Contents
Often the purchased summer cottage is part of a field with meter-long weeds. To fight the “wild flora” you need some kind of shelter – to rest, to gain strength for a new stage of the struggle. Building a house in an open field is not the most reasonable idea, so many people think about temporary housing. If you like comfort even in the field, a country two-room change house with a toilet and a shower is one of the best options.
Materials
Although there are many building materials on the market, only the lightest, most practical and inexpensive are used in the construction of change houses. Country change houses are initially considered by many as a temporary option – the plans are to build a house. But the building often “grows” so firmly that it is either made into a guest house, or a summer kitchen, or used in some other way. So, even if you decide that this is only a temporary option, choose materials and sizes based on greater convenience.
Wood
Most often, change houses in our country are built of wood. They are not so cold in winter and not so hot in summer. In wooden buildings, the required level of humidity is naturally maintained. Therefore, in wooden change houses we feel more comfortable.
The advantage of wooden cabins is their low weight. Such structures stand even on truck tires or building blocks stacked on top of each other. And they feel fine. In general, a wooden country house with a toilet and a shower is a good option.
But in order for the structure to look normal, regular care is required for the wood. It is necessary to renew the protective and decorative coating. What it will be – paint, varnish, wood oil – you choose, but you need to update the coating. Frequency – once a year, once every two or three years. It depends on the type of coverage. Oils are usually updated every two or three years, paint and varnish – once a year or two. Such a need is far from encouraging. Firstly, the cost of varnish / paint, and secondly, the time to remove the old coating and apply a new one (you do not need to remove the oils, in this case the coating is simply updated).
A significant disadvantage of wood is its fire hazard. And it’s hard to deal with it. Of course, before construction, the material is impregnated with flame retardants, but if it burns, then this will not save either.
Metal
Metal change houses are fireproof, but living in them is uncomfortable. First, you need a ventilation system. It is far from always possible to ventilate the change house by opening the doors and windows. Therefore, ventilation must be taken care of. It is not difficult to make it in such a small building, but this is additional trouble and expense.
In addition, with a decrease in temperature, it becomes very cold in a metal change house, and it is difficult to heat it – the metal quickly releases heat into space. But in summer it is too hot in such a building. The sun heats the surface and the stuffiness is incredible. Even if it’s not hot outside. You can partially save the situation by pulling an awning, but this solution will help only partially. The sun will still warm it, albeit to a lesser extent.
Another disadvantage of such change houses for summer cottages is a large mass. You can’t put it on cinder blocks anymore – you need a more solid base that can withstand the mass of metal and the situation inside. In addition, it also needs to be painted. Because without paint, metal rusts, and because appearance is also important.
Other options
Wood and metal are far from the only materials from which you can make a country house. Instances from other materials are rarely found on sale on a crane, but you can build them with your own hands in a few days. If you have experience, it will not be difficult for you, and if you do not have experience, this will be it. A good workout that will come in handy in the future. If you are not going to build a house with your own hands, then you will have to put a gazebo on the site, then make a bench, a children’s corner or something else. Yes, and the builders will have to finish the flaws themselves. So self-building a change house is a good start.
So, here’s what else you can make a change house for giving:
- Build on frame technology. Racks can be metal or wooden, sheathing – moisture resistant sheet material (OSB, moisture resistant plywood). Insulation – usually mineral wool, but may be polystyrene foam.
Frame ready - Sandwich panel. This material is very convenient for the construction of insulated outbuildings. The walls are immediately insulated and finished. The downside is two layers of metal with insulation inside.
From these materials, prefabricated structures are obtained. More comfortable will be the existence in the frame. If you plan to use the change house on a long-term basis, then this is the best option. If the change house after the construction of the house is reclassified into a utility room, your choice is a sandwich panel.
Country two-room change house with a toilet and a shower: dimensions and layout
The best option for a garden plot or a summer house is a country two-room change house with a toilet and a shower. In fact, this is already a small country house. And in terms of functionality, and in terms of area, and in terms of ease of use. And here’s the thing, if you order a house of the same area, it will cost you 25-30% more than a change house. Here are some interesting features.
Dimensions: which is more convenient
The normal width of the change house is 3-3,5 meters. With this width, the rooms are functional and comfortable. Even if the length of the change house is 6 meters, it is possible to enclose a toilet with a shower in the middle part, and arrange rooms on the sides.
A change house with a shower and a toilet is convenient – all the necessary premises are under this roof. This is especially appreciated during the rain, in early spring or autumn. But if the length of the trailer is only 6 meters, the rooms are narrow – two meters or so.
It will be more spacious in the rooms if the length of the change house is 8 meters. In this case, the width can not be increased. Then the rooms will turn out to be about 9 squares each, which is already enough for a comfortable life. That is, a country two-room change house with a toilet and a shower should ideally have a size of 3 * 8 meters.
Optimal dimensions: based on economic feasibility
So, we decided that the minimum dimensions of a country two-room change house with a toilet and a shower are 3 * 6 meters, comfortable 3 * 8 meters. But there are some nuances.
Look, in a “clean” form, taking into account the thickness of the walls inside the room, it will be about 2,5-2,6 meters wide and 2,8-2,6 meters long with an eight-meter trailer length. Agree, this is not enough. Only a bed can be placed in such a room. A very narrow passage will remain between the wall and its back, which cannot be used in any way. In front of the bed (one and a half) there will also be a very small area into which you can squeeze a small bedside table / chest of drawers and a chair.
So if possible, it is desirable to increase the outer width to 3,5 meters. From the point of view of operation, this is convenient, but economically unprofitable. It’s not just about increasing the amount of required materials. It will increase, but not very much. The point is a large number of trimmings, which will be obtained in this case. The standard length of boards and timber is 6 meters. So the optimal size is 3 by 6 meters. But, as we found out, it is not very convenient. And with a change house length of 8 meters, pieces of 4 meters remain. So the second optimal size that a country two-room change house with a toilet and a shower should have is 8 * 4 meters. In this case, the number of cuts will be very small. So the costs won’t go up too much.
If this option seems too big for you, you can go the other way – buy some of the small-sized building materials – 2 meters each or in the pieces that you need. They are available at every sawmill, and since they are sorters, they cost much less per cube. So increasing the area can also help you reduce the cost of building materials.
Wide change houses have only one drawback: they can be transported only with the permission of the traffic police:
- If the width is up to 2,55 meters, no permit is needed.
- From 2,55 m to 3,50 m – written permission.
- More than 3,55 meters – accompanied by a traffic police car.
This can concern you only if you are going to transport it somewhere or are going to buy it ready-made. If you will build it or order it from a company, this should not worry you.
Layout option for two-room cabins
One of the popular options for using a two-room change house for a summer residence is to make a kitchen and a dining room in one room. Moreover, they make a semi-partition, which nominally encloses the kitchen and living room. Good doors and possibly an insulated partition are needed where the living quarters are separated from the vestibule and the shower and toilet. A little later it will become clear why.
If you plan to use a change house in spring or autumn, and 1-2 people will live, the best layout is if the entrance is not in the middle (the so-called undershirts), but from one of the edges, as in the photo below.
Why is this layout better? This makes it easier to heat the rooms. In spring and autumn, you can not do without heating. In a vest, you can heat only one room with one stove. Keeping the doors open is not the best idea, as the heat will leave, because the vestibule with open doors does not fulfill its purpose. So it turns out that only one of the rooms will be inhabited.
But there are more options:
- in cold weather, use one of the rooms as a refrigerator, pantry, warehouse;
- put two heat sources – one in each of the rooms;
- make a portable vestibule.
The advantages of the layout above are that almost the entire change house can be heated with one stove. Only the bathroom is cold. But a small volume is easier to heat. Before taking a shower, you can briefly turn on a portable heat source that will warm the room. And if you heat water with wood-burning titanium, then it will heat the room.
Change houses with a veranda
It is very convenient if there is a clean covered area in front of the change house – a covered veranda. Here you can work or relax while it is raining, here you can put a table for eating. It’s really very convenient. So it’s better to plan everything at once and make the foundation for the veranda at the same time as the house. The veranda can be attached later, but it will come out more at a cost. The foundation will be separate, unconnected, it will be necessary to think about how to connect the roof.
It is immediately better to consider the veranda at its full length – from edge to edge on the south or east side. Even better – make it in the form of the letter “G”, covering two adjoining sides. Believe me, there is not much space. By the way, part of the veranda can be sewn up, doors can be installed and used as a pantry / dressing room. The space inside the change house is quite small, it is problematic to find a place to store things. And so you don’t spend space inside, and things / tools are available.
Part of the veranda can then be glazed and the kitchen can be moved here, making a dining room. This is exactly what happens over time. It is really convenient, and, as you settle in your summer cottage, you will gradually increase, add, and complete.
Foundation selection and site preparation
The choice of foundation, of course, depends on the type of soil and the depth of soil freezing in a particular region. But change houses – even garden and country houses – are considered temporary buildings. Let them “temporarily” stand for ten or more years … Therefore, the approach here is not the same as when choosing a foundation for a house. One of the main criteria is low costs. Less is better. From this point of view, we will consider this issue.
Foundation for a house
As already mentioned, change houses are even on tires and stacked on top of each other building blocks or columns of bricks. They really stand, because they have a small mass, and, due to the mobility of the frame structure, they withstand a slight skew (sometimes they can withstand a noticeable skew). But, if you make a porch (necessarily on an incoherent foundation), be prepared for the fact that every spring you will have to do something – it either lags behind, then rises, then falls (in relation to the house),
If you love “thoroughly and forever”, make a screw or pile foundation right away. For light construction, this is an ideal stable option. It is not suitable only for quicksand or rocky soils. But stones will also go on rocky soils, and with quicksand, the conversation is generally separate – there is only a slab without any options.
Now for the number of supports. A country two-room change house with a toilet and a shower 3 * 6 meters can stand on 4 supports in the corners. For longer ones – 7-8 meters – you also need supports in the middle of the long side. Total – 6 pieces. It does not make sense to put additional ones – the carrying capacity of these is more than enough.
Site Preparation
This step is often forgotten or considered insignificant. In vain. The costs are not so big, but the benefits are obvious. What need to do:
- Remove the entire layer of fertile soil, take it out even to high beds, even put it somewhere for further use.
- Remove plant debris, stones, roots.
- Align, tamp.
- Pour a layer of rubble, tamp.
- Pour a layer of sand, compact.
- Then you can put supports under the change house (tires, building blocks, stones).
Do not skip site preparation.
Why do all this? So that a swamp does not form under the change house and plant and animal remains that are contained in the fertile layer do not begin to rot. The phenomenon is very unpleasant and, after the change house has been set up and settled in, it is difficult to eliminate. It is better to eliminate the opportunity itself than to deal with the consequences.
The second plus of installing a change house on a prepared site is less possibility that it will “lead” during spring heaving. This possibility will not bother you unless you have installed a change house on piles (screw or filler). All other “lite” options are subject to this phenomenon.
Arrangement of change house inside
A very important point is how to finish the change house inside. I want it to be beautiful, practical and inexpensive. It should be said right away that it is difficult to find a suitable option. Some of the requirements usually have to be neglected. Here are the options:
- Upholster inside with a board or clapboard. Beautiful and practical, but, alas, not cheap.
The internal arrangement of the change house – there is no better material than wood - Sheathe with sheet material, paste over with wallpaper on top. Cheap and pretty (maybe), but impractical. Wallpaper quickly gets dirty, you have to re-paste often. And let’s say right away that in a change house, even with the most severe savings, do not use fiberboard as a sheathing. It is unlikely that your change house is constantly heated, and fiberboard leads in waves from moisture, and the material never takes on its original shape. Moisture-resistant plywood is better, albeit not of the best quality. Its defects can be repaired with putty – nothing will be visible under the wallpaper. Another option is moisture-resistant drywall or GVL.
Other options for finishing country or garden change houses are almost never used.