The maintenance of a private house in our time is a great luxury. Especially for residents of big cities. Many families do not want to give up the annual tradition of canning various fruits and vegetables. This is not surprising, because conservation decorates the feast at any time of the year. The question arises, is it possible to store canned jars in an ordinary apartment in a high-rise building? It is no secret that for preservation it is necessary to maintain the correct temperature. In this article, we will describe detailed instructions that will help you organize a full-fledged storage for canned vegetables and fruits at any time of the year, as well as maximize the space on the loggia for other purposes.
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Determining the type of cellar
First you need to decide which of the cellars is right for your apartment. If your home does not have a loggia or balcony, you can build a small thermo box, which will maintain the required level of humidity and temperature in order for the conservation to be stored correctly. It will not be difficult to build such a cellar, even the most unprepared person will cope with this task in one day off.
For residents of apartments equipped with a balcony or loggia, there is a cellar option, which is located under the balcony floor. This option is suitable for residents of any floor, however, in order to build it yourself, you will have to work hard. Well, for the inhabitants of the first floor, you can build a full-fledged cellar underground, but in this case, you will have to shovel a considerable amount of soil and make some effort. Below in the article, we will consider all three types of cellars in more detail, and also tell you how to independently build a cellar on a loggia in an apartment.
Thermo box
A thermo box is a small container that maintains the required level of humidity and temperature for storing preserves. That Which type of cellar is convenient for its absolute mobility, it can be installed both on the balcony and in the apartment, for example, built in between the countertops. The temperature in it in winter will vary from 3 to 8 degrees Celsius, and in the summer heat, the container, on the contrary, will maintain a cooling temperature. It can be lowered on its own by placing ice on the bottom in an airtight container.
In the underground loggia
For such a cellar, it is not necessary to have a balcony with a large free space. It can be built on the smallest loggia. Three-liter jars, of course, are unlikely to fit under the floor of your balcony, but jars with a capacity of half a liter to one and a half are quite! This version of the cellar is the most common, so in our article we will consider instructions for building it yourself.
The first thing to do is take measurements. Arm yourself with a centimeter and determine how many centimeters it is possible to raise the floor on the balcony. Next, you need to insulate the concrete floor of the balcony. In order to save space, it is better to use foamed polyethylene foam. The floor must be rigid and not sag, so it would be best to make it from boards up to 2 centimeters thick. It remains to cut the hatch and attach the door. It can be made both folding and sliding.
On the first floor
To build an underground cellar on your own is a rather laborious work and will require effort, but the result of such efforts will delight the owners of your apartment for more than one year. It is worth noting that the construction of such a cellar from a legal point of view is classified as a redevelopment of an apartment, therefore, before starting work, you must obtain the appropriate permission from the authority that is responsible for redevelopment in your area.
First step. Work begins by digging a hole. The pit dug under the balcony should be 1.5 to 2 meters deep, as far as your house allows. The width of the pit will dictate the width of your balcony. Next, you need to work on waterproofing the floor, the easiest and most reliable way is to lay the soil with roofing felt. If you want to make the floor in your cellar even more reliable, lay out a small layer of rubble and tamp it well. For self-ramming, you can use a piece of wood with a double-sided wooden handle.
Second phase. Now you need to fill in the final floor covering, for this, asphalt or cement is suitable. The asphalt pavement has its advantage in that it dries quickly and will allow you to use the cellar literally immediately after the floor has been poured. However, finding it is not so easy and quite expensive. If there is such an opportunity and you know where to buy hot asphalt and bitumen, immediately bring it to the future cellar and fill the floor.
If such a coating is an unaffordable luxury, use a cement coating. It is quite durable, the only drawback is that you will need to wait a few days for the coating to dry. Experienced builders cover such a coating with linoleum until it dries completely, so that irregularities do not form on the surface.
Stage three. The final stage of the work will be the installation of the hatch. First, take measurements. Next, arm yourself with a grinder and cut a hole for the place where the hatch will be located. Now install the hatch itself with dowels. Finally, cover the hatch with the same material as the floor of your cellar.
Congratulations, now you can independently build a cellar with your own hands, thereby making not only yourself, but also your household members happy!
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