Preservation of the foundation for the winter: how to properly cover the structure

Maintaining the foundation in the winter: options

To the base of the future house, pre-poured and already completely ready for further work, did not crack over the winter, it can be preserved in one of several ways:

cover with a thick construction film, sprinkle with soil on top and press down with stones;
protect from excess moisture and water with drainage;
make additional waterproofing on all sides of the base of the house;
cover the base of the building with one of the types of greenhouses;
insulate the outer sides of the foundation with polystyrene foam, and backfill with non-metallic material in a 20 cm layer with the obligatory compaction of the soil.

Of course, each type of substrate has its own preservation. But these methods can be combined and used for any ready-made foundation. After all, the main causes of destruction and deformation the flooded foundations of the house are increased heaving, the proximity of groundwater and the lack of load on the foundation.

Having eliminated one or more reasons for the deterioration of the base in the winter season, you can safely leave the base of the house for the winter.

What is preservation of construction for the winter?

So, for the winter, IZHS objects are usually preserved, that is, private low-rise construction. Why does the conservation not affect the objects of commercial construction projects (in particular, multi-storey buildings under construction), which, we all can observe, continue to be built even in the severe January frosts? Economic reasons play the dominant role here: the cost of an object's downtime for at least 1 calendar day reaches half a million US dollars (depending on the scale of the construction), so technologists and engineers do not save on materials here:

Preservation of an unfinished house for the winter

special components based on salts and polymers are added to the solutions to prevent water from freezing even at -40 ° C;
the built structure is heated from the inside with special powerful heat guns.

How to do this correctly, so as not to endanger the damage and destruction of an already erected structure from frost, and also not to overpay for the measures taken, will be discussed further.

Consequences of the lack of conservation of the construction site

To abandon everything as it is and not to carry out any work at all means to "kill" the construction site with your own hands, therefore, it is simply necessary to complete at least a minimal and easily accessible complex for the protection of long-term construction. But it is worth considering that some events cannot be avoided, and some can be excluded to save money.

Conservation is a series of measures aimed at preserving the already erected structure from destruction when exposed to atmospheric factors, and it will not be superfluous to worry about the safety of the construction site for others. At the same time, conservation makes it possible in the spring of the fastest commissioning of an object into construction without additional preparatory and restoration work.

Preservation itself implies water drainage and moisture protection of the construction site and stored materials purchased for future use. Without a protective cover, building materials gain moisture, which, when frozen, destroys their structure. Moreover, even if at first glance, after defrosting, no damage is found, they still exist: at least - a decrease in the strength of the material due to microcracks, as a maximum - subsequent rapid destruction (delamination).

Features of conservation of foundations for a long period

If you understand that the construction of the building will be suspended for more than a year, then with the onset of the true, you will have to partially re-preserve the foundation and perform additional work. For this:

remove plastic wrap from all surfaces so that concrete and masonry will dry well during the summer;
extend and make drainage lines on a permanent basis;
deal with the device of a permanent blind area around the perimeter of the entire building;
install a shallow outlet with a height of at least 10 meters, mount a descent from it and a ground loop;
ensure reliable waterproofing of all vertical and horizontal surfaces.

In order to reduce the lateral pressure of the soil during heaving and maintain the thermal insulation properties of the material, use insulation for walls with a thickness of at least 100 mm. All these measures will allow maintaining the foundation for up to 5 years without continuing construction.

Warming of foundations for the winter

Since the most difficult operation to preserve the base of a house in winter is to insulate it on each side, it is worth considering such work in more detail.

Such work should be carried out immediately after the foundation itself has dried, when the formwork is removed. Then you can not only leave the base of the house in the winter without load, but also get warmer floors later, when the building is built.

The insulation process will look like this:

polymer-bitumen mastic is applied to the vertical surfaces of the tape (supports, slabs), as a waterproofing layer - this will not allow moisture to spoil the finished base;
the vertical sides of the base are covered with expanded polystyrene plates, using adhesives for this - this will insulate the foundation and additionally protect it from damage;
additional finishing of the slabs attached to the base with plaster is carried out - this will extend the service life of the foundation for many years;
backfilling is carried out with non-metallic material in a layer of at least 18 cm with dense compaction.

Of course, the cost of materials and funds for such a foundation will be much more than when creating a simple foundation. But the saving of heat in the house during its operation will cover these costs even in the first year of residence. And the likelihood of damage to the foundation from heaving is minimized.

Conservation of the construction of brick and block (foam block, gas block, shell rock) houses

Ground floor without overlap

Builders do not recommend bringing home construction to winter at this stage. It is advisable that the ceiling has already been laid on the walls.

It is very important that a reinforcing belt is made along the top of the walls. If winter catches at the construction stage, when the reinforcing belt has not yet been laid out, then without protective measures, water gets inside the bricks (or blocks), which leads to their destruction and guarantees efflorescence on the brick in the spring

If the wall is multilayer (well) and insulation is laid between the two walls, then remaining uncovered the insulation will saturate moisture, freezing water in it will expand, which will completely destroy the structure of the material, and thereby render it unusable.

Therefore, the preservation of the house at this stage is laborious and does not guarantee the complete safety of the walls from getting wet and possible cracking.

If, nevertheless, conservation is necessary at this stage, builders recommend:

Close the top of the wall with a waterproofing film, then load the film with bricks, or bend it in two directions, then press it against the wall with boards and nail it. The same is done at the level of the window sills.
Waterproofing walls
Free-standing walls erected above the floor must be reinforced (with struts or struts) if their height exceeds 3.1; 5.6; and 6.5 m with a masonry thickness of 38, 51 and 64 cm, respectively.
Spacers
Inside the house, the floors are covered with straw mats (to protect the soil from freezing and heaving) and a waterproofing film, the film is pressed with soil or sand to the walls from the inside, raising it by 20-30 cm.
If there is a financial opportunity, then it is worth installing temporary overlaps from the crate.Lay a waterproofing film or roofing felt on top of the crate and press it with bricks.
Temporary overlap
There is no need to close the walls from the outside.
Close door and window openings with boards, sheets of metal, roofing material or plastic wrap.
Plywood windows and doors

The windows are closed with roofing material

Boarded up windows
Water is removed from the house by planning the surface of the site or using the konavi system (described above).

Ground floor protection with overlap

This stage is more favorable for preservation for the winter.

Necessary measures:

Lay waterproofing (roofing felt, PE film) overlap on the ceiling, glue the joints with adhesive tape, and reliably load bricks from the wind from above. The edges of the hanging film are pressed against the wall with slats and nailed.
Close door and window openings: with boards, metal sheets, roofing felt or PE film.
At this stage, it is already worth making a blind area, which will protect the foundation from water flowing from the ceiling.
Water is removed from the house by the method of leveling the surface of the site or by the device of the groove system described above.

The house is brought under the roof, the rafter is laid, but not yet covered with roofing material

Rafter part without roofing material

At this stage, the walls were erected, the ceiling over the first floor and the staircase were laid, the gables were built, the truss structure was laid.

Conservation at this stage:

It is necessary to protect the interior from moisture ingress; for this, a temporary lightweight roof is being erected. A crate is packed on the rafters, waterproofing is laid on it (roofing material, roofing membrane or PE-reinforced film). The waterproofing is fixed with wooden slats.
If at this stage the gables have not yet been built, then these places need to be closed, for example, with plywood or boards to protect the waterproofing from blowing out and the interior from water and snow.
The openings are covered with shields.
They arrange a blind area and grooves to drain water from the house.

Stages of foundation conservation for the winter

According to the general opinion of construction specialists, interruption of construction at the foundation stage is even more profitable and useful, because during the period of inactivity, the foundation will gain greater hardness and give a uniform natural shrinkage. Therefore, preservation of the foundation is useful, but abandoning it to the mercy of fate under rain and frost is not permissible.

Preservation of the foundation for the winter means:

1. Providing thermal insulation - the optimal stage of foundation conservation, i.e. even a slightly damp base with reliable thermal insulation will not freeze until internal self-destruction forces are formed. Moreover, having reliable thermal insulation, even a wet foundation can be left for the winter, because the chemical processes of concrete hardening are accompanied by the release of heat, which does not allow the foundation to freeze even in severe frosts. But even good thermal insulation without reliable waterproofing becomes a useless operation.

2. Provision of waterproofing is the most important point, which cannot be dispensed with. Excessive moisture accumulation in winter leads to accelerated destruction of the foundation. Water, even without freezing, successfully destroys fresh concrete structures due to the "leaching" of the binder component. A wet foundation acquires a porous soft structure that is unable to resist external influences. Therefore, continuous waterproofing is an integral stage of conservation

It is worth paying attention to the fact that "dry" foundations are completely waterproofed (horizontal and vertical), but "wet" socles must be waterproofed without an upper horizontal preservative layer. It is necessary to leave an "open" area of the structure for the evaporation of excess moisture, which is protected from atmospheric precipitation by leaky "capes" of waterproofing

3. Groundwater abstraction or flooding prevention measures are a recommended measure, especially in the absence of thermal and waterproofing.But when performing reliable hydro and thermal insulation - an unnecessary operation, because it is more expedient to backfill the foundation. But in cases of further need to carry out work with the foundation in the spring, this event becomes extremely necessary.

At a distance of a meter along the perimeter of the foundation, a compacted trench with dimensions of 50 * 50 cm is made, and a blind area from the foundation is necessarily made in its direction, along which water will flow into the ditch. But the volume of the "channel" will not be enough, so it is necessary to dig a few improvised reservoirs to the side to accumulate water, or significantly widen and deepen the ditch itself.

It is also important to be concerned about the absence of water accumulation on the foundation inner site. For what they also perform drainage systems: • If there are sewer canals in the foundation, then the planning is carried out in such a way as to be used to drain the drains out into the trench

• If there are sewer channels in the foundation, then the planning is carried out in such a way as to be used to drain the effluent out into the trench.

• If there is no possibility of draining the effluent outside, a drain hole is dug in the center of the foundation site.

It is worth noting that when erecting foundations with auxiliary basements, it is imperative to organize external drainage, for which, at the design stage, sewers are taken into account.

Preservation of building materials in winter

It is very important to preserve all materials that were brought to the site, but were not used for any reason, so that they are not destroyed by the weather.

All lumber is stacked on pads.
Lumber storage
When storing them, try to leave a free space of about 5 mm between them, which will give them the opportunity to ventilate. This will allow the wood to get rid of excess moisture. All wood materials should be treated with antiseptics (except for those that you plan to use, for example, for formwork). From above they need to be covered with plastic wrap or roofing material.

All roofing materials, materials for waterproofing cellars, roofing materials for roofing should be stored indoors, in a dry place, you can also leave nails or other fasteners, glass and metal parts there.

It is important that rolled waterproofing materials (roofing felt, roofing felt, PVC membrane) are stored in an upright position, otherwise they will crack in places of bends (usually closer to the middle of the roll).
Storage of waterproofing

Paints, drying oil, etc. solvent-based materials should be stored in tightly closed jars.
Cement, lime, gypsum, alabaster are afraid of moisture, and it is better not to leave them for the winter on the site, but if there is no other way out, then they are stored in premises (sheds, for example, or cabins)

These materials can be placed in bags on the floor if the floor is dry. Any ingress of moisture or great dampness into the room will lead to hardening and further unsuitability of these materials.
Spoiled cement

Bricks that are to be used for laying stoves are best stored in a dry room. The rest of the unused bricks should be stacked in piles, covered with foil on top to keep the material from getting snow and water. The same goes for blocks.
The sand is stacked in a heap inside the arranged formwork to protect it from creeping. The top of the sand should be reliably covered with a strong film (for example, reinforced with polyethylene or roofing material), and loaded with bricks from the wind. Waterproofing also helps protect the sand from moisture and prevent grass from sprouting in it in the spring.

Tanks, barrels for water, a concrete mixer available on the site should be turned upside down so that they are not burst by the water frozen in winter, or brought into the room.

You can get acquainted with the conservation from a regulatory point of view using the document: TKP 45-1.03-165-2009 "Conservation of facilities under construction."

Preservation of unfinished house structures for the winter and preservation of building materials make up a small part of the cost of the entire house. If the conservation is carried out correctly, there will be no problems when using the house in the future. Observing the rules of preservation of an unfinished house, you will be able to continue construction next season without fear of a dirty trick from materials and structures.

Preservation of the foundation for the winter

For safe wintering of the foundation, its construction must be fully completed. Here are the main steps:

Make double geotextile wrapping of perforated pipes in drainage wells.
Build drainage and bedding under the leveled area prior to pouring.
Dig a well to drain the drainage water. It should be deeper than the base of the foundation and located at least 4 meters from the construction site.
Roofing material or special foundation films should be laid in several layers under the foundation.
Fuse a Bikrost-like material onto the walls and top edges. Carefully cover all cracks with mastic or plaster open surfaces with a moisture-resistant mixture.
Lay hard foam under the blind area at a depth of 30-40 cm. They also paste over the outer surfaces.
Pour sand or gravel into the space around the formwork and on top with a layer of 20 cm. It is advisable to tamp with a vibrating plate.

Since snow is a good natural insulation, wooden slabs can be placed vertically to trap snow. But if winters in your area are associated with thaws, the disadvantages of such work may outweigh its advantages.

Whether it is possible to leave the foundation for the winter also depends on the type of monolithic structure. The slab, if waterproofed and insulated, usually easily tolerates all uneven soil deformations. With tape, everything is much more complicated. The area between the ribbons becomes a "pool". The tape itself is warped and twisted from the swelling of the soil. Therefore, with a strip foundation, you need to carry out a number of additional actions:

Disassemble the formwork around the tape. Swollen boards only contribute to the waterlogging of concrete.
Glue and cover all surfaces with waterproofing.
Insulate the blind area with expanded polystyrene.

Due to the fact that there is no house yet, there is no heat source and peripheral thermal insulation is ineffective.

Preservation of the structure is impossible without thermal insulation

Here are some more tips on how to close foundation for the winter from moisture and low temperature:

Pour straw, spruce branches, branches or sawdust on top of the tape, cover with foil on top.
To plow and dig through the ground. Loose soil is a good heat insulator and concentrates more water in itself, without letting it into the depths.
Install snow shields from boards. This will have a beneficial effect if the snow does not melt during the winter.
It will not work to protect the space between the tapes from water. Therefore, the wooden boards covered with foil are installed with an inclination on all sides of the belt.

A foundation without a building left for the winter can be compared to the foundation of unheated buildings. And for them, a layer of foam plastic 5 cm is used under the entire foundation, the blind area is insulated with the same material about a meter wide, and a layer of 10 cm is placed at the corners of the blind area.

Insulation of the slab foundation

Of course, if the house is designed for further year-round living, it is not economically feasible to spend so much heat insulator on the foundation. Therefore, the main thing is to provide high-quality thermal insulation and drainage of groundwater. The blind area is done after finishing the walls.

If it is not possible to continue construction next season, the object will still be re-mothballed in the spring, so that the concrete will completely dry out during the warm season. In autumn, they check the quality of waterproofing, the work of the drainage system.All violations are eliminated and again closed for the winter.

It is calculated that a foundation that has stood for one season and is not closed loses up to 20% of its strength. Thus, if it stays open for 5 years, it will become completely unusable for building a house.

How to close the air vents in the foundation for the winter?

A few words about the foundation of an already built house in the winter. High humidity is present in any structure located near the surface of the earth. In the strip foundation, which is well insulated and drained, excess moisture still accumulates, because it is not heated, but it maintains a positive temperature in winter. This rotts wooden beams and dampens the concrete.

To solve this problem, air vents are made in the foundation tapes. They are located above the level of the snow cover. They also save the air from the accumulation of radon gas in the basement. Excess radon can lead to radioactive contamination of the entire home.

Many are trying to protect the basement from freezing by covering the air vents with various heat insulators. Should not be doing that. The drier the air in the underground, the better the basement retains heat. This means that there will be a good microclimate on all floors.

Freeze protection used for long-term storage

If it is planned to freeze the construction for a long period of time, at the onset of the spring period, the object should be deactivated.

Here's another addition to the article in the video:

As a result of this, excess moisture will evaporate, the foundation elements will dry out.

For the next onset of winter, the structure is prepared as follows:

Drainage sewerage is being laid;
Fastening of engineering systems is carried out;
The grounding loop is stretched;
A waterproofing coating is laid on all concrete surfaces;
Horizontal and vertical insulation are installed;
Backfilling is carried out using non-metallic material.

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How to protect the foundation from groundwater?

Protection of the foundation from groundwater and precipitation is the most important stage of the work. To do this, make gutters (ditches) to drain water

Also, special attention should be paid to the drainage of rainwater (and that formed as a result of melting snow). To create channels and gutters for water drainage, it is necessary to determine low places near the foundation (within a radius of no more than 4 m) around its perimeter

At such points, holes are dug to a depth greater than that of the foundation deepening, and about 2.5 m wide. Such holes will collect water from the foundation. From the perimeter of the foundation to these holes, ditches are dug with a depth equal to that at the deepening of the foundation. To prevent the ditches from crumbling or clogging, gutters can be laid on their bottom, and the walls can be strengthened (for example, with wooden formwork). The number of branch ditches must be made so that there are at least 3-4 branches from each wall. At the same time, in winter, the ditches must be monitored so that they do not freeze and do not clog the water outlet. An important point is the location of the vents. The vents should be approximately 0.5 m higher from the bottom of the diverter grooves.

The final process is to provide the foundation with a load (especially for shallow foundations). This is done so that the foundation is "settled". To do this, it is enough to lay down all building materials on a covered foundation.

Foundation conservation works

The process of preparing a poured base for the upcoming winter period depends on its type and design.

It is important to follow the sequence of steps and procedures, since even minor deviations from mandatory technologies can lead to devastating consequences.

Strip foundation

This type of foundation is one of the most susceptible to destructive effects from swelling soils, as well as high humidity and low temperatures. Therefore, the preservation of the strip foundation for the winter is necessary, and in order to protect the foundation for the winter, several types of work should be performed, the main of which are:

mandatory removal of the formwork, since wood attracts moisture, and then transfers it to concrete;
waterproofing of the entire structure, for which different materials can be used: plaster, coating, primer, roofing material, etc.;
construction of a drainage system, and it is recommended to do it while working with the foundation (but you can - and immediately before conservation);
insulation with foam, polystyrene or other suitable materials, followed by covering with a reinforced film.

In any case, it is necessary that before the start of the preservation of the strip foundation for the winter, it gains strength for at least a month at a positive air temperature.

Monolithic slab

This type of foundation, left unloaded, is most susceptible to deformations, erosion and displacement in winter. Its vulnerability is due to the fact that, due to its relatively small thickness, the entire structure is actually located in the zone of soil freezing.

The presence of a sand and gravel cushion and a waterproofing layer protect against soil water and swelling, but in any case, the slab foundation cannot be left without preservation for the winter. It is necessary that before the onset of cold weather, concrete gains strength for at least 30 days at a positive air temperature.

Before leaving the base for the winter period, it is necessary to close not only its surface from moisture, but also the adjacent territory. You can use a film, waste slag, expanded clay, etc. First, you need to provide insulation - for this, foam, polystyrene, dry sawdust or sand are suitable.

Screw pile foundation

This type of substrate is least susceptible to moisture, low temperatures and swollen frozen soils. Pile structures can be erected both in summer and winter. They are used on weak, crumbling, swampy, etc. soils, as well as in areas with a high level of soil water.

Special preservation of the pile foundation for the winter is not required, the preparation technology can only include the execution of a strapping from rolled metal. Also, you should first check that the internal space of the installed piles is filled with concrete, and that a headrest is desirable on top.

Column foundation

Structures of this type are used mainly for the construction of relatively light buildings, for example - frame, wooden, panel houses. A feature of such bases is that they have little contact with open air and soil.

They are practically not subject to destruction due to the lifting forces from the frozen soils. An exception may be only some types of shallow structures: in this case, uneven lifting of individual pillars is not excluded.

To prevent such damage, it is recommended to create a grillage. This will be the process of conservation - but it should be borne in mind that these works must be completed before the onset of cold weather.

Preservation of the construction of houses from timber and logs

Conservation of the construction of houses from a bar at the stage of erection of walls and the stage of creating interfloor (attic) floors

A wooden house is the only one that is recommended to be left for the winter on purpose in order to comply with the technology. This is due to the fact that the tree must go through a stage of natural drying and shrinkage. Therefore, in the first winter, it is strictly forbidden to turn on heating in such a house.If the still undried timber heats up from the inside and freezes from the outside, it simply twists it out, which can lead to the destruction of the window frames and even to their falling out. Therefore, it is not recommended to install windows and doors to a house made of timber (with the exception of glued beams) in the first winter. In the second winter, they can be covered with boards or foil.

It is recommended to install the roof and roof covering before winter, but if this is not possible, then the following measures must be taken:

Create a temporary roof - a lattice made of planks, resting on the already built walls and covered with waterproofing material (in the absence of interfloor overlap). If the interfloor covered ones have already been made, they create a rafter structure with a crate, close it on top with a waterproofing film and fix it with slats so that the film is not carried away by the wind.
A temporary door is installed in the doorway, or it is also nailed down with a wooden shield so that gaps remain.
The timber must be treated and protected from pests and decay with antiseptic compounds. If this has already been done at the stage of material procurement, then it is not necessary to do the processing again.
Water can enter through unsealed joints and seams, so all joints are caulked with tow.
Water is removed from the house by the method of leveling the surface of the site or by the device of the groove system described above.

The house is brought under the roof, the rafter is laid, but not yet covered with roofing material

At this stage:

A temporary roof is made: a crate is laid on top of the finished rafters, a waterproofing material (roofing felt, PE film) is laid on it, after which it is securely fixed with slats.
House from a bar without roofing
Log joints are caulked with tow for the winter.
The timber must be treated and protected from pests and decay with antiseptic compounds. If this has already been done at the stage of material procurement, then it is not necessary to do the processing again.
Windows and doors are either left open or nailed down with planks leaving gaps for ventilation.
A blind area is made.
Water is removed from the house by the method of leveling the surface of the site or by the device of the groove system described above.