How to make concrete paths in the country with their own hands?

In landscape design, perhaps the most functional and conspicuous element of the infield is the garden path. It is quite possible to make a concrete path in the country house with your own hands, without resorting to the help of numerous companies specializing in such products. The complexity of the laying will depend on the characteristics and characteristics of the materials used, the nature of the tracks laid, the features of the soil structure on the site. It is necessary to ensure that the paved paths perform not only practical, but also decorative purpose, give the territory of the site an orderly appearance, be its decoration and allow the movement without risk of falling and getting dirty in any weather.

In this article, we will consider how to perform concrete paths in the dacha with your own hands, possible options for their manufacture and the features of the work.

Development of a plan

This is a very important stage of the work, which can not be overlooked. Before you make concrete paths in the country, you should develop a project where and how they will flow. At this stage, you need to study the features of the natural landscape, the general style of garden design and your needs for convenient and expedient movement around the site. Qualitative planning at this stage allows you to optimally lay routes, develop shapes and choose the required width and strength of the track cover.

Required Tools

Before starting to build concrete paths in the dacha with their own hands, it is necessary to prepare tools for work: a container or a concrete mixer for mixing concrete, pegs, cord, shovel, level, tape measure, rubber hammer and a certain number of wooden boards. Naturally, it is necessary to prepare the material itself, which makes up the basic structure of the coating, and components for the preparation of concrete: cement, sand, gravel of different fractions, water. It is not superfluous to prepare pigments for coloring the concrete mix.

Variants of the material used

How to cover concrete paths in the country? As a material, you can choose the concrete itself, artificial or natural stone, brick, wooden plates or sections of tree trunks, paving slab. More specific materials include, for example, glass bottles, plastic plugs and much more - it depends on your imagination, the possibilities of acquisition and aesthetic sense. Each type of material has its own characteristics, which affect the technology of production. As far as possible, we will focus on the main materials and their inherent characteristics.

Basic stages of work execution

To build concrete paths in the country house with your own hands, you need to go through the following stages:

• choice of design and material of tracks;
• marking of the site;
• Deepening of the soil surface by the width of the path;
• preparation of the base of the path;
• Formwork preparation and reinforcement;
• fill the track;
• leveling and decorating the surface;
• waiting for hardening of concrete;
• final design of the track.

Choice of design and material

Before the practical decision of a problem how to make concrete paths on a summer residence the hands, photos of such products will be not superfluous to look, for example, in this article. You should choose the design of the tracks from the pictures or design your own. Not necessarily all tracks should be the same in width and design. First of all, it is necessary to determine which of them will be used most often and intensively, for example, for transporting various goods on a trolley. They should be wider and made using the most durable and durable coating. The paths in general should be of sufficient width so that without effort and harm to the surrounding vegetation move around the site. Experience shows that for a garden plot a width of 80 cm is sufficient.

Layout of the plot

For straight paths, marking is easy - using pegs at the ends of the sections and the cord. For crooked paths, more pegs are required, located at a shorter distance.

Excavation

The construction of concrete paths at the dacha does not do without the preparation of soil, which consists in removing the soil along the entire length of the path. The depth of the soil layer to be removed depends on its composition. If it is stony or sandy, then it is sufficient to remove 20 cm, if clay, then at least 30 cm of soil should be removed. The bottom of the resulting ditch should be filled with drainage materials, which can be used as a layer of gravel first large fraction, then - smaller, and finally, a layer of sand. It is necessary that moisture does not linger on the path and next to it.

Preparation of formwork

In order to make concrete paths in the country house with their own hands, on the sides should be installed formwork. For this purpose boards are used with a width not less than the depth of the poured concrete layer and a thickness of at least 15 mm. It is necessary that the upper section of the boards be leveled in order to align the poured layer of concrete over it.

The formwork is leveled so that the track is level. But for independent removal of rain water, you need to make a small slope (1-2 degrees) from one edge of the path to the other. To increase the strength of the structure, it should be borne in mind that when the temperature of the soil and air changes, concrete, like any other material, changes its linear dimensions. Therefore, it is necessary to fill the path with a continuous strip of concrete rather than a continuous band of concrete, and split it, inserting 1-2 cm of 1-2 cm transverse laying strips. To facilitate subsequent removal, they should be greased with used machine oil. Side boards of the formwork are fastened together by means of rails. This is necessary so that when filling is not violated the integrity of the formwork.

Reinforcement

Before pouring concrete paths in the country, it is desirable to conduct their reinforcement. To do this, fit the mesh or just pieces of reinforcement laid on the prepared pillow 10-20 cm both along and across the track. It is desirable that the armature does not lie at the very bottom of the prepared substrate. To do this, for example, plugs from bottles, pieces of tiles or bricks are put under it.

Filling

Further, a concrete mortar is prepared using cement of the mark not less than M400, sand (preferably washed, river) and gravel (it is advisable to use granite to strengthen the coating strength) in a ratio of 1: 1.5: 2.

When mixed with water add to the density of sour cream or thicker. The less liquid solution, the stronger the track is obtained, but it takes more effort or a special vibration tool to compact the concrete layer. On the other hand, with a liquid solution it is more convenient to work and level it. Therefore, choose the density yourself.

It is important to take into account that the prepared solution must be fully used within one hour after its mixing. Experts do not recommend adding water to the prepared mass, as the strength of the coating obtained is greatly impaired.

To make the tracks do not turn out to be gray and unimpressive, they are painted. This can be done already on the finished coating, but this painting is short-lived. It is better to add pigment dyes when kneading concrete. Then the entire layer is colored. In this case, however, the consumption of pigment is greater, but the resulting effect is worth it. For coloring, you can choose any colors, but yellow, blue, red shades, and also ocher color are better for the garden area .

Alignment of the concrete layer is carried out by the rule on the upper layer of the formwork. To the surface was not just flat, but patterned, you can put a pattern on it. Often, special stencils are used for this purpose (so-called printed concrete). This design can be done in a few hours or the next day, when the concrete will grab a little, but does not harden at all. Before performing such an operation, a tinting fixer is applied to the surface of the track. It helps after embossing to give the surface a surprisingly beautiful texture, imitating various natural materials (paving stones, stone, board flooring, etc.). The pattern applied to the surface of the concrete path depends only on your imagination.

To protect the paint and texture of printed concrete from mechanical and atmospheric influences, acrylic impregnation is applied to its surface. After one or two days, carefully remove the transverse gaskets in the concrete tape.

Wait for hardening

After pouring concrete, its surface is covered with polyethylene film, so that it stiffens gradually. In hot summer days it is desirable to periodically wet it by spraying it with water. The final readiness can be determined by the color of the concrete. If it is not yet dry, it is shiny and dark. Use the tracks can only after full drying (5-6 days after pouring).

Final design of the track

At this stage, remove formwork. Then fill the transverse seams with sand or ground, trim the soil along the edges of the path.

Other coating options

- Brick path. Its peculiarity is a pleasant appearance, the ability to withstand a certain distance between bricks for filling with colored sand, cement-sand mortar or soil for germination of grass. Bricks are laid on the mortar layer so that their surface is 10-15 mm above the surrounding soil, giving a slight slope from the center to the edges of the path. In this case, water from precipitation will not be retained on the path. The preparation of the substrate does not differ from the case considered above, except that the depth of the substrate should correspond to the thickness of the used bricks.

When laying bricks use a level and a rubber hammer, deepening the brick by tapping on it, if necessary. If the brick needs to be lifted, then it is removed, a little solution is put under it and inserted back. Instead of a solution it is convenient to use a dry cement-sand mixture. After laying the path watered, and gradually this mixture seizes and hardens. Naturally, you can not use the path until the final curing of the mortar or mixture, on which the brick is laid.

For the strength of the resulting coating, it is desirable to use not ordinary brick, but clinker (paving), obtained with an increased temperature of roasting from special types of clay. Silicate white brick is suitable only for interior or wall works, and red gradually degrades under the influence of atmospheric precipitation. On the edges of the path it is desirable to install a curb stone. Otherwise, the structure eventually deteriorates, beginning with the last bricks.

- Path of paving slabs. The arrangement does not differ from brick. The only exception is the possibility of using a variety of tiles (commercially available) shapes and colors. The peculiarity is that you can not use tiles for internal work - it is short-lived and is destroyed under the influence of adverse weather conditions for a short time. The thickness of the paving slab should be at least 6 cm. The peculiarity of laying is that the tile is selected according to the shape and color, starting from the center of the path to its edges. The edges are laid out last, because they often require cutting the tiles in accordance with the configuration of the boundaries of the track. For cutting, you can use a grinder with cutting discs for concrete. To achieve the long-term strength of such a path, it is also desirable to install curb stones.

- Paths from the spits of a tree. They, perhaps, are the most budgetary in manufacturing and look very attractive. For their manufacture, it is required to cut down old trees of different diameters 10-15 cm in thickness. To impart strength to this material, it must be treated in order to prevent rotting processes. For this, the spili are pretreated with, for example, linseed oil or a solution of copper sulfate and dried. The part of the saw that will be located inside the bottom of the path is additionally treated by immersing it in molten bitumen.

The difference between the technology and the previously mentioned one is to prepare a deeper base in accordance with the thickness of the spills. They can be laid directly in the sand cushion, but better - in the cement-sand mortar, utaplivaya to the depth treated with bitumen. The gaps between the protruding parts of the spits are subsequently filled with sand, stone crumbs, or melim gravel. You can also fill them with soil and sow grass for lawns. The outer surface of the spills should preferably be sanded and covered in several layers with varnish for external work. This will better look through the texture of the tree.

Repair of concrete paths in the country with their own hands

Over time, under the influence of mechanical and atmospheric phenomena, the tracks begin to deteriorate. This is more or less typical for any materials used, especially if the manufacturing technology is not maintained. It is important to carry out their repairs, without waiting for a complete transition to an unfit state. To do this, use the same materials that were taken for their arrangement. Damaged parts are dismantled and replaced with similar ones without flaws. Therefore, it is advisable to stock up some amount of coating material in order to arrange the tracks in advance in order to carry out timely and thorough repairs.

Conclusion

We examined how concrete paths are created in the country house with their own hands. We hope that the material presented will help you in the implementation of design plans for the site.