Concreting the yard with your own hands: stages and nuances

If you live in a private home, then concreting the site for you will be a priority after building a home. Concreting the yard with their own hands must be done following a certain technology. The work will involve the need to implement several stages.

The need to fill the yard

If you make the concreting of the yard, then it will be easier to look after the territory, dirt will not accumulate on the surface, besides, we will not have to periodically cope with weeds. In winter, such a territory will be quite easy to clear of snow. It should also be noted that on a flat, but not concreted surface from the impact of the wheels of the machine, bumps, hollows, in which water can accumulate, are formed. This is especially true if not only cars, but also trucks are brought into the courtyard. Concreting of the yard with their own hands will be very simple, it will allow to improve the territory, and next to install benches, plant flower beds, and arrange other decorative elements. It is important to follow all stages of work and follow the recommendations of experts to ensure the strength and evenness of the future site.

Preparatory work

Initially, you will need to carefully level the area, but first get rid of the top layer of the soil, removing the roots of the grass. After the preparation of the crushed stone is laid on the compacted bottom, which will also need to be compacted as much as possible, a small layer of sand is poured on top. The thickness of the layer of crushed stone should be about 20 cm, but not less. Most often this layer is made even more massive, using in addition to rubble a brick fight, construction debris, remains of concrete covering, etc.

If the concreting of the yard with your own hands will be carried out on the ground, which is characterized by a sufficiently high hardness, as well as the absence of grass, you can exclude the use of crushed stone. But if it is used, a polyethylene film can be placed on top, which will act as a layer that excludes the interaction of concrete and water. Among other things, such training will exclude germination of grass. On the edges of the prepared area, you need to install the formwork, using steel strips or concrete borders, if the latter you have in stock. If inside the concreted area it is planned to establish zones for flowerbeds, then in those zones it is necessary to install the formwork.

Lighting

Concreting of the yard with their own hands will be impossible to produce qualitatively, if not to establish beacons. This is done at the stage of laying rubble in the pillow. It is recommended to apply a horizontal level in order to level the site. After all over the area you need to install beacons, which will act as a landmark when pouring the yard. For this purpose it is preferable to use plaster beacons made of a thin profile between which a thin rope stretches. Between the lighthouses should be laid reinforcement. It is better to use a special mesh, which is based on thick wire. The sharp edges of the reinforcement must be bent downwards. Reinforcement will be the main way to ensure the integrity of the coating, this will eliminate or minimize the formation of cracks.

Shutting off the solution

If you make concreting the yard with your own hands, the steps and nuances must be studied in advance. Thus, the master must be aware that the preparation of the solution acts as the most crucial stage. It is not necessary at the same time to save on raw materials, use poor-quality cement, mixing it in insufficient quantities. This will cause the condition of the yard to deteriorate in two years and require repair. For the implementation of works recommended to use concrete grade M300, sand and gravel should be used in proportions of 1 to 2. It is necessary to thoroughly mix concrete until it is possible to obtain a mass that is uniform throughout the volume.

Pouring concrete

If you make concreting the yard with your own hands at subzero temperature, then plasticizers must be added to the solution, which will ensure that the mixture does not so quickly solidify. Laying of concrete should be done with a shovel between two adjacent lighthouses, the concrete should hide them by several millimeters. After using a spatula, which has a suitable width, you need to get rid of excess concrete. For what the rake is installed perpendicular to the two beacons and moves along them as on rails.

Final processing

If there is a desire, then over the concrete can be applied a coating, which consists of a polymer cement, this will strengthen the composition. Especially important is the treatment for areas that will be most heavily exposed to loads, this applies to corners and edges.

Processing can be done in two ways. The first one presupposes the necessity of precipitating the finished mixture after leveling the concrete. The mixture must be absorbed by the moist mass. The second application technology requires the removal of small strips of concrete surface, the depth of which is equal to 1 centimeter. In the resulting cavity it is necessary to pour the same mixture as in the first case, however, it must first be diluted with water. After the final hardening, what happens in a day, the surface will need to be cleaned off the traces of the spatula.

Recommendations for concreting the yard

Concreting of the yard with their own hands, the photo of which is presented in the article, should be made taking into account the use of exceptionally high-quality ingredients. Thus, the quality of sand affects the final physical and mechanical characteristics of concrete. It is recommended to use large-fraction sand, which contains a minimum amount of impurities of clay. In order to analyze the quality of the aggregate, it is necessary to place it in a plastic bottle previously filled with clean water, then everything must be mixed and left for a while. If the water became cloudy and dirt did not settle, this indicates that there are many silty sediments and clay in the sand.

If the concrete yard of a private house is made by hand, then it is necessary to further strengthen the structure by glanding. Why on concrete, which began to solidify, you need to pour clean cement in a small amount, and then rub it on the surface using a spatula or trowel. In order to maintain the moisture level of concrete, it is possible to use a coating with hygroscopic salts that are capable of absorbing moisture from the external environment. But it is worth remembering that at low humidity levels these salts will absorb moisture from the concrete. As a protective measure, the coloring of the concrete surface becomes white. This will prevent excessive heating of concrete under the influence of ultraviolet radiation. Due to the fact that cracks in concrete are most often formed at the junction of areas that have been filled and hardened at different times, concrete laying should be carried out as soon as possible. If the concreting of the courtyard of a private house was made using reinforcing mixtures, then it is not necessary to pour water into these places after hardening of concrete. This can cause the peeling of the toping.

Providing drainage

If you independently produce concreting the yard of a private house, the formation of gutters must be ensured. For this, at the preparation stage, it is necessary to provide for a slight slope of the surface, and also to establish grooves along the edges. Despite the fact that concrete loves water, do not exclude the presence of a drain, so that the surface is not constantly exposed to moisture. In order to make grooves, you need to lay pipes on the solidifying concrete and press them down with heavy objects. After the concrete hardens, the pipes are removed, and in their place there are hollows.

Temperature seams

If you are concreting the yard with your own hands, the temperature seams on the surface must be formed. They should turn out clean and straight. Such manipulations are necessary only after concrete begins to gain its strength, which will prevent damage to the surface, otherwise arbitrary cracks may form. Cutting, as a rule, is carried out by the tool for formation of seams. Do this not necessary earlier than a day and not later than 72 hours after finishing the surface finish. Can be made and wet slicing, which is true for soft concrete, such conditions occur 4-12 hours after finishing the finish. Do not neglect the rules.