The boom of frame-panel housing construction in Russia was provided by several factors at once:
- their widespread prevalence in the West, even in areas where the climate is by no means mild;
- low construction costs and materials;
- absolute ease of assembly;
- a panel house does not require a massive foundation, which, as you know, goes at least a third of the total amount of cash costs, and the construction process of which is very time-consuming.
The essence of such a building is simple: it is a wooden frame built using planks 4-5 cm thick and 10-15 cm wide. These boards, fastened together in the form of high quadrangles, are lined on both sides with materials of different nature and strength.
The production of panel houses has adopted the following standards: the inner cladding is made using gypsum fiber boards, and the outside is made of OSB boards, usually 9 mm thick.
Since the principle of constructing such housing is very simple, frame summer houses are very popular and have become widespread.
In our country, an opinion has long been rooted that a solid warm house should have a large wall thickness. However, it is frame construction that proves that this is far from the case . Modern heaters are able to maintain the optimum indoor temperature as much as possible. Additional covering materials, such as vapor-permeable membranes, windproof insulators, moisture- proof coatings, help to make such a house quite comfortable for winter living.
The cost of frame-panel construction is almost one and a half times lower than that of wood. The heating costs of such housing differ several times.
The peculiarity of the winter execution of these houses is that if the usual version provides for
wall thickness of 10-15 cm, then with the help of external and internal insulation it can be achieved that the panel house will be suitable for living even in harsh northern areas.
For example, the climate of Alaska is not at all mild, but there the vast majority of residential buildings are built using frame technology.
The choice of insulation in the modern construction business is very wide. As such, it can serve as traditional glass wool (and modifications based on it: Izover, Knauf, mineral wool boards, etc.), as well as polystyrene foam (high-density polystyrene), and filling materials.
In the shield cottage houses you can lay any of them. Another question is how environmentally friendly it is, but here is the choice for the owner.
Another feature of these houses is that they are recommended to be built in winter. The point here is that in the cold season, the quality of wood is much higher. If you begin to build a panel house traditionally with the onset of heat, then there will be doubts whether the wood you have chosen is really harvested in winter. For not every manufacturer is ready to store it for six months, despite all the assurances on his part to the contrary.
The panel house is extremely favorable for internal and external decoration. Its walls with a flat surface make it possible to use the vast majority of modern materials.