Such a room as a basement is an indispensable thing for a private home, because no refrigerator can hold so many jars with preserves, pickles, jams, vegetables, and other supplies. Almost every person who has his own home can make himself such a structure.
For this purpose, you can use both the basement of a residential building, whether it is a house or an apartment, and an independently built small basement on the plot near the house. In addition, drawing up the basement layout, you will be able to make it original and beautiful.
What is a basement
Such a room as a basement has its own definition. Basically, call a basement a large room located on the ground floor of the building and occupying its entire area. Thus, this room can accommodate many other structures such as a garage, workshop, extra room, swimming pool, laundry room, boiler room, or swimming pool. In addition, a storage room can be located in it. This is the main difference between a basement and a cellar.
The basement of the house can have different rooms for different purposes, while the cellar has only one room for storing seasonal crops or canned goods.
Now let’s look at the nuances in planning the layout and construction of the basement on a private plot. Of course, you need to consider the fact that a quality and good foundation in a spacious house has great demands in terms of labor and finances. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the pros and cons of building basements in the foundation of the house.
Disadvantages of basements in the foundation of a house
The first big disadvantage that is a problem for most homeowners is the financial side. In order to make a good quality and reliable basement, you will need to spend almost half the cost of the entire house. But it is worth bearing in mind that the price depends directly on the conditions of construction, namely groundwater, soil composition and the topography of the area.
The second disadvantage – is the need for a large amount of labor for the work, which in the construction with their own hands will be given very difficult.
And, nevertheless, on most dacha and ordinary private plots, the construction is carried out on their own, as it helps to avoid unnecessary costs.
Pros of the basement in the foundation
The pros of locating a basement in the ground floor of your home are, of course, far more than the cons. The first plus is that you have a huge area at your disposal where you can place the necessary rooms, and indeed anything else you want from greenhouses to utility units to a boiler room.
In addition, if you are an athlete and want to keep your body in shape, you can place a gym in the basement. In another case, this room will serve as a great place to build a billiard room or a winter garden, which, installing natural lighting, you can even in the winter, surrounded by green plants.
Basement in a monolithic foundation
Before you begin your marking work, you should create a paper or computer drawing that makes it clear exactly what your basement looks like both inside and out. As an example, let’s look at partial basement options under the building. A large half of the house is allocated for our needs, but if there is an opportunity to use the entire area, it would be even better.
Such a small height is due to the fact that there is a need to install waterproofing and also carrying out concreting of the floor. Each of them takes an average of 20-30 centimeters. The entire structure will be up to 2.2 meters high. If your plot, on which the house is located, has a high level of soil freezing, and it reaches a level below 1.5 meters, then in this case there is a need for a trench or pit, excavated at this level. After that, the surface is backfilled with a sand cushion, which should not exceed 60 centimeters in height. Basically, the level of effort applied depends directly on the density of the soil and its malleability.
If there is soil, from the best options – to carry out additional strengthening by laying bricks, processing walls with formwork and digging an additional excavation. If your location is more financial, it would be a good idea to lay concrete blocks under the foundation.
If the soil is hard and consists of stone, earth and the like, then dig a plumb trench. But it is worth being careful in the place where the doors should be located: there the soil is not excavated and remains, after which it is reinforced. Next, the entire foundation is strengthened with the help of the formwork. The last part of the base of 10-15 centimeters should be reinforced, especially in those places where windows and doors will be located.
If there is already a ready structure of load-bearing structures on the first floors of buildings, it should be used for further planning and building drawings of the basement or ground floor. This is especially important if you want to freely and creatively arrange the elements as you wish, as they can be coordinated with the already developed residential structure.
Usually such a floor or basement can be arranged not only for the location of the cellar or other technical rooms. In some cases, it is allowed to build a place for temporary occupancy. The main condition in such situations is good ventilation and thermal insulation.
If the dwelling under which the basement is located is individual, then you can facilitate access to the lower room of the house by means of an exterior entrance through the house and house stairs. But if your basement will contain complexes such as sports and recreation or utility rooms and the like, you’ll need to worry about having a separate exit.
Basement Design Precautions
No containers of easily flammable liquids may be installed in basements. This also applies to furnace, gas or boiler rooms.
Locating a garage in a basement is not desirable, although it is permitted by the operating rules. Such precautions are due to the fact that such a location of the room may pose a risk to the life and health of the people living above such a structure. This is mainly due to the danger of collecting exhaust fumes in the upper rooms of the building.If you still decide to locate the garage room under your house, you must follow the rules of operation, which require the installation of good ventilation with electric or mechanized hood. Of course, such a rule does not apply to the location of electric cars in an underground garage.
If your basement does not contain any flammable materials, the exit can also be made through the vestibule of the building.
If you want to put a living level in the basement, you must pay attention to the rules specified by the relevant authorities. The rules indicated in this document define a living basement: it is a room or a system of rooms intended for permanent and year-round human habitation and which meet all sanitary requirements; it also includes a suitable microclimate and an adequate level of air ventilation.
If you use the tips mentioned in this article, you will be able to make a basement in a private house that will be distinguished by both durability and reliability.
