dampness, an effective ventilation system is needed. The photo shows schemes for a ground and buried cellar. Please note that there must be more than one air duct, but at least two pipes: supply and exhaust.

Any type of country cellar requires artificial lighting. Due to the high humidity, wiring with a double layer of insulation is used, and the light bulbs are hidden under protective caps. It is forbidden to install sockets in the cellar.

The video tells about the construction of the cellar:

Now you have a complete picture of the steps of building a country cellar. The storage is ready, now it remains to install the racks, and you can bring in conservation or vegetables from the garden.