From ancient times, log houses were built in Russia: this material was always in abundance, and there were also enough craftsmen able to build housing. Most often they built a five-wall hut. What is this house, what are its features and advantages? About it - further.
A bit of history
Until the end of the 9th century, huts were built in the form of semi-dugouts: to protect the log house from winter cold, it was partially, sometimes by a third, buried in the ground. In such housing there were no doors and windows. The entrance was a small hole (no more than a meter high), which was closed from the inside with a wooden shield. The floors were earthen, the hearth had no chimney, all the smoke came out through the entrance.
Centuries passed, everything changed, improved, including at home. They began to build them on the surface of the earth, added floors, windows, doors. What does a five-wall hut mean? This is a house in which, in addition to the main four walls, another capital building was built, located inside the log house and dividing the room into two parts: larger and smaller.
Kinds
Not every wooden house can be considered a five-wall hut. There were several types:
- Four-walled. One-room house.
- Pyatistenka. Housing in which an additional transverse partition was built. One of the resulting rooms served as a maid, the other as a canopy. To increase the living space, it was possible to make an extension, then the second room could also become residential.
- Six-member. This design was obtained due to the creation of not one transverse wall, but two. The result was not two, but three rooms in the house.
- Log hut. As in the previous case, in addition to the main log house, two additional walls were built, which were not parallel, but crossed. This made it possible to obtain a four-room house. This option was used when building a house for a large family.
Having figured out which hut was considered a five-wall, it remains to find out its advantages.
Advantages and disadvantages
The overwhelming majority of the inhabitants of Russia were not rich people, so most of the houses in the villages were four-walled. Only the one who knew how to hold tools in his hands or had money to hire craftsmen could afford the construction of a five-wall hut.
The six-edged building cost even more money, so even middle-income villagers did not always have the opportunity to pay for the construction of such housing.
Usually very rich people erected a cross-house: it was already a large building and the materials for it cost a lot of money, as well as the wages of the craftsmen.
Thus, one of the main advantages of the five-wall was its more affordable cost, in comparison with a six-wall house and a cross-house. The advantages of this type of structure include the ability to build up a canopy over time, cut through an additional door and provide housing for one of the adult sons.
Cons of the five-wall hut - fire hazard. But this applies to all houses made of wood, so this defect cannot be called special. In addition, in such buildings, lower or upper logs began to rot over time (depending on which of them were more exposed to rainfall or soil moisture). Because of this, it was necessary to sort through the building after a certain period of time (about 40-50 years), replacing elements that had become unusable.
Layout Features
The layout of the five-wall hut was traditional: in one of the corners, but not close to the wall, so that there was a small space - a nook, a stove was located. There was a red corner diagonally from it: here they hung images on the wall, set a dining table. The place at the entrance was considered masculine: here, the owner made crafts in the winter, stored his tools. The corner near the stove was separated by a curtain and was considered female: there women cooked, stored supplies, kept dishes and hid from prying eyes when men came to her husband.
To store tools, utensils and other utensils, special shelves were arranged, which were fastened along the walls at the level of human growth. Downstairs along the walls were benches. They not only sat on them, but also slept, children played during the day, and guests at the table sat on holidays.
Another room served as a canopy, and was inhabited only in the summer. If the canopy was attached separately to the house, then the second room was also equipped for housing. In this case, the second room was not connected to the first, but they made an entrance to it from the canopy: it was a house for a married son who lived with his parents.
If in ancient times in the huts the floors were earthen, then over time they began to pay more attention to them and made them of wood. To do this, oak brick was made and laid. The ceilings consisted of beams. Later, they began to hem them, having pre-tinted them.
As for the walls, they also began to finish. Affluent residents could afford only guns or the same tes. The more prosperous could afford to decorate the house with red skin. At the beginning of the 18th century, walls, arches and ceilings began to be painted.
How was the preparation for the construction work?
We started the whole process with a choice of place. The following points were considered the main requirements:
- The place should be well lit.
- The preferred location is on a hill.
- There should have been roads nearby, burial places of people.
- It is undesirable to have nearby territories where baths used to be.
The best material for building a hut was considered larch, spruce, pine. The trees were not picked dry, growing away from the roads.
Features of the construction process
They could build a house on stilts, foundations or just on the ground. A log house was installed, connecting the logs into a single structure with the help of a "lock". There were only two ways:
- In the paw. At the same time, the angle remains clean, there are no protrusions on it.
- In the cloud. At the joints, the edges of the logs were visible. They appeared in the form of a bowl.
In order to prevent heat loss, moss or flax tow was placed in the lock joints during the laying of logs.
The height of the finished house depended on the number of crowns - layers of logs. Lastly, a roof is installed. The sequence of actions is as follows:
- Make the upper harness.
- Install the rafters.
- Fasten down sly.
- Lay the roofing material.
- Establish a quay - boards that hold the roof on the sides.
Modern construction and Russian huts
Like several centuries ago, the Russian five-wall hut in our time is built on an invariable principle and the same techniques.
But not only the old traditions are preserved, but something new is also applied. For example, the design and coating material have changed. If you look at the photo of the five-wall hut built at the present time, you can immediately see that modern coatings are now used as roofing material. And this is correct: iron, tile, slate are more reliable, able to protect the house from any precipitation, winds, which significantly lengthens the duration of the wooden structure. In addition, the tree is treated with anti-corrosive substances.