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The decision to build a house from a bar is not taken immediately and not suddenly. It’s just that this technology, with a simpler assembly of walls, allows you to get excellent characteristics for housing: for the Moscow region, a beam of 195 mm thick is enough. With such a thickness of the outer walls, it will be warm, but to save on heating, it is better to insulate it (outside 10 mm of mineral wool) and make a ventilated facade. Then there will be more savings on heating.
What wood to choose
Coniferous wood is usually used to build a house. There are several reasons. Firstly, the high content of resins, which are natural preservatives and antiseptics. Due to their presence, the wood is not destroyed for a long time. Secondly, affordable price. You can, of course, build a house from beech or oak timber, but the price will be simply sky-high. Thirdly, the wood is soft and easy to process.
Of all conifers, most often they put a house from a pine beam. With good performance, it is relatively inexpensive. Houses made of larch and cedar are rarely built: they are too expensive. From spruce even less often, but for a different reason: it is destroyed the fastest, and even difficult to process. So, regarding the type of wood, there is, in fact, no choice. 95% is pine. But with the type of timber you need to understand.
According to the processing method, timber happens:
- Ordinary or solid, unplaned timber. Sawn from a solid log, the section is a quadrilateral (square or rectangle).
- Profiled bar. It is also sawn from a solid log, but after it is processed: spikes and grooves are formed with milling cutters – profiles with which one beam is joined to another. The side faces are also processed. They come out of the machine already planed. The section is of complex shape. The side faces can be even, rounded, curly – with chamfers, the shape of the “castle” – numerous beards and recesses.
- Glued beam. Outwardly similar to profiled, but assembled (glued) from several boards.
We will analyze the features of each type of timber, regarding the construction of a house.
House made of ordinary timber
If earlier they said that they decided to build a house from a bar, then they clearly understood the usual rectangular bar. There was simply no other, or it was too expensive: it was brought from abroad. Ordinary timber is the most affordable, if we take the cost per cubic meter. But, as a result of all the required measures, the cost of construction may be higher than from a profiled one. It’s all about the characteristics of the material. They lead to significant additional costs even at the construction stage: when building a house from unplaned timber, interventional insulation is necessarily used. Its geometry is not ideal, and if this is not done, it will be very strong to blow through the gaps between the crowns. The second feature is that the surface of the walls turns out to be uneven and one cannot do without finishing inside and outside.
In addition to laying the interventional layer, the delivered log house is caulked, additionally sealing the seams. A caulk is needed not one, but at least two, sometimes more. And all because it is made from wood of natural moisture. In practice, this has the following consequences:
- The folded house should stand for a long time without finishing. The desired holding time is about two years. Moreover, the first year the roof is not installed or the truss system is erected, covered with a membrane and left in this form. In the second year, roofing material is laid. During this time, the wood will dry, the walls will “sit down” and you can start finishing work.
- When dried, the timber of natural moisture cracks heavily. Sometimes very deep and wide cracks are formed, which then also have to be caulked. In the worst case, through may appear. There is one more trouble: the beam can “lead”: unscrew it in some direction. All these processes are natural for wood, but they must be kept in mind.
Cracks can be deep - Lumber of natural moisture is highly susceptible to rotting and blue. Even during delivery, the process of darkening of the wood may begin. Therefore, the timber must be stacked in ventilated piles, and linings should be laid under the lower rows. In addition, before laying in a log house, it is necessary to treat the wood with protective impregnations (antiseptics) and flame retardants. It is necessary for all wood, just at high humidity, high requirements are placed on the quality of processing.
Another feature of a house made of ordinary timber: the walls are uneven. To give them a “decent” look, they are either sheathed with finishing materials or polished. But grinding is a controversial undertaking: the interventional sealant makes it almost impossible. Even if you manage to grind the timber, where to put the seams?
So it turns out that the cost of the house as a result can be more: add interventional insulation, material for caulking and the work itself (and it is not cheap), the cost of exterior and interior decoration to the cost of the timber. Please also note that moldings are brought to your site – bars of the ordered length. The bowls are sawn on the spot. This means that the qualifications of carpenters must be high. How the cut is made determines how warm the corners will be. And in a log house, it is the corners that are the most problematic place.
Read about the technical features of finishing a wooden house here.
Features of profiled timber
Considering a profiled beam, the first thing that catches your eye is the almost perfect geometry and smooth surfaces. Anyway, that’s how it should be. With good workmanship, finishing is not needed: the wall immediately turns out to be even and smooth, even if it is immediately ready for painting.
The second, also quite obvious feature, is due to the fact that the edges that join two profiled beams have recesses and protrusions (locks) through slots cannot be. Manufacturers of profiled timber say that it is possible to lay walls without interventional insulation: it will be warm anyway. But few people listen to them. They put at least a thin, but a heater. Someone uses a thin substrate for a laminate, someone uses a self-expanding tape for mounting plastic windows, as well as jute tape and similar materials.
In the photo, by the way, the most common profile among developers lately is the “comb”. It can have a “tooth” of different heights and widths, and is loved by everyone because, in theory, it is impossible to “blow through” it. However, even here they insure themselves by laying insulation.
In general, there are a lot of profiles. Some of them are in the photo. When choosing a supplier, it is necessary to pay attention not only to the shape of the locks, but also to how they are made. Matching in any pair should be maximum.
Having decided to build a house from a bar with a profile, you need to decide on its moisture content. Profiled timber can be of natural humidity (cheaper), it can be chamber dried with a moisture content of no more than 14-16%. Features of lumber of natural moisture have already been considered, now let’s talk about chamber drying. The company installs large drying cabinets, into which the finished profiled timber is loaded. There, at elevated temperatures, it loses excess moisture. At the same time, all the processes that usually accompany the drying of wood take place in the chamber: it bursts, it twists. Accordingly, part goes into marriage, and the rest is sold at a higher price. The reasons seem to be clear.
If you decide to build a house from kiln-dried timber, you can start finishing earlier. The log house should still stand, but it will take 9-12 months. At the same time, new cracks are rarely formed, only existing ones expand. But it should be borne in mind that due to the high cost of drying, most often they only reduce the humidity to operational – 16-18%, while chamber drying is considered wood 8-12%.
Either way, gaps will need to be sealed. Caulking is needed in very limited volumes: first of all, you will have to look through all the corners and cuts, if any (this is the name of the places where the walls are attached). Even a well-made bowl can dry out unevenly, causing a gap to appear. Also, the beam can turn out, which will also lead to the appearance or expansion of the gap. So a periodic revision of the corners is also required during operation. Wood is a living material and will change all the time. Also, after a year of sludge, too large cracks in the timber will have to be repaired (without fanaticism, so that the tow does not open the crack).
It may be easier with the assembly. If you simply order lumber, you can cut corners from a profiled beam, as from a regular one, on the site. But many enterprises, in the presence of a project, offer to take on part of the work. With the help of a special program, they make a layout on the beam: they make a list of “spare parts” from which the house will be assembled. Then, according to this list, blanks are cut out, and with molded thickets. The blanks are numbered and brought ready to the site, where it remains to fold the house, like a designer: folding the bars according to the numbers marked on the plan.
This is convenient, especially if you are going to cost a house with your own hands without construction experience. It is clear that the service is not free, but you can save on paying for carpenters: it is not required to assemble such a highly qualified designer. Only in this case, whether your house will be warm or not depends on how accurately the bowls are made at the factory. Sometimes there are companies that make very low-quality cuts. You can see a few of these in the photo.
In general, there are pluses and minuses, but compared to ordinary timber, profiled timber is more convenient in construction, and at a price it can also come out cheaper, if you count with finishing.
Read about the features of laying wiring in wooden houses here.
Glued beams
It is clear from the name that it consists of glued parts. First, the lamellas are sawn, they are treated with antiseptics, dried to a certain humidity, then glued. Due to the complex manufacturing process, the price tag of this material is approximately 2,5-3 times higher than that of conventional and 80-90% than profiled.
What are its advantages? Properly made, it does not crack, it does not lead: dry material cannot shrink, and glued beads should have a moisture content of no higher than 12-15%. Therefore, the finishing process, with a beam width sufficient to compensate for heat loss, can only be reduced to painting or varnishing, since protective impregnation is also carried out at the enterprise (should, in any case).
Another consequence of the lack of shrinkage is that after a few weeks the folded log house can be immediately put under the roof, and after a few more weeks you can start finishing. This time is necessary for the shrinkage of the bowls, and the geometric dimensions of the glued beam should not change. That is, a significant time saving is obtained – everything, including finishing work, can be done in one season.
But is glued beads really that good? In terms of build speed, yes. But it has serious shortcomings. First: it is glued. What crosses out one of the main advantages of wood – environmental friendliness. Secondly, its vapor permeability is low. Many people choose wooden houses precisely because of their ability to naturally regulate the humidity in the room. Glued laminated timber is deprived of this due to the presence of layers of glue. Of all the advantages of wood, only an attractive appearance remains, but a house made of aerated concrete, finished with a clapboard of the appropriate profile or a block house, looks exactly the same. Therefore, the use of glued laminated timber for building a house is a very controversial issue.
The development of the design of a wooden house is described here.
Stages of building a house from a bar
A log house has several advantages:
- The walls are light, which is why the load on the foundation is low, which means that the cost of its installation will be lower.
- Wood is an elastic material and it compensates for small movements in the foundation without compromising the integrity of the building. And this, again, allows you to make shallow foundations on well-draining soils.
The choice of the type of foundation depends largely on the soil, but most often they make a strip foundation, if there is no need for a basement, you can put a column foundation (for small temporary residence buildings – cottages, baths, etc.) or pile foundation (with or without a grillage). The choice should preferably be based on the results of geological studies. The process is described in more detail here.
While the foundation is “setting”, prepare the wood. All timber and dowels are treated with antiseptics and fire retardants. Use compositions that do not form a film on the surface of the log. They will not interfere with the drying process. After preparing the timber, the actual construction of the house begins:
- Cut-off waterproofing. So that the wood from the foundation does not draw moisture, it is necessary to lay a layer of hydrophobic material. Previously, two layers of roofing material were laid under the first crown. Today there are more modern materials – coating and rolled. You can use them, and in combination: coat, stick rolled.
- Laying crown crown. The beam is chosen without signs of blue, with a minimum number of knots. Preferably – from the middle part of the tree – with the maximum density of annual rings. It is additionally treated with impregnations designed for wood in direct contact with the ground. In order to ensure better preservation of the first crown, there is a trick: a wide board impregnated with bituminous mastic with working off is laid on the waterproofing. Another layer of waterproofing is placed on it, and on top – the first crown. All these layers are connected to the foundation with studs, which are poured into the foundation.
- Draft floor. Floor logs are attached to the first crown – a bar with a section of 150 * 100 mm. They are laid out in increments of at least 70 cm. To make it more convenient to work, the subfloor boards are laid out along the logs without nailing them.
- Assembly of walls from a bar. If a wall kit with ready-made bowls is not ordered, they are “slaughtered”. Cut out according to the pattern. A template is drawn from a piece of plywood, it is outlined, then it is cut out. They use a chainsaw more often, but a rather high degree of proficiency in the tool is required: how warm the house will be depends on the accuracy of the sawing. The forms of connecting the beam are in the picture.
We have already talked about laying interventional insulation: when using an ordinary beam, it is mandatory, under a profiled one it is desirable in bowls, the rest is optional. Between themselves, the crowns are connected by dowels – long round bars carved from a single piece of wood, dowels – rectangular in shape or studs – metal rods. In any case, a hole is drilled under the connection, into which the connecting element is hammered.
- Assembling the truss system. The order of work depends on the type of roof chosen. When constructing a simple gable roof, rafter legs are installed; when constructing an attic floor, the order is different. A windproof membrane is rolled out and fixed onto the assembled truss system. In this form, the house is left for a long time to shrink.
- Door and window openings. For speedy shrinkage and shrinkage, you can cut window and door openings, put a pigtail or fixing strips. Door and window blocks are not installed until the end of the main shrinkage.
After a year or two, you can start finishing work. All the time while the log house is settling, it is necessary to monitor the processes occurring in the wood. It is immediately necessary to inspect the corners and, if necessary, caulk them. Then monitor their condition, as well as the joints of the timber. If the dowels were driven in with great effort, during shrinkage, the timber may hang on them, which causes cracks to form. You can solve the problem by hanging around: they take a huge wooden hammer and knock on the walls, causing faster shrinkage. The same technique is used if the house sits too slowly.
The video shows the main stages of how to build a house from a bar. Despite the lyrical digressions, a lot of valuable information.
How to build a house from a bar: photo report
They built such a house.
We ordered a wall kit according to the project, a strip foundation was poured under it.
They brought blanks with sawed-down bowls. They were carefully unloaded, while examining for flaws. One beam turned out to be problematic – it was in the middle of the bundle and suffocated – it was covered with a fungus. It was postponed for a separate “treatment”. The rest were covered with impregnation (Valti Pohjust) and stacked.
So that there are no problems with the fungus, a gasket is laid under each – boards lying across.
Also, rolls of insulation and dowels were purchased. Nagels were sent to bathe in impregnation. Impregnation was poured into the old bath and left for half a day, then taken out and dried.
On the waterproofing laid on the foundation, the first crown was laid out – a half-beam. It has no grooves at the bottom.
It was pulled to the foundation with anchors to studs cast into concrete.
Laid the first crown. The one that was previously fixed on the foundation is often called “zero”.
Let’s change the diagonals. In order for the cups to fit without problems and there is no skew, they must be equal. The allowable skew is a couple of millimeters.
Having aligned the diagonals, we drill holes for the dowels. So that there were no holes larger / smaller than necessary in length, a limiter tree was planted on the drill.
We put insulation under the beam, but on the recommendation of the Finns, its edges “do not reach” to the edge of the beam. So it will not pull moisture from the street.
The walls are gradually rising. In a checkerboard pattern, we fasten them with dowels.
In general, the timber is more or less normal, but there are problems with incorrectly sawn cups. When laying the timber, we get a huge gap. The only way to deal with this is to manually adjust the cups so that everything lies flat.
It takes a lot of time to eliminate these inconsistencies, but gradually all the walls are laid out.
We proceed to the assembly of the truss system. First, as is customary, two extreme farms are installed, then everything else, according to the project.
The finished crate was sheathed with roofing material. Let’s leave the house to dry.
Inside we lay out the boards of the subfloor, nailing every fifth. They will dry with the house.
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