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Do-it-yourself summer cottage extension step-by-step instructions. How to make an extension to your house - expert advice

For many of our compatriots, a country house is a place not only for seasonal, but also for year-round living.

If a dacha is used for housing throughout the year, then over time people have a desire to expand the free space by adding additional square meters of space to the house. Adding an extension to a house with your own hands is done quite quickly - for this you need to have a project and follow all the prescribed technologies. This is a great alternative to building a new home or expanding space in other ways.

There are several types of extensions to a country house that are most often built: garage, living room, kitchen, terrace, veranda, recreation room, children's room. A variety of materials can be used to build an extension - everything will depend on the conditions of the work, the soil, the functional purpose of the premises being built and many other factors. At the same time, it is strongly recommended that, before starting work, you take care of developing a project for the future structure. You can do the project yourself if you have experience in this field, or you can hire specialists for this work.

Do you need a foundation?

A foundation is necessary in almost all cases when it is planned to make an extension to a country house. The exception is very light structures like canopies and their varieties, which can be supported by several external supports. The construction of extensions to country houses is carried out using a columnar, screw, strip or monolithic foundation. The choice of one type of foundation or another will depend on several factors: soil conditions, construction material of the structure, the level of the total load on the foundation and other specific features.

In most cases, a traditional strip foundation or a shallow strip foundation is chosen for extensions.

It fits well under any type of structure and connects perfectly with the existing foundation of a country house. Work on its installation is carried out in the following sequence:

  1. The first step is to mark the terrain at the construction site.
  2. Then excavation work is carried out: a pit is dug, its walls are strengthened, trenches are made for pouring cement mortar, and wooden or plastic formwork is installed. If the extension to a country house is supposed to be one-story, then a strip foundation 30-40 cm wide and 40-50 cm deep will be sufficient.
  3. It is also mandatory to reinforce the foundation using a reinforcement network. Reinforcing structures for reinforcing foundations can be made with your own hands, or you can buy ready-made ones in a specialized store.
  4. In addition, it is necessary to carry out preparatory work to connect the country house. To do this, holes are drilled in the concrete foundation of a country house at a certain pitch, the diameter of which should be slightly larger than the reinforcing bars. After this, reinforcement is inserted into the holes, which is fastened with the metal frame of the extension’s foundation.
  5. Experts for strip foundations recommend choosing cement grade M400 and higher. It must be prepared in accordance with the instructions, and then filled with it into the previously prepared trenches.

It must be remembered that the cement mortar takes several weeks to set and gain the necessary strength characteristics.

At this time, it is prohibited to carry out any construction work that affects the hardening solution. If construction is carried out in the hot season in dry weather, then during the hardening process the cement mortar must be periodically watered with water so that cracks do not form on it.

Construction of extension walls

The walls of an extension for a country house can be made of a variety of materials. To solve this problem, the following are usually used: a wooden frame made of bars, beams, foam concrete blocks, bricks and other building materials. The choice of a specific material for building an extension will depend on several factors and the financial capabilities of the owners.

It will be easier to build the walls of the extension with your own hands using a frame, timber or foam concrete blocks.

Frame extension.

Construction in this case will not require special skills and knowledge, unlike the construction of brickwork. In addition, these types of materials have many advantages over traditional brick:

  • Relatively low price;
  • High level of environmental friendliness of materials;
  • Light weight, so there is no need to construct a powerful and expensive foundation of great thickness;
  • In the case of a wooden frame, it is possible to install any heat-insulating materials in the free space between the structural elements;
  • Foam concrete blocks do not need to be insulated at all, because they retain heat well inside the house even in the most severe frosts.

When building walls, you should also not forget about waterproofing the structure.

Waterproofing materials must be laid at the junction of the walls with the foundation, as well as in the area of ​​​​contact with the roofing material. As a waterproofing material for extensions, you can choose traditional rolled insulation materials such as roofing felt or roofing felt, additionally treated with bitumen mastic. In addition, if the construction of an extension at the dacha is carried out from foam concrete blocks, then it is also recommended to additionally reinforce them. In this case, reinforcing bars must be laid in 1-2 rows.

Block extension.

In addition, when using a wooden frame or foam concrete blocks, it is necessary to perform the upper and lower frame of the structure. To do this, wooden formwork is installed, a smaller reinforcement network is laid, and all this is filled with cement mortar. Naturally, the strapping also needs several weeks to completely harden and gain strength.

Brick extension.

Building a brick extension is a labor-intensive and costly task. It is very difficult to build such a structure with your own hands, so qualified specialists are usually invited to solve this problem. In recent years, the construction of small brick structures has practically not been practiced, because other materials can be used for this, which have better performance and operational characteristics, and also cost much less.

Roof structure

Experts advise covering the roof of the dacha extension with the same material that was used to finish the roof of the main house.

The best option is full compatibility of the roofing material of the extension and the country house.

A variety of materials can be used as roofing materials: roofing felt, slate, ondulin, metal tiles.

When using a slate roof, roof installation work includes three main stages: installation of a wooden frame, laying a waterproofing and vapor barrier layer, and installation of slate sheets. A wooden frame can be made from ordinary beams, which are recommended to be attached to the wall of a country house (if this is problematic, the attachment can also be made to the walls of the extension). You need to understand that slate materials are not highly resistant to negative influences, so installation of waterproofing and vapor barriers is a must.

Slate roofing in a dacha is installed in rows going from bottom to top. The initial sheets are attached only to the bottom roofing nails, and the second sheet in the first row is mounted with an overlap. In this sequence, installation is carried out to the end of the roof. If necessary, slate cutting is carried out with a grinder.

Outbuildings and extensions

It is very difficult to manage at a dacha without outbuildings and outbuildings, and to be more precise, it is simply impossible. It is worth familiarizing yourself with some examples of dacha creativity.

The vast majority of country and country houses are built with a mandatory veranda, no matter whether heated or not. What is a dacha without a veranda, a full-fledged living space, and at the same time a place to store all kinds of utensils. After completing the construction of the building, sooner or later you will have to decide how and with what to cover the inside of the veranda so that it is inexpensive and beautiful.

Living in a room that looks like a barn is uncomfortable, and it’s not easy to spend extra money.

Requirements for finishing material

Before looking for material and a way to sheathe the inside of the veranda, you need to look at the conditions of the room, and only then look for a suitable material inexpensively.

Let's focus on the main ones:

  • Temperature and humidity indoors. It depends on which side of the house the veranda is located on, sunny or shady, whether it is possible to sheathe the inside walls with materials based on cellulose fibers, or whether you will have to buy plastic, inexpensively and reliably;
  • The frequency of people living in the house and using the premises. For a house in which a constant temperature is not maintained, and people live with long breaks in time, the problem of how to line the walls inside turns into a question of dealing with water condensation;
  • Age of the veranda and the entire building. There is no point in trying to sheathe the walls indoors until the shrinkage processes of the foundation and building frame have been completed.

In the simplest case, you can sheathe the inside of the walls with a cement-bonded particle board, which is very inexpensive, practically resistant to dampness, and does not warp even with strong condensation. But from an aesthetic and practical point of view, most owners would like the cladding inside the veranda to, first of all, be comfortable and safe for health, and only then it would be inexpensive and practical. Therefore, from more than two dozen cladding options, we will leave only those most suitable for the listed requirements.

For your information! For a newly built veranda made of wood, it is advisable to perform the cladding according to a temporary plan using tongue-and-groove boards.

How to sheathe a veranda with wall shrinkage, inexpensively and efficiently

Instead of the traditional vertical boarding, you can sheathe the walls with horizontal padding on a cross batten. It will turn out inexpensive and practical. To prevent the finishing from being torn off the walls during shrinkage, the board is filled with a maximum gap at the tongue-and-groove joint and mandatory installation of insulation, for example, foamed polyethylene.

After three to four years, the decoration on the veranda can be inexpensively updated:

  • Remove the board, insulation and sheathing;
  • Treat the wood with antiseptic impregnation, stain and varnish;
  • Lay the sheathing, insulation and sheathe the walls again, but with the correct gaps in the joints between the boards.

In this way, you can inexpensively cover any room in a wooden house, or a bathhouse made of timber. For brick and block buildings, which have significantly less shrinkage, the veranda can be immediately sheathed according to the finishing scheme.

Popular materials for covering verandas

The modern market offers a fairly large selection of materials for decorative wall coverings, including verandas. The list of the most popular finishes usually includes:

  • Lining, board, wooden slats;
  • MDF or fiberboard, boards and panels;
  • Plywood, OSB boards;
  • Waterproof gypsum plasterboard sheets;
  • PVC panels.

All of the listed materials fit well into the interior of the walls of the room, do not swell with moisture and do not create a feeling of discomfort for the owners, therefore, in the question of how to sheathe the inside of the veranda inexpensively, price and personal preferences and desires remain the determining factors.

To sheathe a veranda indoors truly inexpensively, you will have to do a larger amount of work yourself, and spend the bulk of the costs on purchasing high-quality material.

But not all indoor conditions are the same. Often, before sheathing the veranda inside the photo, it makes sense to contact a specialist for advice and clarification.

Material for a cold veranda

It is quite difficult to choose what to cover the inside of an unheated veranda. There are not many finishing options that can be used inside a cold, unheated room. Most often, the list is limited to plastic panels, waterproof grades of OSB boards and coniferous lining.

The main problem that owners of unheated rooms have to face is condensation that regularly forms on the surface inside the cladding. Therefore, you should not try to cover the walls of a closed veranda with materials made from cellulose fibers, primarily fiberboard and MDF. Even when painted with enamels or varnished, they quickly swell, which leads to warping and breakage of fasteners.

PVC panels are considered the best option. They do not rot, do not absorb moisture, the choice of colors is simply huge, and all this wealth will be relatively inexpensive when compared, for example, with oak or cedar lining.

If desired, the inside of the veranda can be sheathed with plastic with a pattern that imitates valuable types of wood, natural stone, or simply a single-color color that matches the interior of the room.

To finish with polyvinyl chloride, the walls of the veranda will first need to be sheathed with a supporting frame made of galvanized profile. Metal profile strips are nailed to the walls in increments of no more than 60 cm. The easiest way is to sheathe the veranda with vertical strips of PVC; in this case, the profile is nailed in horizontal rows.

The walls of the veranda facing the street, before being covered with panels, are insulated with isolon or foil polyethylene; this is inexpensive and effective. Internal warm walls can be sheathed with mineral thermal insulation with a layer of vapor barrier membrane inside. In this case, it will be necessary to organize additional ventilation of the room, since plastic, like glass, creates an increased level of humidity from the inside.

For dachas, the problem of condensation is especially relevant during the onset of cold weather. After the owners move out with the first frosts, a large amount of water vapor accumulates through the walls; they need to be removed by flowing ventilation before the low air temperature turns into frost on the walls inside the room.

The choice of polyvinyl chloride to sheathe the inside of the veranda of a house cannot be considered particularly successful. Plastic always remains a fire hazard; at low temperatures, an accidental push from a chair or a careless blow can lead to cracking of the material.

Therefore, if you can inexpensively buy lining made of oak or larch, it is better to sheathe the inside of the room with wood, which will last for several decades.

Decorating the veranda with wood

Wood has always been considered the best material for any finishing work inside the veranda. The easiest way is to cover the walls inside the room with clapboard, both in an expensive version and relatively inexpensively, approximately at the level of PVC panels.

Standard lining is divided into four quality classes:

  • Extra is the most durable and beautiful material, without a single knot or disruption in the fiber pattern. Such wood is used for expensive finishing inside the living quarters of the house;
  • C-class is the cheapest, designed to cover a shed or utility room. Despite the fact that in general the work is inexpensive, due to the extremely low quality, it is not recommended to use verandas for interior finishing;
  • Classes A and B allow some defects in the form of knots or even cracks, but most of them are located at the end of the plank. It is with this clapboard that it is best to cover the veranda.

Most craftsmen do not trust the information about the class indicated by the manufacturer on the packaging; most often the material turns out to be of lower quality than stated when sold. Therefore, before covering the inside of the veranda with clapboard, do not be too lazy to open and discard some of the planks in order to avoid defects when finishing the walls.

In addition to class, the material may differ in the shape of the front surface. Examples of the most popular profiles are shown in the figure. If you want to create the impression of a log vault and walls, you can sheathe the walls inside the room with one of the types of boards - block house.

The technology of clapboard cladding is practically no different from the technique used for installing PVC. Initially, the starting strip is laid, and then the lining boards are laid on the previously filled sheathing. It is best to sheathe the walls of the veranda using staples, without glue or screws.

Larch is the most difficult to install, but it's worth it. Even for the most comfortable veranda there is no point in purchasing cedar or ash if you need to sheathe the room quickly and inexpensively. The best option would be high-quality spruce or pine, which can be ordered inexpensively from a private carpentry shop, dried, polished the front part and coated with wax.

Even an open or unheated veranda can be covered with such cladding. A pleasant bonus will be the smell of pine forest, which appears when the walls of the veranda are heated by the sun's rays.

Conclusion

The most budget-friendly option for cladding the walls of the veranda will be made from wood-fiber panels or slabs. They are relatively inexpensive, and in terms of comfort, materials made from cellulose fibers are considered one of the best.

If the room needs to be made not only warm and comfortable, but also truly beautiful, then it is best to cover the walls with MDF boards. It will turn out inexpensive and beautiful, but it is worth remembering that the high decorative qualities of the slab are ensured by the glued polymer film; accordingly, the vapor permeability of the material is much lower than that of fiberboard. All the work will not cost much, but there should be no places in the veranda that fall outside the ventilation zone, otherwise the accumulating condensation will quickly destroy all the work.

A house extension is an excellent solution for expanding the free space in any type of home. It is important that all construction work can be completed independently.

Of course, this will require certain construction skills and knowledge of work technologies, but there is nothing particularly difficult about it. The help of specialists may be required at the design stage of the structure, as well as when connecting communications inside the structure. In addition, certain problems often arise when legitimizing an extension with regulatory authorities.

The attachment can perform a variety of functions.

Most often, an extension is built to form an additional room, a summer kitchen, a garage, a veranda, a terrace, a canopy, or a porch. There are a huge number of options - everything will depend on personal requirements and wishes. Of course, building something will be very difficult from a technological point of view, but often all construction is done with your own hands.

The main thing here is to correctly construct the foundation, walls, roof, insulate and isolate the room from moisture, and also correctly attach the new foundation to the old one.

Types of extensions for country houses

Before starting any construction work, it is necessary to clearly determine the type of structure, because making an extension to a house is only possible if you have a clear plan and project. There are several of the most common types of extensions in our country:

Canopy

This is the easiest to implement and least expensive extension for a country house from all points of view. The main functional task of such a structure is to protect people and things located under the canopy from sunlight, rain and other precipitation. Under such a canopy it will be good to relax in the warm season and have lunch, or you can park your car.

Carport.

An important advantage of installing a canopy is that the construction of a foundation is not required, because support pillars (made of metal, wood, concrete) will act as the base. The canopy frame is attached to these supports.

Summer room

To form a summer room, more capital construction will be required than in the case of a canopy. Such rooms are intended for relaxation in the warm season, gatherings, reading books, etc. Naturally, a foundation will be required.

It is recommended to use a columnar or strip base, depending on the type of building material and the dimensions of the room. To create walls, boards, foam concrete blocks, and frame panels are usually used. For better lighting, the walls and roof, completely or partially, can be made of glass.

Summer room.

Such an extension usually has a pitched or gable roof. It is recommended to use the lightest roofing material. Installation of thermal insulation materials, as a rule, is not carried out, because such premises are not used during the cold season.

Living room

Before adding a room to the house, it is necessary to complete all the required calculations and draw up a project. In this case, a thorough approach will be required, involving the construction of a foundation, capital construction of walls and roofs, installation of waterproofing and thermal insulation materials, and supply of all necessary communications.

Warm living room.

Particular attention is paid to insulating the premises, so that one could live here in winter without spending a lot of energy on heating.

Kitchen

As a rule, extensions are not intended to accommodate a kitchen. Such a structure must be capital, so it needs to be insulated as efficiently as possible.

Kitchen made of wood.

Such an extension can only be built correctly using a high-quality project created by professionals, because the kitchen needs all communications: sewerage, water supply, electricity, gas, ventilation system. This, of course, leads to serious financial costs, which not everyone is ready for.

Garage

Using an extension to create a garage is a very common trend in recent years. A garage will require the construction of a strip or monolithic foundation, and foam concrete blocks or bricks are usually used to build walls.

Two garages.

The roof, in most cases, is made of profiled sheets or metal tiles, slate or roofing felt. Mandatory communications for a garage are a ventilation system and heating.

Connection of an extension with a country house

Many people spend a long time choosing where to add a new room to their home, so that it would be easier to connect it with the main building. Here you have to choose from two options:

  • Independent building. If the area has difficult ground conditions (for example, heaving soils or high groundwater levels), it is recommended to build an independent structure that will not be connected in any way to the main house. In this case, the extension and the main structure have no points of contact, so they do not depend on each other. In this case, the minimum possible distance is maintained between the two buildings, which is a technological gap that must be filled with thermal insulation and waterproofing materials.
  • Implementation of an extension to the structure of an old building. This solution involves a certain amount of labor, because construction will require compliance with all the necessary technologies and a lot of calculations and research. First of all, you will need to properly build and insulate the foundation, which must be correctly connected to the base of the country house. This is usually done using reinforced rods. Using approximately the same technology, the walls and roof of structures are connected.

Features of roof construction for an extension to a house

The roof of an extension to a house can have any shape - here again everything will depend on the requirements and wishes of the owners. At the same time, most often country homeowners choose a pitched roof because it is simple to implement, it is easy to insulate it yourself, it combines well with other types of roofs that the main structure may have, and also removes precipitation well, preventing the entire structure from experiencing additional loads.

In order for precipitation to drain normally from the roof of the extension, the design of the roof involves installing a roof slope of 20 degrees or more.

In addition, special attention must be paid to installing the roof of the extension under the roof of a country house. If everything is done correctly, the wall located between the extension and the country house will be protected from water entering through the joint between the two structures. In addition, the roof of the extension must be extremely harmoniously combined with the roofing material of the main building and fit harmoniously into the exterior of the building, without standing out from the general background.

During the design process, it is very important to correctly calculate the load that the roof structure will provide. The weight of the rafters, roofing material and other structural elements used in constructing the roof should be taken into account.

It is important to understand that an extension to a house on screw piles or pillars is not designed for too heavy loads, unlike a monolithic or strip concrete foundation. You also need to insulate the roof (you can insulate it using any suitable thermal insulation materials, with which it is recommended to cover the top with waterproofing).

How to legalize construction?

Building an extension to an old or new country house is half the battle. Any additional premises erected on a land plot must be documented and obtain permission to carry out construction work from regulatory authorities.

An extension to the house can be done with your own hands; no one will force you to invite builders, but the homeowner must submit a well-drawn design of the structure to the employees of the regulatory services.

The procedure for completing all the documentation for an extension to an old country house usually takes from several months to a year.

An interesting point is that you can start collecting documents and obtaining a building permit after all the work is completed. This is permitted by current law.

At the same time, when reviewing documents, employees of the regulatory authority may have some complaints that will have to be corrected (for example, the location of the building relative to underground communications or the use of inappropriate building materials).

Let's consider buildings to the house and not extensions

A pergola is the simplest structure and an excellent place to relax.

A barbecue is a great place for entertaining guests and celebrating.

The veranda and gazebo are a stylish and functional decoration of a summer cottage.
But, if a gazebo is a separate structure that can be used in the summer, then a veranda is a room attached to the house that has a roof, walls and is intended for year-round use.

A warm veranda can serve as a corridor, hallway or recreation room, greenhouse, winter garden, you can even place a swimming pool in it

What is the difference between a veranda and a terrace? These concepts are often confused, although they have structural and visual differences. The presence of a roof and walls is what distinguishes a veranda from a terrace and porch.


The veranda is provided during the construction stage of the house, but more often it is completed during operation. Therefore, many are interested in how to attach a veranda to a house with their own hands. Below are step-by-step (step-by-step) instructions for building a veranda for a private house.

1. Veranda project

Any construction begins with the development of a project.

Summarizing the experience of constructing verandas, it can be noted that they differ in the following parameters:

Location (adjacent to the house):

  • Corner.
  • End
  • Facade.

Degree of closure:

  • Open.
  • Closed (glazed.

By installing sliding doors for the veranda, you can transform a closed veranda into an open one.

Design feature:

  • Built-in veranda (built together with the house, has a common foundation with it).
  • Attached (added as needed, has its own foundation).

Veranda shape:

  • A popular shape is a rectangle.
  • Round (semicircular.
  • Polygonal (hexagonal, octagonal).

The main purpose of the veranda is to make the house or cottage more spacious and decorate the building. The extension of the veranda also performs a purely utilitarian function - insulating the house. Therefore, the question naturally arises of how to attach a veranda to the house correctly. Despite the fact that the veranda is a summer structure, its construction requires the implementation of a number of rules.

What is included in the veranda construction project:

  • location of the veranda. The main options are indicated above. It is important that the extension is a continuation of the house, representing a single architectural ensemble with it.

Note. It is better to place the veranda on the east or west side, then most of the time it will be out of direct sunlight. Also, it is worth considering the wind load in the region and on the site in particular.

  • entry point to the veranda. The entrance can be from the street, from one of the rooms, or through, across the street into the house;
  • door installation location. It is not advisable to place the entrance doors to the veranda and to the house opposite each other, otherwise drafts cannot be avoided;
  • size of the veranda in the house. The length of the veranda is usually equal to the length of the wall along which it is built. The width ranges from 2.5 to 7 m. It is important here that the size of the veranda is proportional to the size of the house.

Advice from the master. There is no need to save on the project. Its high-quality execution guarantees that the veranda will be built correctly, and obtaining permits will not cause problems.

An example of a typical veranda design is shown in the diagram


How to attach a veranda to a wooden house

Any extension to a wooden house is carried out after the structure has settled. A house made of timber or logs shrinks over a certain period (the most active is the first 2-3 years). To avoid skewing of the walls, you need to wait this period, or consider a connection to the house that allows the frame to play.

2. Documents for the construction of a veranda (permit)

Adding a veranda refers to the remodeling of a house. Therefore, it requires obtaining permits.

To obtain permission to build a veranda (for an extension, reconstruction), you need to submit to the architecture department:

  1. a document confirming the ownership of the site;
  2. house project with a veranda;
  3. consent of all residents registered in the house;
  4. application for registration.

Note. You need to start processing documents 2-3 months before the planned construction work. According to user reviews, this procedure takes quite a lot of time.

In principle, it is possible to complete a veranda without documents, but when selling, renting, or inheriting, problems may arise with this property. The veranda is included in the total area of ​​the residential building; the BTI may regard this as an “Unauthorized increase in living space.” Especially if the veranda is heated (warm veranda).

When building a veranda, you should not deviate from the dimensions specified in the registered project. Any adjustment will entail a change in the project documentation and the payment of a fine. The consequences of unauthorized construction are spelled out in the Law of the Russian Federation “On Architectural Activities in the Russian Federation” and the Civil Code, an excerpt from which is given below.

The consequences for unauthorized construction are listed below

The last thing that will need to be done after the construction of the veranda is to legalize the construction with changes and obtain new documents.

3. Tools and materials for constructing a veranda

The tool depends on what material will be used in the construction of the extension. For wooden you need: a hacksaw, a screwdriver, a hammer and an axe, a sledgehammer, a tape measure, a plumb line, a level (construction and water level), a corner, a cord for marking, a shovel. For a metal frame, you will additionally need a grinder and a welding machine.

Material

The economy (budget) version of the veranda is a metal frame covered with plywood, OSB boards or plastic lining.

A veranda made of brick, natural stone or wood has a more presentable appearance. It is important here that the material of the extension matches the material from which the house or cottage is built or is in harmony (combined) with them.

To build a wooden veranda, you will need: lumber (log or timber, board, batten), fasteners (elements), protective solutions for wood, crushed stone, concrete, bitumen, drying oil or roofing felt, window and door systems, roofing material.

For a veranda with a metal frame: lumber will be replaced by metal corners and a steel profile, solutions for metal processing will be added, but otherwise the materials will be the same.

A polycarbonate veranda has proven itself well in that it allows you to freely admire the surrounding landscape. In addition, polycarbonate retains heat well, transmits light, and can be used for both walls and roofs. Plus, the cost of the material is quite reasonable. Cellular polycarbonate with a wall thickness of 14-18 mm is used.

Note. All materials requiring processing must be processed before work begins. Once the veranda is built, processing will be more difficult.

Preparation for construction

Construction of the veranda begins with preparing the site. The part of the site allocated for the veranda is turning into a construction site. Before starting work you need:

  • remove the canopy over the entrance;
  • dismantle the porch;
  • clear the area of ​​green spaces and debris;
  • remove part of the turf;
  • think over the place for laying building materials and construction waste.

4. Foundation for the veranda to the house

Before you start pouring the foundation, you need to determine its type. The most widespread is the columnar foundation for the veranda, since it makes it possible to attach a veranda without being tied to the main foundation of the house. However, a heavier veranda requires pouring a strip foundation.

An important point is soil analysis, which makes it possible to reasonably choose the foundation for the veranda of the house. The following are taken into account: the ability of the soil to absorb moisture, the homogeneity and composition of the soil, the level of freezing, the height of groundwater, and the stability of the soil.

In addition, the choice of base for the extension will be influenced by the design of the house’s foundation and the condition of the walls (wall material).

Having decided which foundation for the veranda is best to make, they make markings for a strip foundation or mark the location for installing pillars (supports) for a pile foundation.

Note. For a small wooden veranda, it is enough to install pillars at the corners of the structure. For long and wide ones, provide additional posts along the length/width of the base. The recommended installation spacing for supports is 500-600 mm.

How to make a columnar foundation for a veranda

  • dig holes for the posts about 1 m deep. It is important to know that the depth of the foundation for the veranda depends on the depth of the foundation of the house (must be the same) and the level of soil freezing;
  • At the bottom of the pit, a cushion is made from a mixture of crushed stone and sand. They can also be covered in layers, first with sand, then crushed stone or gravel;
  • the concrete base is poured;
  • support pillars for the columnar foundation are laid out/inserted:

Made of brick. If you need to add a veranda to a brick house;

From timber. For a wooden veranda;

From asbestos pipes, concrete pillars or metal supports. For a frame veranda.

The ground part of the pillars is brought to the height of the main foundation of the house. If the base is high, you need to bring the extension to the level of the house.

Example in the photo (the first floor is used as a garage, the veranda is located at the level of the second floor).

The installation site is covered with sand to eliminate and strengthen the gap between the post and the soil.

The design of a veranda with a large mass requires pouring a strip foundation. To do this, you need to dig a trench, place the formwork (slightly higher than the required foundation height), and pour concrete. The process of complete hardening of concrete must be accompanied by periodic wetting with water to ensure uniform hardening of the concrete mixture.

5. Veranda frame

The installation of the frame begins with the completion of the bottom trim. To do this, timber is laid on the supports.

Note. The lower harness can have a double system. It is on this that the racks and floor joists will be attached in the future.

Next, supports are installed that form the frame of the veranda to the house. The frame of a wooden veranda is made of timber 120x80 or 100x100. When using logs, their diameter must exceed 120 mm. It is recommended to install supports at a distance of 500-600 mm, but in practice this is rare. However, supports must be installed in the corners and form door/window openings.

The height of the support is equal to the height of the veranda. In this case, the supports installed closer to the wall must be higher to form a pitched roof. Methods for attaching the racks to the bottom trim are shown in the figure.

Advice. The supports will be given rigidity by the jibs (braces) installed at the top and bottom.

When installing the frame, horizontal beams are installed, which will serve as the basis for installing the window sill board for glazing.

The installation of the veranda frame is completed by completing the top trim. It will serve as the basis for the formation of the rafter system, and will give the frame additional rigidity.

Note. To prevent the top trim from warping, the supports must be secured with temporary spacers.

Many people are interested in how to make a veranda frame from a log frame. Indeed, in this case, both the foundations of the buildings and the log house itself move. Therefore, all connections must be able to move (shift). Shrinkage compensators are installed from below, and from above the roof is firmly attached to the rafters of the log house.

6. Veranda roof

Part of the frame is the rafter system of the veranda. The installation of rafters and sheathing depends on what roofing material the veranda roof will be covered with.

From a design point of view, the following types of veranda roofs are distinguished:

Slope veranda roof.

The simplest and best option. In this case, the rafter system is mounted at an angle from the wall of the house, which allows rainwater or snow to flow down freely without causing damage to the building.

Note. A pitched roof is more convenient from the point of view of organizing drainage and, accordingly, installing a drainage system.

Gable roof veranda.

In this case, the veranda is attached to the house with a narrow part. It becomes like a passageway. This method has not found proper distribution. More often, such a roof is erected over a terrace.

The polygonal roof for the veranda is built in such a way that the angle of inclination is maintained for water drainage.

Installation of veranda rafter system

A purlin board (beam 100x80 mm) is installed on the wall of the house. The timber is secured with anchor bolts. The upper parts of the rafter legs are mounted on it.

A Mauerlat is installed around the perimeter of the frame. In small wooden extensions, this function is performed by the top trim boards. The lower parts of the rafter legs are installed on them.

The lower part of the rafters is mounted so that it is possible to provide an overhang (removal) of the roofing material, which means protecting the veranda from the ingress of flowing water.

Note. The distance between the rafter legs depends on the slope of the roof, the width of the veranda, and the weight of the roofing material.

When installing a polygonal veranda roofing system, a purlin board is additionally installed.

Depending on the chosen material, they fill the lathing (for metal tiles, ondulin, slate) or make a continuous sheathing (for flexible roofing materials).

How to attach a veranda to a house - video instructions

7. Floor on the veranda

Construction procedure, materials, methods of fastening and processing.

DIY flooring technology:

Logs are installed on the bottom trim boards. The distance between adjacent logs should be no more than 1 m. The logs are installed perpendicular to how the floorboard will be laid.

Attaching the joist to the frame is an important point; the quality of its implementation determines the performance characteristics of the floor. The installation of the log is controlled by the level.

What to make floors from on an open veranda

Concrete flooring on the veranda is cheaper, plus it is durable and requires subsequent finishing. For example, you can lay tiles or lay linoleum. The wooden floor on the veranda, even painted, will deform over time. It is also recommended to use plastic baseboards with wood decor.

How to cover the floors on a closed veranda

The floor of the closed veranda is being laid. In this case, installation begins with the board furthest from the entrance. It is attached to the joists directly through the board.

Subsequent boards are mounted using the tongue-and-groove method, and the hardware is fastened through the groove.

How to fix a floorboard on a veranda

It is recommended to fasten floor boards with self-tapping screws. Their length should be twice the width of the board. The distance from the edge of the floorboard to the wall is 10-15 mm. This gap will compensate for the expansion of wood during the hot season.

How to cover the floor on the veranda (open, closed)

Wooden veranda flooring is one of the most popular and easiest to install. Therefore, the relevant question is how to treat the floor on the veranda in order to extend its service life and preserve its aesthetic properties.

Floorboards will last longer if they are additionally coated with solutions that prevent the appearance of fungus. As a finishing floor covering, a decorative layer of paint or stain is applied, covered with varnish on top.

A new product among paintwork materials is Dufa “Liquid Plastic” paint, intended for outdoor use (well suited for an open veranda).

Of the transparent coatings that have earned the respect of users:

  • Tikkurila Valtti (wood oil);
  • Pinotex Terrace Oil;
  • Alpina Oel Terrassen Dunkel;
  • Watco Danish Oil.;
  • as well as epoxy varnishes (yacht varnishes), which are intended for use in damp environments.
  • the product must be intended for wood;
  • be resistant to abrasion;
  • be resistant to environmental factors (water, temperature, ultraviolet).

It is worth noting that veranda floor coverings are quite expensive, but this is justified by their service life, without refinishing, and high aesthetic properties.

8. Roofing material for the veranda

As a roofing material, it is better to use a material for the veranda roof that is installed on the main building (house or cottage). Bituminous shingles have proven themselves well. They are installed in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations.

Note. To prevent water from flowing inside the veranda where the roof of the extension meets the wall of the house, you need to lay a joint strip on top of the roofing material.

Correct installation of the joint strip involves making a gash in the wall of the house and inserting the narrow edge of the strip into it.

You can admire the surrounding beauty in the warmth of the veranda by installing transparent roofs for the veranda. In this case, the role of roofing material is played by glass or cellular polycarbonate.

Telescopic awning roofs or sliding roofs for the veranda are considered new.

). Installation of finishing materials depends on their type.

It is important to know that the wall of the veranda adjacent to the house is secured with embedded metal elements (parts). The fastening must be rigid.

Today, it is popular to cover veranda walls with sliding systems, the upper half of which is glass and the lower half is wooden.

Note. Before moving on to the external and internal decoration of the walls of the veranda, you need to give it time to settle. This is especially true for a wooden veranda.

10. Glazing of the veranda

Windows occupy a significant part of the veranda wall area. Due to the fact that the veranda is a summer structure, single wooden windows are usually installed, most often plastic or wooden. Aluminum windows with multi-chamber double-glazed windows are used.

The large veranda is equipped with both opening and fixed windows. The first allow for ventilation of the room, the second - save on glazing. Noteworthy are the sliding windows, which allow you to turn the veranda into an open terrace.

Among the new products, flexible windows for the veranda stand out. They allow you to extend the operational period of the summer veranda. The advantage of windows is their relatively low cost and the ability to quickly install and dismantle them for the winter. They make the high veranda safe for children to play without compromising its attractiveness.

Soft windows for the veranda are roller systems (PVC curtains), which allow you to glaze the veranda of any configuration (round, semicircular, oval).

Installation of soft windows - video

One of the advantages of private home ownership is the ability, if necessary, to increase the usable area by adding an additional one to the main structure. In this way, residential or utility rooms are obtained for whom some functionality is no longer enough. In order for the extension to improve the living conditions of the owners, and not create problems for them, it must be built using existing technologies, and not according to the principle “somehow, as long as it’s cheaper.” Therefore, we will figure out how to properly attach to a house, relying on generally accepted methods and the experience of FORUMHOUSE users.

  • Foundation for extensions
  • Wall materials
  • Ways to connect walls
  • How to make a roof
  • Functionality of extensions
  • Design of extensions

Foundation for extensions

There are two types of foundation construction for an extension - rigid coupling and expansion joint.

Rigid coupling
Such a connection is designed for non-heaving soil and is justified when erecting a heavy structure of two or more floors, but only if the main building has already settled and settled. The new foundation must be of the same type as the main one (strip, slab) and be the same in depth, taking into account possible shrinkage. The bundle of tapes is made using reinforcement, for which the foundation of the house is dug out to the full depth; in the working area, too much exposure can lead to deformation.

Holes for reinforcement are drilled in a checkerboard pattern in the foundation sheet, on the basis that their length is 35 times the diameter of the rod, and the length of the reinforcement itself is twice as large as the depth of the holes. The reinforcement is driven into the holes, then the protruding part will be filled with concrete, creating a common monolith. Bonding of slabs is possible if the thickness is more than 40 cm and there is a protrusion of the main slab of 30 cm; for coupling, the reinforcement is beaten and welded to the reinforcing frame of the new slab.

To perform a rigid coupling, it is necessary to take into account that the poured one connected to the main one must settle, ideally for a year. If it is not possible to withstand such a period, it is better to use another method.

Expansion joint
The most common type of bond is when a completely independent one is poured near the old foundation. Optimal on heaving soils for lightweight structures, the thickness of the seam is from 2 to 5 cm. To aesthetically connect the foundations, and
the seam at the junction remains the same along the entire length; boards pre-wrapped in polyethylene or roofing felt are used. Since the load on the base will be less, the subsidence will also be less, and the seam will allow the extension to “play” as planned, without affecting the integrity of the house.

During the construction process, the joint between the walls is filled with insulation, and the seam itself is subsequently sealed using elastic means or covered with special strips. One of the users found an interesting solution - stainless steel linings, between which there is a layer of corrugated rubber.

zhp User FORUMHOUSE

In principle, you can buy such a “cap” for an expansion joint, immediately properly insulate the space between the walls, close it from the street with a “cap”, and if over time there is shrinkage, compression or stretching, the “cap” will compensate for this moment. And in order to return the rubber to its previous shape, you can unscrew the screws from the missing side and drill again, in new places in the bricks.

Since the foundations are not connected to each other, you can choose any type for an extension, based on the characteristics of the soil and the expected load. It can be slab (monolith or USHP), strip (MZF or freezing depth) or columnar (pile).

Users of the portal prefer joining foundations through an expansion joint, as the most justified and safe way.

mfcn FORUMHOUSE Member

No matter how good (non-heaving) the soil is, if it is not rock, then you should expect shrinkage of the foundation of the extension in relation to the main house. Accordingly, measures must be taken to ensure these shrinkages are non-destructive and ensure acceptable functional properties of the structure. Hence: an extension is actually a new house next to an old one or a light structure, the movement of which is permissible, and violations of the horizontal floor and jamming of doors are permissible.

Materials

The modern building materials market offers a large selection to suit every taste and budget. The greatest demand today is for extensions made of foam concrete, aerated concrete, cinder block and similar large-format masonry varieties and frame structures. Frames are in the lead due to the speed of construction, relative accessibility and simplicity; in terms of energy efficiency, they are not inferior to stone buildings due to the use of insulation.

However, if possible, it is recommended to choose a material similar to the main one: a wooden extension to a wooden house, etc. This is especially true for houses that are not supposed to have the same façade as the extension. If you plan to use siding or similar cladding, the choice is unlimited.

Options for connecting walls

An extension to a house can have four walls or three, then the role of the fourth is played by the outer wall of the house. Four walls are relevant in extensions made of masonry materials; a wall joint is not required, and maintaining the level of the masonry results in an even seam. The presence of a layer of insulation between the walls allows the use of thinner blocks for the adjacent wall. In frame construction, sliding ties are used: two vertical beams are placed on the wall, between which the vertical beam of the extension is inserted.

Connecting beams in an extension

When an extension is assembled from profiled or laminated timber or logs, the walls are connected to the house either with metal brackets or with special galvanized corners with a shelf of 63 mm or more.
The corners are placed on self-tapping screws, leaving a small gap for shrinkage. The seam in both cases is closed with a flashing or platband. Also, the joining of beams in the extension is carried out using a tongue-and-groove system, the grooves are selected in the load-bearing wall, the tenon is cut out on the built-in segments.

Roof construction methods

The extension is placed under a common roof, when a rigid connection is made; if an expansion joint is selected, it is easier to cover the building separately, sealing the junction. Depending on the roofing material, the seam is covered with a stainless steel apron, 30 cm wide, or with a special decorative element.

Rigid connection to a house made of timber.

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The shrinkage of the extension in relation to the main house imposes certain restrictions on the arrangement of the roof. Therefore, in practice, making an extension with a roof like a continuation of the existing one should be considered and justified.

Functional

As with the construction of a house, before constructing an extension it is necessary to determine the functionality in advance, since different purposes require appropriate construction manipulations. If you plan to make living rooms, enhanced insulation is necessary. Communications are immediately laid out for the boiler room, bathroom or kitchen. It’s easier to change your mind and plug a couple of plastic pipes into the wall than to decide that another bathroom is more necessary and dig into a newly built one.

Legalization of extension

Before constructing a major extension, permission must be obtained. Within the city limits, this is done by the department of architecture and urban planning; in rural settlements, by the administration. You can build without papers, but then when you try to sell, bequeath or donate a house with an extension, you will still have to draw up documents, but it will be more difficult, through the court. In the event of a confrontation with neighbors, they can sue for self-development and insist on demolition.

For anyone planning an extension, it is useful to study the topic on the forum. The experience of the user of our portal in the topic is also interesting. The article will help you decide on the type of foundation for the future structure. And our video will teach you how to work with aerated concrete.