The main mistakes in the construction of chopped wooden houses.
Chopped houses faithfully serve people for more than one millennium. Houses made of solid wood give their owners the incomparable pleasure of living in a comfortable microenvironment. Solid wood has a high heat capacity (2.4 times higher than that of ceramic bricks), which makes it possible to smooth out daily temperature fluctuations. Also, the porous structure of the tree allows you to naturally regulate the humidity in the room due to the cycles of absorption and evaporation of moisture. The frame is relatively resistant to soil and foundation movements. The wooden surface often does not require any additional processing, except for grinding and coating with antiseptics to create beautiful interiors.
However, only correctly cut wooden houses will give comfort to their owners. The construction of a log house requires high carpentry skills at the level of 6th category. Without experience and qualifications, it is almost impossible to cut down a wooden house without mistakes. And mistakes during construction can negate all the advantages of a log house. Houses built with mistakes are easy to recognize: builders or owners have to additionally insulate and sheathe them from the outside and inside to hide defects, eliminate through blowing of locks in the corners and interventional seams. One of the modern options for solid wood houses, practically devoid of the disadvantages of log cabins, are glued beam houses. Thanks to the features of this technology, blowing through the seams and cracking wood in such houses is practically impossible.
In this article, we will briefly touch on the most common mistakes in the construction of log houses.
Mistakes in the choice of material for construction.
According to GOST 9463-88 “Softwood round timber”, pine, spruce, fir and larch round timber is suitable for building houses. Larch is the most expensive material, the hardest and most resistant to decay. Spruce has a lower density, excessive knotting and is prone to more cracking. The optimal tree for building a house is a pine aged from 80 to 120 (140) years old, grown in the northern regions (Arkhangelsk, Angarsk, in Karelia) on dry sandy soil, at least 24 meters high. The best pine logs have a dark red or yellow-red core, indicating a high density of wood. More loose varieties have a pale yellow core. The forest of winter felling, contrary to folk legends, actually has a higher moisture content of sapwood (25-50% higher than in summer), more starch and, therefore, is more easily affected by fungi. It is possible to determine the round timber of winter felling using a qualitative test for starch: a stroke is applied to the debarked wood with an iodine pencil. If the stroke turns blue - in front of you is a tree cut down in winter.
For construction, it is allowed (this does not mean that you must agree to the purchase of such materials) timber with such defects as mushroom blue and colored sap stains (no more than 1/20 - 1/10 of the end diameter), wormholes (no more than 5-10 pieces per 1 running meter), lateral cracks from shrinkage no more than 1/20 -1/5 of the end diameter, trunk curvature no more than 1-2% (1-2 cm per 1 running meter). Logs used for construction must have a run-off value (thinning of the log to the top) of no more than 0.8 cm per 1 m of length.
Rot (sapwood, rotten, sound) and tobacco knots (decayed knots of brown or white color, crumbling under load) are not allowed in round timber.
The minimum diameter of round timber for a residential building is 22-24 cm. The width of the grooves should be at least half the diameter of the log, and in the northern regions it can be increased even more. With a smaller size of the grooves, the consumption of timber decreases, but the thickness of the interventional seams becomes smaller, and the house becomes more “cold”.
The cutting of corners can be carried out without residue "in the paw" or with the remainder - "in the corner". Cutting "into a corner" makes the connections more reliable, and the log house more stable. In addition, the wood allowance better protects the castle from the effects of atmospheric factors. The cutting "in the paw" is usually used for the subsequent sheathing of corners or the entire log house. For residential buildings, the device for connecting logs in the corners must have internal locking elements that exclude the through blowing of the corner (connecting logs “in a bowl” with a barrier or “in a cloud” with a barrier). Due to its geometry (inverted bowl), cutting "in the cloud" allows better removal of moisture and faster drying of the joint. Cutting internal locking elements requires a highly skilled carpenter, such work takes more time and costs more. Otherwise, the corners of the residential building will be protected from blowing only with tow (heat-insulating material). This is one of the main disadvantages of round log houses, where log joints are manufactured industrially without additional internal locking elements.
Moisture content of timber for construction. SP 64.13330.2011 "Wooden structures" allows the use of raw solid wood for the construction of houses with a moisture content of up to 40% under the following conditions: the predicted shrinkage of wood should not violate the structure and compliance of the joints, and the timber itself must be subjected to antiseptic treatment and conditions must be provided for them for drying drying and moisture protection. It is optimal if the log house dries out, installed in place on the foundation and under the roof. Drying period from 6 months to 1 year. If the log house stood at the seller in the feet (separate parts of the log house with 5 crowns, convenient in height for processing) without a roof for 6-12 months, then with a high probability this means that the tree will be affected by rot. It is permissible to purchase log cabins that have stood under the roof.
It is important to understand that the higher the humidity of the timber, the greater the shrinkage of the tree, and the wider the gaps between the crowns, the gaps in the corner joints (especially with cutting defects), the more the tree will crack.
Why don't they cut down houses from dry wood? Dry wood has a greater density and hardness, and is much more difficult to process. The rounded log is subjected to chamber drying upon request after processing. However, kiln-dried wood can warp as the equilibrium moisture builds up on the construction site. They use Finnish and Karelian dry pine of equilibrium moisture in construction, but this is already an exclusive product. In addition, a properly assembled frame made of raw wood, during drying in the assembled state, “sits down” in place, reducing the size of the through slots and, accordingly, the coefficient of blowing through the walls. It is important to know that it is possible to paint (do not mean antiseptic treatment) wood only if its moisture content does not exceed 15%. Otherwise, the wood will crack badly when it dries. Therefore, the processing of log cabins is permissible only with vapor-permeable antiseptics. Treating a damp (damp) log house with a vapor-tight antiseptic will also cause the wood to crack as it dries.
For pins (dowels), only dry (no more than 12%) straight-grained wood without knots should be used. Birch pins must be antiseptic.
Fastening logs to metal elements (reinforcement trimmings, long nails) is not recommended, since moisture accumulates on the media section, and the metal elements become centers of biological destruction of wood. Usually, rebar is used by unscrupulous builders to fasten and "tighten" crooked logs, which then leads to a violation of the normal shrinkage of the log house, the formation of cracks and the bulging of individual logs. It is strictly forbidden to pierce the corner joints of logs with nails, as this will interfere with the movement of the tree during shrinkage, and will contribute to the formation of cracks (nails after shrinkage of the tree will rise above the surfaces).
Types of timber processing for construction.
The most traditional for Russia is round timber. In Scandinavia, a carriage is used (from the Norwegian “lafteverk” - a log cabin) - logs hewn from two opposite sides into two edges, or a semi-carriage - logs hewn to one edge from the inside. The cost of a hewn log can be 35-50% higher than a round log. When processing round timber, builders sometimes leave parts of the bast (podkore) not removed. According to the norms, no more than 20% of the bast can remain on the round timber. However, it is better to remove the bast completely by shaving (planing), as the bast contains many polysaccharides, which are an excellent breeding ground for microorganisms and insects that can damage the wood. Also, when guarding, young layers of sapwood that are less resistant to damage by fungi and insects are removed.
Waterproofing must be laid between the first flashing crown and the foundation. Until now, for some reason, builders use for waterproofing a short-lived material based on cardboard - roofing material, in which through holes and cracks are formed in 7-10 years. For waterproofing, it is necessary to use modern bitumen-polymer materials with a service life of 25-50 years. Of course, the complete absence of waterproofing is also unacceptable. The use of a backing board under the flashing crown reduces heat losses by heat transfer from the frame to the foundation, reduces the risks of biological destruction of the flashing crown. According to the requirements of SP 64.13330.2011 "Wooden structures", such wooden linings (pillows) should be made of preservative wood, mainly hardwood (oak, aspen). If necessary, backing boards can be replaced with new ones. Replacing the crown crown is a much more time-consuming procedure. The lower crowns of the house must be protected from moisture. The greatest harm is caused by rain splashes reflected from the ground and snow rolled against the wall. To protect the logs from splashes and snow, it is recommended to raise the foundation above the planning mark by at least 40-50 cm.
Additional protection factors for the log house include splash-proof visors protruding above the plinth, long roof overhangs (75-120 cm) and equipping the roofs with gutters and pipes.
Orientation of logs when laying. Every tree has a natural curvature due to wind loads during tree growth. When laying logs, they will certainly be laid with the curvature upwards so that the loads from the overlying structures compensate for the bending of the wood. If you do not follow this principle, then the logs will stick out to the sides. Normally, the deviation of the crowns of chopped walls from the horizontal per 1 m of length should not exceed 3 mm.
The size of the interventional gaps should not exceed 1 mm. With the Russian felling system, it is quite difficult to fulfill this condition, since as the tree dries out, the cracks open up. The advantage is the Norwegian felling system with a wedged longitudinal groove and a sliding self-jamming lock, in which, as the tree dries out, the logs shrink relative to each other, reducing the size of the intervents cracks.
In Russia, traditionally, they continue to insulate the interventional gaps of log houses with natural materials such as flax, jute, felt, moss, etc., which are not elastic, are subject to biological destruction, and are a breeding ground for microorganisms and insects. All of these materials require repeated caulking. Meanwhile, in Scandinavia, an elastic self-expanding polyethylene foam tape is used as an interventional sealant, the use of which eliminates the need for repeated caulking.
If possible, you should avoid connecting logs in crowns along the length. Such connections weaken the structure of the log house, and the walls of the log house can be deformed. The logs used in the construction should be as solid as possible. And it is definitely not worth making connections at the intersections of the walls, where load concentrations occur.
Shrinkage and swelling of wood along the fibers are manifested to a greater extent than across the fibers. Therefore, all vertical racks and columns must be equipped with shrinkage compensator platforms, which are tightened to the required shrinkage value, which can last up to 6-8 or more years. Perhaps a more aesthetic option is to install expansion joints at the bottom of the columns, where they are less visible.
It is not recommended to cut openings for windows and doors in the frame before the end of the first active period of wood drying (6-12 months). During the same period, you should not hem the floor, ceiling and sheathe the walls, as this will interfere with normal ventilation and drying of the wood.
Particular attention should be paid to the ventilation of the underground space when installing wooden floors. The minimum cross-sectional area of one vent should be at least 0.05 m 2, and the total area of the vents should be at least 1/400 of the underground area. It should be noted that this design of floors is already archaic. In the world, floors are mainly used on the ground, which allow you to use geothermal, avoid problems with humidity in the underground space and the flow of radioactive soil gases into the house.
3. Mistakes in finishing a log house.
When arranging window and door openings, we should remember that the minimum distance between the openings is 90 cm. The walls must be reinforced with dowels. For installation in log houses, it is better to use windows and doors with frames at least 10 cm wide, which does not allow the window and door block to be deformed during the secondary caulking of the house.
The fastening of the bars for the frames of doors and windows should be sliding - without the use of nails, since the shrinkage of a wooden house can last quite a long time. Above windows and doors, compensation gaps are left under the top log for shrinkage of 5-8% of the opening height.
It is better to use self-expanding elastic sealing tapes for sealing window and door frames. Ordinary polyurethane foam can deform window frames when expanding, and form cracks when wood shrinks. If it is used, then after hardening it should be covered from the outside from exposure to the sun and moisture with a waterproofing vapor-permeable self-adhesive butyl rubber tape. From the inside, the foam must be covered with a vapor barrier tape. Unprotected foam quickly breaks down, as in the house in the photo below.Finishing the interventional seams of the assembled log house after the end of the first stage of intensive drying (12-24 months) with glazing beads or a rope is only decorative, contributing to the waste of money and time, but not protecting the walls from blowing. Modern elastic and vapor-permeable interventional sealants (for example, from the domestic manufacturer SAZI) make it possible to protect interventional cracks from blowing through and create an aesthetic appearance of the walls.
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External insulation of a wooden house. Most often, external insulation has to be resorted to when construction defects are detected, such as through blowing through walls. The main and most critical mistake is the external insulation of a wooden house with vapor-tight heaters (polystyrene foam, polyethylene foam). In this case, the tree is deprived of the opportunity to dry out, it is moistened, which increases its thermal conductivity and accelerates biological destruction. In clause 8.8 of SP 23-101-2004 "Design of thermal protection of buildings" it is prescribed to arrange the layers of multilayer walls in such a way that the vapor permeability of materials from the inside to the outside of the heated house increases, and does not decrease.
Aesthetics of a wooden house. Often, lovers of wooden houses, where all the elements of the interior, such as walls, floors, ceilings, beams, railings, furniture are made of wood, find that they, perhaps, went a little too far with the number of wooden surfaces that create the feeling of living in a “wooden box”. To the rescue comes the change of furniture and the painting of the walls. However, it is wiser to plan contrasting surfaces in the house at the design stage. These can be floors, ceilings, countertop surfaces in the kitchen, steel elements of stairs and railings, decorative walls made of natural or artificial stone.
Despite the variety of modern building materials, wooden buildings do not lose their popularity. A log house is a wooden structure made of several crowns of timber or logs, which are fastened together in the form of a quadrangle without a roof and flooring. Gorodnya, tumbler, quadruple, five-wall, six, octagon, “in the oblo”, “in the bowl”, “in the paw”, “in the dovetail” - what kind of log cabins are there! This is a kind of blank, the frame of your future wooden house. In Russia, craftsmen managed to make log cabins, connecting logs together without a single nail.
When the house is "assembled", you can proceed to one of the most important stages of finishing - grinding. Logs with the remains of bark, from which the log house is assembled, look unattractive, besides, they are subject to decay and the influence of bark beetles.
Why sanding?
The tool for polishing a log house should have sufficient power, but at the same time not be heavy. The optimal solution is a parquet-sanding belt machine with built-in bags for collecting sawdust and dust. Unfortunately, if the house is assembled from a semicircular log, such an apparatus will not cope with grinding. When processing grooves and end sections to help the owner - an angle grinder, popularly known as a grinder. Grinding is carried out using nozzles of different grain sizes. Fine abrasive and coarse grinding wheels are used alternately to obtain a perfectly flat surface.
Stages of polishing a log house:
Before choosing a tool, you need to decide on the time of grinding work. Grinding precedes all other finishing work: it is carried out before applying antiseptics, flame retardants, impregnations and paints and varnishes.
According to the rules, it is made a year after the construction of the structure. During this time, the process of shrinkage occurs - a natural decrease in the volume of the log due to the drying of the wood and the achievement of a moisture balance between the wood fibers and the environment. During the year, under the influence of atmospheric phenomena, the log house darkens, and grinding is a necessary stage in its processing before further finishing.
Grinding work on the log house is carried out only after the wood has completely dried. Wet wood will not allow sanding to make the surface perfectly smooth: the fibers will rise and be torn off unevenly by the machine.
It is better to grind a log house in warm, dry weather. The optimal time is the end of spring and summer. The abundance of sunlight and high temperature with minimal humidity help the logs to dry out before sanding. If the time has come for prolonged rains, and the log house has not been polished, and, of course, it has no opportunity to dry, it is worth covering the logs with polyethylene or other covering films (for example, roofing felt) and wait until the dry weather settles. As we wrote above, moisture interferes with the operation of the grinder, the fibers swell and rise. Hired workers can insist on working at any time of the year and in any weather, as they are driven by the time limit. However, remember: after grinding, they will leave, and you will live in the house and admire the consequences of grinding. True professionals will definitely warn you about the disadvantages of sanding in wet weather and will not start the process even to the detriment of their time.
Interestingly, the optimal time for assembling a log house is winter, and grinding work is recommended to be carried out a year after construction - it turns out that also in winter. But above we wrote that the most successful time is the summer period. In addition, after grinding, it is necessary to treat the surface with antiseptics, which work only at positive temperatures. So what if there is no opportunity to postpone grinding until warmer times?
In winter, the moisture concentrated in the upper layers freezes, forming an ice crust. Ice does not allow deep antiseptic, which is applied after grinding. Therefore, all protective impregnations lose their effectiveness. In addition, wood fibers expand, deform and form cracks. On the other hand, in winter, all natural processes slow down, mold and fungus cease to pose a particular danger to wood, so antiseptic treatment can be postponed until spring. But there is another problem: a polished log house without applying protective impregnations, albeit with a weak, but still significant effect of UV rays, can turn yellow, which will lead to the need for re-grinding the log house in the spring.
So, if there is no way out and you have to start grinding in the winter, you should follow a special technology. It is extremely difficult to polish a log house on your own in winter, moreover, even the most savvy amateur is not immune from mistakes that will eventually bring all the work to naught. It is better to entrust winter grinding to specialists.
At negative temperatures, grinding in the open air is prohibited, therefore, a kind of sarcophagus is being built around the building - scaffolding installed around the perimeter, covered with polyethylene or other covering material. However, the problem of the ice crust on the surface of the wood is still relevant, so hot air is blown into the sarcophagus with the help of heat guns until the desired temperature is reached. Only after these procedures is polished with professional equipment.
Concerning sanding a log house in rainy weather, it is better to avoid dampness in the process of processing wood. Wet fibers swell and rise, being unevenly cut off by a grinder. In the event of the inevitability of grinding in the rain, the same technology is followed as during winter work: the preliminary construction of a thermal sarcophagus.
Important! Do not leave a sanded surface unfinished. It is recommended to observe a time interval of no more than 48 hours between grinding and applying a primer and antiseptics, otherwise the log house will require re-treatment.
Sanding is a time-consuming and responsible process, however, ignoring it now, you will lose much more time and money in the future, trying to restore a once beautiful wooden building that has darkened due to untimely processing.
-> Log house with your own hands -> Processing the walls of the log houseActually, at first I didn't want to write this chapter. Because the conclusions that follow will disappoint many. However, these conclusions are based on the traditions of Russian wooden architecture and the experience of many generations of carpenters.
If a log cabin is cut from solid logs, it does not need varnish, paint, or any other coating. Moreover,
any coating prevents the natural air-moisture exchange of the log, which means it worsens its performance properties, promotes the development of rot, mold, and other diseases, and thereby significantly reduces the service life!
Our ancestors knew this very well and NEVER covered logs in wooden buildings!
RULE NINE: Log walls made of solid logs do not need to be coated with any compounds!
Sometimes you can hear that our ancestors did not cover log cabins because they were poor, beggars, and there were no such materials then!
They were neither poor nor beggars. And there were no less paintwork materials than now, moreover, they were natural, the quality was an order of magnitude higher than modern ones. It's just that over the millennia of wooden architecture, people have become convinced of the detrimental effect of any coating on log walls.
That is why in Russia various carved things were common there - they not only decorated log buildings, but also distracted the eye from the black walls.
Well, the one who was a complete and incorrigible aesthete upholstered his house with boards (lining) and painted these boards. For example, in Belarus, 90% of wooden houses are decorated in this way.
Residents of the Scandinavian countries covered the log cabins with the so-called Swedish or Finnish compositions, which are time-tested, and through which the logs really breathe. You can easily find the composition and method of preparation in Runet. I covered a wooden fence with a Finnish composition and I can’t say that it pleases my eye. You can experiment with the color of the composition and painting technology, however, I will say right away that the service life of this paint is no more than five years, which is clearly not enough for outdoor coatings.
If you have a chopped bath, then I would not advise at all to cover its walls with anything, regardless of what it is made of: solid logs or rounded logs or any kind of timber.
The composition of any coatings for wood includes components against insects, rotting, mold and fungus: in plain language - pesticides, as well as fire-fighting components - flame retardants. The log house breathes, and through the interventional sealant, these substances easily penetrate into the building. Then, through the cleansed skin pores, they will safely go straight into your bloodstream, bypassing the protective filters of the body. And the blood will deliver all these charms to the tissues of the body, to the brain, to the internal organs ... Therefore, no matter how sellers of varnishes and paints praise their products, you will have to choose between the external beauty of the bath and your own health.
Sometimes you can hear such a question: “What to do if mold appears in a newly built log house?”
Mold in a new log house can only appear if it was built from undried logs. One of the main conditions for the appearance of rot and mold is the increased moisture content of wood (more than 19%). Therefore, the only cure in this case is intensive drying. Drafts, fan heaters, stoves... Surface antiseptic treatment is ineffective, as decay processes take place inside the logs. In addition, the main reason (high humidity) remains.
If you have a log house, then in the living room there are completely different temperature and humidity conditions, so any kind of finish, varnishes, paints will no longer act as detrimentally as in a bath.
And, although I am against any log wall covering, I will give you some tips that I hope will reduce the negative effects of this procedure.
If the log house of your house is assembled from dried material, then you can cover it from the outside immediately after assembly.
If a log house was cut from a damp forest, then it will be possible to cover it no earlier than in two years.
After removing the darkened outer layer, the outer walls of the house can be covered.
Regarding the brand of composition, based on the experience of my friends, I will say the following: high-quality, “breathing” compositions are very expensive, but there is no alternative to them. Purchase compositions of well-established foreign manufacturers. Before buying, try to find those who have already used these compounds to cover their walls. Because the vast majority of relatively cheap coatings are “housewarming paints”, since their real service life is no more than three to five years.
If you covered the logs from the outside, then you cannot cover them with varnishes and paints from the inside! The log must “breathe” on at least one side.
Quite often, one has to deal with an unacceptable action in relation to solid logs, which modern builders deliberately perform - an outer layer is removed with an electric jointer or a cutter-nozzle on a chainsaw.
This is done with only one purpose: to please the eye of the customer with the whiteness of freshly planed wood, however, at the same time, normal healthy logs are crippled, as the wood fibers are cut and opened.
On the surface of the log there are loose inner layers, which are less resistant to environmental influences.
Moreover, if the material is not dried for at least a year, due to the increased drying rate of the upper layer, increased cracking will occur on the surface of such logs. Cracks a few centimeters thick are found only in logs treated in this way, in rounded logs and profiled timber.
If such logs are covered with something else, then this will only aggravate the situation, since the release of moisture into the atmosphere by the logs will slow down significantly. And wood moisture content of more than 19%, as I said, is the main prerequisite for the development of various diseases.
The service life of a covered log house is several times less than that of an uncovered one!
The way the world works is that you have to pay for everything! But for some reason, very often, the price for external beauty is our health!
Well, such a feature of the tree: it turns black over time! But after all, we don’t paint (at least not yet) our skin to look more beautiful, and we don’t cut off our fingers so that they are all the same length ...
Regardless of whether you yourself will put up a log house or hire people, you should know the basic nuances and features. The assembly of a log house from logs and timber is slightly different, but the main differences are in the connection of the corners. All other technology and features remain the same.
Log cabins are made from logs and timber, only timber and logs are different. All of them have advantages and disadvantages, and about them - below.
The logs are hand processed - the bark is removed from them manually (with an ax, planer, other hand tool), the shape is not corrected. So they remain on one side of a larger diameter, on the other - a smaller one. When laying on the wall, the logs are unfolded so that thick and thin butts alternate. The assembly of a log cabin from such a log is exclusively manual piecework. Each bowl is drawn on the spot, it is adjusted to fit the log laid from below. The process is lengthy - put in place, draw a notch and bowls, roll back, make a groove for the entire length of the log, cut out the bowls, “plant” in place, if necessary, earn a groove and / or bowls (roll back and fix again, if necessary). For a long time…
A hand-cut log (chopped) is not ideal, but that's what makes it attractive
Calibrated or rounded logs are processed on a special machine. From it they come out the same in all lengths. They make them standard - a certain diameter. Immediately at the enterprise, a longitudinal recess and a deformation groove are formed in the log (longitudinal cut, which reduces cracking during shrinkage). Also, a bowl can be cut at the enterprise. With this approach, all that remains then is to assemble the log house as a constructor. Baths from rounded logs are assembled quickly. But not everyone loves them: they have their drawbacks.
A rounded log has the same diameter
When processing a log on a rounding machine, most of the popular wood is removed, the most dense and durable layer. As a result, rounded logs are more susceptible to fungus, insects and diseases. All this is “cured” by appropriate processing and good drying. However, for some this factor is important.
Regardless of the type of log, the assembly of the log house is carried out on a compactor. This is moss, jute, lnovatin. They can be in the form of fibers - tow, but it is more convenient to work with felt cut in the form of a ribbon. The insulation is laid on top of the log, usually fixed with staples from a construction stapler. Carefully line the bowl, also fixing the strips. The crown laid on top presses the insulation and it closes possible gaps. It is impossible to achieve perfect filling right away, the remaining gaps will be filled later, when the log cabin is caulked.
A seal in a log cabin is required Collect log cabins and from a bar. It has a more regular shape - its edges are even or relatively even, which facilitates finishing work. The beam is of three types:
As you can see, there is no perfect material. You need to choose by weighing all the pros and cons, take into account the price not only for the material itself, but also for the cost of its installation, take into account the complexity of the finish. So planed timber is the cheapest option. But if you plan to leave the walls without sheathing, putting them in order - leveling, grinding - is long and difficult on your own, and with the participation of hired workers - expensive.
A little about the price of a cube of building materials and the thickness of the walls. If you look at the price per cube, then the log is much cheaper. But a log cabin requires much more building material in cubic capacity: it has a rounded shape and, in fact, the thickness of the walls is much less than the diameter. And if you take a bar with a section of 200 * 200 mm, then your wall will be exactly 200 mm. So in reality the difference in the cost of building materials is not so big.
Wall thickness depending on the log diameter (rounded)
The second point is the qualification of cutters and, of course, payment for their work. If assembling a log house with your own hands is not included in your plans, then you will pay more for the services of cutting bowls and assembling walls from logs. The assembly of hand-cut logs is especially expensive. As mentioned above, each bowl is drawn and chopped "in place", and this requires high qualifications and takes a lot of time. Thickets of timber are cut according to a pattern - it is cut out of plywood, outlined and cut out, and most often with a chainsaw. Here qualifications, of course, are also needed, but they are much lower.
There is another option - to order a finished log house at a woodworking enterprise. You give them a project, they bring you a "constructor" with ready-made bowls. Each element is numbered, they only need to be added according to a given scheme. Only one caveat: if you or the team you hired started assembling the log house, and you see that the elements of the “constructor” do not sit down, more gaps remain, check yourself again. Do not start adjusting the bowls (especially if there is a large discrepancy). Most likely you have incorrectly laid logs / timber. If there is any scheme, double-check again, or call the company where you ordered the log house. Let me tell you everything again. Usually such a discrepancy is precisely the wrong installation of crowns, and not unscrupulous manufacturers.
Large gaps - most likely the result of an error when laying the crowns
Cutting bowls of logs, ways to connect logs and beams in the corners, adjoining walls are described here.
Logs or beams are not just stacked one on top of the other, they are fastened together. Can't be done without fasteners. In the process of drying, both logs and timber “twist”. Installed fasteners hold them in place, preventing them from turning around too much. If there are no fasteners, the crowns fall out in or out - depending on the direction of the prevailing forces. Most often this is observed on the gables, in the walls, where there are windows, doors.
Loose crowns fall out
Fasteners can be metal or wood. It is easier, of course, with metal ones - they do not need to be harvested and it is more customary to work with them. But the metal does not change in size, and the wood dries out. As a result, the log house does not shrink during shrinkage, but “hangs” on studs. This leads to the formation of large gaps between the crowns. So metal studs are acceptable only when assembling a log house from glued laminated timber: it does not dry out. Nails can't be used at all. They are not for cutting.
It is also not recommended to use pieces of reinforcement, spring knots, and in general, any metal. Wood conducts steam, and it will condense on metal with all the ensuing consequences (rapid oxidation and destruction of metal, and wood “hangs” very well on rusty metal, another disease is the reproduction of fungi in a humid environment). So if you decide to assemble a wooden frame, it is assembled on wooden fasteners.
Dowels and dowels are made of wood. Nagels are long thin bars of round, triangular or square section. More often they use round ones, holes of a slightly smaller diameter are drilled under them (1-2 mm less than the diameter of the dowel), into which the bars are hammered. For triangular or square, it is necessary to select a larger drill diameter, and it will be very difficult to drill them.
Nagels
The length of the dowel is calculated depending on the cross section of the beam: the height of the three crowns is multiplied by 0.8. If you have a beam of 200 * 200 mm, then three rows are 600 mm, after multiplication we get 600 mm * 0.8 = 480 mm. This length should be dowels.
The most popular dowel diameter/section is 25 mm or 30 mm. They are made from hardwoods - birch or oak. Spruce perfectly resists torsion forces, so spruce can also be used. If you follow the norms of SNiP, then the dowels should have a moisture content of no higher than 12%, they should not have knots and other shortcomings, they must be treated with antiseptics / fire retardants before use.
Drilling must be strictly vertical
They put the dowel stepping back from the edge of the log / beam 200-600 mm, and then every 1.5-2 meters in a checkerboard pattern. They are placed strictly vertically, in the middle of the log / beam. So that when the wood shrinks, the crowns do not hang on the fasteners, the holes for them are drilled 2-3 cm deeper. To make it easier to track the depth of the hole, a strip of masking tape or bright electrical tape is wound around the drill. They are guided by them. Then, even with a significant decrease in the size of the frame, it will sit evenly.
Assembling a log house on a dowel - installation diagram
When driving dowels, it is important to control efforts and hit strictly from above: so that the wood does not crack. To “enter” the holes, they are easier, they are dipped in oil (you can work out).
When assembling a log house from a bar or log, the technology of work is as follows:
Now a little on the prices of pins. They are usually sold by the piece. The price depends on the size and type of wood, but we can definitely say that they are expensive. To save money, people buy rake cuttings (they have the right diameter), cut them into pieces of the right length and use them. Just note that knots and other wood defects must be cut out.
Square dowel
Even cheaper is to buy a board of suitable wood (dry, elite grade without knots and defects) and saw it into bars of the required size. For example, you can buy a 50 * 25 mm board, make 25 * 25 mm bars out of it, cut it into pieces of the required length, slightly sharpen the edges. Apart from the time spent, this approach is the most low-budget.
Assembling a log house for dowels is less popular, as it takes more time. They fasten only two crowns, so there is more work with them.
Assembling a log house for dowels
Under each dowel it is necessary to cut holes in the upper and lower logs. Install the prepared fastening bars, then carefully “put on” the upper crown from above. The work is precise, long and hard.
What does a dowel look like in a cut
Two layers of waterproofing are laid on the foundation. It may be an ordinary roofing material, but in its modern version it is very unreliable, it breaks after a few years. For waterproofing a log house, it is better to use a more modern version of something like Hydroisol. In areas with a high water level or with a large amount of precipitation, it is advisable to make a combined waterproofing: first coat the foundation with bituminous mastic, stick a waterproofing layer on it. For reliability - it is possible in two layers (the second one is also on bituminous mastic).
Waterproofing example
Before laying logs or timber, they must be treated with antiseptics and flame retardants. But the fact is that if you later plan to grind a log house, it is better not to process it: treated wood requires many times more effort when grinding. On the other hand, there are parts that will not be available after the assembly of the log house. If they are not treated before the wood has dried out, fungi may start or it will darken. Darkening is not terrible, it can be bleached, but fungi are already worse. Especially for the log cabin of the bath, where periodically there will be high humidity. The way out then is to coat with impregnation only those parts that turn out to be closed, and impregnate free surfaces after grinding.
After the logs/beams are impregnated and dried, the actual assembly of the frame begins. The first crown is laid on the waterproofing, its geometry is checked - the diagonals are measured, the corners are checked. Then it is attached to the foundation with previously laid studs. If there are no studs, holes are drilled and anchor bolts are installed (holes are drilled under the caps so that they are recessed). Next - technology. If you collect on dowels, then install them through two rows.
Anchors must be hammered to a depth not less than the height of the beam / log
The first crowns are laid by hand without any problems. With the climb, it becomes more and more difficult to lift the logs. The problem is solved simply: two inclined beams are placed. Two slings are nailed from the inside to the lower crowns of the log house, thrown over the wall. They are threaded under the log / beam, which must be lifted, and stretch upward along the inclined bars (see photo).
So they raise logs or timber to the log house
They put a log house with solid walls - without windows and doors. They are cut out after the walls are completely driven out and the roof is installed. If the log house remains to winter without a roof, you can not cut out the windows / doors: there will be enough ventilation anyway. But if the log house was brought under the roof, then window and door openings are necessary for normal drying.
Before they are cut out, the frame is fastened (the fixing burs is nailed, which keeps the crowns stationary). After the opening is cut out, a pigtail is installed (a beam that holds the opening, and to which the door or window frame is then attached). The beam is held in the groove only due to the force of friction; it is not fixed by anything else. So the logs / beams remain in place and the log house can sit down.
They cut out / cut out a groove into which the timber is driven. It is no longer held on by anything - no nails, screws
If you cut openings, be sure to install a pigtail. At least in such a variant as in the photo above - a bar driven into a groove. Just pay attention once again: it is not attached to anything. It is held only by friction. That is, it is simply hammered into the groove. If you leave the openings loose, the logs/beams will most likely go in different directions and you will become the owners of walls like in the photo below. It is possible to align them, but it is long and difficult.
What will happen if you do not put a pigtail for the winter
At the same time, the doors and windows themselves are not installed: a draft is needed. If you want to prevent visits, tighten the doors with a mesh, a membrane, clog the openings with boards crosswise, but the air must pass.
After the walls are driven out, the assembly of the roof truss system begins. The upper crown is used as a Mauerlat. If necessary, holes are cut in it for the installation of rafter legs. Roofing material can not be mounted. For the winter, you can leave the rafters with a crate, covered with a windproof membrane. It is only necessary to fasten the membrane according to all the rules: start from the bottom, move up, lay the canvases overlapping one on top of the other, with gluing the joints with double-sided tape. Fasten with staples with a wide back from a powerful stapler.
The cabin is ready for winter
While the assembled frame is standing on the site, undergoing shrinkage, it is necessary to plan further actions and the sequence of work. So that the house or bathhouse lasts for a long time, providing its owners with the advantages that make them choose a tree for construction. The material is alive. Able to both please, and because of a bad attitude, upset.
Any log house on the finished foundation is assembled immediately under the roof, so that the walls and ends are less wet. Then it is left for a period of reducing the natural humidity of the outer walls to an acceptable level for further action. During this period, nothing can be done with the log house. You can, of course, but then you have to repeat the grinding and antiseptic treatment with a permanent composition. On a wet log, in the first case, the pile will twitch, in the second, the antiseptic will not really saturate anything. During shrinkage (shrinkage), the log house must necessarily be freely ventilated inside.
Reducing the humidity of the walls outside to 24% (on the north side) serves as a call to action. The log house during the passage of the initial (most noticeable) shrinkage, most likely darkened a little, atmospheric precipitation spoiled the street ends. All these points must be eliminated before antiseptic treatment. It will be useful to trim the frame and sand the log before applying the antiseptic. The walls become smooth and beautiful, the color of the wood is evened out, the absorption of moisture is reduced, and the consumption of paint is reduced. It may be premature to sand the inside of the house if the humidity of the solid wood there is still high. The inner corners dry out last.
After grinding, the log house should immediately be coated with a good protective compound. It is necessary to paint at an air temperature above + 7C °. In sunny weather, the composition will dry faster. In cloudy days, the log will saturate deeper. The log house is antiseptic for at least 2 layers with an interval. The protective composition should be tinted to give a darker color (protection from ultraviolet radiation). Dry lumber truss system? It is possible to hem the eaves and gable overhangs (overlaps) that were previously open for ventilation. Having processed the filing board with an antiseptic. The color of roof overhangs is often chosen to be similar to the color of windows and doors. Now nothing interferes with the installation of the drainage system.
False boxes are mounted in window and door openings. They are a prerequisite for the installation of non-shrink elements (windows and doors). Strengthen the openings so that the ends of the logs that form them do not take away. The board and bar for openings are also treated with a protective compound. Varnish for outdoor work, so that birds are not interested in insulation, it is useful to process jute after caulking. It will be necessary to carefully caulk the log house at the same time, from the street and inside. Caulking is subject to: walls, pediments, corners, a vertical line at the exit of the corner from the wall, a gap between the lining board and the mortgage crown.
In parallel with the work described above, it is possible to lay engineering communications. Decide what is acceptable for the cost of burying: use a septic tank or overflow filter rings. Put up gates and fences. Then proceed to the beautification of the territory. You can hide the wiring in a wooden house. Finish the basement of the foundation when all communications are brought into the house. Put a gazebo with a barbecue on the street, put a fireplace in the house. Or a Russian stove. Next up is the interior work. It is better to lay the final floor with the latest, otherwise you will have to grind the expensive floorboard that lost its original appearance during construction.
The hand-cut log house is good for its durability and natural beauty. To order a suitable house, bring it to mind over time, really for any working person. After 1.5-2 years from the start of felling the log house, it will be possible to close the door behind the guests who came to the housewarming party. A log house always comes out unique. From rounded logs, twin houses are obtained. Buying a rounding machine, reading the instructions and hiring workers is much easier than having experienced teams of carpenters in the state and delving into the nuances of wooden housing construction.
