Despite the emergence of new, more modern materials, wooden log houses of wells have still not lost their popularity. This is explained primarily by the availability of round timber, timber and boards, as well as the relative simplicity of their processing. Everything else also looks like "antique" wooden wells in suburban areas are much more spectacular, for example, made of the same concrete or plastic rings.
Lumber selection
Most often, log houses of wooden wells are made of:
- bog oak;
- hornbeam;
- larch trees.
Sometimes lumber and other species are used for this purpose.
Bog oak
The owners of suburban areas, who decided to equip a chopped wooden well, should first decide on the type of log. The most suitable material for facing the walls of mines is bog oak. Log houses made from such a round timber can last several decades in the underwater part, and up to 25 years on the surface.
They make stained oak from ordinary oak using a fairly simple technology. For this, the logs are placed in running water for at least 1-2 years. But, of course, most owners of suburban areas are unlikely to agree to conduct such lengthy preparation of material for logging. Therefore, bog oak for lining wells is usually just bought.
Hornbeam and Larch
Of course, bog oak can be the best solution for assembling a log house. But such material is, unfortunately, very expensive. In certain cases, its price can reach up to 8-10 thousand dollars per cubic meter. Therefore, it is worth choosing it only to people who are not too financially constrained.
You can, of course, make a wooden well out of ordinary oak. But most summer residents do not advise using such material for the assembly of the log house. A round of plain oak is not too expensive (up to 12 thousand rubles per cubic meter in 2016). However, such logs differ in that they give the water a slightly bitter taste and color it brown. Therefore, if there is no possibility to buy a bog oak, it is better to use some other breed material for facing the mine.
A good option is, for example, the construction of wooden wells with a log house from a hornbeam. A tree of this breed is a little cheaper than oak and at the same time is similar to it in many ways. The advantages of the material include primarily abrasion resistance, hardness and impact strength. But, unfortunately, the hornbeam also has certain disadvantages. First of all, this is some tendency to get wet.
A slightly more expensive larch of such a minus is deprived. This material is not at all afraid of moisture. At the same time, larch, like hornbeam, does not release absolutely no harmful substances into the water. There is a cubic meter of round timber of this breed about 5500 rubles. If desired, stained larch can also be used for lining the well. The price of such a log usually does not exceed 10 thousand rubles per 1 m 3 .
Other wood species
In addition to larch, hornbeam and oak for the assembly of a log house, you can use:
Very often, in order to save money, the owners of suburban areas make the underwater part of the log house from more expensive wood, and the surface part from cheap. To assemble the above-ground walls of the well, for example, lime. A good solution would also be to use cheap pine. A cubic meter of round timber of this material costs only about 2.5 thousand rubles.
Sometimes birch or spruce are also used to build log cabins. Wells from such lumber are very cheap, but, unfortunately, have a short life. A birch can last no more than 10 years in the underwater part and no more than 5 in the surface part. Spruce is a little more durable, but it also dries, crackes and rots very quickly. In addition, due to the large number of resins impregnating such wood, it can be used only for the erection of the surface part of the walls of the log house.
General material requirements
A round log with a diameter of 150-200 mm is best suited for the assembly of well log cabins. Such logs need to be cut into segments, the length of which depends on the size of the future well (usually 1x1, 1.5x1.5 or 2x2 m). Further prepared in this way blanks are sanded and laid for storage under a canopy. In the sun, you can’t keep logs intended for logging. Otherwise, they will crack very quickly. The manufacture of wooden wells from such spoiled material is not allowed.
Before assembling the logs, they should be carefully treated with a jointer or an electric planer so that they do not have chips, burrs and roughness.
What materials can be used yet
Log cabins, provided that the assembly technology is strictly observed, are durable and of high quality. Therefore, it is in this way that wooden wells are most often made with their own hands. The photo, located just below, demonstrates the reliability and beautiful appearance of log structures. However, unfortunately, the round is not even very noble wood species is relatively expensive. Therefore, sometimes, owners of suburban areas use other, more economical materials to assemble a log house. It can be, for example, a bar or even just a thick edged board. The rules for choosing a tree species in this case should be followed the same as when buying a log.
Assembly methods
How to make a wooden well with your own hands correctly? There are two ways to mount a log house in a mine:
- from the bottom;
- building on top as you dive.
Below we consider the features of these technologies in detail. But first, let's figure out how well log houses themselves can be collected.
Installation technology
The answer to the question of how to make a wooden well with your own hands depends primarily on what kind of material will be chosen for it. If this is a log, the corners of the walls are connected using the “paw” method. When using a beam, the half-tree assembly method is used. Edged thick boards are simply attached to the frame. The latter is made of timber, the thickness of which depends on the size of the well (usually 100x100 mm).
How to connect a log
First, let's find out how wooden wells are made of this material. Log cabins are collected according to a relatively simple technologically, but rather laborious method. From a material with a diameter, for example, 160 mm, the walls of the well are mounted as follows:
- At the end of the log on both sides edges are edged with a length of 1.5-2 of its diameter.
- A trapezoidal protrusion, called a paw (113 mm), is cut down. The length of its inner short side should be 28 mm, long - 57 cm, external - 57 and 85 mm, respectively.
It is most convenient to cut logs when assembling the log house by the "in the paw" method using a template previously cut from cardboard. Actually, the wood processing itself should be carried out using a gasoline or electric saw. Logs with fastening "in the paw" should be tapped. In this case, the finished log house will turn out to be as dense and of high quality.
How to connect a bar
The assembly of the log house from this material is done using wooden pins. Previously, the upper half is removed at the end of one bar, and the lower half at the end of the second. After two crowns are laid, they begin to unite. To do this, holes are drilled around the entire perimeter of the log house (through the upper beam, through to the half in the lower beam) and hammered into them. The length of the latter should be such that a third crown could be laid on top of them. Holes (up to half the thickness) are also drilled in it under the pins. According to this technique, the assembly of the log house is continued to the desired height.
How to finish a well with a board
When using material of this variety for cladding the walls of a mine, the frame is first assembled in the form of a parallelepiped of timber. Its length should be such that, when installed at the bottom of the well, it protrudes 40-50 cm above the ground. The frame should be slightly narrower along the perimeter of the shaft. After plating the board on four sides, the resulting structure is simply lowered into the dug hole. The result is a fairly reliable and durable wooden well. At the final stage, fill the ground with free space between the walls of the pit and the casing.
Installation from the bottom of the shaft
Putting lightweight cladding from the boards on the frame into the pit is thus easy. But with a log from a bar or log to do a similar operation, of course, is unlikely to succeed. Therefore, in this case they act differently. If the shaft depth does not exceed 6 m, its walls do not crumble, and the water does not arrive too quickly, you can assemble the log house according to the method from the bottom. To do this, the base frame is previously knocked down in the pit or lodges (logs split in half) are laid. Further, according to the technologies described above, the actual block or log cabin itself is assembled. Incoming water can be pumped out for convenience of work.
Building a log house on top
A wooden well with their own hands is often made according to this technique. This method is used for wells with a depth of 8 to 9 m. The work in this case is carried out in several stages:
- digging a mine with a depth of 1.5 m;
- a log house is going in it from the bottom up so that the upper crown is at a height of about half a meter above the surface of the earth;
- in the middle under each wall of the log house, a soil is dug to a depth of 20-25 cm;
- all walls are supported by wedge lining;
- soil is selected at the corners of the log house;
- wedges are released;
- the log house is evenly deposited on the bottom of the pit;
- the next crowns gather and undermining is again done.
Thus, work is carried out to the required depth of the shaft. Sometimes it happens that the log house in the pit gets stuck. In this case, you need to try to besiege it with blows to the upper rim. If this does not help, you should arrange on the upper rim a deck of logs and boards and lay on it a very heavy load (weighing up to several tons).
How to equip a well
In order for the water in the mine to be clean, after assembling the log house or installing the shield paneling, its bottom should be covered with a layer of gravel, crushed stone or washed river sand with a thickness of 20-25 cm. If necessary, the seams between the log crowns are wiped with clay. But this operation is not mandatory. You can just leave it as it is. After all, water enters the mine not only through the bottom, but also through the walls.
Of course, a wooden well should definitely be equipped with a roof. In addition, it is worth installing a lifting gate above the log house.
How to make a roof
The canopy for the mine can be made using various technologies. Very beautiful wooden wells are obtained, for example, when mounting small gable roofs over the log houses, sheathed with the same material as the roof of the house. Similar designs are assembled in a few steps:
- On two bars (it is best to take material 3 m long), the attachment points of the lifting gate are marked;
- Racks are treated with an antiseptic. At the same time, their ends, which will subsequently be buried in the ground, are impregnated with bitumen mastic.
- In the immediate vicinity of two opposite sides of the well log house, pits are excavated under the boards with a depth of about 70 cm.
- Sand is poured into the grooves prepared in this way.
- Next, the racks are installed in pits and concreted.
A few hours after the solution has set, the racks are connected by a jumper at a distance of about 50 cm from the top edge. Further work is performed as follows:
- On both sides of the resulting structure, outside, at the same level, longitudinal roof rails are packed. In order to keep them tighter, they should be supported by jibs (from the posts to the outer edges).
- The longitudinal rails are connected to each other by a beam so that a rectangle is formed around the racks.
- Connect the upper ends of the racks with a bar.
- Fill on the resulting ridge and beam of the rectangle with two or three rafters on each side.
- Mount the crate from boards or bars.
- Sheathe the roof with the selected roofing material.
How to make a lifting gate
Using a similar design, wooden wells are very convenient to operate. The photo of the log house equipped with a gate, presented to the reader’s attention below, clearly shows the convenience of such a structure. They make such a simple device as a collar, usually from a piece of an even log of small cross section. On both ends of such a deck, you need to choose a recess of small diameter. Next, two circles with a diameter equal to the cross-section of the log and two strips 5 cm wide should be cut out of the sheet of tin. The edges of the log should be wrapped last. In metal circles in the center, drill holes with a diameter slightly larger than those selected in the deck. Then they need to be fixed on the ends of the log with nails. The fasteners should be arranged in a circle with an indent of 1.5 cm from the edge of the deck.
Then a hole is made in one of the racks. A metal rod is passed through it. Then one edge of the deck is put on it. The diameter of the rod should be slightly larger than the diameter of the hole selected at the end of the log. It is necessary to hammer it with effort, so that the deck does not subsequently come off. The second rod should be bent in the form of a handle and hammered into a log through the second rack in exactly the same way.
At the final stage, closer to the edge of the log, a chain is attached under the bucket. You can fix it on the deck with the help of a bracket bent, for example, from a thick nail.
How to make a well
A wooden blockhouse made according to the methods described in the article by itself can already become a real decoration of the site. Especially good such designs look in the yards, decorated in the style of country or Provence. But if desired, the well can also be decorated additionally.
For example, wooden wells look very impressive (for example, photos of the structures so constructed can be seen on this page) surrounded by greenery. Therefore, around the well you should definitely break the lawn. You can also plant a hedge nearby and sow flower beds with flowers. Wooden wells also look beautiful against the background of wicker fences. Such hedges are harmoniously combined with the blinds made of natural stone laid around the log house.