You can store vegetables on the balcony if you make a balcony cellar of wood or put a heating cabinet. The residents of the first floor can dig out the storage under the loggia. As a rule, in any apartment there is not enough space to accommodate everything conceived. Therefore, many use their loggias and balconies as an additional storage section. You can make various shelves, cabinets, a cabinet here to put some things here. Having built a special box, you will put vegetables and homemade products here. In this case, the loggia will become not only an additional storage place, but also an excellent resting corner.
How to make a balcony cellar?
When arranging this place for storing vegetables, you need to follow some principles:
- The temperature in this makeshift cellar should be + 1 … + 5 ° С, with an air humidity of 85–90%. Then the vegetables will not dry out and rot.
- A ventilation system must be provided. Usually this is a pipe that is led out. In extreme cold, it should be closed with a damper.
Storage of vegetables on the balcony can be carried out in containers of four types, in the cellar:
- thermos;
- container;
- heated;
- on the first floor.
The latter device will help make a full-fledged cellar in the basement, where a lot of fruits and vegetables, as well as canned food, can fit.
Before you start building these cellars, you need to draw up a sketch of the project. A very convenient storage box for vegetables with a hinged top lid. Place it near the far wall of the loggia so that this structure does not interfere with walking along the loggia. From above, the lid can be sheathed with soft materials, then the balcony cellar will also turn into a cozy sofa.
Below are its dimensions.
On the left is the box itself, on the right it is shown how to make a heating system if you want to store vegetables on the balcony even in severe frosts.
To make a small loggia cellar, take:
- bars;
- boards;
- saw;
- self-tapping screws;
- window hinges;
- screwdriver.
This device will be built-in. Therefore, first you need to attach the bars in the form of a rectangle on the floor at the end of the balcony, where you will install the box, and the upper ones will be at the height of the cellar.
If you do not store vegetables and fruits here in severe frosts, then you can make a simple ventilation system. To do this, fill the floorboards not end-to-end, but with a short distance.
Now you need to attach the boards to the front wall, sidewall, and also upward, between the future cover.
On top, the boards or bars need to be more imposing than on the sidewalls to make the frame to which the hinges and lid need to be attached.
To make a hatch, saw off two bars along the width of the resulting opening, stuff the same planks across them.
Attach a handle to the lid so that you can easily open such a balcony cellar.
You can buy a thermal container or make it yourself. The latter option is more fun and saves money. To do this, you need to put together a box according to the principle described above, but so that there are no holes left in it. If present, cover them with polyurethane foam.
The inner walls of the cellar must be sheathed with insulation, which can even be used as foam, which is used to lay various purchased equipment in boxes. Then you need to put together another drawer that would fit freely inside the first one. Its walls are thinner, so this box can be made of fiberboard, plywood or from a dense cardboard box. The lid also needs to be insulated.
You can attach foil insulation to the inner walls of the box and lid, which will cool vegetables in the heat, and protect them from hypothermia in cold weather.
Paint the outside of the box with stain. To transform it into a cozy sofa that takes up little space:
- Put a sheet of foam rubber and a cloth on its top cover so that it goes slightly beyond the ends. Use a furniture stapler to attach these materials to the wood surface of the lid.
- To make it comfortable for your back, when you sit here, sew a couple of decorative pillows, sew ribbons from the same material to the upper corners, fasten them to the built-in bar.
- You can just put these pillows on the sofa, attach a shelf in the back, put flowers here, hang a small picture just below, you get a very cozy and functional corner.
Some craftsmen are building a brick base to make it safe to store vegetables on the balcony. It is also insulated inside, so you can leave vegetables here for the whole winter.
How to make a heated oven?
If you live in a region with a cold climate or will store vegetables and fruits throughout the winter, then you need a warmed, heated thermocontainer, which you can decide for yourself to buy or make with your own hands. When choosing the last option, the following scheme will certainly come in handy; when constructing such a structure, it is necessary to provide for an air gap, a ventilation system.
As you can see, you need to arrange an air gap between the case and the box, as well as lay insulation. Below there is a heater that will maintain the temperature necessary for vegetables and fruits. You can buy a thermostat or install a thermometer here, maintain the desired microclimate based on its indicators.
You can sheathe the wall with foam, make the inner and outer walls of the box from chipboard, insulate the inside with glass wool, covering the holes with foam.
Look at the diagram that will help you create an insulated cellar on the balcony.
As you can see, a thermometer is inserted into the drilled hole to see the temperature readings inside the box. A schematic diagram of the heating system is also shown here.
- This cellar also consists of an outer box, but of two inner ones, which are made from plywood sheets. They are placed inside so that there is a gap of 5 cm between the walls and the floor of the outer box.
- Insulation is laid here. A gap of 15 cm is left between the inner boxes so that two lamps can be hung here for heating. They are turned on in severe frosts to maintain the required temperature.
- The thermostat, which has a relay and a temperature sensor, greatly facilitates the work. You will set the temperature to the desired value so that it is maintained at that level for the right time.
How to build a storage facility on the 1st floor?
To do this, you need to dig a cellar, extend the walls of the balcony down.
Such work belongs to redevelopment, therefore, before making a cellar, you must take permission from the housing office or the relevant organization. After that, you need to stock up on the necessary materials. To make a cellar on the ground floor, you will need:
- cement;
- sand;
- roll waterproofing;
- reinforcement network;
- thermal insulation;
- material for the construction of the walls of the cellar (blocks, bricks, etc.);
- Decoration Materials;
- hatch device - metal sheet or bars and boards;
- ventilation pipe.
Follow the instructions below:
- Dig a pit under the balcony. The height of this depression should be such that in the future cellar you can stand up to full height. The width is the same as the balcony slab.
- Cover the walls and floor of the future cellar with waterproofing material, for this you can use an inexpensive roofing material or a slightly more expensive fiberglass.
- Cover the bottom of the pit with a layer of rubble and sand, tamp these materials. Lay reinforcing steel mesh on top. Combine cement with sand, add water, stir, add gravel. It is necessary to fill the floor with this solution in order to make a concrete screed.
- Build the walls of the cellar from bricks or blocks, not forgetting to install a ventilation pipe here, the top of which is closed with a grate.
- Insulate the interior walls using polyurethane foam, rock wool or similar materials. Thus, it is better to insulate the floor slab as well.
- Now you need to make a hole in the bottom of the concrete slab of the balcony using a puncher. Build the manhole cover out of wood or sheet metal and put it back in place. Make a staircase that leads to the cellar under the balcony.
- Outside, it is necessary to arrange a blind area under a slight slope from the wall. To do this, you need to create a pillow of rubble and sand, fill it with concrete.
Look at the diagram of the device of the cellar under the balcony, which will be useful to you.
After the concrete is completely dry, both inside and out, you have a complete vegetable store for your family.
Other do-it-yourself designs
If you live on the second floor and above, you still decided to buy a cellar, then pay attention to the next heating cabinet.
Such a container has a rigid body, a built-in thermostat that maintains the required temperature inside the container. There is ventilation here, it will not allow high humidity. Similar ovens are available in various sizes, you can choose them for a large or small balcony, for a family of various sizes.
Also, if you want to buy a cellar, pay attention to flexible designs.
It looks like a regular synthetic bag, but it is not. For such a vegetable store in miniature, a waterproof canvas and insulation are used. Electrodes are built into the matter, which, when heated, increase the temperature to the desired one, preventing vegetables from freezing during cold weather.
If you do not have an insulated balcony or loggia on which you will store vegetables, fruits, canned foods from March to November, when there is still no severe frost, then the following design will suit you.
- To make such a cabinet on the balcony for storing food, you need to knock down a wooden box from a bar. A reliable bar is also attached in the middle.
- Bars are horizontally attached and fixed to these vertical posts. On the one hand, they fill the shelves on which there will be homemade pickles in glass jars.
- The second half of such a cabinet provides for the storage of vegetables and fruits. To do this, you need to knock down the boxes, attach bars to the top of each on one side and the other. Due to this, the boxes will hold when you begin to open them to get the necessary product.
You can build another mini cellar for the balcony.
- Its width is equal to the width of the loggia. Place two boards vertically parallel to each other, place two more horizontally, assemble the box using self-tapping screws.
- Stuff the shelves inside. The distance between them should be equal to the height of the boxes that you will push in here.
- These drawers are folding, held at the bottom by hinges. In the center, you need to attach along the furniture handle in order to freely open the drawers.
- For better air exchange, a metal mesh is attached to a wooden frame on the front panel of each.
Such devices will allow you to store vegetables, fruits, all kinds of homemade products on the balcony. If you follow the correct regimen, these products will not spoil for a long time. By purchasing them once, you will relieve yourself of the need to go to the store for fruits and vegetables for a long time. If you grow them on your garden plot, then solve the problem with their storage.
If you want to see a few more ideas that will tell you how to store vegetables on the balcony when there is no severe frost or on a heated loggia, then check out them.
For this you will need:
- two wooden bars with a cross section of 5 cm;
- drill with a nozzle for cutting round holes;
- rounded bars;
- joiner's glue;
- sackcloth;
- scissors.
Instead of rounded bars, you can use wooden rolling pins of a suitable diameter.
- Saw off one small one from each long strip, these elements will become the upper and lower crossbars of a wooden box made of bars.
- Shoot him down. Using the round drill bit, drill holes in the vertical bars.
- From burlap, sew a semblance of bags with an opening top. Leave small rectangles on the sides when cutting, wrap each one to make holes equal in diameter to oval bars. Put them here.
- The ends of these rolling pins must be greased with glue, installed in the holes made.
To keep the canvas bags in shape, lay down a sheet of plywood or cardboard that is equal to the size of the bottom of each bag. You can use a similar canvas bag for another idea. You will also need:
- sawdust;
- plastic or metal basket.
Sew a bag with a closing top out of burlap. You can trim the edges with tape. Place the resulting product in the selected box, pour some sawdust down, put a layer of dried carrots. So, sandwiching it with wood chips, fill the container. A great idea that will help carrots not to rot or wither for a long time.
Convenient boxes for storing vegetables are made of wood. The principle of creating another device, which consists of three sections, can be seen in the following photo.
If you are interested in this topic, but you still have questions, the following videos will answer them. The first tells about the principles of the design of the oven.
The second will shed light on how you can sheathe a loggia with clapboard, make a box for a balcony made of wood with insulation.
